Loud Ipads/ phones being used to entertain children in restaurants

If your child is having a screaming meltdown in a restaurant, you pay and leave immediately. As a parent of a child with special needs I’ve done it multiple times. It’s totally unacceptable to let them just scream the place down. And iPads are fine. iPads without headphones only in your own home.

I cannot believe some people are so arrogant and entitled this needs to be explained to them!

I think it's incredibly sad that so many kids don't seem to be able to survive without their eyes glued to a screen.

BUT I'd rather listen to a YouTube video than a kid having a screaming meltdown so as the lesser of two evils I'd live with the tablet noise.

Are you really the kind of person who doesn’t know how to behave unless there’s a law about it?

And then whine about the nanny state?

On a recent flight we had a family with volume on, I offered them politely but firmly a spare set of headphones (sealed in pack from a previous flight) they got the hint and turned the sound off immediately but refused the headphones (not sure if they had their own or just used it without sound) . My dc did tens of thousands of air miles (lived overseas) as little ones without tech as it hadn’t been invented

No. No volume at all. Use headphones. If your kid can hear it others can hear it - artificial sounds like this are very hard for the human ear to tune out.

No headphones, no volume.

I would have approached the manager and if they still hadn’t turned it down left the restaurant. Restaurants need to have a firm policy and not take any flack from entitled customers, and don’t start mentioning Sen - my dd is autistic and my dsd had profound disabilities, dsd does love the iPad but not at the table, we managed just fine before they were invented even those of us with sen children

No, we'd all rather they wore headphones.

Why don't people get their kids head phones? I just don't get it, it's happening more and more in restaurants and on flights and trains.

I'm not bothered at all by people using tablets to entertain kids when they have to sit quietly for a good while, but don't expect everyone else to have to hear it too.

Are you serious?

You think people in a restaurant should put up with other people watching TV?

If you can't stop your kid shouting and screaming, then sadly, you have to avoid restaurants. You cannot impose your issues on other people.

He should be wearing headphones. It’s really antisocial to subject other people to the noise of a tablet, regardless of how low you think the volume is

Actually, you do!

If you are paying for an experience being ruined by others, you do have the right to request that the cafe/restaurant owner shuts down the bad behaviour that is ruining the experience. If they won’t, you walk out.

And the more that this kind of gentle lazy parenting is called out, the less we should experience early (and continuing) antisocial behaviour - that’s what this is!

We taught our children table manners from the point at which they were able to eat at the table, and did not tolerate any shouting, screaming or watching tv while a meal was in progress. Going to a cafe or a restaurant was an event that we prepared them for - as in - you have to be on your best behaviour. Our DC were often complimented on their behaviour by other diners, and we were just pleased that we as a family had not ruined someone else’s outing.

And that small act of consideration for others is what everyone in society should be striving for. It’s the Social Contract - not “dictating” - as a society, that’s what the majority expect!

I will let my 4 year old watch his tablet at a restaurant (we only go to them when we are on holiday or a special occasion so maybe 4-5 times a year) he has a very short attention span and won't sit and colour/read etc he just wants to run off and explore so i let him watch but I always make sure it's on the lowest volume so we don't disturb people

I always tell people to turn the volume off.

I have had this on every flight I’ve been on recently - iPad on with the volume on - argh!

I have young children and am not averse to using an iPad to distract them - but everyone else doesn’t need to listen to it…!

I’m same as you ., not something I would encourage with my own kids and their kids but as I couldn’t give a shiny shit about how others bring up them up, kids glued to screens don’t bother me one iota.
However, I certainly don’t expect to hear Bluey at full volume etc so headphones are a must.
you need to talk to firmly and persistently to the waiting staff/manage in future not the parents tho so they can address the issue and ensure you and fellow diners are not disturbed.

It’s asshole behaviour for ANYONE to be watching / listening to something through the speakers and not earbuds in public full stop. I also believe phone calls on speaker phone should be an invitation for everyone to join in.

You are not being unreasonable. It's not just kids/parents though. I had to tell a woman on an (overnight) flight the other day to put head phones on if she wanted to watch a movie on her phone.

A woman on the train the other day was playing a game full volume, was so irritating too. I just don't think some people get the etiquette!

No.
Eating out involves respect for all the other people eating out.
If people can only eat with a screen if front of them they need to wear headphones.
Its not hard.

You're a lazy parent too then?

Why do the needs of a SN child who can’t be in a restaurant without a loud device get prioritised above those people whose special needs means they can’t cope with this? There are many such people around for which that sort and volume of noise is just intolerable.

There is no reason a child needs volume without headphones in public and if a child is screaming they shoulf be removed by the parents it is really that simple

So no law then. In fact, the opposite is true.

I said pp not OP

2 DC with SEN here. Screens in restaurants were only ever allowed after eating, maybe while grown ups were chatting, and there was no watching anything without headphones. We're a ND family and we all use ear defenders in public places because everyone seems to be so damn loud. It's not just inconsiderate parents letting their kids do this in restaurants, it's on public transport, in shops, every bloody where, and adults doing it too. Me, me, me, I'll do whatever I like, bugger anyone else, and they teach their kids the same.

It’s not ableist to suggest that it’s wrong to take a child to a venue that he finds deeply distressing!

Probably prefer them eating, and talking at a reasonable volume.