It's even worse than that - I was in a store and a five year old girl was throwing a fit because her mother wouldn't buy her a toy she wanted. I heard the little girl say, "If you don't buy me this I'm gonna call Detective Services"! - Even though she got the word wrong - it's a sad state of affairs when a five year old knows enough to threaten her mother with "detective services"!
I told the little girl to stop her screaming and told her how lucky she was that I wasn't her father. I then let the mother know what I thought about her doing nothing about her brat's ten minute screaming fit. The mother said - "I just can't control her". I told the mother - if you can't control her when she's five - what are you going to do when she's 13? I then turned to the little girl and told her that if she didn't stop screaming - I was going to pull her out of the shopping cart and paddle her little butt. She stopped. I told the mother - "See how easy it is?". The mother said "She doesn't stop when I threaten her". I replied - "That's because she knows you don't mean it - and she knows that I do!"
I think the problem goes much, much deeper than what's being assumed on this thread. My husband and I have been married 23 years and have 5 kids, ages 6 thru 16. They are all well behaved in public, we have gotten many compliments on their behavior, from strangers. I COULD NOT have managed this without my husband. I am a pushover, he is a strong disciplinarian. Children need 2 parents, people. Stop blaming the children, it ain't their fault.