Latest news with #SarahElHaïry
Sydney Morning Herald
18-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Banning adults-only hotels is insane. Most children are intolerable
We were all children once, I know. But I wouldn't want to go on holiday today with the five-year-old me. And I wouldn't expect any of my friends to either. But the French, it seems, do. There was a mini furore this week in the European travel industry after it was reported that the French government is planning moves to make it illegal for hospitality venues such as hotels, campsites and restaurants to ban children. Sarah El Haïry, the high commissioner for childhood in France, said that she was ready to resort to new legislation to combat what she deemed a 'no kids trend' in the country. Her sentiments have been amplified by fears among mummy blogger types that France is getting too much like Belgium where, according to a report by Paris Match, one in 10 restaurants ban children. All of this was described by El Haïry as 'violence against children,' adding: 'A child shouts, laughs and moves … we are institutionalising the idea that silence is a luxury, and the absence of children is a luxury.' Consider me fully institutionalised. 'Ghoulish crime scene' We've all been in that queue to board a plane, watching the otherwise blissfully childless stare around, spiralling in panic at the sight of unruly toddlers, hoping they won't get a seat near them. Children do, indeed, shout, laugh and move. But unless you're a doting Italian Nonna, you're probably indifferent to their presence at best. Sometimes they do cute things. A child using an expletive out of the blue makes me guffaw. Loading But what children do a lot of the time during their waking hours is annoy you. And how you react to that might be an eyeroll, or an explosive demand that some headphones be used that the whole cabin doesn't have to listen to episodes of Teletubbies. As a stressed adult, I have a list of things that relax me on holiday, and the presence of children isn't one of them. I sat down to write this shortly after one of my closest friends posted a picture from the resort they are staying at in Lanzarote, Spain. It showed a swimming pool surrounded by hazard warning tape like a ghoulish crime scene. A child had defecated in the water.
The Age
18-06-2025
- The Age
Banning adults-only hotels is insane. Most children are intolerable
We were all children once, I know. But I wouldn't want to go on holiday today with the five-year-old me. And I wouldn't expect any of my friends to either. But the French, it seems, do. There was a mini furore this week in the European travel industry after it was reported that the French government is planning moves to make it illegal for hospitality venues such as hotels, campsites and restaurants to ban children. Sarah El Haïry, the high commissioner for childhood in France, said that she was ready to resort to new legislation to combat what she deemed a 'no kids trend' in the country. Her sentiments have been amplified by fears among mummy blogger types that France is getting too much like Belgium where, according to a report by Paris Match, one in 10 restaurants ban children. All of this was described by El Haïry as 'violence against children,' adding: 'A child shouts, laughs and moves … we are institutionalising the idea that silence is a luxury, and the absence of children is a luxury.' Consider me fully institutionalised. 'Ghoulish crime scene' We've all been in that queue to board a plane, watching the otherwise blissfully childless stare around, spiralling in panic at the sight of unruly toddlers, hoping they won't get a seat near them. Children do, indeed, shout, laugh and move. But unless you're a doting Italian Nonna, you're probably indifferent to their presence at best. Sometimes they do cute things. A child using an expletive out of the blue makes me guffaw. Loading But what children do a lot of the time during their waking hours is annoy you. And how you react to that might be an eyeroll, or an explosive demand that some headphones be used that the whole cabin doesn't have to listen to episodes of Teletubbies. As a stressed adult, I have a list of things that relax me on holiday, and the presence of children isn't one of them. I sat down to write this shortly after one of my closest friends posted a picture from the resort they are staying at in Lanzarote, Spain. It showed a swimming pool surrounded by hazard warning tape like a ghoulish crime scene. A child had defecated in the water.
