AIBU to be disgusted by parents and children at holiday parks?

[ToffeePennie]

I am so disgusted by Utterly gross behaviour of young children and their parents on holiday parks.
We’ve been at our favourite campsite since Friday night and so far I’ve been punched and smacked by numerous little kids, this is clearly kids trying to push past in queues or when waiting for entertainment etc to start and it’s not eagerness, it’s a massive case of “I’m entitled to be first!”
We were sat towards some stairs at a table and chairs, clearly the “space” is designated for the table. Sadly, dozens of kids have climbed the stairs, stuffed themselves in a tiny gap and literally kicked/punched my kids to try and get up/down the stairs. I ended up moving my seat to cover the gap and got kicked repeatedly by small children trying to squeeze into a gap that wasn’t there.
A man then saw his daughter pick up a lolly off the floor and put it in her mouth. Instead of throwing it in the bin 2 paces behind him, he threw it back onto the floor. When I told him, he said “well you throw it away then” how vile and disgusting this man is I cannot tell you. I literally wanted to punch him. (I did put the gross lolly in the bin, because the staff shouldn’t have to clean that up)
why can parents not keep an eye on their kids, apologise when they hurt someone, check they know where their kids are and ensure they aren’t engaging in gross behaviours? I have noticed it’s gotten so much worse since Covid, it seems people are stuck in their own bubble and don’t care about anyone or anything else.
It’s so vile the amount of selfish and entitled behaviour I have seen makes me so sad.

Shame was also used as a tool to use and abuse people, predominantly women and children. It’s definitely a very double edged sword.

A few things spring to mind, that are different to when I raised mine in the 90's -

1. you are no longer allowed to smack kids

2. the introduction of mobile phones - lost count of how many parents just doom scroll and don't parent

3. naughty kids are always assumed to be ND

I got battered within an inch of my life for doing things that children these days wouldn’t even get an eyebrow raised at
It wasn’t getting battered that stopped me doing it
It really does have to come from within

See, my parents hitting us did make us behave. You got a clip round the ear, a smacked arse, or sometimes a slapped face. We were scared of our parents, even though 99% of the time they were lovely. But you knew that if you misbehaved, you'd see the 1% and get a wallop.

Children aren't afraid of their parents any more, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. I know a few kids who really play up around their parents, but absolutely tow the line for grandparents, who won't put up with any bullshit.

This happens everywhere sadly, I have seen this behaviour recently at national trust places on days busy with families, and also Center Parcs (although I’m unsure why this is always used as an example of being superior to Haven or whatever, I go to both and nowadays don’t see a huge difference in the clientele at all 🤷‍♀️) Besides the point, why the assumption with some posters that ‘middle-class’ means better behaviour??

But yes- behaviour is definitely going downhill. I go to the theatre a lot and have found the etiquette there has declined hugely in the past few years!

I'm sorry you were abused as a child.

Thanks for this one. Gave me a full house on my “Parents/kids of today” Bingo card. 👍

Yup. All I learned was that adults were irrational and hypocritical , to hide my shit better and to debate whether the thing was worth a walloping. Sometimes it was. 😬

Kids generally behave better for people other than their parents, no matter what they will “put up with”

Advocating for violence against children isn’t the flex you think it is. If you can only make a child behave because they are scared of you, you should think twice about being a parent.

Not on holiday,but I work retail

It's gone downhill for years (its got to the point that if a child is well behaved and polite,we make a comment to the parent)

I've had kids-pissing and shitting on the floor
Kids running around (one in front of me as I was carrying hot coffees)
Parents leaving an unholy mess that the kids have made
Nappies left on the tray
Kids screaming
Kids swearing at me
Kids punching each other over use of the ipads
Kids throwing food/drinks
Kids fighting
One child saw fit to do cartwheels with her parents smiling at her-in a busy restaurant

Much more but the parents just flap,coo or ignore them

Don't get me started on the teens! (I do have to admit that most are lovely-some not)

I could be here for weeks but the worst was when a teenage lad walked in,shoved his hand down my trousers,pinched me hard and ran off laughing

It was all caught on cctv and when the police actually did their jobs (very rare-its happened loads and they dont even bother coming out) the father laughed and told his son that 'its only a maccies worker-it doesn't matter'

Another smacked the fire alarm,set them off and walked out swearing at the two policemen who where standing there (who just carried on standing there and didn't say a word-theyd been called out as these same teens had been causing trouble for about an hour)

We have some people come round about once a month-youth workers

They dont do anything-most of the time they just stand and laugh at them

If id behaved like this as a teenager,there would have been consequences

You're not being UR. We went to a holiday park a few years ago as it was early September and we thought it would be quiet. I couldn't believe the behaviour of the adults and children. One man was in the queue in front of me talking loudly and proudly about how many fights he'd been in. There were children of around 10 smoking. Feral behaviour by children and drunken behaviour by the parents.

We will never go back. I found the whole place depressing and tacky. Especially the England flags and bulldog statues given we were in Wales.

