Do Young People In S’pore Hate Kids? Most Redditors Think It's More About Irresponsible Parents Than Misbehaving Kids

We hear people complain about kids being entitled or spoiled brats all the time. But here’s the thing — do people actually hate kids in general, or do they take issue with the behaviour displayed? 

A netizen recently took to Reddit to ask: "As young people in Singapore, do you 'hate' kids?"

The OP explained they were curious after speaking to their interns from South Korea and China. According to them, there’s a “trend” in these countries to “unwelcome” kids. For example, some cafes do not allow kids, and there are also “incidents of parents getting harassed in public because their kids misbehaved”. 

The OP also clarified that by using "hate", "[they] don't mean just "don't find kids adorable" kind of dislike".

"I mean you get irritated/annoyed in the very presence of children, and you'd very much want your cafe/restaurant/hotel to be kid free.” said the OP, who is in their 30s and does not plan on having kids in the near future. The OP also shared that they don’t hate kids that are well-behaved, but don’t particularly like them either. 

“The only kid incident that drove me nuts was when my upstairs neighbour's children kept making noise the whole day when I was WFH. But let's say I do hate that specific family but not any generic kid on the street,” they added. 

Singaporeans were quick to jump in with their takes, and while a number do think kids are "nuisances", an overwhelming majority believe the issue with bad kids mostly lies with bad parents. 

Many stressed it's the parenting they hate, with one writing: "Noisy, uncontrollable and disruptive kids are the result of bad/lack of parenting."

"[It's] parents who think their kids can do no wrong when they’re super destructive, and always excusing it as 'They’re just kids', which is a blanket excuse for them not wanting to parent their kids and taking responsibility for their behaviour," wrote another. 

Some shared experiences in which they've encountered rowdy, noisy kids in public, only to have the parents of these children act as though they are not at fault for disrupting others. These parents were dubbed "incompetent" and "self-entitled", with one netizen even likening it to "having untrained dogs running around creating a ruckus". 

To them, the problem lies with parents who are too lenient with their children these days. One also said that some adults "still want to behave like children" and are glued to their phone even when out with their little ones. 

"I really don't think children today are any worse than children 20 or 10 years ago. But adults are becoming terrible. I am not even talking about young adults but even adults in their 40s and 50s. Hating children is not a flex," read another comment. 

The general sentiment, as summed up by one netizen, goes: “Don’t reproduce if you’re not ready.”

Despite that, there were also a handful of netizens that argued that people in countries such as Singapore, South Korea, and China, "lack empathy" and are "less tolerant" of behaviour they deem out of line.

One commenter believes that young parents should be granted more grace as they are "just learning to be parents themselves". There are also those who are acquainted with well-behaved kids who are "absolute joys to be around".

So to those who often express dislike for kids — are the children really the problem here, or are the parents at fault? Or have we just become too intolerant of others as a society?

Photos: 8 verthing/ Unsplash, r/askSingapore