Why do some Singaporean parents like to tell their kids to “keep quiet”?
Was at a stadium for a jog just now and a family was chilling by the waiting area. When the kid started talking, his father told him off starkly, “keep quiet!”.
It happened twice or thrice. Not sure if it’s a common phenomenon but I have observed this many times. In places like library, yes thanks for keeping your kid quiet. But at the stadium!?
If I were a parent, I wouldn’t do that to my kid(s). Or is it cos I haven’t experienced kids + work stress + small HDB + other life stressors?
Netizens’ comments
- what i notice usually is that kids either talk loudly or in a super high-pitched tone, if not both, to warrant the 2 words.
personally, i would say something similar to my kids because tbh it IS noisy (and annoying). i wont say “keep quiet” per se, but i would definitely ask them to lower down their volumes and/or say something to them to avoid whinning.
(i may have misinterpreted this but from what i understand as your last sentence) – adding on to the hdb. when people use the lifts, their voices can echo throughout nearby homes and the noise can be clearly heard from the house/room. imagine also hearing whinny kid or some high pitch screams, plus all the screams from the nearby parks AND playgrounds. there will never be peace (and quiet)
- Sometimes you’re just at your limit. Maybe they’ve been chattering non-stop and the parent needs a break. Maybe the kid is whining about ice cream or some nonsense that was already nicely dealt with 5 times already.
I try not to judge.