With screaming children becoming the bane of many restaurants, South Korea is seeing a growing number of child-free venues in recent years. Many of them impose an outright ban on children by putting up signs like “No children under age 7 allowed” on their doors.

The emergence of child-free venues dates back a few years, when restaurants and cafes in the capital’s hip districts such as the Hongdae and Gangnam areas began to close doors to children, mostly due to growing complaints about noisy kids in the public space. Soon, the trend spread to other metropolitan cities.

“Some mothers changed their babies’ diapers in the cafe and the children spilled drinks on the floor, which turned other customers away,” the owner of a child-free cafe in Daegu said. “I couldn’t satisfy all the customers. I had to make a choice.”

The cafe lost some customers, but gained a regular clientele. “Our cafe respects those without children who come to get their work done or relax,” she said.

The spreading no-kids zone is sparking further controversy, with some raising concerns about it egging societal aversion toward children, while others welcome the concept as an inevitable guideline not particularly against children, but their parents.

“No-kid zones should be called more like a no-irresponsible parents zone,” said Kim Min-kyung, a 37-year-old mother of two children aged 2 and 6, lashing out at ill-mannered parents turning a blind eye to their children’s misbehavior.

With such negative connotation more liberally being placed on children in general, some have also started to voice concerns about the impact.

“How is a kid-free venue different from an apartheid?” said Kim Hwi-rin, a mother of two kids aged 2 and 7. “It is discrimination against children.”

bbabo.Net