I am so sorry that happened to you. Awful response from the father.

I love a caravan holiday, entertainment and all. Not sure what that says about me 🙈 I'd never let my kids behave in the way described and I can't say I've really witnessed it on the many holidays we've been on over the years. Maybe one or two outliers but that can be the case anywhere.

Yes as a colleague of mine says ‘ the rules don’t apply to them.’

Have to say though, last year dh and j went on an AI holiday to Tenerife. In all honesty I was dreading it. As it turned out it was fabulous. No pushing, shoving. Everyone queued. We met some lovely people.
Fabulous atmosphere.

I agree, we were at a large resort hotel a couple of years ago and some of the behaviour was shocking, kids running and just expecting other people to move, crying and tantrums in the restaurant and not being taken outside, sitting on stairs completely blocking them to watch a show and parents not telling them to move so people could get passed.

I also detest it when randomers come into my place of work and tell their feral children ‘behave if that lady will tell you off.’ No I won’t. That is 100% your responsibility, not mine. I’m working
Would you take your child into a garage and whilst waiting for the worker to repair your car say the same thing?
Totally stupid.

They're not that cheap though tbf

Dear Lord. Go home.

Yeah! I wish I was allowed to hit strangers’ kids like the good old days!

Fucking weird.

It is kids generally and whilst getting worse these things happened several years ago
A kid chucking stones at cat and car. They wouldnt let me grab the stones off them.
A kid went to a school performance in the audience and told my dd he had been sick that evening (his mum was a dr)

Kids at scouts:

• throwing the mallet about and sayong x kid is the mos t disoiked kid in school, in front of kid
• Hanging off a very rickety gate upside down
• At lazer tag kids putting hand up the claw machine
• The cheating at 1 game too!

At primary school recently weve had
a 7 year old boy kissing a 9yo girl,
2 9yo kissing and a boy stroking a girls chest.
a boy pantsing at least 2 boys
a few years ago there was presumably a boy weeing on the floor intentionally in y5/6
Boys unlocking the door on others

At secondary
boys kicking kids shoes off or tripping them
boys suggesting oral sex to 11-12yo girls
girls adding other girls to whats app group only to be mean becayse their gcse predictions werent as good
Same girls kicking others chair in lesson
Boy taking my dc booklet from the pile and hiding it in the classroom
Boy taking another kids workbook and ripping it up
Boys kicking a girls head with a football in class when teacher left the room
Boys kicking ball at girls head in playground
1 girl lying and ruining anothers birthday
2 who argued and ruined the last 2 trips
1 boy who squashed 2 girls against the building on leaving the lesson, she hit him to male him stop and he kicked her
1 boy in class bringing over a dissected heart to a girl who was squeamish
Boys rubbing at my kid's desk throughout a lesson
And i know 1 of the bully kids since antenatal group. The parents are well off, he has great holidays.
One of girls above also kicked her sisters phone on the ground. (Which seems well above normal behaviour to me where my kids fight but hopefully understand their own phone would be confiscated for this!)

At caravan parks
Not too bad but yes kids climbing on things in unsafe way unsupervised

I think many kids
-are not being corrected at all

• Are misdiagnosed sen when they were fine at primary so its made worse by seeing other kids behaviour at secondary
• The boys here are alllowed out to the park alone from 9yo and that is where the boy behaviour escalates compared to girls.

Many kids exposed to things online (like these sexual things) so many parents proud of very young kids watching inappropriate things And you cant expect to have such high levels of behaviour issues and sen in schools with no impact on kids who are then seeing others behave like this!

Perhaps though other things are not helping
There was a large surge of in birth rates for my eldest and few years above and then rise in sen kids . With uk putting no money into this.
Everywhere you go is crowded. The weather yesterday wasnt great windy, chilly but the NT place car park was rammed. The cafe was a 20-25min q as people ordering hot drinks. With crowding you inevitably get worse behaviour.

But also caravan parks while seemingly for kids too have things like entertainment until like 10pm which isnt going to help behaviour. This one there are often kids on play equipment till late but you conversely cant use the pool till at least 10am. And any attractions are also open after 10 like zoos.

We are in a Welsh seaside town this weekend, somewhere we have been many many times, and DH and I both commented on the different vibe this time. Lots of kids swearing in the street, spitting on the floor etc

There are entitled parents with feral children everywhere. Local parks, supermarkets, caravan parks, cinemas, theatres, National Trust properties, museums. You name it. I have never been especially strict with my children or much of a disciplinarian, but I always displayed polite, respectful behaviour towards others, which my children picked up on. I get at least a couple of comments a week about how lovely and well mannered my sons are (17 and 13.) And I always advocated firmly but politely for them when they were subjected to unfair treatment by other children, without losing my temper. So many people these days are quick to flare up and become aggressive. It’s no wonder their children are wild.

Currently sat on the side of a pool in a very naice 5 star resort.
Kids screaming, no parents in sight.....i'm one a few parents here supervising my own child.
Just wish the family of 4 screeching girls would observe them & tell them to to behave 😬