One more way America hates kids

My European trip reminded me of one more way America hates kids
I had to travel overseas to find a community that accepted my toddler

By Kelly Lawler
Published April 27, 2025 10:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) “Car seat or booster?”

When the kind, patient English-speaking taxi dispatcher outside Berlin Brandenberg Airport asked me this, I was shocked into momentary silence. Was he offering what I thought he was?

“A car seat,” I said, daring to hope. A minute or so later a large van pulled up, with an age-appropriate car seat ready to go for my 3-year-old daughter, Evie, who was as giddy to see it as I was. It was simple to buckle us all in and head to our hotel, no need for me to clamber into the cab and bump my head on the ceiling while installing the awkward, difficult and outrageously expensive travel seat currently strapped to my back in a giant carrying case. The process can take up to five minutes, requires both the strength of a dozen bodybuilders to pull the seat belt tight enough and a great deal of patience, which I no longer possessed. It was Day 12 of a 16-day trip to Europe for my Philadelphia-based, American family, and suffice to say I was exhausted. This beautiful, wonderful taxi dispatcher had taken a literal load off my back.

....(snip)....

By toddler standards, I doubt she could have had a better day. By parenting standards, I couldn’t have had a better experience either. Because just 24 hours into our stay in Berlin, my daughter had already become part of a community. I’m still searching for that sense of belonging back home.

"Children should be seen and not heard"

Any parent who walks through American society with tiny humans in tow can tell you that children are simply not welcome in public here. It’s something you don’t notice until you look for it, or until you have to return an Amazon package and everyone else in line at the UPS store is dead silent and radiating annoyance while your kid can’t stop chattering away. And it’s not just vibes I’m talking about. It’s blatant anti-child policies and aggressive adults in public spaces: breweries and restaurants that post “kid-free” notices during the childcare-strapped week between Christmas and New Years; malls that ban teenagers during after school hours; or even wedding invite after wedding invite that asks parents to exclude their children from a family celebration.

....(snip)....

American society, especially the current political ruling class, claims to be “family first,” but we are a culture that is deeply hostile to children and families. We are one of the only developed countries lacking a federal paid family leave policy, and the price of childcare and other cost-of-living essentials is skyrocketing. There is a pervasive, unspoken agreement in our country that children should be seen and not heard, and actually better off not seen, either. Don’t bring your kids out to dinner. Don’t bring them when you run errands. Don’t bring them to the festival or party or any of the best parts of life. And as a parent, it is demoralizing, exhausting and deeply saddening to feel this hatred. .....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/27/america-hates-kids-europe-welcomes/