Do you think it is OKAY for parents to let their child(ren) scream in a store?

Hi. No I have not ever encountered anything like that. I will say that if I was that mother, I would have a chat with my child. Something to the effect that 'If you are going to scream when we are in the store, we will leave the store right now!' The trick to making this work is to be prepared to leave the store, right now. He will test this, and will have to leave the store. After doing this a couple of times, the screaming will stop. If it doesn't stop after three tries, I would inform him that because he has shown me he will not stop screaming, I will have to leave him at home. And do just that!

I will comment on a child's behavior in a heartbeat... alot of the times it's something sarcastic like you said, "Man that kids got a set of lungs" or "someone needs a nap" or "timeout!" or I might even say to the kid, "What is all of that noise for?" I won't say my kids are perfect and I've never had to deal with a screamer in public, but I deal with, rather than ignore it! Like the first poster said, I will leave with kid in-tow and leave behind a cartfull of groceries to take my kid outside or to the car and let him/her settle down before returning. This is done out of consideration for others and not many people have that these days! I have a system worked out though, where they choose one thing they really want, from a candybar to a box of fruit snacks and if they start misbehaving, the treat goes back on the shelf. Okay, it sounds a lot like bribary but everyone is happy, so it's win-win!

It is so not good to allow your kid to scream in a store. It's being inconsiderate to those around. I'm not sure anyone knows what to say to a mother with a screaming kid. My mom would scold us right there in public. More embarassing to me and brother than to her, it showed everyone she was in charge not us.

I have three kids and when they were younger i taught them how to behave in public.They are 12,10 and 9 now and when we go somewhere people always compliment me on their behavior.So parents can teach their child to behave there is no excuse.I do have a problem with my two girls not getting along but they are going to counseling for that. other than that if that childs screams in a store they better give them a good talking to or however they discipline their child.

it all in the way they make the children mind now a days there are too few rules in a family raising kids. when I was young it was just fine to spank your child in public I think it is just fine when a child is acting up and the parent swats thier behind (not a beating) it shows they are in control and not the child.

I have been in the store and seen kids falling all over the place screaming, running, breaking things and the parent just acts as if nothing is going on. I hate that! I just want to reach out and smack them. If it was my kids, I dont care what law says I cant beat them in the store but I will do it!!!! My mama did.

Not at all.The parents should be telling their kids that screaming is a bad habit and it should not be practiced in public.

I think it is terrible when parents let their kids scream and run about in stores, if I had done that when I was a youngster I would have gotten a good smack on the backside. If you can't controll your children don't bring them out is what I say.

ohh sweety..for me persoanlly you opened a can of worms lol..I still love ya though lol.I was in that exact same situtaion when Skylar was 2..that whole year was so bad that i was on 3 diff medications for anxiety,..he was clingy,whiny,tempermental..ARRRGHH!!!!And in the grocery store is when it usually was the worse,,.too long..too much to do...and at the end there so tired,hungry, thirsty and wanna be home now!!! NOT WAIT IN LINE FOR AN HOUR..Lol..SOO ONE DAY..we were in line..mind u im a single mom..disabled...and full of anxiety from the whole time were shopping to begin with,,he was crying..and i dont know if u have children..though it doesnt osuns like it,or youd know..lol..NOTHING SHORT OF GIVING THEM A BOTTLE OF TEQUILLA (joke lol) calms them down..anywho i was at my wits end and wanted to just go home but we needed the food..so i let him cry it out..and then a lady..kinda like you..but she said CANT U SHUT THAT KID UP?? I just snapped out..and while i was yelling i started to cry..I was havin an anxiety attack..its not easy to raise children..and next hting i know i was gettin help from the line..even the woman i yelled at..i think if more people knew what we go threw..and its not that easy to stop them from crying..and most the time..we are selves are crying inside..next time..give that parent help so they can get the hell out of there faster..instead of getting mad..

I know alot of parents think just let it happen if they don't get the attention they will stop. I know if my kids start screaming in the middle of the store I usually leave and don't let my kids get that far. My youngest I always take a small item for him to have something to do in the store..and make sure he is feed before we go do any shopping at all. Shopping is one of the hardest things on kids to do..

i think these days people just let it go. they dont say anything to the parents. I dont know if it is just cuz they dont want to start a confertation or something like that. I know when my kids were young and they started acting up in a public place i would just leave, i mean if i had a whole thing of groceries i would just leave and come back later after they settled down or if someone else was to watch them. I sometimes would tell the clerk, i will be back so that they did not put the stuff back.

I know you're talking about stores, but I thought I'd mention another public place as well. I work in a library and you probably would believe all the parents who let their kids scream, yell, and run around without so much as a word to them to stop. I have found that parents who let their kid do these things are extremely defensive when you confront them about their kids. My mom told me a story about a woman who menaced her in a store after she told her kid (or the mom, I can't remember) that his behavior wasn't appropriate. She thought this woman was going to attack her physically. My mom was the same way when we would act up, they would leave and not come back. We knew that if we didn't behave, we would be taken home and we would not get to comeback for a while. So, unless we didn't want to be there, we behaved. I've also had the same experience at a store where the kid was screaming at the top of his lungs. The clerk was having trouble with ringing up my stuff and couldn't concentrate because of it. The mother did absolutely nothing, not even trying to console her kid, she just let him scream.

There are always times when children will push the limits, but you have to wonder how their parents stand it, especially in public. It seems that more and more parents just don't believe in the hard work that's required to make children behave. You have to be at it a lot, especially when the child is small, and controlling their behaviour continues on for years, in various forms. Here in New Zealand, a minister of parliament is trying to bring in an 'anti-smacking' law. It's supposedly to stop child abuse, but it's getting everyone's backs' up because it makes any parent who smacks a child officially a criminal. The liberal moderns don't believe in disciplining people, especially children, and we're paying for it left right and centre.

The poor mother! in today's world too many people have opinions if she were to discipline her child in any way. I would, and have, removed myself and my child from the store when this behaviour has been displayed - but if I am already in the process of checking out, I would feel my hands were pretty much tied, and I would be committed to finishing the transaction. We held up the line once with a child, but he was 15 - he had a jejunal feeding tube - its balloon dislodged from his intestines and traveled up his esophagus to the back of his throat, it was also connected through his abdomen (the part that hangs out his body to attach the bags of feed) so he was doubled over, and turning blue because his airway was blocked. I asked the register lady to get me a scissor! again I asked she did not. I went to the front of the store and screamed at the top of my lungs - someone get me a scissors NOW!!!! HE CAN'T BREATHE! they all just stared at us. even customer service just stared. You cant tell me they do not have scissors at the customer service desk, or at least a box cutter somewhere abouts. Finally after what seemed like forever (probably 2-3 min. in actuality) a patron came to the rescue with his pocket knife, cut the tube from the outside which released the air in the balloon and allowed the entire tube to come out through the stoma in his abdomen. This beautiful person that saved our boy's life did more than just that...when the tube came out so did a mass of gastric juices - this charitable person wiped up the mess, I never did get his name, but he is a hero in my book!

of couse not

I think that it's parents duty to see that kids are behaving when they are in a public place.

YEs, when I worked at walmart, we heard this deafening scream coming from one of the aisles, We all ran, assuming some poor child was in mortal danger, to see a two year old screaming at the top of his lungs, and his parents were looking for coffee. They didn't do anything about it, and didn't even seem to notice. I can't believe people allow thier children to act that way!