Should kids be allowed in pubs?

[chocolatesaltyballs22]

Currently having a heated debate with husband. Pub near us has just imposed a 'no kids' rule, which I'm happy about. We have teen kids but have never felt the need to take them into pubs unless going for a meal. Lots of the regulars in our local take their younger kids in while they have a sesh and leave them to run riot. The landlord won't stand up to them as they bring too much money in.

My view is that pubs are not a place for kids - they never were when I was younger. It's a place I go to escape from my own kids, so why do I have to put up with other people's? He thinks that kids won't learn how to behave in public unless they are allowed into places like pubs.

Opinions?

The kids aren’t the problem, it’s there lazy parents that are. I work in an environment that welcomes children but I am regularly on the wrong end of parents refusing to parent their kids when in public. If you dare suggest they keep an eye out for their kids, they get defensive and are incapable of taking responsibility.

I was forced to sit in the pub for hours as a child more times than I care to mention. This was when smoking indoors was allowed as well so you could barely see someone standing a few inches away due to the thick smog of tobacco in the air. It was not a place for children then and I still don’t think it is now, I wouldn’t dream of taking my DC into a pub.

My local allows dogs but not children - children only in the garden.

Landlady says as & when dogs run up and down the aisles tripping up waitresses like children have, then she’ll ban dogs but not until 😉

Children should certainty not be allowed to run riot in a pub, or in any public place other than a children's play park or similar.

Pubs should not operate in a way that makes them an unsuitable place for children. Pub=public house, children are part of the public. A hard drinking establishment that wants to appeal to the subset of people who aren't part of a family that includes under 18s should be a private club, not a pub.

The nice pubs round our way generally have signs up saying "well-behaved children welcome until 9pm" or similar. That it exactly how it should be.

Kids in pubs for a meal = fine
Kids in pubs while parents get pissed = not fine

Pretty sure in Scotland the licensing laws don't allow children after 8pm.

He was a twat. No children after 8 unless eating . The previous landlord had children’s board games and loads of other stuff.

No children after 8 seems reasonable to me. My local has that rule.

My local is next door to a primary school. Lots of parents seem to go straight to the pub on a Friday after picking up their kids. I once met up with some friends for a meal after work and they (the kids) were running amok!

It's not really acceptable to go to the pub and get hammered anymore

Maybe where you live ...

When i used to work in pubs you weren't allowed to have kids in the bar area but we were wondering last night if that rule had changed

I don't like kids in pubs generally but it depends in the pub, country pub with separate rooms or out door area then cool. The place we were at last night is more like a bar, loud music, loud drunk people and not somewhere i think you should take kids

There's a couple of pubs round our way that do baby days/ nights, which just strikes me as odd, seeing a load of people holding a baby in one hand an a beer in the other

Our local has kids music sessions on a Thursday morning! Another one does family lego sessions. Kids are allowed till 8 I think.
I like it personally, especially going out for Sunday Lunch all together.
Both are gastro pub type pubs rather than hungry horse types. I prefer the 'family' atmosphere type pubs where people might read a book/play a board game.

We live in Brighton though which has I think the most pubs per no. of people in the UK so there's choice for everyone.

I dislike children in pubs. I'm there for a quiet pint not to hear your screaming child.

Why would you take your children to a pub after 8pm? Unless it's a special event such as a wedding, surely children should be in bed or getting ready for bed at that time.
There are lots of shit parents around and without rules such as no kids after 8pm, they do not know how to parent.
I often work in a very old historical building dealing with members of the public over sensitive matters.
The other week we had a large family in, not related to my department, and the children were running amok to the point where I could not hear my client. I tried to look for the parents but it appeared they were nowhere to be seen. I gave the ferral kids the death stare but I had to concentrate on my client. Lots of staff complained about these children running around screaming, climbing on antique furnishing etc. Whilst the parents did absolutely nothing to educate their children in how to be respectful and behave accordingly.
They were not on a beach.
Should we have to ban children because of lazy parents.

It's having a sense of occassion.

I love a good pub.

But wouldn't take my children in any of my locals!

A nice country pub with a large garden is fine!

I think it's fine to allow children in the restaurant (if there is one) but not in areas where people are drinking but not eating.

As in any restaurant, the children should be managed appropriately by their parents and not allowed to run round or scream or throw things.

