Screaming kids

[chocolatemademefat]

I’m currently in a playroom with a 6 and a 4 year old. There are 2 older girls here who are having a screaming competition. I heard them chatting about it and for the last five minutes it’s been non stop. My head is now banging and I really want to tell them to stop it. They’re doing it on the move and younger kids are being pushed out of the way and toppling like skittles.

I don’t want to be that person who complains to the staff - I’d really rather tell the pair of them to calm down and give us peace. I expect playrooms to be rowdy places but this is nipping my ears.

I can only hope their throats will be raw soon and they’ll stop. Their parents must be deaf. WIBU to complain?

If they are both older than 6 there is no excuse really. Do they have a parent with them?

A playroom? Like in someone's house?

It’s softplay and the two sets of parents are both here.

parents are both here

It would piss me off if they ignored the screaming, so anti social to let everyone suffer imo.

I wouldn't complain to staff, I'd aks the kids to stop or talk to their parents. Though talking directly to the kids would probably make more sense, since the parents don't seem to care that their children are making everyone's ears hurt and are shoving smaller kids around.

I'd tell the kids directly, and if that didn't work I'd speak to the parents.

Asked a kid to stop with a loud bike horn in the camping shop the other day, we were there a while and it was fucking incessant, everybody was complaining to each other. So I asked the parents to make it stop.

I'd say something to the parents or the kids if the parents weren't there. That's obnoxious. Girls are loud in groups (at least that's what I've experienced, i have 2) so they need to be reminded sometimes to keep it down. But a preplanned screaming match? That's some piss-poor parenting if they are being allowed. There's a thing called an "in-door" voice for a reason.

If they are not being directly supervised then tell them to stop. If a child is able to play independently, they are able enough not to scream all the time and able enough to be told not to do it.

Get DCs and you to put your hands over your ears and pull a ‘pained’ face right in front of the parents until they get the point. Also, some kids hate loud screaming noises anyway, so tell them it’s frightening your little one.

What is wrong with some people!?

I ALWAYS hear kids making the most infuriating noises either when I’m out and about or in restaurants etc and 9/10 the parents say nothing to them. I think they mentally block it out to be able to survive life with their hideous children.

I’d have locked the little shits in a nearby cupboard!

I'd tell the staff rather than go direct to the parents yourself. If you go to the parents, depending on how rational and reasonable they are, they will either tell the children to stop or they will tell you to mind your own business, they're only xx ages, it's a softplay not a museum, etc and that's going to make the rest of your visit awkward. Part of what the staff are paid for is to manage the softplay and that includes speaking to the parents of unsupervised kids, tell the staff, they'll speak to the parents, hopefully that'll sort it.

I live on an estate where three families’ kids all play together and the screaming is like nothing I’ve heard on earth. It definitely has an effect as I no longer double-take if a kid screams, as I assume it’s the new play behaviour. In short YANBU but if the parents are like the ones who live around here, they won’t care!

I can't stand noise. I went to an airport loo a few weeks ago with a couple of friends. A little girls (maybe 3 or 4?) came in with her mum. She was singing. Loudly. After she left my friends said 'aah, how sweet; but I said her parents should teach her not to make that much noise in a public place. Sounds hard-line but I am sensorily sensitive and people need to consider others. I never let my kids scream for fun. Ever. It's really antisocial.

I live in a small estate and couple of houses behind me have children (girls) who just scream and scream. They do not seem to know they can actually soak without yelling. I honestly cannot go into my garden for any length of tine as the noise just grates on me. The parents are never heard, too busy on their phones enjoying the quiet indoors to notice how awful the noise is. I dread school holidays.

I'm going to get absolutely ripped to pieces for saying this, but I find this is a British thing. I grew up in Ireland and I was allowed to have a laugh, but I wasn't allowed to scream like I hear kids scream here. Jesus you can hear some kids screeching from space. Ducks for cover

....steps in to deflect the wrath from @Pangur2 by suggesting children who do that high pitched screaming thing repeatedly for no reason should be muzzled.
Kids running around, playing, laughing and generally having fun is a lovely sound.
Little brats repeatedly screaming at a pitch on par with a dog whistle is horrible.

If they're as loud as OP says then the parents will be aware and probably think their little darlings are adorable for doing it.

If I was you I'd just ask the kids to stop as it isn't very nice.

Haha cheers Rosie!
In seriousness though, how does anyone over here know if their kid is happily playing, or if their kid has just broken a bone? The screaming goes through me, I swear. I constantly think kids have hurt themselves!

Also, do they not end up with fierce sore throats and tinnitus? ...
Ducks again

YANBU.

I say that as the parent of a screechy, screamy 6 year old with no volume control and who will not stop regardless of how often she's told/warned/punished.

It drives me absolutely insane and we've had hearing checked incase she genuinely can't hear herself but nope 🙄😡

@Pangur2 That's what worries me! I no longer have an appropriate reaction to kids screaming as it's so prevalent. If that's happening to loads of people then it doesn't bode well if there's a child in danger.