Telegraph
14-06-2025
- Telegraph
France's ban on adults-only venues is insanity – most children are intolerable
We were all children once, I know. But I wouldn't want to go on holiday today with the five-year-old me. And I wouldn't expect any of my friends to either. But the French, it seems, do. There was a mini furore this week in the European travel industry after it was reported that the government on the other side of the Channel is planning moves to make it illegal for hospitality venues such as hotels, campsites and restaurants to ban children. Sarah El Haïry, the high commissioner for childhood in France, said that she was ready to resort to new legislation to combat what she deemed a 'no kids trend' in the country. Her sentiments have been amplified by fears among Mumsnet types that France is getting too much like Belgium where, according to a report by Paris Match, one in 10 restaurants ban children. All of this was described by El Haïry as 'violence against children,' adding: 'A child shouts, laughs and moves… we are institutionalising the idea that silence is a luxury, and the absence of children is a luxury.' Consider me fully institutionalised. 'Ghoulish crime scene' We've all been in that queue to board a plane, watching the otherwise blissfully childless stare around, spiralling in panic at the sight of unruly toddlers, hoping they won't get a seat near them. Children do, indeed, shout, laugh and move. But unless you're a doting Italian Nonna, you're probably indifferent to their presence at best. Sometimes they do cute things. A child using an expletive out of the blue makes me guffaw. But what children do a lot of the time during their waking hours is annoy you. And how you react to that might be an eyeroll, or an explosive demand that some headphones be so that the whole Eurostar carriage doesn't have to listen to episodes of Gecko's Garage. As a stressed adult, I have a list of things that relax me on holiday, and the presence of children isn't one of them. I sat down to write this shortly after one of my closest friends posted a picture from the resort they are staying at in Lanzarote. It showed a swimming pool surrounded by hazard warning tape like a ghoulish crime scene. A child had defecated in the water. Okay, so these things happen. All kinds of mishaps do. But a place that's adults-only cuts down the risk. And that's not 'violence against children', that's just acknowledging that some people are rubbish parents, and that a lot of non-parents (and indeed parents that I know personally) would rather be unencumbered by the company of kids. It's about choice. 'Weapons-grade self-entitlement' The hands-down worst experience I've had involving bad parenting on holiday was at Barefoot Havelock in the Andaman Islands last year. There was a table consisting of two or three families, including seven children that should have been put to bed some hours before. They were running around and screaming so much that it felt like a deliberate attempt to bait the other diners. I hoped things would calm down, or that they'd leave, but the chaos actually escalated. I asked the staff what they thought of all this, and they seemed to think everything was just tickety-boo. Was this an example of 'shouting, laughing and moving'? No. It was weapons-grade self-entitlement. And if hotel management don't have the tact to put a stop to it, they shouldn't invite kids to stay – or, as the French seem to believe, be forced to. There are anomalies. For every dozen or so tables in a hotel breakfast room occupied by brats hurling food and cutlery around while their parents dissociate as if in a trance, there's a child that can behave without being tranquilised by a digital device. I was having a wildly expensive meal at Vue de Monde in Melbourne this year, and at the next table was a kid sitting enraptured, talking to their parents using their inside voice, asking questions about the food.
Daily Mirror
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Livid parents call for adults-only holidays ban as 'no kids is discrimination'
A group of politicians in France are pushing for a ban on adults-only holidays in the country, arguing that the exclusion of children from such spaces is discrimination Parents and campaigners are calling for an end to adults -only holidays, branding the exclusion of children "violence". For many, the idea of a break away from the hubbub of a child-packed home where they can relax around the pool, a cocktail in hand and a book in the other, without the sound of infant wails shattering the silence, seems like a good time. For members of the growing pro-children-on-holiday movement in France, banning anyone of any age from accessing a certain hotel or resort is completely wrong. Laurence Rossignol, a socialist senator, is to table a private member's bill in the French senate that would make it illegal to ban children from such establishments, the Times reported. Sarah El Haïry, the French high commissioner for childhood, has said that government lawyers are looking into whether it would be possible to take legal action against places that exclude families. READ MORE: Ryanair introduces new route to 'beautiful' European city that's perfect for Christmas 'A child shouts, laughs and moves … we are institutionalising the idea that silence is a luxury and the absence of children is a luxury," she told the French international radio station RFI. Ms El Haïry criticised the 'no kids trend', claiming it amounted to 'violence against children'. Senator Rossignol added: "Children are not a nuisance. We cannot accept that some people decide they no longer want to tolerate a particular section of the population, in this case children. We cannot allow our society to be organised around our intolerance of others, where people organise themselves to keep their distance from anyone who does not fit into their idea of their neighbours." Travel Companies Union roughly estimates that three per cent of holiday venues in France are adult-only facilities. The topic of how children fit into society is a live one in France. The French Federation of Nurseries has made repeated calls to lawmakers to ensure children's right "to make noise". This has been coupled with rising concerns about how much screen time children have, while the High Council for Family, Children and Age has warned that a lack of space for kids to play outdoors could have "harmful consequences for their physical and mental health". Not everyone is happy with the idea of an adults-only holiday ban. Sara Lewis told the Guardian that she thinks a ban would be a 'totally unreasonable deprivation of people's liberty'. 'It amounts to forcing people to accept others' kids, of which there's more than enough of already,' the retired copyeditor from Brussels said. Emilie, a stay-at-home mother, agreed with the politicians that such holidays treated children as "pariahs", but questioned whether the ban would get to the root cause. In her opinion, it is wrong to create spaces where adults can live parallel lives free from children. 'I think it's more about the French relationship with children. There is a popular saying in France about children: Les enfants doivent être vus, et non entendus, which means children should be seen, not heard," Emilie said.
