If someone scolded your child...?

Question

Scenario:

You took your children out (approx 5-12 years old) to eat at a restaurant... Your children are running around the restaurant and touching things that are marked "do not touch" ...

the waitress walked over to one of your children just as he/she was touching one of item and gently told them "please dont touch"

how would you react as a parent? would you be pissed off at the waiter for "yelling" at your child?

do you think that its the parents job to control the children?

Answer 1

It is the parents job to control the children in a restaurant. If you can't and the waitrss has to do it for you then theres no way you should be mad. Nobody want's kids running around resurants when their trying to enjoy a nice dinner. Stay at home if you can't handle it.

Answer 2

First off my kids would never do that. Second off, the waitress is only doing her job in protecting her workplace. Third of all, that is not a scold.. that is merely setting a boundary which is a healthy part of life and interacting with others

Answer 3

Definitely is a parents job to teach their kids how to behave in public.  they have to understand that their running around might disturb others and they have to show respect for everybody, including the people who serve you.  they have to respect private property and not disregard instructions.  they want to run around, take them to the park;  they won't behave, not ready for these places.  a restaurant is for eating and everybody deserves a nice quiet meal

Answer 4

When you go out to eat with your children it is your responsibility to make sure they behave. I can not stand to go out and eat and there is a screaming child or a child up and out of his seat running around. If they cant behave leave them at home. And if you are going to leave it to a stranger to discipline Your child then don't get mad. Because at that point your child is disturbing others.

Answer 5

contoll the kids. ahaa i would be even worse toward them then the waitress was. i work at a market and i hate when parents dont controll there kids and they run around messing with everything. i wanna punh the parent in the face and be like what are you doing with your life. your a mess.

Answer 6

the waiter was right and the parent should have been keeping their child sitting qietly at the table instead of letting them run around.yes it is the parents job to make their child be under controll or else who's job is it?

Answer 7

As a parent I'd be embarrassed and my kids would definitely get a nice talking to.

As an adult, I'd go over and thank the waiter then apologize for my children's unruly behavior.

IMO, if more folks were like the waiter, kids wouldn't be as out of hand as they are.  It takes a village...

Answer 8

By the time my children are that age they know how to behave in a restaurant and that simply wouldn't come up. Now if my two year old was touching something that she shouldn't and an employee asked her not to, I would be embarrassed that she had to. But I would also be grateful because sometimes kids straighten up for strangers better than for their parents.

Answer 9

I would apologize to the waitress for my child's atrocious behavior and I would make them apologize as well. I wouldn't be pissed off at the waiter/waitress.

But if my kids did this in a public place, I would haul them home and they would get their rears spanked into oblivion and would be grounded. That behavior is absolutely unacceptable. Why the h**l would ANYONE let their kids run around like that?

Answer 10

I would leave the restaurant and tell the patrons I am sorry, I would discipline the kid when I got home for embarrassing me

Answer 11

Well, in an ideal world the kids wouldn't be running around touching things they shouldn't (not for long anyway- haha!)

I think it's very appropriate for the server to tell the child in a gentle but firm way, "no." Especially if they say please. But not if they yell at the child or demean him or her. If the parent tells off the server in front of the child for a gentle warning, the child is going to think, "I can do no wrong!" And they may grow up to feel like they are entitled to act in an inappropriate manner, and that they can do whatever they feel like because they aren't subject to the same rules as everyone else.

It's the parents' job to discipline and keep tabs on their kids, but in public places people in authority have a right to keep their standards too. As long as they do it in a loving way and don't overstep their authority. (Don't touch my kid.)

If a parent had a problem with this- I'd consider them to be a wee bit scary to hang around with personally.

Answer 12

first of all if my children were 'out of control' - I would be the first to scold!

gently being asked by the waitress, please don't touch -is not the same as scolding...If the children were behaving this way before i had the chance to  correct them, then I would appreciate the waitress for being so nice as to not ask us to leave!.....

I think it is the parents duty to teach and correct unacceptable behavior of their children! But as parents, we also need to bear in mind the respect and courtesy of others and teach this to our children as well! Sometimes parents also have to learn the hard way what is acceptable from their own children in these types of situations.....We (parents and their children) do not live within a protective bubble where we can control everything that may ourselves....

Also, as a person who has had experience working with the public- it is ridiculous when these types of situations occur! There were signs posted, if the children cannot read them then it is the parents job to inform them. After all it could be for sanitary reasons or even safety issues as to why these signs were posted! As for the waitress in your scenario, in my opinion, she was very polite and at least she took the time to inform the children in a way that they might respond to!

Answer 13

its the parents job but... the waitress has the right to tell the kids not to touch somthing that could hurt them or disturb customers.  probly they should say something to the parents first but as a waitress I'll yell at any little b******s that run around my resturant...

Answer 14

The waitress would need to yell at ME for not controlling my children.  I first would be embarrassed that someone else had to step in and check my kids, second I would thank and apologize to the waitress and any other patrons I may have offended.

Answer 15

It would serve the kids right for touching things that they werent suppose to touch.  The parents shouldnt have let the kids run riot in a public place like that.  The parents should have made sure they were behaving.

Anytime we took our children out to eat, they always sat down and behaved themselves.  It was drilled into them that it is rude and impolite to behave like that in public.

