Expecting Gen X parents to tell their children "No?"

You've got to be kidding.

It might hurt their feelings. Then what would we do?

So who's in charge there? I've seen the insane racing-around kids, and they are a disgrace, but it's also a disgrace that nobody has the spheres to step up and stop it. Is there a Bandstand Committee member present? A cop? We don't need to start a Little League parent-versus-parent beatdown, but if nothing else, the musicians should stop performing and announce that they'll begin again if and when the audience calms down.

Ah, the annual running of the bandstand kids. Not only do they disrupt the concerts but they often trample the flowers the Garden Club works so hard to plant and maintain.

Of course, the kids wouldn't even be at the concerts without their parents. And it is the parents who are responsible for their rudeness.

Would this kind of behavior be allowed in a church, or library, or theater, or anyplace where people are there to hear something? Of course not. And it shouldn't be at the bandstand concerts either. It's extremely discourteous both to performers and audience.

If the parents don't have the manners or sense to control their kids, the audience should "invade their space" by moving their chairs into lines to cut off the "track lanes" they run around on. Then, if the parents don't get the message, at least the kids might begin to.

I think it's time for many to move to an over 55 community. I remember on older "gentleman" trying to kick the young kids who were having the time of their lives at a concert several years back. Many performers encourage the children to get up and dance and have a good time.

If you want Lincoln Center, buy a ticket. COH is NOT Lincoln Center.

This is a community for everyone. Get off your high horses and enjoy watching the kids.

>>>If the parents don't have the manners or sense to control their kids, the audience should "invade their space" by moving their chairs into lines to cut off the "track lanes" they run around on.<<<

Mr Chase are you JOKING? You must have one cold heart. That statement is flat out mean. Bah HumBug to you too.

I don't think any of us are joking, Mr. Welch.

Nobody's against the kids. It might be a nice idea to have children's concerts, where they are encouraged to dance and scream. But, if that's not the purpose of the concert, it shouldn't be the outcome.

It is interesting, however, that you've become the spokesman for parents who think their kids have some right to disrupt concerts for everybody else. They don't; and you don't either.

"Get off your high horses and enjoy watching the kids."

Seriously? People are not there to watch the kids, they're there to watch and listen to the music being performed, which requires at least a modicum of calm and quiet.

I don't see a problem with kids dancing to music at community performances like these, but parents need to know the boundaries of when expressively moving to and enjoying music stops and wild abandon and play begin.

The problem is parents are increasingly incapable of saying no to the little Ids they are raising.

As I said (in part) in the Local:
I?m all for little kids having fun. I wish, though, that their parents would instill a sense of audience etiquette. Running around is fine, but it?s not cool for them to scream at the top of their lungs the whole time. Turning up the amp volume is no solution unless you like buzzing, distorted sound.

So how about explaining to your kids that there are people at the band concerts who would like th hear the music? And while you?re at it, why not set an example by refraining from loud conversation while the music is playing? Smile, nod, wave, dance around, and encourage them to do the same, but lets not drown out the band.

It is totally obvious that the parents of the ice-cream fueled, past their bed-time, missed a nap, children are not going to properly mind their offspring, they haven't for years. So, as a community member and audience member I have taken it upon myself on several occasions to speak to the children running around in front of me and disturbing my enjoyment of the concert and ruining my otherwise pleasant interlude. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don't, but after 3 or 4 approaches the parents start watching and sometimes they call their spawn off. I'm not rude, I don't touch them, and I feel I have every right to speak to them if the parents aren't in control. I'm with Bill & Jean, teach your child to respect the venue or send them over to the playground.

What's with the "It may take a Village to raise a Liberal's child..."

Are you seriously making unruly children into a partisan political issue?

Unbelievable

How complicated can we make such a simple problem? I don't know how anybody possibly can know whether the parents of unruly kids are "liberals" or "conservatives." And I'll bet that, if we were to find out, everybody would be disappointed.

The problem is that people have become self-absorbed. From kids, that's expected, they're hard-wired to push for limits. But the parents?

This problem is the responsibility of the parents initially -- and, failing that, of those who run and are charged with keeping order at the concerts.

It's not complicated at all. People just need to step up.

See post #2.

Mr. Cumming, I am sympathetic to what you are saying, but I still fail to see how it boils down to an issue with liberals or conservatives.

It's a matter of manners and awareness of others plain and simple.

We survived the terroristic "kids" a few years back whose parents didn't give a darn about their "kids" defacing the schools brick staircase. Say anything to those "kids" and you would have their parents screaming at you and even the police who tried their best to keep the situation under control. I remember many times having to stop short due to these kids. One was even the son of a former trustee. That situation was much more dangerous to the public then loud kids in the park.

Before anyone gets the idea, espoused here to block the kids from running and having a talk with the kids my advice would be to speak with town police first. I remember one parent of the unruly skate borders threatening legal action against the police.

Don't listen to legal advice doled out by incompetents. Speak to your police officers.

Mr. Cumming, you do yourself and everyone else a disservice when you start a sentence with "Liberals think..." Everyone is different and everyone has different beliefs about a myriad of different issues. Frankly, when I hear people start a comment with "Well, conservatives all think..." or "You know those Liberals, they all..." I basically tune them out because they are usually about to make an unsubstantiated and inaccurate generalization. You may wish the world was black and white, but it isn't and making blanket statements and grouping people into generalized categories basically speaks to your intellectual laziness.

BTW, I'm pretty darn sure the term "village" in that phrase is talking about community and not strictly government, as in a public municipality. There is a difference, you know.

I live in the Homeland section of the village. Many residents who reside in that area have children, some more than 1! These comments have scared the bejesus out of me so I guess my wife, my 3 year old and I will have to skip the concert series and ice-cream stop this summer until he is older. I guess it's not going to be a very Norman Rockwell setting after all.