Re: Unruly kids

Yes there are good kids and well behaved kids in England, (quite a lot actually) but you just never see them in the shopping centres, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, etc.

Re: Unruly kids

I'm afraid that was exactly where it was.

Re: Unruly kids

doh!!

Re: Unruly kids

I witnessed some French children at the Bishops Palace Moat in Wells, throwing bread to the swans and then trying to kick them! I shouted at them. The other day I was catching a bus, I was at the back of the queue as it was school chucking out time, so were some other older folk. When the bus came the youngsters made a pathway for us to let us get on first. (St. Gregory's School) I felt really proud of them!
Yesterday, I was in Sainsbury's, a child was acting up, his mother started yelling at him about how could he justify his behaviour etc, using very eloquent language, he was about 3! I'm sure he had no clue what she was on about!

Re: Unruly kids

I don't enjoy the supermarket shop when the kids are off school, it's usually chaos. As others have said, they run amok, and recently one was even whizzing round the aisles on his scooter! While the Mum's are going through the checkouts the kids are usually off somewhere else and she is trying to pack her shopping and watch the kids at the same time - not easy. I also don't agree with letting bigger kids stand in the trolleys. They could have trod in anything and then we have to put food in those trolleys.
As for eating out, I don't think children leaving the table to play around is good manners either. From a very young age my brother and I were taken out to restaurants and would never been allowed to leave the table to mess about. Even at home we had to ask to leave the table, we would never have just cleared off.
It's a shame really, because no one likes rude children and it costs nothing to teach nice manners.

Re: Unruly kids

Ah yes Mups, I too hate seeing kids in the trolleys! I also hate the 'feet on seats' brigade, which includes adults who should know better.

I sometimes wonder whether I am an un-naturally intolerant person as so many people rile me! Bad habits, inconsiderate behaviour, anti social behaviour. It all quite often gets too much for me.

Re: Unruly kids

It does require at least a bit of intelligence 'tho and given the state of the schools, the terrible TV images the kids see every day, and the non functioning justice system many parent are just not up to the task.

Re: Unruly kids

I must admit the behaviour of some of the British kids who come here on holiday ... Shudder!

One thing I notice about French families is that the kids are perfectly OK to sit at a table in a restaurant, not running up and down or yelling, they eat what they are given and don't insist on nuggets or pizza and nothing else..

The parents pay attention to them, though, they don't just ignore them letting them run riot while they enjoy themselves. So the kids learn how to behave, by and large.

But I live in a country area, it may be quite different in the high rise blocks which surround the big cities here.

Re: Unruly kids

Why in the world did the manager of the restaurant not do a bloody thing? This makes me mean & mad I would've definitely told the person in charge, my lord, in today's society of "sue me, sue you", you'd think they would've been afraid of a lawsuit with someone falling, getting injured like you

I don't visit restaurants hardly but the times I have gone, I've only seen a kid behaving like that a couple of times but still not that bad.

People here would give dirty looks or glare & for sure the waiter or someone would be told to talk to the parent. Establishments don't want legal action.

I've never known this to be a phenomenon in Britain.

Once a kid was hitting the glass of a fish tank in a store & I told him to stop it (nicely of course). I left when he went back to his mother & heard him saying something to her. Ha ha, yes cowardly I know but I had lots on my mind & didn't feel like confrontation but I would've stood my ground if she said something to me. It's just too many violent people out there nowadays, you really don't know who will take a swipe at you, even a woman.

I stick up for fish too, yes I do

Re: Unruly kids

Of course there are still good kids around but generally speaking, this last generation of parents has done a particularly bad job of parenting. I've seen the change and deterioration in my 45 years of high school teaching. What parents allowed or didn't allow when I first started teaching in the mid 60s compared with now, is gob-smackingly different.

These parents grew up in affluent, peaceful times with little trouble and strife themselves, and as a result they have adopted an indulgent, lazy, selfish style of parenting that has had disastrous results. Maybe the next generation will swing the pendulum round.