Out of control children on buses

Something has to be done about unruly children in public buses.

Since when did buses become 'mobile playgrounds' where parents feel they can turn a blind eye to their child's disruptive behaviour and leave it to somebody else to look out for their safety? Or to cause the other passengers on the bus a considerable amount of stress, which is something they could probably do without on their journey.

However, if the driver were to slam on his breaks to avoid an accident, or the bus came to a very sudden stop, then it is automatically the driver's fault that a child being left to run around unattended has suffered an accident - not the parent's fault.

The same goes for early morning buses. Work is stressful at the best of times for all of us and the last thing you would want to hear first thing in the morning, or last thing at night is a screamer throwing a tantrum - especially if you don't have children yourself. Why all the fuss? Because they didn't get the toy they wanted at the shop, or because someone else pushed the buzzer before them (even though they have pressed it a dozen times in succession since boarding the bus twenty minutes before. Or maybe they saw a train pass and nobody will listen to them, so they keep repeating that they saw a train until somebody responds.

Even more worrying is the way that some of the parents respond to their children, that is if they aren't the type to ignore their unruly behaviour. Sometimes they act worse than the child themselves and cause an even bigger scene.

Seats on a bus Yes, your children's manners may be acceptable in your own home - but please remember you are on public transport and not everyone can cheerfully ignore the sound of your kid having a tantrum. We want to see happy, polite and cheery children on the bus laughing and having fun in a respectable manner - not children who are clearly selfish and disruptive and causing a scene.

Another issue is the use of pushchairs on public transport and in particular buses. Why is it that some parents think they have the right to use the disabled space for their pushchair over a disabled person? I've even known some to kick up a fuss because a disabled person has dared to take up 'their' space on a bus. Is this really acceptable behaviour?

If this is what the bus services of today are turning into, then why not designate specific buses for children to board where the rest of us can be guaranteed a safe and pleasant journey to our destination without all the added hassle?

By: Sarah

Hairpin

I was on a bus today where several children were allowed to scream, have a tantrum etc. Laughing and having fun is one thing but .... Their older sister however was behaving beautifully, sitting separately with her Dad.
An elderly lady eventually complained about the noise; all she got told was that she was a wicked old woman and, "they're children, they're allowed". I waded in because I didn't think she should be abused in that way and got the same treatment.
Then, an elderly man sitting next to me (in a seat I had persuaded another passenger to free up and put his bike in the storage area instead) joined in. The abuse I got from him was almost laughable and, as I got off the bus, he was calling me a bitch and the Dad was calling me a degenerate. His well behaved daughter was upset which I regret, but I am sick and tired of constant incidents of kids' bad behaviour in public when their parents are present and see no need to provide discipline of any kind.
This is a sign of the times; there's no way my sister and I would have been allowed to behave like that on public transport. Thank goodness I am over 70 and don't have too many more years to put up with changing attitudes for the worse.

06/08 Hairpin

Gee

I am a bus driver for a very large company and wasn't on a school run but driving a public service that picks up the remaining children after the school buses as all children pay for their travel, children at the back of the bus playing music very loud with one of these beat box speaker contraptions, so politely I asked if they could turn the music down, to hear it from the cab and thinking it was loud it must have been!! after totally ignoring me for a couple of miles I pulled up at a bus stop and turned the engine off and got out of my cab and said I have already asked you politely to turn the music down so this bus isn't going anywhere, I'm guessing you all want to get home!!, got back into the cab crossed my arms and heard abuse from the back, ignored it and after a couple of minutes carried on my way, seconds later music up full again, thankfully the culprits got off a few stops later still had the cheek to play the music very loud till they exited with a few smarmy comments as they got off at a known area as a problem estate. I arrived at the bus station dropped off my passengers with any further problems, asked a superior if I know who the disruptive children are can I refuse to offer them travel as there are plenty off buses to get them to there destination at that time of day, Don't get me wrong I would never leave a child stranded!! and was told I have to grin and bear it as I'm not to refuse travel to any school child and just to place a report in writing, This is not a one off it happens every week not necessarily music but different sorts of bad behaviour on a public service such as bad language and shouting obscenities out of the upper deck windows to not necessarily their school mates but also to anyone we happen to pass by !! so now I am going to ignore the bad behaviour in the future and for those people whom have said the bus driver didn't do anything well I guess that is because we can't!! our hands are tied!! So please help the driver and report this bad behaviour to the bus company it will probably stand more ground.

18/10/17 Gee

Mike

My advice is not to take buses because buses = loose cruisers full of low life scumbags and old crooks and screaming school kids. You might want to take the bus if you somehow have a free buspass, but for me I ain't even gonna pay £0.1 to get on a bus because it's utter crap.

