WABC-TV reports, what started as a carefree field trip to Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach suddenly turned into an ugly confrontation for a group of girls when they say one of the aquarium's employees kicked them out of the gift shop.
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For 13-year-old Kianna Williams and several of her friends, it was their first trip ever to the aquarium. They traveled by bus last Friday with more than 60 other young girls in the Princess to Queenz Camp, based in Paterson.
All was well until they say they were singled out and confronted by a woman in the aquarium's gift shop.
"She was angry, she was mad (and) she (was) raising her voice as if we did something, as if we were damaging her store," camper Sajadah Tisder said. "It's just like we weren't doing anything, just looking around."
The girls were told to get a chaperone, and when they came back with a camp counselor, the women persisted they still needed to leave. That's when camp director Attiyya Barrett intervened and recorded a portion of what happened.
"There were other children that were bystanders watching and they didn't have adults with them, so that's when it became a question of race," Barrett said.
"I was shocked and I didn't really say anything because I didn't know what to say," camper Kiera Williams said. "I've never been in a situation like this before."
"It was a lot of little girls crying," camper Jayla Bush said. "We had to explain to them why we couldn't be in there and it was sad for us to have to explain that to like 7-year-olds."
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Following the incident, managers at Jenkinson's apologized to Barrett and issued the following statement:
"Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated at Jenkinson's. We strive to provide all of our customers with an enjoyable experience and we clearly missed the mark this time."
Still, many of the girls at Princess to Queenz feel this apology can't undo the harm that's already been done.
"I'm sorry that they had to endure this at a young age, but I believe everything is a teaching experience," Barrett said.
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