To Judge parents who leave their children in the TOYSHOP and then go SHOPPING or to the CAFE?? I feel an article in my local paper is taking shape.

[QuintessentialShadows]

5-6 boys age between 5 and 7 were running riots in a local toyshop yesterday. Having Sword Fights, pushing and showing, running, kicking and jumping, knocking over displays of toys in the process.

I mentioned to the young woman at the tills that there was a gang of boys being very boisterous at the back of the shop, and she said: "It happens every saturday, parents use our toyshop as a creche while they go shopping, or having coffee."

How stupid and irresponsible can you get?

I am pretty irked. My son wanted to look at the Star Wars toys, we could get nowhere near them, due to the boys and the fighting.

AIBU to write a damning article in my local paper?

OH - I workwed in Waterstone's and people did it all the time! It's enough to make you think 'I hope they damage themselves, then someone might learn a lesson!'

One woman left her daughter reading a book while she went to a shop down the road. THe daughter pissed herself all over the Chair we provided for customers, started crying and then completely freaked out when we couldn't find her mum!

Completely unacceptable, but doesn't surprise me.

The children's sections of libraries are also routinely used by parents as a supervised 'creche'. Librarians at two local libraries told me some working parents regularly deposit children there after school as they haven't got childcare.

I would call the police. It's abandonment at that age. I can't believe the shop staff let it happen once, let alone every week!

thats disgusting, why would anyne think that was Ok, bad people. Judge away.

Quintessentail, How far away is the cafe from the toy section? How big is the shop generally?

Am shocked!! These parents leave their children in a shop while they go elsewhere?! Surely that is child neglect and is against the law?

Write away OP.

I think the shop dont want to alienate parents who might spend money in there... She said they called security sometimes, and let security find the parents...

I think it is shocking behaviour.

The shop should put a big sign up - no unaccompanied children under 10

I don't expect anybody will admit to doing this, but do parents REALLY do that? REALLY????

Unbelievable.

I am shocked.

cant believe

If the staff know that the same children are being left, why don't they speak to the parents before they leave the children?
Or when they return to collect them?

The manager sounds crap, tbh.

If a group of children were running riot in my shop, possibly damaging stock and definitely turning other customers away, I don't think I would be so passive.

I dont know that it is the same children being left. But the saturday staff are usually just young girls.

Thing is Humph, it's all the bollocks of having to be seen to be child friendly. As a person working in retail, you cannot say anything to these people, for fear of being walloped.

This is a new one on me

Never heard of anyone doing that!

Shocking, I am just trying to let dd1 (9) have a little more independence and will allow her to look in a different section of a shop to me. There's no way I would leave the shop and in fact I'm usually hiding nearby behind a column so she thinks I'm not there .

Maybe a well aimed letter to the store (or chain) manager who isnt there on a saturday might give better results. If I tell them my 3 year old was scared to be in the shop, and my 6 year old wouldnt go and look at Star Wars toys because he was worried about being caught up in their fighting, and I saw other parents keep their children away from area and leave the shop. Maybe appealing to the manager in terms of profit would help?

Quint, the only thing is, the manager cannot do anything to stop them. We cannot physically step in to stop them fighting.

Staff at our local ELC told me once that this wasn't uncommon behaviour.

See your point dw but maybe if Quint's letter prompted the manager to put up a notice to the effect of "no children below a certain age will be allowed in the shop unsupervised" the parents involved might be deterred from doing this.

It won't. It has been tried. We have spoken to the parents, bt they still let their children run around and wreck the joint.

Maybe you need someone standing on the door and looking out for them to stop them coming in the shop?

you really think we have enough staff to do that and serve customers, plus tidy up as we go, put stock out, etc. I would really wish we could, but are already running on 75% of the staff we had this time last year. It would deter shoplifters, as well, but it costs too much.

It must be difficult working with the public as you genuinely can't tell which parents will be responsible and say "oh, sorry didn't realise they were behaving like this" and the other half wits who will reply "so?" - or worse!