Should children give up train seats for adults?

IT’S enough of a conundrum for adults – but now children have been drawn into the debate over when to give up your seat on a train.

Former BBC Radio Live presenter Shelagh Fogarty provoked a row on Twitter by saying that fit and healthy children should never be given a seat in a busy carriage if they are old enough to stand.

The 2-year-old presenter, who now works for LBC, said: ‘Toddlers having a seat of their own on Tube. Should be a never event during rush hour. Or am I a horrible person? Any fit healthy kid in fact.’

She made her comments after sharing a London Underground compartment where a family with three boys aged around ten to 13 all had their own seats while the adults stood. Miss Fogarty added: ‘In my mind, chances are several women in your carriage are menstruating, menopausal, or knackered from child rearing. Chivalry is lovely. It is also a human right when it comes to train seats.’

And Twitter users were quick to agree with the broadcaster’s views. She found backing from political commentator Jane Merrick, who said children should go on the parent’s lap and added: ‘My daughter is eight and she sits on my knee.’ Another supporter wrote: ‘Oh they’re tired are they? So am I and I’ve been tired for three more decades than them.’

A third said children should never sit if it means an adult has to stand, saying it helped them ‘learn to be aware of the needs of others’.

But some defended the children, saying it was safer if they sat down.

One also tweeted: ‘I tend to think if they’ve paid for a ticket they get a seat.’