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Recently a restaurant in Gloucester has been handing out notices to parents requesting them to keep their children quiet. The question that I'm asking, is this out of order for the owner of the restaurant to do this or a reasonable request in reminding the parents that other diners are present and would prefer to enjoy their meal in peace.
We all know that at some point children can and will have tendencies to throw a tantrum and it's to be expected, just as long as the parents deal with it accordingly. What it not acceptable are the parents who arrive with their unruly offspring and allow the children to treat the dining area (whether it be a cafe, pub, restaurant or coffee shop) as a play area, running amok whilst the parent prefers to update their status on Facebook. These days some parents attitude is I'm here with my child, what are you going to do about it, or, little Tarquin is expressing himself and, how lovely, little Tarquin has found his voice.
Unless the dining place has a designated area for children to play in then running riot and vocally on top note should not be allowed. Parents should be keeping their children in check, and should not need reminding that it's not a play area and to respect other diners. Staff and sometimes customers are handling hot food or drinks, and even though it's ruining what should be a lovely experience for other customers, accidents can happen and, yes, it can be potentially dangerous. In which all parents should, naturally, be aware of, and sadly, in some instances, this is not the case. Rather than spend quality time and interact with their children they would prefer to spend time fiddling around on their phones.
If the dining place does have an area for children to play in then, as an adult who prefers to dine in a more serene atmosphere I can make that informed choice. But, these days you find it hard to make that choice, I remember, for example, to enter a pub it was adult only, where there was a strict age restriction. Not anymore, on many occasion, my local Whetherspoons resembles a creche and more and more places seem to be focusing on being Family Friendly, which is fine. But, I do feel, we need a balance of family friendly and adult only. Maybe the solution is to have a separate dining areas set aside where nobody under a certain age is aloud to enter, this will be giving all diners an option, or, as an alternative certain places cater for adults only.
Please, don't get me wrong I'm not one of these people who hate children, I'm not, it's just that it annoys me when some (not all) parents have a don't care attitude and if their child is annoying the surrounding customers then so what, whilst little Tarquin is annoying the next table I'm getting the peace and quiet I think I deserve. Either that they are under the misconception that everyone wants and loves little Tarquin running and screaming the place down.
If you have an opinion on this, whether you agree with me or not, then please feel free to add your views. I am interested to hear what you have to say, maybe your like me who just wants a quiet time. Or, maybe your a parent who is responsible and other parents who do allow their children to run riot drives you crazy. Also, if you are one of those parents who seems to have that "I don't care" attitude then maybe the next time you happen to be out and about you have more consideration for the other people around you. It would, also, be nice to get your opinion on the subject, as well as to see the situation from your side. Maybe there is a good reason for allowing your child to behave the way he/she does and you would like to express an opinion or set the record straight, please do so.
Thank you for reading.
By: LancashireLass
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SmuttyJim
Same scenario in supermarkets.
Happens all the time.Guaranteed.
No respect whatsoever.
Stupid dumb chav parents do nothing to discipline them.
Never happened back in my day when kids were taught respect & learned that this kind of behaviour was unacceptable.
Since when do these ignorant parents think its acceptable to let their brats scream the place down jumping up & down all over the chairs running amok upsetting other customers?
Never happens on the continent where the kids are brought up to behave properly in restaurants & show some respect.
Kids will be kids.Mcdonalds & fast food restaurants you have to accept it.Having three kids of my own I accept that kids will play up occasionally.
But this kind of behaviour in pubs & family restaurants whilst the parents do nothing is a sad sign of the breakdown of respect & discipline in modern day Britain.
Rant over.