Kids should not be in pubs after 6pm?

[ChamonixMountainBum]

Just that really. Evening time in the pub is for adult relaxation and socialising, not somewhere for meeting the needs of young children. I just want to chill out and enjoy a glass of wine without an infant screaming from a buggy, kids on screens or toddlers running about. Yes, I am having a bit of a moan but the last few times I have been in pubs in my area there have been kids still knocking about well past 8pm with parents barely keeping them in check. Can we have pubs in the evening as adult only spaces please.

My local pub is next door to the primary school. It’s absolute chaos on a Friday afternoon after school letting out time.

If the pub is happy to have families there, and the parents want to come, then that's the room to read.

You can also stay home if you're not happy with the atmosphere there.

Not sure why wanting to retain some adult only pubs is seen as controversial view.
I don't think it is OP. In fact most posters have said that it depends on the type of pub.
I also think you are very reasonable to expect parents to actually parent their offspring in public places.
However, that's not what you asked. You said that kids shouldn't be in pubs after 6pm, implying all kids and all pubs. That is unreasonable and would be a financial disaster for many pubs.

6 is a bit early I would agree they shouldn't be in the pub after 8 though or if in the garden in the summer 9.

I’ve never agreed with parents entertaining children in bars and pubs. It’s not appropriate at any time.

I think no kids after 8 is reasonable in a pub especially if it’s a foodie pub/caters for kids. 6 is a bit early.

I don’t have an issue with parents taking their kids to a pub for an afternoon drink or dinner but I agree I don’t like seeing kids in pubs all evening. I’ll often go to pubs and restaurants with my friends kids.

It does really bug me when kids are getting in the way, screaming and generally annoying people but it’s not their fault. I don’t really see how kids can learn how to behave in public places if they’re not taken and taught how to.

Suppose you just want a quiet drink or night out without kids in tow? Suppose you’re a parent who’d come out to escape your own kids?

Kids are often tired and bored if they’re in a pub at the best of times let alone evenings. They’d prefer to be at home on Xbox or with tv or in bed.

6 is early, mine are 3 and 8 and we would be eating dinner at that point. Assuming the pub is a food pub and not just a drinking pub. 8 or 9 is more reasonable

None of the pubs I’ve been to with gardens in the past few years had anything for kids to do. At least in 70s/80s one country pub we went to had a climbing frame and the other had a games room - which we were reluctantly allowed into!

Personally I never took my kids to the beer garden but half an hour is fine. A friend of mine had her son pretty much grow up in pubs. He is actually a really good kid though, but not ideal.

Personally I never took my kids to the beer garden but half an hour is fine. A friend of mine had her son pretty much grow up in pubs. He is actually a really good kid though, but not ideal.

In rural communities the pub is the hub of the village, we have no shop or anything like that. Pretty much everything centres on the school, church, pub and village hall.

My 6 year old has spent many afternoons and early evenings in the pub, she behaves impeccably- no screens required. On a Sunday 90% of the tables are families eating, this is a higher end village pub- not a boozer.

Exactly this. The room is being read, OP just wishes it said something different.

7-8pm is fine if there is food. Used to love going for a pub meal with my parents and grandparents.

Our local here in Germany welcomes kids, they're really good with them. There's a great beer garden in town that puts on Sunday activities for kids too, so the parents can enjoy a pint and the kids can have some fun.

All behaviour dependent though - well behaved kids are fine, little terrors running around screaming and colliding with other people is not good.

Surely this is good reason not to take them? I understand their perspective, not wanting pubs to become a thing of the past, as they are personally involved in it but the last thing I’d want is my DC to be a future pub goer honestly.

It was normal for kids to be in pubs when I was growing up and it was a miserable experience, sitting watching your dad shout over other loud drunk men or running around unsupervised being approached by drunk perverts. I knew even back then it wasn’t a healthy environment for kids.

I would never think to take my child to a pub unless there was no other option and certainly not in the evening. A meal at 12pm in a quiet country pub maybe but It’s still not a particularly child friendly environment. I even struggle with the pub/restaurant type places with play equipment (places that are aimed towards families) because there is a bar and therefore intoxicated people wandering around and being anti social.

The point being the pub I was in was calm and relaxed with only adults present enjoying an evening drink. Then the parents walked in with their kids and toys and completely changed the atmosphere. Are you suggesting that the onus is on 25-30 people already present to accommodate the new arrivals, toys on the floor, bickering kids? Seems a bit entitled.

So less time for children socialising in public places with family and friends - more time alone at home on a screen?

I’d say past 7 for one that serves food. If eating out with our kids then we always try to go for an early reservation- 5/5:30 (and most places won’t serve food before that time).then you won’t be finished until 7ish. But a fancy restaurant or a late reservation at a pub, children shouldn’t be at - and 6 for a drinks only pub sounds okay.

It seems entitled to think you speak for the other 25 people there. The majority of the UK do not view pubs as an adult only space, that has never been the case here, children have always been in pubs.

Most of my local pubs have a cut off time of 8pm or 9pm. This is fine as long as the parents actually bother to supervise their kids properly and don’t just ignore bad/noisy behaviour while they get drunk with their mates!

The onus is on the people in a private business venue to either accept that the venue is allowed to decide which guests it allows in or to go elsewhere, yes. If it will make this hard truth more palatable, the same would also be true of a family wanting to bring children into a pub that the owners/licencees have chosen to make adult only.

You only think the guests coming with children are being entitled because you think you've got a right to expect a venue to be an adult only space at a set time, simply because you want it to be. You don't.

It’s 10pm May to Sept I think.

If I’ve brought my kids to a Brewers Fayre at 6 for dinner but it just happens to only contain adults having a quiet drink then no I’m not going to just go back home because you were there first or I should “read the room”. It’s a family friendly pub aimed at families so yes you should expect to have to deal with (properly supervised) kids.

If the pub you were in has no kids menu, no high chairs and nowhere for kids to be and is intended to be adults only then surely the onus is on the owner or manager to actually make that decision and make it clear to everyone (except they won’t in most cases because it’s bad for business). It’s not up to you as an individual patron to declare all kids should be banned from all pubs after 6, and it’s not for families to have to magically predict ahead of time that actually it’s really an adult only space.

As someone who absolutely can’t stand dogs I have had to put up with them in places I find them extremely annoying and don’t think they should be (cafes, garden centres, pubs) because that’s what the owner of the business has decided. Same with kids I’m afraid.

The funny thing is that I don't disagree with you that:

1. you shouldn't let your kids be disruptive in a public place
2. pubs aren't really the place for children past 8pm (which is when children have to leave anyway according to our local licensing system)

But the way you're putting is so entitled and selfish that there is no way to actually agree with you!

Parents aren't going to turn around at the door because you're having a peaceful drink. Or go on a pub crawl until they find a pub with other families.

They are customers, they're as entitled to be there as you, and there are plenty of adults behaving loudly and stupidly in pubs too.