To think it's unacceptable to say you don't like children?

[BirdPlanet]

Increasingly I've heard people saying some variation of the statement 'I don't like children'. I don't see why this is in any way acceptable. You wouldn't say that you 'don't like' any other category of person. If I said I didn't like the elderly or middle-aged women as a group, I'd get slapped down, yet somehow people think it's okay to talk about children as if they aren't human beings. Is it because they can't speak or advocate for themselves? Children aren't some kind of homogeneous entity. They have personalities and different temperaments, just as adults do.

Inevitably people will say that it's used as a shorthand for disliking the behaviour of some children, but even so, that’s more of a reflection of poor parenting than anything else.

What threads are you referencing on MN, or any internet forum where there is support for children as a demographic, being banned from shops or public transport?

People who say this on a parenting site are especially twatty, OP.

Read any of the multiple threads about dogs in cafes and within a couple of pages there will be posters saying children should be banned

I mean this is simply not true.

Huge chunks of society hate women.

Some hate gay people, some hate the Jewish or the Muslims or they hate based on skin colour.

Millions and millions of Trump supporters hate immigrants, without seeing the obvious irony that they are themselves incomers.

Of course a lot of people don't like other people's children. Especially if they are badly behaved, noisy, messy. Especially these days where like in this thread we are told oh you meanie, they're just little people. Then on the other hand we're told excuse their behaviour and the permissive oarents that foster it because they're not adult people.

We find we are having more and more occasions like meals out or even just travel ruined by poorly behaved kids especially with their noisy electronics, so no wonder people's tolerance is waning.

Do you really have to ask this???!!! Wtaf,

Isn't that the whole point of the thread? Whether or not it's acceptable to dislike a whole group of people based on age.

Right, so opinions only.

That's it. Just opinions.

Why do you think certain opinions should not be allowed?

Again, so you think someone who has the opinion ‘I hate people with Down’s Syndrome’ ‘I hate white people’ ‘Inhate blonds’ for example, should be allowed to express that as freely as they want?

Again, you can have opinions but voicing those opinions isn’t always acceptable.

I like my children, my nieces and nephews. A few of my friend’s kids are tolerable. Can’t stand the rest.

it all comes down to parenting of said children (or lack thereof)

Also - you keep saying it's just opinions, not actions so it's fine to say.

Well speech influences people's thoughts and actions. Take Nazism and all the messaging about disliking Jews - in WWII it ended in genocide.

Saying derogatory things about an entire group of people changes how people think about them and how people treat them. We've seen this consistently throughout history.

Children are vulnerable in society, so it's punching down and it's more akin to saying "I don't like disabled people/I don't like another vulnerable group" and we already know that having negative/stereotyped opinions about an entire group of people in society is not harmless.

But OP isn't saying that.

OP is saying she has heard people saying they don't like children.

Why is that unacceptable in your, and the OPs view?

I’ve never met someone who dislikes children who I like. Just a personal thing, but when someone announces they dislike children I have very little time for them. This was even pre children. I’m from a big family and grew up surrounded by kids, so I don’t really get why people dislike them. They’re noisy and annoying, but they can’t help it. I don’t think people who don’t like kids are bad people, but they’re not people I want to be around. Especially now I have kids lol.

I think kids are amazing but you are reading meaning that’s not there.

When people say they don’t like kids, they’re mainly saying they don’t want kids or to have much to do with them.

And that’s a perfectly valid opinion, you can’t force people to feel differently.

Oh sorry I see that was the point you were making 😆

That's ridiculous. People saying they don't like children is likely due to shitty behaviours..and is in no way comparable to saying you don't like people with ginger hair or white skin or cerebral palsy.

Ridiculous comparison

And they clearly mean the children that get on your nerves, not the sweet ones. I can spend all day with nice kids.

I often say, I can't stand old people. The ones who demand respect just because they are old. And I mean the obnoxious twits, not the nice old people like me.

You are seriously suggesting that someone saying they don't like children is in any way similar to Nazism? and could lead to genocide?

It's not derogatory to say you don't like children or any group.

You are so offensive, and so ridiculous and need to get the hell off the internet because you have no idea about history or anything else.

I'm embarrassed for you.

Why? I don’t like children, they are generally horrid and I have no interest in them whatsoever

So were you ‘horrid’ when you were a child? And when did you stop being ‘horrid’? On the day of your 18th birthday??

I don’t care if I was. It doesn’t make any difference to my disposition towards children.

For the best you keep away from children given you’re a self-ascribed “narcissist” and have “no empathy” at all

Narcissists aren’t synonymous with child killers, smuggins

So where do you draw the line? Kids are fine targets but other groups are not?

How can you police what groups are fair game? Genuine question - which groups are done to publicly hate and which groups are not? How do you decide?

You can feel however you want to feel but in a civilised society voicing those opinions is not always acceptable.

I suspect that she’ll happily keep away from children. People who don’t like children tend to avoid being around them. They don’t seek them out and often actively avoid them so no need to worry. Children are far more at risk of harm from people who choose to be around them e.g parents, stepparents, teachers, grandparents, club leaders etc so you’re focusing on the wrong people.

No, but it shows how ridiculous your opinion is. Yes, some children are very annoying, but there are also some who are lovely and very well behaved. (Though they sometimes get over excited.). But there are also some very obnoxious adults.

So at what age do children miraculously transform from being ‘horrid’ to being fully functioning adults?

That’s your inference which I’m not responsible for. And it’s a gradual process like osmosis. Some are still terrible at 25.