# Are the stories of these screaming restaurant kids exaggerated and overblown? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666 "2013-02-08T02:44:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/102 "2013-02-13T16:36:33Z")
It’s a running joke among my friends that every time I go to a restaurant someone will bring a crying kid in. It seems to happen fairly often. One time, there was a kid running around while his mother talked to her friend and pretty much ignored him. He came up to me and put his hand on my leg, smearing gravy or something on my pants. His mom never even noticed much less did anything. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/103 "2013-02-13T16:59:04Z")
> [@Deegeea](#): > > As for parents who are ignoring their child’s outbursts, I usually think that they are attempting not to give negative attention. Often when a child misbehaves like that, it is thought to be a demand for attention. The parent ignores it in order to try to get it to stop, thinking that by giving it attention it will simply encourage it. They aren’t going to do something they believe counter productive for their child just to make strangers think they’re a better parent. I suppose some of them might just not care, but overall I give people the benefit of the doubt whenever I can. I don’t really believe this theory of children trying to get negative attention - but I know it is widely held and don’t think holding it makes them bad parents. This. If you teach a child that acting up during a boring situation is an easy way to get some attention and probably go home early, you are going to end up with a kid who uses that technique as often as possible, and soon you won’t be able to do even routine essential tasks without meltdowns. It’d be nice if this was a lesson that could be worked through entirely in private, but kids are rarely accommodating like that. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/104 "2013-02-14T09:53:26Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > That’s still pretty fuzzy. Could you be a mite more specific? > Myself, I’m quite happy that spankings and hidings - I guess that a “hiding” is related to a belting? - are considered barbaric and are going out of style in civilized societies. I’ve been able to get well-behaved, polite and nice children without having to resort to abuse and violence, and I don’t think I’m an exceptionally skilled parent or have been blessed with children who are exceptionally well-behaved by nature (meaning: Any moderately intelligent and empathic parent could probably accomplish the same thing with their moderately intelligent children) > At least, you adhere to a tradition. A long-time tradition. See [post # 25](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15983835&postcount=25). > > \ > If my plane crashes, I think that synthetic vs. cotton clothing will be one of my lesser concerns > \ No, I won’t be more specific. I doubt you would believe me anyway. You are definitely a lot younger than I though. Attitudes like yours would have been greeted with scorn when I was a child. \ Unfortunately, they don’t. Most children I see around these days make me wish I were living in an age when children were seen and not heard. FYI, most children I see around are brattish, spoiled sprogs, and that includes most of the children of people I knew. There are exceptions, but rare indeed. \ In the event that you survived able to walk or crawl out of the plane, fire is the thing most likely to kill you. Have you ever seen what melting synthetic clothing does to a human body? I doubt it, or you wouldn’t be so flippant about it. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/105 "2013-02-14T16:34:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I mean really. For fucks sake. Do you encounter screaming asshole kids every time you go to a restaurant? Yes. I call them waiters. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/106 "2013-02-14T16:39:21Z")
Gannett News Service ran a story yesterday about a restaurant, Sogno di Vino, in Kingston, WA which provides a “Well Behaved Kids” discount of $4. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/107 "2013-02-14T16:46:30Z")
> [@](#): > > As for parents who are ignoring their child’s outbursts, I usually think that they are attempting not to give negative attention. Often when a child misbehaves like that, it is thought to be a demand for attention. The parent ignores it in order to try to get it to stop, thinking that by giving it attention it will simply encourage it. They aren’t going to do something they believe counter productive for their child just to make strangers think they’re a better parent. I suppose some of them might just not care, but overall I give people the benefit of the doubt whenever I can. Most of the time, what I see is a kid who is fairly quiet when s/he’s eating, and the child is ignored. After the child is done eating, the adult(s) continue to talk, but ignore the child, who gets bored and restless. In other words, the child is ignored when s/he’s being good, and then when the child starts acting up, s/he’s still ignored. So, no real parenting there, just ignoring one’s child care duties. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/108 "2013-02-14T20:53:44Z")
> [@Deegeea](#): > > As for parents who are ignoring their child’s outbursts, I usually think that they are attempting not to give negative attention. Often when a child misbehaves like that, it is thought to be a demand for attention. The parent ignores it in order to try to get it to stop, thinking that by giving it attention it will simply encourage it. If this was true it’d still be unacceptable - a public place where others are trying to enjoy their outing is not an experimental laboratory for one’s moronic theories of child rearing. But that gives parents of screaming/misbehaving children too much credit. The distinct impression one receives is that they are simply too absorbed in their own cellphone yakking and other pleasures to care what their kids are doing, oblivious to bad behavior because that’s what they constantly enable at home, or both. ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/109 "2013-02-16T22:47:15Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > Attitudes like yours would have been greeted with scorn _when I was a child_. Let me guess: The 1930s? ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/110 "2013-02-17T02:58:48Z")
I love East Indian food, but it seems that almost every time I go there are a lot of misbehaving kids dining in Indian restaurants. (And they’re not Indian or Asian kids- it’s generally white parents who think it’s charming to let their little darlings run all over the dining room and trip waiters :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666/111 "2013-02-17T12:58:43Z")
> [@Norse](#): > > Let me guess: The 1930s? No. Even in the 1950s, children hadn’t yet been ruined by terrible parents, and yes, it’s parents that ruin children, not other people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-stories-of-these-screaming-restaurant-kids-exaggerated-and-overblown/649666.md?page=5)