Loud Ipads/ phones being used to entertain children in restaurants

[SilverDoublet]

I was in a restaurant recently, I don't often get out and was out with my son aged 6 while waiting to collect my older child. Our food had just arrived when we noticed some very annoying loud noise coming from the table next to us, sounded liked people shouting and screaming. It was hard to relax and eat with the noise. It turned out it was a child watching YouTube while eating. I politely asked if the parents could maybe turn it down a little and was told no, that unfortunately the child can only eat while watching a screen. Was I being unreasonable to ask to turn it down a little?

Unfortunately the world is starting to cater to us bad parents. There are pubs where they have TVs in the booths (I would imagine this is primarily designed for kids) good luck asking that establishment if they can turn the volume off. So your anger at me isn’t going to solve the problem I’m afraid as I’m sure I’m just one of many people who allow this sometimes.

Incompetent parents. And selfish entitled people.

YANBU. You asked politely - they were rude.

Next time, if asking parents to parent doesn’t work, as the maitre d’ or the main person in charge of the restaurant to ask them to give their child head phones or turn the sound off.

Nor is being patronising.

I was matching her energy. Aka, being a knob

Yes, you’re just one of many anti-social people making life that much worse for others and bringing up a new generation to do the same. And of course for you to benefit from your anti-social behaviour it depends on others not doing the same in your vicinity.

Yep that’s me. Maybe start a petition about it as it’s clearly having a detrimental impact on your life. And telling the parents off who do this is going to have no impact on it happening again I’m afraid

No - some people simply have no idea how to behave in public, unfortunately. They’re usually not terribly bright either. And unfortunately they have children and bring them up to be anti-social, terminally dense brats too.

It’s a shame. Still, they’re a minority so with any luck they’ll die out.

Yes but I'm not choosing to go somewhere with a TV in a booth, I'm choosing to go to a restaurant and you're sat there with your kids on YouTube being a lazy parent 🤨 Maybe you should stick to the pubs with the tellies. Your kids aren't so important that everyone wants to hear their YouTube.

Yes let’s hope all children that use devices in public die out. Lovely that. Or do you just mean the parents and then the kids go into care?
I went to a hospital appointment the other day and the nurse put a video on to help keep my child still so she could examine him. She should be sacked! And yes that isn’t a restaurant I’m well aware before you start. But she was compassionate and I think there should be more people like that in the world personally rather than judgy people like yourself.

What have you zero power to change? My child has ASD and regularly has melt downs, I pick her up, remove her from the restaurant while my husband pays and we leave. If we haven’t eaten he waits while they box up our food. What hard about that? It’s called not being a shit patent.

Then I’m not sure what the issue is. If it bothers people that much to see children watching YouTube or whatever then go somewhere where that is less likely.
As I said, I DON’T take my kids to high end restaurants. So I will stick to my pubs or child friendly places when I’m out with them. And generally these places are quite loud in general. But I obviously only mix with the minority of the world so I don’t think our conversation is relevant as there should be no reason for you to encounter me and my feral kids

But then we don’t have to go to those pubs if we want a quiet meal. We can and will vote with our feet.

People who use or let their kids use devices without headphones really should be made to leave (be it restaurants, buses, etc). It’s just very entitled and inconsiderate to expect others to endure whatever you/your child chooses to listen to at full volume.

It should be considered anti-social behaviour and dealt with as such.

I really would expect the owners to make them leave. If not I would be leaving while paying for nothing. It’s totally and utterly unacceptable behaviour.

Good idea, as long as they don't insist that well-socialised families have to go there as well.

Touchy!😉

Maybe it will make you reflect...

We had a similar situation in a restaurant, assumed it was a child somewhere, couldn't see but could hear. DH asked a staff member if they could ask the parents to turn off the noise, or put headphones on. She said it's actually a man in another part of the restaurant, and she wasn't sure if she could ask him to turn it down. DH quietly mentioned that it was very annoying, people on adjacent tables agreed at that point, and that if they didn't ask for it to be sorted, we would leave the restaurant there and then. (We had ordered our food, but not received it). Shortly after the noise disappeared.

Are you also accepting of people playing loud music at the back of the bus? Yes it's not illegal, but public spaces are shared and it's inconsiderate.

Children need to learn to sit nicely at a table for a while. Boredom is part of life and sometimes we have to do things we don't like. Hardly anyone needs screens to get through a meal, FFS. And before anyone mentions SEN, the vast majority of children are capable of sitting for a meal and being entertained with teddies, colouring, or etc. If you need to use an Ipad, put ear phones in and don't put it a volume where others can hear it.

Also, watching an Ipad may help regulate one child, but may be overstimulating for another!

Whilst it's not a parenting choice I would make, if you need an iPad for your child, at least have the courtesy to not disrupt other diners.

And yes, I would rather hear a child having a tantrum and a parent parenting them. Because tantrums and crying are normal childhood behaviours. Shoving a screen in a face to stop your kid kicking off isn't.

why is that your business?! This thread is just full of so many judgemental parents (if you are even a parent)
and no I won’t reflect so petition away. But now I best go and badly parent my kids some more as they’re awake. Hope you get your quiet time from now on in every place you go out to eat

Yes, I have five children. We went to restaurants maybe every other week. Not an iPad or phone in sight. I didn't really care for colouring sheets either.

Eating together is about participating in each others' lives. It was the same at home - no TV dinners or eating in bedrooms.

Yeah, and we both had full-time jobs but still had the time to prepare and eat meals together.

"Here we go another one of these posts. Yes, you don't get to dictate that sort of thing. Would you rather have heard the kids shouting and screaming?"

There will only be a tiny number of children who cannot be managed in a restaurant without the iPad on and without headphones.

Yes, it does. My 8 year old is profoundly autistic. He cannot tolerate headphones, colouring would hold his attention for all of a minute, oh, and here’s the kicker, conversation is right out because he is minimally verbal and does not have the cognitive ability to understand everything we say.
So yes, we give him an iPad if we go out for a meal. It means he will sit at the table and eat. Volume is kept to a minimum. This way he disturbs no one, and we get to eat our meal.

Also on public transport. Use headphones or don’t use it. But certainly don’t play it out loud (whatever the volume)! Lazy parenting.

Headphones headphones headphones.
Big ones, small ones, soft ones, furry ones. Ones adapted for kids with sensory issues. Little in-ear ones. Big comforting fluffy ones.
Just. Use. Headphones.