Is this accepted now? Young children and electronics on public transport.

[AnneGrommit]

The last few times I've been on a train (not in quiet coach) and quite often on the bus I've had my peace disturbed by toddlers with phones/tablets either playing noisy games on them or watching programmes. When I've asked parents to rein them in I've been invariably met with either passive aggressive remarks about not liking children (I have three myself) or outright hostility and a statement along the lines of "it keeps them quiet". No, it doesn't. It stops them from pestering you but it's far from quiet. AIBU or is this an accepted "thing" now? Because it's fucking annoying.

DM was recently taken to a very posh hotel for her birthday and some little shit watched the same Disney song 8 times in a row at top volume over a 9pm meal

Yes its rude to have loud electronics and parents should make sure headphones are worn. But I have to admit, adult males tend to be worse for this than children. I also find groups of men loud in restaurants and a drunk mums group can be so shrieky that an excited toddler can't be heard over the din.

Meh, I can't get wound up about this TBH.

I recently treated myself to a first class ticket on the train. In my defence, it was only £8 more than the standard class one and I figured by the time I had purchased wifi and a coffee, I would pretty much have spent that in standard. Also, I urgently needed to get a paper edited, so I figured the extra space and room would be useful. The 3 hour journey - and any chance of focus - was ruined by a little girl playing on a tablet. Mother asked her nicely several times to put headphones on, but she refused and the mother did absolutely nothing to enforce it. It was pathetic parenting. That said, the elderly couple reading out the entire food menu VERY LOUDLY for 20 minutes were equally annoying.

Some of our buses have wifi.

My GP's surgery has wifi.

The hospital where I work has free, relatively unlimited wifi.

Browsing the internet quietly is one thing.

But there are a lot of deeply unreasonably fuckwits who do nothing quietly.

😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠

Well I'll come in and just remind you that some children, like my son, have special needs.
He's 3, diagnosed with Autism last month and will not wear headphones. The sound of the train or bus petrifies him, so having nursery rhymes played at a level he can hear is preferable to him having a meltdown and an asthma attack from all the sobbing. Just a little reminder that not all kids are simply entitled and addicted to technology.
And before anybody says 'Oh we're not talking about kids with needs!'
You can NEVER know what child has needs. Granted, we now have a disabled badge on his pram so that people are vaguely aware, but still, parenting a SEN Child is hard enough without realising the song of 'Old McDonald' for 20 minutes winds people up to the point of writing on the internet about it

This will be why I got so many looks last week, when my children sat quietly drawing on the train from London* - I HATE electronic noises even at home, and won't let them have tablets on public transport (I never had them, and seem to have survived). Different in our own car, but in public? They have to be respectful of other people.

*they also asked me for my phone several times and whined a bit that I was so mean not to be entertaining them the whole way home - they are not angels - but they did do a lot of quiet drawing too!

I commute to work by bus. There are loads of adults who do this too. In fact, I've never really seen a child be allowed to use electronics noisily, their parents have always insisted on them being muted, but I regularly see adults on my bus watch You Tube clips at full volume, or put music on at full volume, and they just outright refuse to turn them down.

So, yes, loud phones/tablest in public is a thing.

That noise may wind up other children with severe sn so that has to be also given consideration. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it but everyone needs to bare in the mind the impact on others.

I can't stand anyone playing music / videos on public transport without headphones, child or not! YANBU

I was about to say that spikey. Ds reallynstruggled on public transport because of all the different noises from different directions.

This was one of the reasons I persevered with headphones for him which he eventually accepted to help him block out everyone else. But as has been said that doesn't work for all children (or adults) with special needs

It's lazy shit parenting in my opinion.

That may be the case for you, GettingMarried17 but do you think it means that no-one should ever challenge annoying noises from electronic items - ever?
OP - YANBU. Can't stand electronic noises and will be prepared to ask someone to turn it down (nicely!) if it is irritating.

Headphones! Why won't people use them. If presented with the option of use headphones or no tablet on a long flight my kids WILL wear the headphones. Yes it was a struggle at first when they were under 2 years old but I wasn't going to let them ruin anyone else's journey. I personally don't feel they should be used on journeys of less than an hour and what's the point of taking your kids out for a meal if you let them while away the time on the computer! Should be family time. Same goes for adults and their phones btw.

It's lazy shit parenting in my opinion

Don't be daft. If you're on a long journey and your child enjoys using a tablet why not?

The issue is parents who are unwilling to minimise the impact on others

I can't read when travelling, it makes me unwell. So DD and I use headphone splitters and watch movies together.

if a home reading does this I ask you to consider your rude, entitled and inexcusable behaviour. And be aware that everyone in the carriage is thinking what a massive arsehole you are.

I'm not. I get trains quite often and I don't give a shit.

I don't have kids but I can't see the problem? Surely it keeps them quiet and it's hardly super loud. Public transport is just that - public. There are other people and their noise and YABU to complain about it.

If a child can't wear headphones and has to have loud electronic noise around them to feel comfortable, is public transport really the best method of getting them around? Wouldn't the more controlled environment of a domestic car be easier? That is a genuine, not a rhetorical, question and I appreciate that the answer may vary according to the individual.

If a child is old enough to watch a screen they are old enough to wear headphones. And there are some v comfy child friendly ones these days! Start as you mean to go on. Tell them it doesn't play without headphones!
Restaurants, train companies etc should have policies around UAE of tablets, laptops etc. Some adults are just as guilty. Horrendous experience on a virgin train with an arrogant SOB who refused to turn down a loud action film. Train emoyees just shrugged shoulders. Wtf?

Pet hate. Have had it in restaurants, public transport, the doctors. The sound of children chatting and playing is entirely normal. The sound of second hand Peppa Pig is like a form of torture.

I find electronic noises far less irritating than whiny kids repeating themselves loudly for all to hear. Tablet noise and recorded programs are much easier to tune out than a live conversation.

Absolutely agree, I also prefer it to the noise of moaning adults, adults on phones, adults talking about last nights TV, last nights sexual exploits (had that on a train once, I learned more about this guy's girlfriend and what her party tricks were than I ever wanted to know) and particularly sniffing which I hate, why don't people blow their noses?

Lol granny!

Not just public transport, sadly. Saw the same on the plane to and from holiday this summer. 2.5 hours of RaaRaa at full volume from 6am . The air stewards wouldn't say anything to the parents 🙄