To think it's unacceptable to say you don't like children?

They should do. I'm sure there are more childless women here than fathers.

It's not. I presume it was when it started but there are loads of posters who are childfree or with adult kids and sometimes men. The topics covered are vast - from politics to horses and most of them have no relevance to mothers or children at all. Frankly I wish they'd change the name to "Woman's Net" or something more appropriate.

i don’t like children. i really don’t. They annoy me and i prefer teenagers. I hate the constant questions and stupid bickering and tale telling.
thats said i have 3 of my own and work in a school (with teenagers thanks god)

lol. Well whether it’s ok to say this about a group of animals is a whole other debate:

But you can’t seriously be suggesting that children are not a group of humans, comparable to other groups of humans (the elderly, the disabled, different cultural and ethnic groups, etc) but are actually more comparable to a group of animals (dogs, horses…) 😂

If i’m honest I prefer the honesty and inclusivity of it.

Rather than the “ohhh I love children!” people who actually only like quiet, impeccably behaved, neurotypical(often also nondisabled) , “beautiful” children.

I was talking to my mum about this the other day, and she was saying how she finds other people's children absolutely fascinating.

I argued that she was perhaps in the minority, unless someone was choosing to work in childcare/early years ed. She questioned why I don't really talk to my best mate about her kids.

I don't hate children at all but I don't talk about my mates kids with them much. We talk about adult stuff.
Loud or unruly kids in public are a bit annoying but I don't really go places where there are lots of them around.

They can be cute in small doses though so saying you hate them is a bit extreme.

Of course it’s nonsense because it’s not actually true. It’s an abstract statement based on logics of pure prejudice and tribalism - a generalisation / assumption you are applying to a group of people based on stereotype and small mindedness- you know the things we recognise in advanced societies as being harmful and false.

You don’t actually know if you like someone or not until you know them, and belonging to any given social group is not an accurate predictor of what someone is actually like as an individual person.

Why? Somepeople dont like dogs, cats, horses why is it wring to say they don't like children.

I see what you did there! 😎

Sadly no, but I do know that lots of people use this joke!

You can’t possibly make this statement because you don’t know all children. Children is the collective name for a huge variety of vastly different individual humans, and you may very well find you ended up really liking a child you actually got to know. Fine to have no interest / desire to do this. Fine to say you don’t want to have children of your own , and to organise your life in a way that suits you to spend time with the people and in the places you enjoy. However, Saying “I don’t like children” is no more acceptable than saying “I don’t like old people”, or “I don’t like xxxxx group of people” (insert x for all kinds of things you well know is completely unacceptable to say).

It might be culturally unacceptable to say, because as a society we dictate according to fashion and whim what is or isnt acceptable to say.

However it isnt nonsense. Its how humans throughout hundreds of thousands of years have operated. You have your tribe, your group of people in your community, you welcome those in you want and shun those you dont want. Modern humanity finds this shocking and frightening, so we dont encourage that.
But thats how any social pack animal works, its how many societies and countries across the world still work.

Thats not necessarily applicable to children, but Im making the point that its very common and not at all 'nonsense' to say I dont like this group of people and I dont want anything to do with them.

I have primary aged children and I do find they tend to ask more questions that would have been considered rude when I was little.

It’s been discussed a lot on Mn and I’m aware it’s contentious but I also find it grating when a young child addresses me by my first name without being invited to.

I agree. A friend I work with is childless by choice. She’s had two terminations so no issue getting pregnant, though people assume she must be barren, and secretly must have wanted them. She didn’t.

I both agree and disagree here.

It really grinds my gears when you see parenting advice on here which almost treats little kids as inhuman.

But on a good day my toddler is like a rowdy drunk. On a bad day he's like an aggressive drunk wanting to start a fight or crying in the toilets (because his sweetcorn isn't cooking fast enough or I wouldn't let him eat a brick). Older children are like chatty drunks. Many children, like drunks, can't keep their food down in the car.

It's a natural stage, and hey, I love my little drunkard. But it's fine not to like tiny drunks.

I agree, OP. It automatically makes me think badly of someone. Not liking any particular group of people due to age, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation makes you a bigot.

I like them but I have less energy for them as I get older.

I don’t like most children, though I sometimes do meet ones that are delightful. But on the whole I don’t really like them much. However, experience has taught me that they will eventually grow into adults, so being irritating, loud annoying children is a temporary condition which most will pass through and become rational and useful human beings.

Some of course will remain irritating, loud and annoying even as adults, so I will continue to avoid them.

That is a shame, our local teenagers here are very considerate towards younger children, I see 16-18 year olds on my school run 3x a day and we have no issues like that. I also speak to many lovely teenagers at my gym.

Often when you spend time speaking 1:1 with any child or teenager you realise how much potential they have. Children certainly ask me far more interesting questions than many adults I know. Sadly some don’t give them the time of day though, as with the elderly.

Because I don't like them. I don't enjoy the company of children, I didn't even when I was a child. I can't stand the noise, the mess, the smells, the relentlessness of it all. I go to adult only resorts, pubs that don't allow children and will see friends and family without their children. I've been this way my entire adult life and nobody holds it against me.

Does that clear it up?

Absolutely agree OP. So typical that the vote is YABU. Just says it all. Children are humans, it’s unacceptable and nonsense to say “I don’t like this group of humans” as a generalisation, regardless of the group.

You're really determined to push this aren't you? How are you qualified to know what other people think and feel? It's arrogant and presumptuous.

Absolutely this. “Authenticity” is reserved for the people who don’t depend on other people’s goodwill to survive.

Not wanting to have a child is very different to saying you don't like children. I don't want a dog but I don't dislike all dogs. The not spending time with any is a bit odd though, would you avoid a family member if they had a child? What are the reasons for not wanting to be around them?

Lol. No raw nerves here thank you. I find it quite sad that some women think all women must want children and can't understand that no not all women do.

You could do with getting out more.