As much of a joy children are, raising them isn’t always the easiest of tasks. In fact, one of the most difficult aspects of parenting is having to calmly yet sternly discipline your children when they act out in public. The best way parents could describe a situation like this is a sheer embarrassment as they feel unsolicited judgment from others around them. Nobody wants to be told that they’re a bad parent.
On the flip side, there are situations where children misbehave in public, and their parents fail to address the situation. Crying, making accidental messes, and talking in an “outside voice” in public are forgivable and to be expected among most children. Although, when a child is completely acting out, causing a major disturbance, and/or destroying physical property, and the parent fails to resolve the issue before it escalates, that’s when there’s an issue.
One day, German restaurant owner, Rudolf Markl of Oma’s Küche (“Grandma’s Kitchen”), decided to enact a new, controversial policy. This policy would ban children under the age of 14 from dining in his restaurant.
His reasoning for starting the ban? Many of the children present in his eatery were being disrespectful due to their poor behavior. Unfortunately, the problem was only getting worse as time went on. Nearly every evening, another incident would occur. The worst part was, the parents wouldn’t do anything to fix the situation. Thus, Markl would be left in an uncomfortable situation.
“When parents came here, they left their responsibility for their children at the door, and our staff was supposed to deal with the kids. That shouldn’t be their task,” explains Markl in a translated version of his exact words.
From screaming to running around the restaurant, Markl’s employees were tired of having to step in to discipline other people’s children. But the worst incident the hard-working restaurant owner has witnessed? Two children running around and then accidentally bumping into a cabinet housing some of Markl’s precious antiques, breaking them in the process.
So, in response, Markl told the family of their children to never come back, and if they did, he would be charging them for the broken antiques. The family left quickly. Then the very next day, he put out a sign that read: “ADULT-ONLY RESTAURANT.”
But, Markl wouldn’t be permanently banning all children. Currently, the restaurant owner only bans children under the age of 14 after 5 p.m. After all, younger children in the evening were the most rambunctious from Markl’s experience. Many might consider Markl evil for not wanting children in his restaurant. The truth is, he has no problem with children, but rather, the fact that the parents of these young children fail to step in.
Due to the controversy of his new policy, the Government has stepped in, deeming his actions discriminatory. However, Markl is determined to fight for his legal right to keep his restaurant’s recent rule.
Even with the costs of fighting in court and some loss in business, Markl knows his children ban is important. Not only will other customers have a better restaurant experience, but he and his employees can rest assured knowing that they’ll have a less difficult job and a reduced chance of precious valuables being destroyed on the premises of the establishment.
Markl isn’t the only restaurant owner banning children from their eatery. Watch the following video to learn more about the widespread movement. How do you feel about banning kids from eateries?