It's ultimately the landlord's decision, and it's for him/her to weigh up whether restricting or banning children will have an adverse impact on profits. The pub is a business, first and foremost.

I'll take my kids in a pub, but it depends on the vibe. They have also been brought up knowing how to sit still, be quite, converse appropriately, and be friendly and respectful.

I'll never forget one night I was at a very crowded pub, a Friday night around 8 or 9, everyone getting well on the way and I just about stood on a toddler that had been put down and was crawling around everyone's feet. That is not appropriate.

Yes, we often go for a walk with the kids and go to our local for a drink.
I never see what you describe unless it’s a big match day etc

Family friendly pubs, fine for kids.
Pubs with dining areas and gastropub types, fine for kids.

The children should be well behaved and not getting on the nerves of everyonr else.

Pubs that are more like adult drinking places - not child friendly and there's no need.

Then again, this thread happened a month or so ago and one poster turned up saying how un- child-friendly pubs are in lots of areas and they love taking their primary children for a civilised drink at 9pm on a weekend evening.

Then there's also the usual "on the continent..." arguments.

No. Horrible boring way for a child to spend free time. My husband was a former publican-family business-but very rarely would there be children in it, even though they weren’t “forbidden”.
I hate seeing children stuck in a bar with their families at weekends/family occasions. As a non-drinker myself, I’d hate to have to spend more than an hour in a bar. As a child, I can’t imagine how restless and bored I would be.

Procrastination4

I think perhaps you mean different pubs to the one a lot of people are mentioning.
The ones I take my daughter to have colouring and toys. If anything my daughter enjoys the social aspect when we go. Certainly not bored.

My DS loves going to the pub. But our locals are very family friendly and everyone in the village takes their kids so for him it means he gets to play with all the other village kids. It's great.
Obviously, it's not the only social activity we do but we go to the pub once a week.

I don’t know a single pub around here that doesn’t serve food and doesn’t allow children.

I have taken dc into pubs since they were babies. They were so used to it they didn’t dream of running around.

No idea how pubs survive on just adult drinkers alone.

I am happy for children to be allowed in pubs. Mine are young so if we go out it's early evening/lunch but I went to an upmarket pub recently for an expensive meal with just my husband and there was a large group in there with children ranging from 11-15 and their parents. They were no problem at all and gave this pub a lot of extra custom i imagine than a blanket ban on children after 8 (for example).

I've never really experienced children causing big problems when I'm out without mine but do find it easy to ignore if it's not my own!

Totally depends on the pub. I wasn't ever taken to pubs as a child and I still learned how to behave appropriately nexuses when we were taken to restaurants (not pubs) I was taught to sit nicely, eat my food and behave. Running around and misbehaving wouldn't have been tolerated. We'd have been told off and brought home.

I do take my two (who are three and one) to family friendly food oriented 'pubs' in the day for lunch etc. They are subject to the same rules that I was. They sit nicely and behave themselves. I don't allow them to disturb others. And my three year old is autistic so I know the challenges this can bring, but I take things to entertain her (colouring, books etc not noisy screens that annoy people) and we actually include her in our conversation so she doesn't get bored.

I wouldn't dream of taking them to the pub in town with pool tables and where they show the football at the weekend where it's full of adults drinking, chanting, swearing etc while they watch the game. It's not an appropriate environment for children so same as anything else, I don't take them there. A ban on children in places like that would be appropriate and I'd have no problem with it.

In the summer i went to a launch night at a pub with friends. I was expecting kids there but we didn’t arrive till 8.30pm. It was very hot so all the windows and doors were open - very old pub. About 10pm we all went home because the unattended kids at the ‘party’ were physically climbing into and out of the windows onto and over peoples tables in some kind of game. We tried to sit outside but they were screaming so loudly
It was shit and I’ve never gone back

The answer to that oliver is that quite a lot of them don't. The industry is really struggling. This is why so many are trying to get the family friendly pound: the bottom line.

People saying they think children shouldn't be allowed in pubs because they want adult only space are essentially saying they think the private sector should bear the cost of providing them with their preferred product, and not be allowed to engage in more commercially advantageous work instead. Which is astounding, when you think about it. The same would also be true if parents were making that argument but of course that's not the way the industry has gone.