To think it's never too soon to teach cinema etiquette?

[MarchOn]

Took the kids to kids-club type thing at the cinema where they show older movies (stuff like Kung Fu Panda 2, not REALLY old stuff) for £1 each (and £1 for parents making it a cheap outing even for larger families).

Now I fully expect this kinda thing to be FULL of kids (and rightly so! that's who it's aimed at!) but AIBU to think that even young kids should be taught not to shout and run around in the cinema, even if it was only a quid to get in?

I expect a bit more noise and movement but there was a family having a full on conversation half way through the film and they were not whispering! Two kids behind us who seemed to need the toilet EVERY 5 minutes (thus giving them an excuse to run around wild as soon as they were free from their seats), two siblings sitting in different rows to each other shouting to one another(!!) and a little girl arguining with her dad (loudly) about the amount of sweets he was stealing from her bag!!

As I said, I expect more noise and movement than usual and I know we didn't lose much money-wise but AIBU to think parent should still teach their kids that the cinema isn't a playground??

On the other hand, there was a tiny little girl (must have only been about 4) who never spoke a word throughout the entire film so it shows it is possible!

I think I can tell the difference between a child who is talking because they simply can't stop themselves (partly through the way the parents react), and I'd be tolerant of that, and one who is allowed to misbehave by their parents in the way the OP describes

You have drip fed info. Kladd.
Your response to OP was If you go to a huge gathering of over excited children and expect good etiquette, then you are being unreasonable.
I asked how you would feel if your DC's film was ruined by others.
It was only in response to this question that you said your DC was autistic.
manicbmc Mon 03-Oct-11 18:34:47 has got it spot on.

Pandemoniaa What are you on about? I was answering a question put to me directly.

Marchon, YANBU.
Kladd, you are being inflammatory.
Of course no one expects children with special needs who may behave differently in a cinema, to behave the same way as children without special needs.
I am a parent of a child with special needs.
I would be very sad if I thought my child and I had spoiled other people's cinema experience, whether it cost £1 or £10 to see the film.
I have found people at our local vue absolutely great with my daughter, in fact one stranger helped me out of a really sticky situation and disappeared before I could thank him.
As I tell myself a dozen times a day, pick your battles. Kladd.

Methinks you protest too much. But I can't be arsed with the copying and pasting, tbh.

Because she is. It has no bearing on my initial response, which was general. You asked me a specific question, I answered you. Why ask a question if you don't actually want to hear the answer?

How am I being inflammatory? Just because I don't agree with the OP? The only reason my daughter's condition came into it is because KittyFane asked me.

anyone?

Ta, have a Kitty.

Mine's a but thanks Kitty

MrsFruitCake - your comment about any parent being mad to pay full price to take a young child to the cinema is wrong IMHO.
We paid full price for my DD to see Madagascar when she was 2.5, we felt pretty sure she would enjoy it as she was mad about all zoo animals. As expected she loved the film, and was quiet all the way through. If she had not been quiet one of us would have taken her out.
Likewise when we went to McDonalds I expected her to sit at the table & eat nicely, not run around ruining it for everyone else.

YANBU and actually, as the Grumpy Old Womand I am, my first thought when I saw the thread title was to wonder if anyone had any cinema etiquette these days, whatever their age.

I have never been to anything like the kids club that the OP describes and hopefully I never will now - it sounds awful. But even going to a film for any age group it seems these days that some people never think to not talk to each other during the film. And as for noisy eating - don't get me started. Is it really so impossible to sit for two hours without chewing something or sustaining oneself with a bucket of popcorn? I am still old enough to remember when people were expected to be quite during a film, but these days the volume of the film is turned up loud because no-one does.

Back to the kids thing. Of course parents should try to make their children understand that their are times to sit quietly. They might not always be able to manage it but if no-one even bothers to even tell them then they won't know will they?