To think "they're just kids" is a shit response to prolonged ear piercing screaming?

I live a stones throw from a pub garden, these days screaming like your legs are been cut off seems to be the norm. I absolutely hate it, roll on winter.

Yes I find it extremely irritating. But on a playground I would just quietly seethe rather than say anything because it’s a playground lol. (Most!) kids are expected to behave absolutely perfectly in pretty much every other situation. I can let them have this one space to be little dickheads in even if I literally want to stick pokers through my own eardrums by the end of it.
But yea… I’m very thankful to have two naturally very quiet and reserved kids who have never done this because I would lose my mind.

Of course they shouldn't be screaming

My DC are adults now, but were never allowed to scream for no reason like that. If they made too much noise in the garden on the trampoline etc then I went out once and asked them to keep it down and the next time they had to come in for a while. They learnt not to do it.

It’s totally selfish and showing no consideration for others to allow an appalling noise like that.

A vast number if parents are terrible at parenting. Not telling your children to stop screaming is just one of many examples of this.

I totally agree. The screaming for no reason is utterly unbearable.

The pitch is what kills you. I took my son to a paddling pool and some little girls were literally walking aimlessly screaming for zero reason.

Squeals, shouts, loud laughs etc all fine.

I cannot understand why people think that allowing their children to scream like that is acceptable.

No screaming please. Its not play.

I don't think the OP expected silence in the playground at all, but there's a massive difference between playing loudly and screeching like banshees for no reason. I'm a KS1 teacher, and I will have words with the screamers, and explain why it's not ok. I live abroad and have permanent neighbours and tourists close by whose kids scream ( not crying or playing , literally a horrible high pitched squealing) at all hours including the arsecrack of dawn, and the parents just laugh and encourage it. Seriously? No need. The noise travels and echoes where we live, and it's fucking annoying.

Just classic bad parenting imo. Anyone who responds with ‘it’s just kids’ to their kids screaming like that, is just simply not a very considerate person.

My friend lives opposite to a play park like yourself. I was walking to hers which you do by walking past the play park. There were 2 girls aged about 8 screaming . I said to them "are you babies?" "no" replied one of them. I then said "only babies should scream".

My friend had problems with these two girls for most of the school summer holidays as weather was decent and they were out most of the day 90% of the time. Even when it was 32/33c. Girls spent most of the time screaming. My friend has no idea where they live, even asking neighbours and a couple of other people down the road. It got very tedious for my friend who WFH . Had to use her noise cancelling headphones when working as she needed the windows to be open during the hot weather but it made the girls' screams louder.

My friend told me that since I spoke to them, mentioning that only babies scream, they still play outside but the screaming has stopped. Probably the association of being called babies made them stop.

I do hate this screaming that children do at high pitch tones. There are girls live around the corner aged 9-10 that scream.

When shopping and then you hear a child about 5-6 scream all the time. The relief in the faces of other customers and the staff is just heaven when the screaming child has left. One of the staff said "why do their parents spend an age in here when their kid is screaming"

I wonder if it was the same mother and daughters in the soft play i was in a month back. She was stood right next to them and didn't bat an eyelid.
Some weird parents out there

I detest screaming children and I wish we could bring back the old school 'village to raise a child' attitude. There have ALWAYS been feral families but in the past their children were largely socialised by the non-feral neighbours etc. They grew up to be normal, decent enough adults. They had a chance to learn from better role models and grow beyond their start in life.

At some point we were told it was 'judgy' to do this so people became afraid to intervene. So, antisocial behaviour continued and these children grow up to join a kind of social underclass without skills, manners or supportive relationships. We then wonder why they are depressed, isolated and unemployable.

I live opposite a play park.

I absolutely love it when it’s nice enough weather and light enough for the kids to be out there playing. Loud voices doesn’t bother me nor swirls of delight.

But I know exactly what you mean by that scream. It’s the just standing still and screaming at the top of their lungs for no actual reason.

I don’t say anything as I’m not there but agree it’s unnecessary.

Last year was the first year I had heard proper screaming since Covid. I'm sure it was very physically and emotionally satisfying for the screamers and they stopped once they'd got it out of their system.

They were outside, not in close proximity to anybody else and weren't hurting anybody. They haven't done it again since.

100%. I hate screaming kids but you can’t expect a playground to be quiet.

We were at a trampoline park recently and a family with a small boy inexplicably chose the one trampoline right next to us (the entire unit of 20+ slots were empty aside from us). The father held his hands while jumping and the boy was literally shrieking like he was being hurt or terrified. At first I had to keep looking over to check if he was genuinely scared but it seemed like he was actually enjoying it. However instead of laughing shrieking, it was literally high pitched shrill screaming and the mum was just looking at them laughing.

YANBU OP, some children are just annoying AF. But if they're strangers and you won't ever see them again, you just have to suck it up.

Screaming because you are having fun is not an appropriate response though is it?

Well done OP. It takes a village to raise a child … especially because some people just can’t or won’t ‘raise’ their children. All they do is ‘watch them grow up’. Good you took action!

Screaming because you are having fun in the playground is one thing. Screaming for the sake of Screaming is annoying and not on.

There is definitely a difference between full on screaming and squealing having fun. I never let my kids scream and told them to save it for it there was something wrong - but I do think in a playground I wouldn’t have said anything!

Completely agree with this. Big difference between natural excited yelps and squeals and laugher and continuous ear-piercing screaming and shrieking at length which for some bizarre reason loads more kids are doing these days without being told to pack it in.

I HATE screaming. I've told my girls the only acceptable times are a jump scare, someone is abducting/attacking them or someone has died. 😆 They know not to do it in parks and playing. I get that some kids may not be able to help it but if the parents just let them screech and scream for shits and giggles it does my tits in. 🙈🤣

They both sound nuts.

My cousin’s kid used to do this. It’s horrendous. Tell your kid to be quiet ffs.