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.

Thank you.

Headphones are widely available.

So are earplugs.

Obviously I would rather a child be comforted, but in terms of the actual physical sound and nothing else - yes, I can tune out someone else's crying child a lot easier than electronic sounds. Even really quiet ones. Seriously.

My children don't like headphones either. They understand (and believe me, they're high maintenance children with both diagnosed and undiagnosed SN including ASD and ADHD) that they either have no sound, or no tablet. So they choose to play games that don't need sound or watch a video muted. They're fine with it, it's just how it is.

Dollymix I hope your husband told his attacker that he was going to choose not to bleed profusely and be in intense pain in order to avoid upsetting himself.

Earplugs would have been just great for us in the fairly upmarket restaurant I was having a very very rare child-free lunch with my husband a few months ago. I'm sure that was the correct solution for the child watching - yes - Peppa Pig at full volume in a mostly otherwise empty restaurant whilst his two parents ignored him.

I've had it in restaurants with older children. I do think that's rude and unnecessary.

YABU

We're talking about the train though aren't we Shattered.

yes, of course. That makes absolute sense because being irritated is exactly the same thing as being stabbed. You carry on getting annoyed, be my guest, I was just concerned for your blood pressure.

I don't understand why children don't just wear headphones - most adults I see watching a DVD or playing a game wear headphones (although sometimes you can still hear it a bit).

To the people who say they'd rather listen to a crying child...
How many times have there been stories where someone has had a cats bum face and been very vocal about a child crying and making noise in public?
Blame them for the reason why parents resort to their phones to comfort their child. After cuddles and other failed distractions sometimes it's very helpful in preventing some idiot shouting at you.

One of the problems is that now nearly all the adults are locked onto their phones/tablets public places including public transport are a lot quieter than in the past when conversations constantly happened and a level of noise was normal.

Yesterday I took my 7 year old grandson on a hour train journey followed by 4 hour wait at a hospital and another hour train journey home - it would never have occurred to me to take a screen item for him. We played cards and several games looking out the windows and pen and paper games. I was really conscious how quiet the train was compared to when I took my own children out on public transport.

I was also conscious we were about the only people on the train or in the waiting rooms NOT on an electronic device of some kind the whole time. Child or adult. Several families literally did not speak to each other but all sat glued to individual screens - 20 years ago all would have been talking and playing games and individual noise would not have been noticed.

I can tune out most electronic noise, provided the volume is low. It becomes background noise when I don't focus on it, perhaps because it is repetitive and on the same tempo.
Certain voices I find harder to tune out- the lady talking in a shrill voice behind me, a harsh laugh a few metres away, group of people getting tipsy at the table opposite and losing volume control. Small children shrieking and squealing. A kid whining 'mummy mummy mummy' every 5 seconds. Give me Peppa Pig any day!

We live in a digital world now.... adults are constantly on their phones so you can't really expect the kids to be any different? 🤷‍♀️

I think what some people are failing to see is that for a lot of people with SN having all the different noises (so not just voices which in itself can be a problem) coming from different directions can be a real problem for them. The main reason I needed to "train" ds to cope with headphones was so he could block out everyone else's noise.

If a child really can't deal with headphones fair enough but keep the volume so low that even sat next to them even you can't really hear it!

If a child really can't deal with headphones fair enough but keep the volume so low that even sat next to them even you can't really hear it!

That's exactly what I do. If I tried forcing my ds to wear headphones then he'd make far more noise than a device that's on low volume.

We live in a digital world now.... adults are constantly on their phones so you can't really expect the kids to be any different

I expect both adults and children to use their phones quietly and use headphones to watch television or listen to music.

Blame them for the reason why parents resort to their phones to comfort their child. After cuddles and other failed distractions sometimes it's very helpful in preventing some idiot shouting at you

no I'll blame you for not using headphones, because that's on you.

I really don't understand why so many sensitive souls on public transport who find the normal, day to day noises of other people - including children - the equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard; why they don't invest in some ear plugs for their daily travels, rather than allowing themselves to be wound up to the point of outrage on the internet.

You can't control whether or not a parent puts headphones on their child, but you can control what you put in your ears. Sometimes it is within your gift to solve your own problems!

I've got two disabled kids who can't wear headphones .... I'm wondering if you'd rather hear the electronics or the massive meltdowns and violent outbursts ???

YANBU, I use my phone for my 1 year old to watch iplayer kids but the sound is always off on the bus. I haven't got a car so need to use public transport and sometimes I need to do a journey that takes an hour - books and cuddles only last so long but that's no reason to annoy everyone else with noise.

fuckyou (Very apt last part of your name)
my ds has sn just like yours does and will make more noise wearing headphones than having a device on very low to the point where nobody else can hear it. Hth.

It goes to show some people don't want to be happy, they just want to crow endlessly about how put out they are by everybody else's inexcusable rudeness.

And as I said, MY DC has sn and will have to leave if your electronic noise is disturbing him.

If it's loud enough for your child to hear it, its loud enough for other people to hear it too.

Well perhaps you should keep a spare pair in your purse to dish out in future. Problem solved! You're welcome.
Solutions is my game, not problems.