The other side of "naughty British kids"

[AngryGreasedSantaCatcus]

I'm posting on AIBU as this is where most of the threads about how awful British kids/parents/parenting are , and this is a "reply" to all of them.

Just came back from holiday in a resort that is not really aimed at Brits. As a result, there were only one or two British families there beside us. The majority were German with some French, Russians , Turkish and Romanians.

Well, guess what? Plenty of "naughty" kids despite their lack of British passports.

Plenty of screaming and screeching.
Inconsiderate splashing/jumping in the pool getting people on sun loungers and their belongings wet.
Running all over the place , include in restaurants. Several falls and accidents.
Trying and sometimes succeeding to throw the entertainers in the pool. Even an adult did that.
Recklessly picking up cat/kittens, chasing them, annoying them, carrying them about etc.
Dozens of dropped plates.
Ignoring safety signs and lifeguards, diving, jumping and hanging off the bridge, railings etc.
Swimming in the pools after hours, or when one was shut for emergency cleaning or in the 18+ ones.

Probably more that didn't register as we were busy having fun ourselves. None of this actually bothered me(bar the cats situation) and we really enjoyed our holiday.

However, I really wanted to make a point that no, it's not just British kids and that no, other nationalities don't have better (behaved) children as a rule.

I have Greek family and can confirm that Greek kids can be spoilt and not particularly well behaved. Kids seem to me to be quite similar the world over.

It's pretty much universal that tweens/teens are feral outside of parental control.

Yeah this annoys me too. There are loads of threads on here all the time about how awful kids and parents are. Especially British ones. It's not my experience at all. I think it's horrible.

Although it tends to be from the type who think we should just bring back authoritarian parenting, ideally with the odd slap, and make kids stand on buses & trains for adults / only speak when spoken to. Because that's how things were for them and "it never did them any harm"

I've never seen anyone advocating slapping children on MN in all the years I've been here.
Do report any posts like that you see

Children are the same everywhere! If anything British kids are better behaved than Italian kids when it comes to things like bedtime and sitting still. British teenagers do have a problem with thuhishness in cities though, that is worse I think than other countries. Swings and roundabouts innit.

I used to get angry with the 'lazy Brits' V 'hard working migrants' mantra peddled by the media back in the late 2000s. Strangely enough, the papers that were doing it were the same ones promoting Brexit a decade later

I live in a town that hosts many English language students. Mostly during the summer months. Their behaviour used to be really antisocial. Now their behaviour is a lot better. Also they do bring money into the town. Unlike the day trippers

I don't think it's self-flagellation, it's snobbery. The people who make these comparisons consider themselves a Different Type of Brit. They seem to notice and obsess over the most random stuff. I agree they are amazingly irritating and Mumsnet seems to be swarming with them. The French threads being the most embarrassing. I love France but the stuff they write is wacky!

I'm currently on an AI holiday full with families, the vast majority are British. The children are all wonderfully behaved, none of that "brits abroad" behaviour people complain about. They have all been polite and respectful.

We go on holiday to campsites in France - lots of children from all over Europe. Well-behaved and badly-behaved children from all nationalities!

YANBU, OP - the reverse exceptionalism is absurd. British kids are no better or worse behaved than any others. I think the poster who blamed it on snobbery is spot on - the people who accuse British children of dreadful feral behaviour never mean their own children, do they? It’s a specific type of person they’re thinking of.

Completely agree there.

I travel quite a lot. For both work and pleasure. And have very close links with Germans, Spanish, Lithuanian and Austrian families. So quite a broad spectrum of Europe, and lots of American friends. So I don't think I'm particularly inexperienced in this area.

Generally, children of all nationalities behave fairly similarly.

At a push, I'd say American kids irritate me the most - on a very personal irritation, I find they're often louder by nature, and I get frazzled when there is too much noise - but that's me . Not them.

I generally find the behaviour I dislike most in children - lack of manners, demanding, rude etc comes from the "new wealth" type of people. So dropping in designer label and don't know how to say please or wait their turn - funnily enough, the same type of adult I find irritating.

But then again, I also don't panic/stress at the site of a baby on a flight.

No, I've not seen that.
It's rare to see advocacy of corporal punishment on here.
However, very common to see stereotyping. With a dollop of ageism.

I agree, it's about snobbery. Although where the perception of beautifully mannered French children comes from, I have no idea..

It's why I go to adults only hotels. The joy of grownup children

I used to get a bus to school and every year the current Year 10s would bring their exchange partners with them for a week or so. The French teens were overwhelmingly sulky, rude and used to abandon their partners to leave school without permission and hang out in town. The German teens were always an absolute delight, friendly, chatty and joining in with everything. No idea what the Brits were like when they were in Germany/France! Anyway, that's my 30 year out of date, sweepingly anecdotal contribution.

Hmmm, I think people tend to speak about those they are familiar with. I have met good/badly behaved kids of all nationalities. And really, during holiday isn´t the best time to declare a kid robot/feral. They all go a bit beserk. Mine was a bit of a pain (and a big pain) at points in time during our holiday, she isn´t during term time. So when their routines are changed at a certain age, it shows. And this about teens being feral outside of adult supervision... had to laugh. That is the whole point about being a teen, challenging the adult world. They will become boring and conformist soon enough.

It's true. Mine are half Italian 😉

They’re the happiest.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/parenting/7-ways-the-dutch-are-getting-it-right-when-it-comes-to-rais/

Just spent time in Maine and everyone, not just kids was extraordinary. No drunkenness, no raised voices, no one noisily using phones or kids on screens.

Now in another country and observed the most beautiful french family. 4/6 yo kids dressed like Madeline film, quiet conversation. They seemed happy although the mother constantly shh’ed them.

I don’t think there’s a link between public behaviour and happiness but I do know which is more important.

Other people’s kids are a pain in the hole, it doesn’t matter where they are brought up.

Lol, we stayed somewhere with a high percentage of Dutch kids, and Dutch school trips. The bad behaviour was an eye-opener. Had to retrieve an item of stolen property from one group - the swearing was off the scale, although their English vocab was seriously impressive. So I guess the stereotype of European kids being better at languages is at least true😆

I agree OP. I lived and worked in France for a couple of years (about 10 years ago now but still) and the kids were very much the same! I'm always baffled by threads going on about how wonderful they are. Ditto the style and beauty threads - I remember thinking British women were much better dressed at the time. All the French women I knew wore black jumpers and jeans and had the same dark bob hairstyle. Nothing amazing at all but on here they are idolised!

<disclaimer; childfree>

It's not a race to the bottom is it? Just because some representatives of other nationalities can't parent appropriately doesn't make it OK for you lot not to at least try.