The Great Beer Garden Parenting Disaster. Episode 815

Should Children Be Banned from Pubs and Beer Gardens?**

Niall speaks to callers after a listener contacted the show to say he and his wife were disgusted by what they witnessed during a visit to a large local bar.

The couple had gone out for dinner, but the beer garden was packed with families and young children. According to the listener, many of the children appeared bored, were running around unsupervised and were completely out of control, while heavily intoxicated adults shouted, swore and held conversations that were clearly unsuitable for children.

He claimed that many of the adults were not even eating and appeared to have been sitting in the beer garden drinking for hours, while their children were left to entertain themselves in what was effectively an outdoor drinking area.

The listener says he would never have brought his own children into that environment and believes children should be banned from licensed premises altogether. His view is simple: bring children to the park, the beach, a playground or a family restaurant, but not somewhere primarily designed for adults to consume alcohol.

But is that fair?

Many parents argue that pubs and beer gardens can be perfectly suitable for families, particularly during the day, provided children are supervised and adults behave responsibly. They say families should be able to enjoy a meal and a drink without being judged because of the behaviour of a minority.

Others believe the culture has gone too far and that some beer gardens have effectively become unofficial playgrounds while parents drink for hours and expect staff and other customers to tolerate badly behaved children.

Should children be banned from pubs after a certain time? Should licensed premises be allowed to introduce adult only areas? Or have some parents simply lost sight of where it is appropriate to bring young children?

Niall hears from callers on whether children belong in pubs and beer gardens, and whether responsible families are now being unfairly blamed for the behaviour of parents who have completely lost the run of themselves.