Telegraph
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Don't blame children who misbehave, it's the parents' fault
Hell, said Jean-Paul Sartre, is other people. But recently it seems his compatriots have concluded that hell is other people's children, as an increasing number of French restaurants, hotels and campsites declare themselves child-free zones. Sarah El Haïry, the French high commissioner for childhood, has declared war on what she described as 'violence inflicted on children': government lawyers are exploring the possibility of taking legal action against establishments that ban children. It is quite the societal volte-face since 2012, when Pamela Druckerman, an American living in Paris, published French Children Don't Throw Food, a bestselling account of Gallic parenting style. French children, she reported, were taught from their earliest years to comport themselves in a civilised fashion. They did not expect to monopolise adult attention, and understood the meaning of the word 'no'. The contrast with their Anglo-Saxon contemporaries, Druckerman concluded, was startling. If what El Haïry describes as 'la tendance 'no-kids'' is spreading, the responsibility lies with parents. Of course children should be a welcome part of wider society. But if it is cruel to exclude them, it is equally cruel for grown-ups to relinquish parental responsibility. The current vogue for 'gentle' parenting, which tends to venerate the child's feelings to the exclusion of all else, has had consequences that are anything but child-friendly. It takes a village to raise a child: but if the child is allowed to become a tyrant, the village will move elsewhere. This, as El Haïry has noticed, is a bad thing all round. But she may find that good manners and consideration are a matter for persuasion, rather than legislation. 'Posh' accents don't ruin period dramas – poor writing does Jane Austen is the gift that keeps on giving. The stage, film and television adaptations of her novels are legion, as are the innumerable spin-offs and homages. For the 250th anniversary year of Austen's birth, the BBC has commissioned a couple of Austen-related dramas and a drama-documentary. Miss Austen, screened in February, was based on Gill Hornby's 2020 novel about Austen's sister, Cassandra. The Other Bennet Girl is a ten-part adaptation of Janice Hadlow's 2009 novel, inspired by the middle Bennet sister, Mary, and scheduled to air later this year. Plain, anxious and socially awkward, Mary seems destined to fulfil her mother's dire prophecies and end up an impecunious spinster. Yet Hadlow's novel searches beneath the introverted, unhappy surface to find in Mary's character a complicated personality that is a perfect match for the TikTok generation, who already adore Jane Austen. Producer Jane Tranter explained the ways in which the drama is intended to 'offer a proper, welcoming hand to a modern audience'. There will be no 'fetishisation' of period costume and hairstyles. 'Strange curls or weird-y hats' risk distracting viewers, Tranter argued. And once you put an actor in a period costume, they 'start speaking posh, and not everybody spoke posh in those days'. Indeed not: the internet offers a fascinating selection of linguistic fossils, including early recordings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who retains a touch of Lincolnshire accent; and the philosopher Bertrand Russell, thought to be the last repository of the Whiggish 'Devonshire House drawl'. So Tranter is right: not everybody spoke 'posh'in the days before public broadcasting made received pronunciation the accepted standard accent. But the idea that authentic settings produce stilted performances is demonstrably untrue. In a recent edition of Radio 4's The Reunion devoted to Andrew Davies' 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the designer Dinah Collin described the painstaking historical accuracy with which the costumes were made. Yet a livelier, more universally beloved version of Austen's novel it is hard to imagine. It is understandable that the BBC is keen to court a younger audience, and quite reasonable for writers and directors to bring an unorthodox approach to historical drama. But to conflate the two risks patronising the very audience they hope to charm. The critical faculties of the TikTok generation are just as sharp as those of the generation who cherish the memory of Colin Firth in his sopping shirt. If The Other Bennet Girl is well written, acted and directed, they'll watch it. And if it isn't, they won't – whatever the accents of the cast, or their lack of weird-y hats.
