To think that mumsnetters will enjoy this story: anti-establishment 9 year old

[ISBN1966]

haha

Imagine having to teach those kids.

I must live near them. I don't know them but there are a fair few identikit non identikit families round here. London Fields/Broadway Market types. Pure twattery.

Their shops .

Think I'll get me right at home in the armchair of that Earlham St one. I'll just fancy a sit down by the time I've got up West, fuck that some window designer just spent an afternoon getting it looking nice.

I used to know a nice, clever, kind 9yo who would absolutely have been straight up that because her parents - old friends of mine - never checked her behaviour.

She's now a nice, clever, kind 11yo whom I occasionally catch cringing visibly because her parents are behaving like entitled twats in public...

(They are very nice & quite clever too, just oddly oblivious when it comes to behaving sensibly in public).

Although agree with many - the 9-year-old should have known better not to climb on artwork, I do think everyone is taking what happened a tad too far.
Granted, it is the Tate Modern museum, certainly an establishment many hold a lot of respect for, but is she REALLY the only nine-year-old EVER to do such a silly thing? Are they the only parents EVER to give such a pathetic and lame excuse for their daughter's behaviour?
Reading some of the comments, I think some people are more wound up by the fact they have money, send their kids to private school and have unusual names! I don't think anyone lese would have created such a frenzy if it hadn't been for those elements and twitter.
This story will be dead and buried in days because nobody really gives a damn.

This story will be dead and buried in days because nobody really gives a damn.

Well I can't disagree with that, same goes for 90% of what people talk about on here and in RL.

Doesn't mean it's not worth a blether!

That boy's school is definitely not a private school. It's the local comp.

I think it's their utter smuggery that's wound everybody up. Entitled much?

Stuart and Kait displayed their anti-establishment credentials by flogging the All Saints brand for millions a few years ago.

If you would like to show your appreciation of their alternative lifestyle, why not visit their shop in Broadwick Street, W1?

I believe there are other outlets too.

this would be a good place to look Note that Wikipedia have flagged the page for deletion which they often do for pages set up for naked self-promotion, which is quite a petit bourgeois thing to do, now you come to think of it.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say it really irritates me as a parent for galleries to be so precious about their stuff. Ok, maybe this particular item is worth 'millions' but as a parent of an inquisitive 6 yr old, kids like to touch stuff - and galleries that actually want to engage and interest children should bear that in mind.
I went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with my DD and DP last year and was profoundly depressed by the incessant 'don't touch' signs everywhere - and frankly, many of the 'artworks' there would not have been in anyway harmed by being touched. I won't be going back in a hurry.
We went to see the Grayson Perry tapestries today and the usually very good, interactive part of Manchester Art Gallery was closed. My DD got a bit too close to a piece of furniture and the staff intervened, ok, I get they were right to, but my DD was really distraught and had meant no harm - the member of staff then (not very subtly) seemed to follow us and DD got very upset and it spoiled the whole experience for her.
Fair enough if something is fragile, or likely to be harmed, but otherwise put out some stuff that can be properly looked at and touched or else you run the risk of being of no interest at all to younger children (and their parents).

Oh Drugs :( I have also been made to cry by children like this, either because of things they've done to my DC, or because of violence aimed at me.

One hit me right in the eye, VERY hard with a certain everyday object (holding back from outing myself with all the details!) The mum was terribly apologetic and ran to get me a homeopathic remedy (of course) but said nothing to the child!

I would normally agree with you beamur.

However these people are a specific example of egregiously ludicrous cunts and therefore I will make an exception for them and their kind.

I've got no respect for the parents for giving this interview and shining a light on their children

Beamur, they do. There are loads of interactive art and museum exhibits (way more than there used to be) and sculptures that are designed to be touched and climbed on.

However, as a rule art is not to be touched and SN aside, I can't see what's so hard about teaching your DC that. Then if it is something you can touch, you can explain that to them.

Presumably most people manage to get across to their DC that you don't go up and poke other people, displays of food in shops, and so on. It's no different.

it's the Evening Standard; it was bound to be a hatchet job

Oh, I don't think that it was that bad. Ok, she shouldn't have climbed on the trumped up Ikea shelving art work.

Fire away at the parents, but leave the kids out of it. They can't help that their parents are stuck up

Oh and slagging off modern art with the old "It looks like something from Ikea"/"my 3yo could have done that"/"it's just a pile of brick" schtick is sooooooo lame.

Maybe you don't understand it. Maybe if it's worth several million, it's worth several million, whatever you think. Or maybe it's genuinely a piece of crap. But even then, it's someone else's piece of crap in an art gallery setting and your sneery views don't trump the fact that it should be treated with respect.

(I am not the artist btw! :o But I feel strongly about this as I know artists)

Hm, can't say I like the parents much from their comments, BUT I think that part of the problem is caused by the Tate Modern itself (and other museums/galleries).

If you position yourself as a family-friendly gallery, you offer art Saturdays, kids' activities, a restaurant advertised as family-friendly and a soft play area, you have to expect children to visit. The problem with having a soft play area in the middle of a gallery, and interactive exhibits, is that whilst it's obvious to most adults as to which bits of brightly coloured plastic are meant to be climbed on and which bits are meant to be admired respectfully from a distance, it's not that obvious to a child - even a nine-year-old.

I go to the Tate Modern a fair bit, both in a work capacity and with my DC for their entertainment (though they're only 4 and 2), and it really is hard to explain to them what makes one thing art and another cheap stuff to be played with. I do think a 9yo should know better, and yes, the parents/carers should supervise better, and it is bloody hard to find any sympathy whatsoever for the smug parents (why bother with the anti-establishment bullshit, why not just say the child was tired, bored and hungry and there was no obvious barrier to stop her...) but museums/galleries need to think about how to reconcile the need to attract younger audiences with the need to protect the works of art. Most family-friendly museums put rope barriers around anything remotely climbable.

im more shocked at the price of the so called art than the kids climbing on it tbh.

Galleries are precious about their "stuff" because touching stuff damages it. Even clean hands have oils and leave fingerprints. How many millions of hands could touch an object in the British Museum in a year?

Sissi is diminutive of Elizabeth. I learned that from a MN name thread.

Every day is a free school day.

Just because a place is family friendly does not give parents the right to allow their progeny to behave like brats and then excuse their behaviour as being 'anti-establishment'. How ludicrous!

Lots of places are family friendly but I'd still expect children and adults to behave appropriately.

Well, that's me told.

No need to be snotty about it. I'm not some hick from hickville. Just don't like that installation.

Most of the people on this thread have just restored my faith in humanity. I live in a naice village that seems to be breeding this type of wanky excuse for a parent. Pleased to hear it's not just me who objects to them! I pity their children, I can't see it ending well for them!