It seems like today's parents have lost all common sense. A recent news article shows parents want to have social contact with other adults and remain in normal adult only spheres ( bars, fine restaurants, etc.) but with their little tots in tow and feel self entitled to do so. Some parents are even getting angry at other patrons for behaving normally in these venues..or establishments asking them to leave with their tots and strollers.

Maybe it is time for some parents to let go, stop being so cheap, hire a sitter, and be respectful of other adults out enjoying adult activities...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/02/brooklyn.babies.in.bars/index.html?iref=allsearch

Well I think I straddle both sides of this arguement... as a cash-strapped parent, especially one who currently lives in a city where there are no immediate family members nearby, I don't think there should be a ban prohibiting parents from taking their kids out to an establishment where drinking is common place.  Especially given bars and restaurants are one and the same these days.  I mean where do you draw that line.. you can take your child to Kelsey's but not a Firkin pub?

Having said that, I don't think parents should be complaining how the other patrons are acting (within reasonable limits --> people obnoxiously bothering EVERYONE with excessive volume or swearing perhaps should be cut off from any additional drinks anyhow).. I mean if you choose to bring your kid to a place that is renowned for rowdiness, than you better accept when the patrons are talking like adults around your kid.  Suck it up, finish your meal/drinks, settle the tab and find some other place for the next time you want to bring your kids out.  

Realistically what parent brings their kid(s) out past 7 or 8 and on that flipside what adult is excessively drunk before that time?  It shouldn't be causing THAT much of a problem (except the buggies, I agree and dislike how much space they take up in any establishment or public transportation.. no solutions come to mind for that.. perhaps you need to pay for "parking them under the watchful eyes of some attendant, just like those who drive cars do.

I agree with Shabadu, that parents shouldn't complain about other adults' behaviour at adult venues, if such behaviour is appropriate for adults.  In the end, it's the parents' job to raise their kids.  If bringing them to bars and listening to rowdy drunken yelling is how they want their kids to learn, so be it.

However, if these same kids are annoying other patrons, by screaming/yelling/running around, then the establishment must have the right to ask them to leave.  Just as an obnoxious adult would be kicked out, so too must the obnoxious children.

I agree with Diddly and Shabadu.  We have certain established (if not written) rules of etiquette in our society.  It wouldn't be acceptable for me to run and chase my friends around a restaurant, crawl under other patrons' tables, blowfish the windows next to a stranger's table (I've seen kids doing this one while their parents were inside at another table), or otherwise be a distraction/nuisnace to the other patrons in any establishment.  If it's behaviour I don't want to see in adults, I don't really want to see it in kids in these settings either, and parents should be responsible for controlling their child's behaviour.  If they can't do that (or can't be bothered to do it), then they shouldn't bring the kids to that setting.

People should be aware of how they conduct themselves in any given social situation, and I don't want to hear a guy at the table next to be speaking loudly and dropping F-bombs left and right, whether kids are around or not.  It's a free world, but if I want to enjoy a quiet meal in a given establishment, I shouldn't be the one who has to bend to someone who isn't observing social conventions.

In other words, parents should be required to control their kids or leave.  Adults should be required to control themselves or leave.  And if parents are bringing their kids to a place where it's reasonable to assume that rowdiness is going to be present (like a place where alcohol is the focus, or a sports bar on the night of a game), they should STFU and accept that they're dumbass parents.