Answer 16

Yes, it is a parent's job to control their children, but in this scenario, the parent wasn't controlling their children.  Letting children run around a restaurant touching things that are clearly marked "Do Not Touch" is not control by any means.  If the parent is unable or unwilling to control their children, then they shouldn't complain when someone with more of a backbone steps in and says what needs to be said.

Answer 17

The problem here is, parents that allow children to run in a restaurant and touch things they are not suppose to, are the kind that are the first to get up and start screaming when the kids finally get in to trouble. It was the waitresses fault, it was the other kid that started it, it was the policeman victimizing them...

Don't worry, if you are the waitress, you will go on with your normal well behaved life and have normal well behaved children, and the parents of these kids will at some point in the future be visiting them in prison. They'll all know how to act there, the kids have probably visited many relative in prison over the years.

Answer 18

Of course it's the parents job to control the children. The parents of that kid are the one's who need a kick in the pants.

Answer 19

Of course its the parents job! and the waitress was doing nothing wrong! She was just doing her job and since she said it gently which probably means she has a nice personality. As a parent (im not) i would not be mad at her at all!

Answer 20

i would be embarrassed for my kids acting like that, the parents should have been scolded as well as the kids. if i were the waitress i probably would have asked the family to leave.

Answer 21

It is the parents JOB to control their children, but if they are intent not fulfilling their job they should not be upset when someone else does in a polite manner. There is no reason for a child to running around in a restaurant or store or any other public place. If I owned the restaurant I would have told the parents to control the child or asked them to leave and not return until they learn how to control their children. It is better to upset one client then the entire clientele in the place of business.

Answer 22

I wouldn't be mad at all. Now if she got in his face and screamed "Get your hands off of that you little brat!!! " or something similar then we'd have a problem. But if my kids were running around a restaurant I'd pack them up and leave anyway.

Answer 23

No The waitress had every right to do that.The parents shouldnt be upset, they the ones who neglected to discipline their kids so someone had to reprimand them...

When my baby is older and if she deserves it, then by all means someone else can scold her if she gets out of hand.

Answer 24

The waitress was doing her job, trying to ensure that the restaurant was a comfortable place for all of the guests, and if those things were marked "Do not touch" it could have been because they were dangerous, and the child should not have been near them, so I don't think the waitress is to blame as long as she asked politely.

The parents should have been keeping their kids under control in the first place. Children should be taught that a restaurant is not a place to go running around and playing, and if they really can't sit still, one parent should go outside with the kid for a few minute so they can release some of the pent-up energy.

Answer 25

Yes, I think it's the parent's job to control the kids. However, I have 5 and sometimes, especially when I'm in public it's hard to keep an eye on all of them. If this had happened to me, I would thank the waitress for saying something to my child before they broke something.

Answer 26

When parents do not make their children act responsibly in public, then the establishment should have the right to see that their place of business is protected and continue to offer a safe environment for other patrons. If adults were to act this way in the same public place, they could be arrested for disorderly conduct and put in jail. If children are allowed to act in a destructive way and parents do not enforce some control over the children's bad behavior, then the "parents" as well as the children should be held responsible, either monetarily or legally, for their children's destructive behavior. So, how would I act as a parent? I would never let my children act like animals in the first place. Would I be upset at the waiter for protecting my establishment and the other patrons?  Heavens, NO. I would be completely embarrassed, to say the least. And lastly, do I think its the parents job to control the children?  Of course it is.  Who opted to have and supposedly raise the children in the first place?  The PARENTS!  NOT the establishment.  When children are raised without boundaries and do whatever they please, then parents are giving their children permission to eventually enter a life of crime -- because they have no boundaries!

Answer 27

If I were a parent, I wouldn't be mad at the waitress if my children were being bad (if they weren't....that's another thing). If anything, I would be embarrassed that it took another adult to control MY children instead of me. As a parent, it should be my job to control my children, especially in public places and for another adult to have to do it...that's a shame.

Answer 28

Well, My Children Wouldn't Be Touching Those Things. Because I Would Not Let Them. But If Somehow, They Were, I Would Be Kinda Mad, Because I Hate It When People Tell Me To Do Something/ Not Do Something. If They Where Yelling, I Would Kill Them! (Okay, I Wouldn't, But I Would Be Pissed Off, And I Would Talk To The Manager, And I Would Not Let That Person Near My Kids Ever Again!

Answer 29

I would be ashamed that someone else had had to reprimand my children when it is my job to make sure that they behave appropriately in public.

If my boys *had* acted like that they would have been disobeying my instructions that I gave them *before* we went out so it would have been straight home for the consequences that they had been warned about *before* we left home - stopping only for them to apologise for the nuisance that they had caused and for me to thank the waitress for drawing their misbehaviour to my attention (which *I* should have been keeping an eye on anyhow as their Mother).

Answer 30

I am a parent myself and if my kids deserve to be scolded go for it all of my friends and family know that. I think its my job to keep my kids in line and if they are out of hand I have no right to be mad a someone for doing something that I shouldve been but obviously wasn't.

Answer 31

I wouldn't be angry at all.  I would thank the waiter/waitress for catching something that I didn't and take care of my child right there in the restaurant.  I would be embarrassed to a degree that my child wasn't acting the way I know I brought him or her up to act.  We would probably leave the restaurant.  

As a parent it is our job to maintain control of our children and to make sure they have respect for others around them.  If the parents won't do it, by golly someone has to!  My child's behind would surely be a little blush if they acted like that in public though.