“No Children Allowed” – Should You Be Concerned?

It started small enough. Some places, normally those where children would be inappropriate, have always banned them. But there's now a growing movement to keep children out of restaurants, movie theaters, even the first class section of one airline.

Whatever kick-started it, the movement has gained steam rapidly. That restaurant that banned children under 6 is in Pittsburgh; a local news poll there says more than half of area residents support the policy. Another restaurant, this one in North Carolina, posts signs stating "Screaming Children Will NOT Be Tolerated!" [emphasis theirs]. The restaurant's owner says the policy has encouraged much more business than it's cost them.

Malaysia Airlines' recent decision to ban young children from most of its first-class cabins probably came from a poll taken last year by the fare-comparison site Skyscanner. It found that almost 60% of travellers would prefer the creation of special "families with children" sections [and, as a result, keeping most areas of a plane off-limits to kids]. The same poll noted that almost 20% of all flyers would prefer to do so on completely child-free flights.

Why this sudden anti-child movement? Most theories are based on the fact that fewer couples in the US are having kids; when they go out, they aren't used to screaming babies, or badly-behaved children, and would rather not deal with it.

Are you aware of any area businesses that have, or are considering, a ban on children under a certain age? Would such a ban encourage or discourage you from patronising those businesses?