Bit of a can of worms, that, RosieH. Kids have good days and bad days just like anyone else, so be wary of generalisations. I don't think anyone would disagree that parents ought to exercise some control over their kids while they're out. There may be some differences in where to draw the line, but if we want kids to go to restaurants from a young age, as you did, and to learn how to behave in social situations then I think we all ought to tolerate a certain amount of that. Having said that I don't think I've ever seen kids being allowed to run riot, so I can't say whether what you saw was really bad or whether it's just your perception of it. Now, tantrums, that's something else altogether. If that ever happened I (and I imagine most parents) would take the kid outside to calm down a bit. But there's precious little else you can do, and if for any reason you can't take the kid outside... well... it's not going to be pretty. Edit: And as for your last question, probably a bit of both depending on how bad the other kid was behaving.