ONCE upon a time, we lived in a world where children were seen and not heard.

Fast forward to 2013 and, if recent reports are correct, we live in a society where children are seen all the time, heard by everyone and any distinction between adult space and a child's place is blurred.

Take for example the debate that erupted following an incident in Sydney where a patron in a cafe asked another with a baby crying shrilly for a sustained period, and who was disturbing everyone, to either take the child for a walk or "find another solution".

A column about this attracted 1200 online comments within hours. This in the same week a furore erupted over a woman breastfeeding in public.

In his column in The Sunday Mail, Terry Sweetman summed up the situation with his usual erudition, noting that while a woman causing no harm except embarrassment to a few is asked to leave, "nothing happens when parents let their children loose in dining areas and their behaviour robs other patrons of their pleasure and peace".

He adds: "The world has gone nuts."

The owners of microbrewery The Racoon Club in Melbourne, who ban children from their premises, would surely concur.

The rules of the club, whose owners want adults to relax and not modify their behaviour because of children, have drawn complaints from parents who, according to one report, "cannot see the harm in having the odd family in there on a sunny afternoon".

Only, for many grown-ups, it's not the odd family that arouses ire as the badly behaved children who are not frequenting adult haunts so much as taking them over.

Tales about romantic evenings, weekend outings, movies, Sunday mornings or rare time-out spoiled due to children and their indifferent parents are common.

Over the past decade, there's been a distinct move, arguably at the expense of adults-only leisure and pleasure, to include and accommodate children.

Choices for child-friendly venues have grown while the opposite have declined.

Nowadays, if an owner declares a space child-free, they may attract grateful customers but also community opprobrium. Why?

The world has become so PC and crazy, we can no longer discuss the idea of kids or adults having a "place" - right, wrong, in-between - without being perceived as an out-of-touch, child-hating scumbag, grumpy old thing or worse, discriminatory.

Wishing for adults-only company doesn't mean any of these things. On the contrary, it's simply a plea for an increasingly rare opportunity to enjoy grown-up time without children.

Some even pay for what's become a privilege rather than a right and they're looked askance at for doing so. When did children's rights outweigh the adults' anyhow?

We're imbuing kids with a detrimental sense of entitlement with the idea that what was once adult-only territory is theirs to occupy as well and that's not fair on anyone, especially the children.

But this isn't only about the children. This is about some parents refusing to curb their social life or right of entry to various venues despite having children and in spite of the many other choices available.

Instead of accepting that some areas might be off limits (albeit briefly), the militant parent mafia believe they should be able to access all areas, children in tow, regardless of who it affects.

This, as Sweetman notes, is incredibly selfish.

Many parents (and children) do the right thing and respect the places and spaces they enjoy, mindful of others' expectations.

But a child-centric society where kids have rights but no responsibilities and where parents cry unfair when called to account is not only "nuts", but also one where kids literally don't understand their place.

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Dr Karen Brooks is an associate professor at the UQ Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies.

brookssk@bigpond.com