Yes, Obnoxious Children Do Belong in Public Places
Millennial parents like myself are used to a lot of side-eye. We get it if we leave our kid in a locked car for two minutes to pee in a gas station. We get it if we let our competent 9-year-old walk two blocks by themselves. We get it if we don’t aggressively disinfect every surface our children touch, like a one-woman hazmat team.
Mostly, I let it go. It’s a world of few joys right now — if people get a kick out of judging me, that’s their thing. Let them have their fun.
But I recently read an article here entitled “Obnoxious Children in Public Places: They Grate on Everyone’s Nerves.”
This one, we need to talk about.
The article, written by an author with a decent following and a lively comment section, makes a simple argument: chatty children are like yappy dogs, and they should be muzzled in public. She says, “Maybe give that kid of yours a chew toy.”
She goes on to claim that this is all for the children’s sake, of course. Because, as we all know, children who speak to strangers — regardless of the context and parental proximity — are just asking to be kidnapped, molested, and tossed in the garbage. Therefore, it’s the duty of any loving parent to ensure that their children stay the hell away from absolutely everyone.
