Perhaps French Children Have Changed..?

In French culture, seven is known as “l’âge de raison”, the age at which children know right from wrong and can take some moral responsibility. France’s national rail operator, it seems, puts the age at which a child can be trusted to behave in a non-annoying way onboard a train a bit higher.

Well, yes. 

In launching its new Optimum plus tariff earlier this month, offering spaces onboard its weekday TGV trains between Paris and Lyon with bigger, more comfortable seats, fancy food and no under-12s, SNCF was trying to appeal to the many business travellers who make that journey.

Perish the thought! Unusually for the 'Guardian', who usually feels there's no desire so niche that it shouldn't be satisfied, the desire to not have your work commute enlivened by unruly brats is considered beyond the pale, and they found a columnist who agrees. 

But the move has sparked a backlash and a philosophical debate about the place of children in society, against the backdrop of a worrying decline in French birthrates. “We can’t on one hand say that we are not having enough children and on the other hand try to exclude them from everywhere,” argues Sarah El Haïry, France’s high commissioner for childhood.

And the name of the high commissioner is itself a clue to the social change, I suspect...

SNCF’s move was certainly a surprising one in a country that has a reputation for being family-friendly and respecting children’s right to take part in the rituals of everyday life, starting with the elaborate three-course meals they are served in school canteens. My own half-French children, growing up in Paris, have had customs such as politely greeting neighbours and shop workers drilled into them from babyhood, not to mention sitting patiently in a restaurant and chacun son tour (taking turns) on the swings in the park.

Perhaps the influx of 'new French' don't feel the same obligation that you felt to adapt to the social mores of their new homeland. 

A society that cannot bear the presence of children is “worrying”, El Haïry argues. The former minister has spoken out before about the “no kids” trend, whereby restaurants and hotels are increasingly targeting child-free grownups who are seeking peace and quiet and have deep pockets.

Is it because they have acquired a loathing of well-behaved children with their fortunes? Or is it because well behaved children are no longer the norm?