Parents not paying attention!!!!!

Jul 30, 2007
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Had a lovely day out today at Woolacombe from our site at Warcombe Farm.
However,if it wasn't for an elderly ladies quick thinking,there could have been a tragedy.
If you stand with your back to the town,overlooking the beach,just to the right is a pathway that leads up to a grassy area where children were playing a football game with lots of other children running around enjoying themselves.
At the bottom of this grassy area is a cliff face of about 40 feet which drops down onto jagged rocks and the beach.
As we walked along we spotted a toddler about 2 years old all on his own heading for the cliff edge with no sign of a parent nearby.(No fencing or warning notices).
As he got closer to the edge,I ran(well......hobbled with my bad knees) towards him before it was too late.
Luckily an elderly lady who was sat on a nearby bench heard me shouting and quickly grabbed the toddler.
It took about 5 or 6 minutes to pacify him(he was obviously frightened) and still no sign of a parent.
We eventually carried him up to where most of the parents were sitting and lo and behold,a mother spotted us.
I was about to give her a right mouthful but there was no need.
The elderly lady gave her a right,good and proper roasting.
Ive never heard language like that from an elderly citizen.
She was shaking with anger and the mother didn't know which way to turn.
So.....thanks to an elderly hero today,there won't be any upsetting local news on tv this evening.
 

Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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The lack of parental supervision that we see these days really annoys me.
Go for a restaurant meal and there will be children running around while their parents sit chatting away and completely ignoring their badly behaved children.
If you dare to complain you are subjected to dirty looks and muttered comments from the useless parents for the rest of your meal.
Parents no longer hold the hands of their children when walking on the pavements of busy roads.
Their offspring wander along unsupervised, but if one wandered or ran into the road and was hit by a car it would all be the driver's fault.
Well done for spotting the danger to this infant, if a tragedy had happened the mother would have sworn that she never took her eyes off the kid, but then it was gone.
๐Ÿฆนโ€โ™‚๏ธ I hereby nominate you as Hero of the week ๐Ÿ˜
 
Jan 31, 2018
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As teachers or one of us ex ie retired exactly why we seek out adult only sites. Lack of parental interest in their children ,their behaviour etc really makes us twitch!!!
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Often parents leave very young children and put the eldest in charge. Sometimes the eldest is not even 8 years old! If something goes wrong they then put the blame on the eldest child.
 
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Nov 11, 2009
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Often parents leave very young children and put the eldest in charge. Sometimes the eldest is not even 8 years old! If something goes wrong they then put the blame on the eldest child.
When I was 13 my parents went off to Blackpool for the Illuminations leaving me to look after my 4 year old brother. Similarly when they went to Dublin for the Hurling.
During GCE O level fortnight they were in Ilfracombe on holiday and I was self catering; mainly beer and fags although they did take my brother with them.
 
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Jun 16, 2020
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This โ€˜childโ€™ problem pops up on forums regularly. So I donโ€™t doubt that some have issues or their pleasure is lessened. I cannot remember, in the last 40 years of caravanning, ever having an issue which disturbed our enjoyment. (Just the occasional issues with adults). I am thankful that a lot of the kids I used to teach (HOD) donโ€˜t appear on the sites we use. Many were disadvantaged and/or with criminal records. But we got an odd mix, some older ones having degrees.

Itโ€™s very often the case that we enjoy watching children enjoying themselves.

We very rarely use commercial sites, perhaps that is were the bigger problems are.

John
 

Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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This โ€˜childโ€™ problem pops up on forums regularly. So I donโ€™t doubt that some have issues or their pleasure is lessened. I cannot remember, in the last 40 years of caravanning, ever having an issue which disturbed our enjoyment. (Just the occasional issues with adults). I am thankful that a lot of the kids I used to teach (HOD) donโ€˜t appear on the sites we use. Many were disadvantaged and/or with criminal records. But we got an odd mix, some older ones having degrees.

Itโ€™s very often the case that we enjoy watching children enjoying themselves.

We very rarely use commercial sites, perhaps that is were the bigger problems are.

John
I use a mixture of sites and rarely, if ever, have problems with children or adolescents.
I dislike neglectful parents who allow their children to misbehave without intervention however.
A child is often a product of its upbringing.
Generally speaking, the children and "yoofs" that I've encountered have been reasonably polite and often quite helpful.
 
Jan 31, 2018
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You both must have been lucky or avoided bigger sites. It isn't always the case though that big sites are the ones with issues. We've stayed at Abby Wood twice both times heaving with tents and caravan lots of youngsters and children from every nationality. Lovely atmosphere. 9pm it was quiet. In contrast Longleat, three caravans together parents one end children dumped in the far end caravan of three screaming yelling jumping off beds maybe, whatever the caravan was rocking and the fun only ended when one child got hurt and the parents finally realised what was going on.
 
Jun 16, 2020
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You both must have been lucky or avoided bigger sites. It isn't always the case though that big sites are the ones with issues. We've stayed at Abby Wood twice both times heaving with tents and caravan lots of youngsters and children from every nationality. Lovely atmosphere. 9pm it was quiet. In contrast Longleat, three caravans together parents one end children dumped in the far end caravan of three screaming yelling jumping off beds maybe, whatever the caravan was rocking and the fun only ended when one child got hurt and the parents finally realised what was going on.

Not saying we have never encountered the unruly but nothing sticks in my mind. I do understand that unruly kids of whatever age can really ruin a get away.

John
 
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Jul 18, 2017
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I use a mixture of sites and rarely, if ever, have problems with children or adolescents.
I dislike neglectful parents who allow their children to misbehave without intervention however.
A child is often a product of its upbringing.
Generally speaking, the children and "yoofs" that I've encountered have been reasonably polite and often quite helpful.
I feel sorry for the kids due to the above reason, but due to their parents we prefer CLs or where possible adult sites and there seem to be more and more adult only sites springing up.
 
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