[N. Beaujon]

Yes, there are people who let their kids run amok. But there is also, especially on the coasts, an anti-child mood in some of the large metro areas. A woman in San Francisco wrote an article about it some time ago...she would get dirty looks because she had three kids, if I recall correctly.

I live in rural Georgia. There is an anti-child mood here, and there is a reason. Parents no longer consider it their job to raise or monitor their kids. But this issue of bad behavior is hardly new; it has been going on for some time. Look at the current crop of adults, who do things like casually jaywalk or even stand in the street, then glare at you for not just stopping for them.

Again, this is a straw man argument. But if you'd like to follow the logic, what makes you think rude, obnoxious adults are any more tolerable than rude, obnoxious, anti-social children?

Debating cause and effect is a waste of time, too. We all know that bad parenting breeds bad children so, what is the big problem with no longer tolerating either?

[B Knotts]

What I'm saying is the bad parenting is caused by the bad parenting of the previous generation.

But I think the bad parenting problem is exaggerated somewhat by people (like the "public relations consultant" who are basically hostile to children and families as a whole.

I don't like seeing unruly children any more than anyone else. But, I sense "more to the story" here, which is my main point.