I subscribe to the concept that “It takes a village ….” Successful intervention depends on how one approaches the offending youths. Going back mainly to my educator experiences with youth, I found that most respond favorably to a polite but firm request, followed by an expression of appreciation when the change has been made. My priority is to try intervention first myself, then seek the intervention of the proprietors if needed. I cannot recall ever having to take the next step having failed with the first.

RonR, I relate to your upbringing experiences. That said, there are still plenty of parents who step up, step up to parenting challenges that have become increasingly more difficult because of the wide ranging influences to which our children are exposed. With this being coincident with more dual-parent wage earners, there is less parental influence on child behavior. It is all about priorities that relate to attitudes and values — they appear to have slipped a bit. Must we have that new car or that 52 inch plasma TV home theater set-up? Can we wait to buy the boat until after the children are grown and educated, out on their own? How about focusing on the family and values instead of the “Material World”.

As I am sure like yourself and others, a solid foundation of appropriate behavior was at the core of my upbringing, so by the time I was able to be brought to restaurants, theater and other public venues…I was well aware how to act and this included respect for my parents and those I came in contact with, be it the waitstaff or other patrons. Yes, as all children do, sometimes I got antsy (I still do on occasion), but my father had a look he gave me which translated to, “You have 10 seconds to make a positive adjustment.” They did not need to scream at me, nor did I get the back of a hand across my face. The LOOK spoke volumes, and if I didn’t comply, there were consequences when I got home, and this did not include any type of corporeal punishment.

Today, in a society where it is obvious that discipline on any level seems unacceptable, where parents are as afraid of their children as they would be of terrorists, (and refer to their children as such), it is now up to strangers, in this case the store owner, who must set forth rules for obnoxious youth. I’m sure it will be the parents of these ‘problem’ children who will be the first offended by these rules and spend as much time as possible fighting those rules, even quoting amendment rights, where they should have spent similar time properly rearing their offspring.