Children taken to pubs by parents are running riot like "baby lager louts", ruining the enjoyment of other customers, it is claimed today. Editors of the Good Pub Guide have received dozens of complaints from readers about children's behaviour as pubs try to make themselves more family-friendly.And it’s not just some parents who seem reluctant to request discipline and respect for others – teachers aren’t always capable of it either, when taking their charges out for an ‘out-of-school activity…
The introduction to the guide's 27th edition says it is hard to see a solution to "this particularly British problem", although plenty of pubgoing families caused no trouble. "In continental restaurants and cafes, it's normal to see families with children, not normal to see kids spoil things for grown-ups.But there’s the problem – their ‘right’ to a relaxed family day out doesn’t supecede anyone else’s right to enjoy a day out without other people’s undisciplined children ruining it. And anyone who walks out without paying can be charged with theft – that’ll nip threats such as this in the bud pretty quickly.
It's easy to say we could start treating parents who let their children run riot with the disdain normally reserved for lager louts. But would that have any impact on people who think they are entitled to a thoroughly relaxed family day out? And you can imagine the retort when a publican asks a badly-behaved family to quieten their children. 'We have just spent over 50 quid here, do you want us to leave without paying?' "
It’s also true that you rarely see this behaviour on the continent, though I believe it won’t be long before they start catching up to us in the ‘children behaving badly’ stakes – after all, our other bad habits spread so rapidly.
Nine in 10 of the 5,000 pubs listed in the guide allowed children. But some readers wanted a "no children" logo to help them choose those that did not, according to Fiona Stapley, a co-editor. "It might be something we would think about. We are split. We understand those people going to a pub for a quiet time but we also have a lot of readers who have young children and we want to support them as well."Excellent! I’d certainly choose a ‘no children’ pub over one that didn’t have such a logo.
And if that worked, how about that ‘I allow smoking’ logo for those pubs that want to attract custom without government interference…?
Passive Parenthood anyone?
ReplyDeleteJuliaM,
ReplyDeleteAnd anyone who walks out without paying can be charged with theft – that’ll nip threats such as this in the bud pretty quickly.
There are consumer protection rules in place that state legitimate reasons you can leave without paying a restaurant/food bill; one of these is if the actions of the staff have ruined your enjoyment and/or service has not been up to standard; I can recall one case in Leeds some years ago when a women was prosecuted for continuous non-payment of restaurant/pub bills using this exact piece of legislation (with an ASBO preventing her from eating at restaurants in certain areas around Leeds, ironically).
It is very rare that this happens, especially for a stoic people like the British who would rather pay a bill and never return than walk out without paying at all, but you can imagine that this will feature as a prominant weapon of these passive parents in the near future if this happened more frequently.
As with most things it is unlikely this will continue as the credit crunch will likely dampen the finances of the semi-reckless; pubs, if they survive, will become a lot more peaceful.
"There are consumer protection rules in place that state legitimate reasons you can leave without paying a restaurant/food bill..."
ReplyDeleteBut if you are the sole cause of others loss of enjoyment, I'd expect a court not to rule in your favour on that (hollow laugh...)
"the credit crunch will likely dampen the finances of the semi-reckless"
Not those suckling on the teats of the State, it won't...