Teach kids to behave

THE scenes in a Spur restaurant were disgusting. It’s another incident which puts a black mark against racism.

Two adults behaving like thugs on a school playground, fighting over their squabbling children. The video, which went viral and caused gasps across the nation, clearly shows the white male in an ugly, belligerent mood, corroborated by the restaurant manager who described the male’s actions as nothing short of barbarism. Even the restaurant staff were too shocked to act.

But the mother’s vulgarity cannot be condoned either. While she did not want to be intimidated, she could have behaved in a civil manner and shown the white male she was not as uncivilised as he.

There were so many ways to resolve this niggling issue. They could have ignored their children’s complaints or both parents could have gone to the play area and reprimanded their children.

This incident doesn’t bode well for race relations. It would have left a bad taste in the mouths of the patrons, only sowing and feeding the seeds of racism in children. Parents have a responsibility to teach their children to behave in an acceptable manner in public spaces. T MARKANDAN

Silverglen