Children having their own seat on a packed train.

[user1493559472]

I am on a packed train. A child who is about 3 years old is sat in their own seat and not on the parents lap, would you ask to sit down and the child sits on parents lap? People were standing.
Thank you

If a child falls onto someone the person they land on is going to be a heck of a lot less hurt than if it’s an adult that falls on them.

And children die because of it.

And if an adult falls onto them it is going to cause them a lot more harm than if they fell on another healthy adult.

Not just autonomous people with rights though - small children are the most vulnerable members of society.

No some 3yo DC are very heavy.

Mumsnet is a very strange magnet for people who are anti-children.

But according to the people on this thread it’s only children that have trouble with balance.

And the child?

I was picturing mine at 11, they were about 5 ft 1 by that age!

Indeed.

I'm actually randomly listening to a song called Kinder, written by a woman called Bettina Wegner. Some folk on here might need to listen too!

I’ve noticed the anti children thing on here has really ramped up in the last few years.

For goodness' sake. You do not reason or "try and persuade" a three-year-old to sit on your lap, you make it a fait accomplis. You say: "Olivia, you are going to sit on Mummy's lap now because this lady needs to sit down," while you are physically doing just that.

But sitting on their grown up’s lap is why children under a certain age travel free. If you want your child to have a seat you should pay for a seat

Then pay for their ticket. Don’t accept the free child ticket because that’s for children who can sit on their grown up’s laps.

Oh, do get a grip. It's not anti-children in the slightest to suggest that if possible a toddler might sit on their parent's lap during busy commuting times.

No, you don't.

But that makes no sense- you are an able bodied adult presumably and the person who would take the seat you have vacated is also able bodied. Why should you have to stand and the other person sit?

Adults tend to fall on small children not through lack of balance but because they are no looking down far enough to see them, especially if they are carrying stuff like luggage in front of them

Some folk here are saying it must happen and labelling others as disrespectful though.

No, no it's not.

I do. But I am not going to show you their ticket if you demand they move because you don’t want to stand.

Exactly - why should you have to?

I speak German and I just googled the lyrics of that song. They're lovely, but I think it's pretty offensive you've brought them up in this particular context. It's difficult to see the relevance of a song that essentially says 'children are fragile and precious, don't hurt or abuse them' on this thread unless you're proposing there's some sort of continuum between saying it's fine for a child to sit on their parent's lap on a train and potential abuse/neglect of a child. So, is that what you're suggesting?

Yes you do and I have in the past. You have said that you have no under fives yourself. Do you have children at all? You have deliberately been goading the people on this thread who have a different view from yours; a view that was normal until very recently. It is about courtesy towards others. I love children, have three adult children of my own and have taught music to children and adults all my career. Yes, children are important - they are our future, after all - but child centred does not mean that they are the most important people. They need to be taught from the very beginning that they are not the centre of the universe and, yes, to respect adults.