Mumsnet Talk

I've just been to the cinema with dc and spent an alarming amount of money on tickets, 3D glasses, snacks and drinks. We usually go to the Saturday morning special (£1.00 each) and take our own food and drink so there's no need for a second mortgage. Saturday morning films are packed with families and there is a fair amount of noise from toddlers and babies - I don't have an issue with this at all.

Today, though, we had a bunch of 5 or 6 tweens (11 or 12 years old?) who spent the entire film running (and yes, they were running) up and down the stairs to and from the toilets and making a horrendous amount of noise at the back. Our local cinema is in a fairly affluent area and located in a shopping centre. These kids are everywhere, with money coming out of their ears and they just wander around being obnoxious to everyone who crosses their path.

AIBU to wish their parents wouldn't just hand them stupid amounts of cash every weekend and wish them on their merry way and actually spend some time with them teaching them some manners and how to behave in public?

I'd be asking for a refund. They should either not allow unsupervised children, or "police" the auditoriums better. Agree it's not on when ticket prices are so high.

YANBU.

Very annoying and rude.

I once made a tween boy cry telling him off in the cinema

You pay a lot of money these days to go to watch a film. If you aren't brave enough yourself to say something tell on them they soon stfu

I don't imagine the parents thought for a second their kids would ruin the film for other people.

I take it you complained straight away and the management sorted it out?

I am going to email the main office - pointless speaking to the Manager there. He's about 12 himself and reminds me of the spotty lad with the breaking voice in the Simpsons - utterly inefficient. It's reached the point now where me and DP will only go to a film together if the rating is at least a 15 because this happens all the time. Unsupervised children over 8 are allowed in at the Saturday morning cinema - who sends their child alone at that age? My eldest is 11, in Year 6, and some of her school friends are already beginning to behave like this and are given spending money and sent out the door every Saturday. She has asked if she can go and I've said I will not have her being a nuisance to other people. If it drives me mad, it must drive others mad and I won't have my DD being a part of that.

I always complain to the staff if there's any of that going on once the film has started.

I expect a bit of horseplay and stupidity during the adverts.

I got 2 boys thrown out last year for throwing popcorn and generally being little shits.

Worra - this is a common occurrence in the local area. Some of these kids are hanging around the shopping centre from morning til late evening. I've been there having a meal with DP and we've watched the same groups of girls going up and down the escalators over and over - about 12 years old! The parents just throw money at them each weekend and don't give a monkeys what they're doing - they'd be shocked if they saw the behaviour.

In that case YABU

There's no point bumping your gums on the internet if you weren't prepared to actually tell them there was a problem while it was happening.

They can't send a member of staff to sit in every single film showing.

I got a group of about 12 kids thrown out of the cinema last year, for running up and down, shining their mobile phone torches around and climbing over the backs of the chairs.

A couple of staff members came and threw them out...then when I came out of the film, 2 of there parents were loudly complaining that the manager was racist and only threw them out because they were travellers??

Like anyone knew or cared.

This has happened to us, they told us they couldnt do anything because we did not complain during the film, we went when it ended.

Worra, I've complained before and nothing has been done! As I've said, the Manager and staff are all very young themselves and won't do confrontation with the kids. I've even tried speaking to the kids myself and just get a load of verbal back. These kids are entitled little monsters who have everything bought for them under the sun (they all have expensive phones/clothes/trainers, etc) but have never been taught any manners and therefore think they can behave how they want, where they want.

Ok well it's a bit late now I suppose but if it happens again, do complain again.

And if the staff don't do anything about it, complain to Head office about the staff.

YANBU to be annoyed at spending all that money to watch a film and yet you couldn't manage to do it.

I will definitely be emailing head office about the situation. The staff turnover at that cinema is really high - mostly students I think, who burn out very quickly dealing with that crap every day!

When I got the obnoxious kids thrown out, I had to go out and complain 3 times before they did anything - but it was worth persisting.

Complain to the management by all means, but just watch out that they are not hanging around waiting outside to 'get you' Too many young people have a high opinion of themselves and won't hesitate to hurt others if they feel they have been 'dissed' Just complain in secret.

There's no way they could 'get me' - they are children and I would have no qualms about slapping them silly if they tried any shit with me and my kids. I quite often have to put the little s***s in their place (verbally) on the bus home from school due to their lacks of manners and courtesy towards the other passengers and picking on my kids if they think I'm not looking.

It would make me cross too.

I would have told them in no uncertain terms to sit down and be quite or leave.

But then I have a teen, and have acquired "the tone". (I made a 7yo cry yesterday, just by asking "What are you doing?" using "the tone" yesterday)

I already have 'the tone' - a 15 year old girl gave me some grief on the bus a couple of years back and I let it go for weeks until she pushed it and I shouted at her. I ended with 'tomorrow, bring your Mother and I'll have a grown-up conversation with her'. She hasn't met my eye since!

its the reason why I don't go to the cinema and one of the reasons IMO why film piracy is so high.

I once sat through a Harry Potter film with teenagers behind us12/13ish. One talked constantly, loads of people were dishing her and even her friends looked uncomfortable.
At the end I told her how she had spoiled the film and suggested that she learnt some manners before she went to the cinema again .... She looked very sheepish and I thought she was going to cry,...tough

The cinema dh works at has a member of staff on each screen and if there's potential for disruption they sit in and often next to the awkward people. For tween films such as Harry Potter & Twilight they had two staff on.
Our other local cinema has a member of staff in the screen when it's a tween film too despite running on v much skeleton staff.
Both are independant so that may be a factor?
Also much cheaper than the local chain ones!

These kids are entitled little monsters who have everything bought for them under the sun (they all have expensive phones/clothes/trainers, etc) but have never been taught any manners and therefore think they can behave how they want, where they want.

Do you know them all personally then?

It's just I could only make this assumption (especially about never being taught manners) on someone I actually knew.

Yes, sorry, that was pretty presumptuous of me Doll. I get too easily wound up by the kids on the bus/at the cinema/shopping centre and then I make these sweeping statements. The majority of them are fine, but it's the minority that stick in my head!

It's not just kids. DH and I went to the cinema last night. There was a chap in his 20s a couple of seats along from DH who spent the whole film texting and talking on his mobile, getting up and down as if he was alone in his own home instead of alone in the cinema. The couple behind me talked all the way through the film in normal talking voices about anything and everything except the film. The couple in front appeared to be having sex.

As far as we could tell, the only people actually watching the film were us.