24/07/13 Mike

-8

Dave

definitely true.
Council estate = wild kids + pissed parents + smoke of drugs coming out of every window

18/07/13 Dave

-2

Stalag 14

Yes, it certainly seems to be nurture not nature that produces the screaming brats.
But when the parent’s main interest in life appears to be, booze, fags, crisps, and mobile phone permanently glued to ear...... “She sez and I sez and harry sez and anyway I sez” ...... non -stop on a half hour journey, the children haven’t got a chance.
In my experience there is a marked difference in the behaviour of the children, and adults, on a bus that travels by and picks up on a private housing estate.
Or maybe it’s because only peasants travel by bus.
This gripe links nicely to the “underclass” gripe because these screaming brats may well grow up to be the new underclass!

04/09/11 Stalag 14

MikeP

It's not the children who are to blame, it's ignorant selfish parents, who probably had ignorant selfish parents themselves, and thus the problem perpetuates and amplifies itself.

04/09/11 MikeP

Stalag 14

The bus I got on the other day had eight of the brats on board. I should have known better as this particular bus passed a Council Estate.

Council Estate= mass breeders of screaming brats.
Do others think like me or am I a snob?

04/09/11 Stalag 14

kharma

I bet the majority of people voting our comments down are that of which the gripe addresses to. I don't think it's fair that we should have to put up with any misbehaviour from children of any age on public transport, quite frankly I am tired of having to travel to work early first thing in the morning having to listen to at least one screamer on the bus to then return home later on in the night to the exact same thing. I literally had my fingers in my ears the other day and turned to look at a parent on the bus because their little darling was screaming the place down and nearly causing my sensitive eardrums to burst! Did they do anything about this? No. Infact they ended up getting off a few stops early which ended up being the exact same stop I got off at so really, where is the need? I don't have children of my own, infact, it's such incidents like the one described in this rant which actually puts me off having children completely.

03/09/11 kharma

Angry Autistic Female

Sarah, I agree with you that the parents are just as bad as their kids on buses. My sister who lives in Brighton says that when a kid asks something to their parents on the bus they just say 'Shut the f*** up!'. That is no way to respond to a child. In London, where I live, the parents of children either do nothing about their unruly behaviour or they shout empty threats at them. Although, I have seen some mothers handle their young children aggressively when going on/coming off the bus. Once a child was throwing sweets at me and other passengers on the bus but the parents did nothing to stop her. I wanted to confront the girl's parents about this but I would have been beaten up by them because they are not the kind of people you should confront ever! But it makes me very angry how such parents let their kids run riot and disturb passengers. I agree it causes unecessary stress to other passengers including myself. I agree with the separate buses for children. It would be easier on all of us

21/07/11 Angry Autistic Female

Gracie

Sarah, I could not agree more! While I know there are some parents who actually take the time to teach and explain things to their children, it is so annoying to see parents who allow their children to scream and run in the bus. How could any intelligent, responsible mother permit her child to behave this way without pulling the child aside and teaching him/her etiquette and respect for others? I completely agree with what you said.

12/04/11 Gracie

I agree. I wouldnt let the children I babysit behave like that and if I had kids of my own, they certainly wouldnt. Do you know they actually report you to social services and the police if you smack a child in a public place and you are seen on cctv. Have to find an out of the way place now before you can tan the little sods backsides.

27/12/10 a

Kat

Haven't you heard of the new rule? Children are not to be seen, but heard? It's a new rule which seems to surface amongst one too many parents in today's society. By all accounts, not everyone is prepared to develop proper parenting skills and as a result we have unruly children in public places. Many people have also forgotten that having a child is supposed to be about love and all that mushy stuff not 'Oh, if I have a child then the government will pay for it for me.' If you can own a pet without government support you can support a child.

24/12/10 Kat

Sarah

Yes, whilst the parents may be at fault for their unruly child's behaviour - it doesn't take away from the fact what kind of picture this paints for society as a whole. When a sign placed in a restaraunt over in america sparked contravorsy by stating, 'Screaming kids will not be tolerated' I would safely say that this is the public's way of stating: 'We do not want to be responsible for your own kids.'

It's hard to observe a situation where an unruly child is an accident just waiting to happen without having your heart in your mouth - and it's a horrible feeling to experience even if you don't have children of your own.

21/12/10 Sarah

Harsh But Fair

There's a very good case for sterilising anyone with poor social skills, at a very young age before they can breed. In this particular case, I'm referring to parents of annoying little brats.

Society would soon improve without the backward scum we have to put up with.

17/12/10 Harsh But Fair

Sophie

I can totally emphasise with this gripe. Today I was standing at the bus station when a deaf couple alerted me towards a small child which was being left to run around outside the bus stances! The mother of course was not paying attention and left her child to run around purposely banging his head into things - on the bus he was even allowed to run loose and would throw a tantrum each time he was dragged to sit back down, nobody had the guts to say anything though because we all know these single parents are of the violent type.

16/12/10 Sophie

-3

Out of control children on buses

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