Are adults who give babies tablets showing American cartoons at full volume in medical waiting rooms the lowest form of life? (Serious, not in any way light-hearted)

I must be much more zen than the average person when it comes to other people’s parenting.
Everything in moderation, it’s not an everyday occurrence, as someone who spends a lot of time in the children’s hospital, I think whatever works for the moment is fine, it’s mind numbing for the children. My children are older, I’m well over the toddler stage. The noise might be irritating but hardly the lowest form of behaviour.
The children who hog the available toys and scream, the ones who have gentle parents are more annoying, but again nothing worth writing a thread about. I wouldn’t beg my children in a sweet voice, they get “the look” it is enough to do the job.
Maybe I’ve experienced real fresh hell in life that I can tell the difference between a mild irritation and antisocial behaviour.

As I pressed send it did occur to me that you were being tongue in cheek. My bad.

I feel like I didn’t get the tone of my message right as it was a joke on the type of answers you get on here!

Aye right. The parents who allow their kids to watch their tablets at full volume in public are highly unlikely to be story readers.

Noise pollution isn't just annoying, it's also a proven health hazard.

Even lower are the adults who seem oblivious to the fact that headphones were invented and listen to whatever on their own phones loudly on a plane! Honestly makes my blood boil even though logically I know it’s not as bad as I think k it is.

The people who do it on 5 hour long trains… there is a circle in hell for them.

Yanbu op. I’ve started taking noise cancelling headphones now everywhere I go as people’s noise is so bloody irritating although they are only helpful if waiting rooms have screen notifications for you.

It’s the volume that’s the issue rather than them being on screens - I’m not sure why everyone here is being so defensive when they say they themselves turn the volume off or use headphones?

and yes, adults who do it are even worse because they should know better

I’m calling you judgemental and my “kid” is 23 so we didn’t have them when he was small. He’s autistic and when small was non verbal so you can bet your bloody life we would have used a screen if it helped.

Still, it’s stopped me being a judgemental arsehole around other parents. You have no idea what else they might be dealing with, sure…sit there and sneer.

Yep. I'm sure I'm one of the "old" people being derided by some (my kids are 14 and 10, I'm in my lateish 40s), but we've always just called it parenting.

I won't deny I've given my kids a tablet or phone once in a while when they were younger for long waits/journeys but we've always had a very strict rule that it's no headphones, no volume, no exceptions.

And a rule for myself that it's never the first thing to reach for.

Not allowing the volume to disturb others is just part of common courtesy surely. In the same category as not dropping litter, or eating a smelly McD on public transport, holding the door for somebody etc. Unfortunately these things aren’t as common now perhaps.

I think most are objecting to the use without earphones etc mainly. If a kid or adult wants to listen with headphones on during a hospital admission then that’s fine in my book.

i’m not generally a screen time parent, but when DD was two, she was on a ward, on a drip with a nasogastric tube down her throat. I had brought drawing, magnetic tiles, and some mega blocks with us, but she spent the majority of her time watching nonsense on my surface pro, or asleep. I don’t know what else you’re meant to do with a poorly child. We are a very outdoorsy family, live in Devon, beach/moors/farms/national trust properties etc every day. But when you’re stuck wired up to all sorts you can’t really do much else can you? I did bring Little over ear headphones for her. But Very dramatic on your part to say you’d go on a killing spree when very sick small children are watching some bloody telly

It's infuriating. It's not just children it's often adults watching things or listening to music without headphones too. It's anti social and selfish. I don't care about other peoples kids screen time because it's none of my business, but I do care when they make it everyone's problem by having the volume on full blast. Headphones or turn the sound off!

Raised decent kids without needing them to play iPads with the volume on. Same with everyone I know and their lovely children.

Mine probably had the most screen time of his life when he was in hospital but always, always with headphones. Or on silent if no headphones.

Loud ipads aren't necessary at all in public spaces.

Oh what a load of crap. Grow a pair and parent your child.

If your child can't sit in a waiting room for 10 minutes without needing to watch a tablet lest they behave like little turds, that is on the parent.

Children can't be controlled! Whatever next.

Absolutely the fucking worst, I had it at the dentist the other day, I have audhd as an adult,means I'm already stressed to fuck. The kid was perfectly ok and mother gives it the phone in a quiet waiting room ,stupid stupid fucking twat.had to weigh up having confrontation or putting up with it,but these people are not usually to be reasoned with, I couldn't put my own headphones on because because I needed to listen for my name being called, murder was nearly commited. I long for the day when the internet implodes ,it's ruined the world, yesterday I read 1 in 7 surfs the net whilst driving eh ?!?! Wtf.

Obviously it’s not ideal to listen to someone else’s kids’ iPad. But it also wouldn’t be ideal to listen to someone else’s child screaming their head off, which may have been the alternative and which the parent here was possibly trying to avoid. M
I’d suggest being so enraged by this that you label The parent as being ‘the lowest form of life’ is a problem that you might need to address yourself.

In Victorian times people looking after children tried to just get through their day by drugging children with opium. Parents can't just do any old thing for the sake of a quiet life.

I'd normally agree. But we just spent 4 days in hospital with my 2 year old with acute croup. He only spent one night on the observation ward, which obviously, we slept, but if they have to stay still because of an IV or whatnot and you have already spent 2 hours reading, playing, drawing. How how else can you keep your 2 year old still? I will say when other kids came, I turned the volume off, and he didn't seen to mind.

Yeah, i agree. They're lazy, inconsiderate, mouth-breathing morons.

I don't mind the sounds of a child playing, or doing normal kid things. But overly loud kids making a racket, and the parent/s don't even once try to calm them down or tell them to be quiet are worse than satan. It is not a solution to just plonk your poorly brought-up monster in front of a blaring tablet.

@BeardySchnauzergiven these parents are all sitting in the drs waiting room, I’d hazard a guess that at least some of them may be feeling fairly ill.

one of the hardest things about being a parent is the fact you don’t get “sick days”! So for all we know the parents OP is referring too could be an amazing parent 99% of the time but while they are unwell enough to attend their GP with a choke in tow, I’d hazard a guess that they may not not ok their A game at that precise moment in time!