A Happy Child Is Loud, Restless, Happy And Unruly

A happy child, who enjoys interacting and discovering the world, is loud and unruly. However, in recent times a movement has been appearing that attracts our attention and that worries us: ‘niñofobia’.

Have we already forgotten what childhood is? Do we have so little empathy that we are unable to connect with those wonderful, noisy and unruly years that define childhood? We invite you to reflect on it below.

When children bother in our public spaces

Recently, a very specific type of hotel offer has increased, the one that offers ‘child-free’ accommodation. That is, during the stay we will not find babies or minors who bother us at night with their cries, or who bother us in the pool with their games.

The same is true in certain bars and restaurants. It is a different offer for all those who wish to spend a moment of peace away from the presence of children. This movement is having a great impact in the United States and the United Kingdom. And this  invites us to reflect on a somewhat complex issue.

We will begin by explaining the case of the Canadian singer Sarah Blackwood. In 2015, she experienced a situation that marked her and that she decided to tell about it to make a call for reflection.

Sarah had to take a plane trip with her 23-month-old son. I was 7 months pregnant and, although it was not the first time that I made that trip from San Francisco to Vancouver, but on that occasion the experience was different.

When the plane hadn’t taken off yet, her son started crying. It didn’t take long for the stewardess to come, warning her that she should calm her son down. Failure to do so could cause her to get off the plane. At this comment, he was speechless.

Her baby’s cries only lasted 10 minutes. After that time, he fell asleep again, but it was too late. The crew asked him to get off the plane because “the staff did not feel safe on the plane with their son.” Have people forgotten what parenting is? Doesn’t anyone remember that babies cry, laugh, scream and squeal?

Child phobia or thinking that a crying child is the result of poor parenting

What happened to Sarah Blackwood is just a small example of what many parents go through on a daily basis. Go shopping, spend some time at a theater, eat at a restaurant …

If a child yells, cries or draws the attention of other people, it is because their parents ‘are not doing something right’. However, this is an incorrect and stigmatized idea.

• Each child has his personality and his way of interacting in his closest contexts. There are more restless and there are calmer. But this is not always the result of the education that their parents give them.
• It seems that today any behavior on the part of the child is associated with a defect in their education. Boys and girls can have bad days too. In addition, when they are younger they tend to have more difficulties expressing their emotions verbally, so they resort to gestures or sounds. That does not imply that they are ‘rude’.

• Babies cry and crying is that essential language to ask for something, to communicate. It is something natural that every mother understands.

Therefore, we should be more empathetic and respectful when on a train or plane we see those parents who try to calm their baby during the trip.

Child phobia has already banned the entry of minors in many leisure spaces in the United States and the United Kingdom. However, this also prohibits their parents from entering. It’s something to ponder.

However, it is clear that in tourism matters each company can offer the service they want. Therefore, if a person wishes to spend their vacations without seeing or hearing a child, they deserve respect.

A happy child is a child who runs, screams and attracts attention

Any child wants to touch everything, experiment, feel, laugh, learn. .. If we force him to shut up, not cry, speak softly and not move from the chair, what we will have is a fearful creature that they will not dare to explore, not a happy child.

• The cries are attended, they are not censored nor are they ignored. If a child wants to touch something we will protect him from getting hurt. It is necessary to encourage their behavior of exploration, of curiosity, of interaction with their environment.
• Childhood is noisy by nature. You only have to go through a nursery or a primary school at recess to remember what it is to be a happy child, in the middle of a game.

They will have time to grow up and be silent, to sit still in the seats of an airplane, without disturbing them. Meanwhile, let us respect their parents in their task of educating and be more empathetic with children. Because a happy child is a restless, curious and happy child.