I've just seen the most depressing thing

Your post makes no sense in relation to that post either.

you still haven't replied to my question,

how old are YOUR kids OP?

And I'd be removing your access to my daughter. Ridiculous post

For twenty minutes? That's too much for an eight year old? Ok...that's why I get 11 year olds in my classroom who cannot wait their turn to speak, expect to have their issue attended to instantly and OFSTED expects everyone lesson to be an all singing all dancing entertainment in case god forbid they are a bit bored at any point.

WTF are you on about?!?! So anyone who scrolls on their phone is on benefits now?!?!? Wowwwww that has got to be the biggest stretch I’ve ever read on here…🤯

Also OP - even more depressing is people who have their kid aged 12 months or whatever watching a tablet or phone while in the pushchair, when they could either be interacting with a parent (if parent facing) or observing the world (if not). Screens are most harmful when they replace normal human activity and experience — but sadly I see it constantly.

Watching TV together for half an hour and discussing the programme is far less harmful than ignoring your kid while in a coffee shop. To be fair if they had discussed something on a screen together, fine. But he was clearly just ignoring her from what OP describes and I see this crappy parenting constantly. It’s obvious that you use screens constantly if you can’t even put them away for half an hour to enjoy a coffee/cake together.

I didn't misquote you. It's literally lifted from your post. You think that's normal, I feel sorry for the kid that hes expected remain silent and not interrupt adults. You did a second post after about offering him a drink. Fine, but I'm still allowed to think that's quite a victorian expectation for an 8yo.

So you’re happy to use screens, just in private?

I was replying to a comment specifically talking about being on the phone with a baby in the pram...

It’s just pathetic and lazy. My child aged two is allowed to watch limited TV at home but a coffee shop is an opportunity for interaction, chat, vocab building, playing I spy etc. You're too lazy for that? Don’t have kids then.

It's not - I was replying to a specific comment talking about that exact scenario...

You’ve seen half an hour out of a day.

I beg your pardon?!?! For some of us it’s the better alternative to a restless child who is inquisitive and won’t settle, especially when they’re very small. My child has Autism and when she was a toddler, even my mum couldn’t get her to sit still if we went out to eat and she’s like Mary Poppins! Absolutely nothing helped regardless of how many times we removed her from the restaurant or wherever we were. We didn’t know she was autistic until she was 4 but quite often it’s the lesser of too evils! To be very clear, it was educational programs NOT Instagram!!!!!
You sound insufferable and if I was your DD and you tried that snobbish nonsense with me, you’d not be seeing your granddaughter again.

Recently I was in a play park and a little boy kept coming up to both his parents trying to interact with them - ‘Mummy I went on the slide’ etc. Both of them on phones and neither looked up at him once. I judged hard. Innocent, sweet boy will likely not stay that way for long with that level of parenting.

Oh the horror of all these TERRIBLE PARENTS letting their child use a screen! Call Social Services NOWWWWWWWW!😱

How is a sleeping baby the same as a 3 year old who needs interaction and positive relationship building with her parent? Your standards of parenting must be on the floor.

obviously a tiny baby is different. Not hard to work out!

Selective outrage innit? 😎 Typical behaviour of the super smug judgypants brigade, who love nothing more than a bit of performance parenting with Jimberly and Jimothy!

Hate this bullshit excuse. It wasn’t a snapshot, it was probably at least half an hour and you can make a bloody accurate judgement in that time if someone doesn’t interact with their child positively once. Stop excusing terrible parenting.

I think I'm a person with an opinion and what I saw was far beyond acceptable to me.

Fixed that for you! You're welcome.

How the hell is a sleeping baby in a pram the same as an awake child being ignored by a parent in a cafe. FFS I honestly despair on here.

Absolutely right I judge this type of parenting (sen excluded). So does everyone I know. We see it everywhere we go now and someone always always comments on how shit the parents are. We're not judging all screen time, mine had screen time at home, have phones as teens, we're judging children being ignored by parents, being silenced by screens instead of interacting with people/parents.

My youngest child is 13, she is part of the first generation to have had smart phones around growing up, very rarely did I see what we're seeing now 10 years ago, that's why we're horrified. We used screens of course we did but never when outside or interacting with people and certainly not when eating a family meal.

I said it upthread and I'll say it again...how do you think parents managed before screens? I understand screens can be a godsend for sen children but that's not what we're talking about here.