Sure, kids can be annoying – but making public spaces ‘child-free’ is wrong | Emma Beddington

2026-02-01 - 14:15

The French rail operator SNCF has recently installed new ‘adults-only’ carriages. It’s part of a sad culture of suppressing the young that forgets we were all loud and carefree once As a disapproving, noise-sensitive harpy who once managed to communicate “use headphones” to an Italian tween on a train despite us not sharing a common language, I ought to be the ideal candidate for the French rail operator SNCF’s new “Optimum”, no-kids-allowed carriages. The service was promoted last month as a civilised space in which executives could conduct important business in cosseted peace, unmolested by sticky fingers or La Pat’ Patrouille (Paw Patrol) blaring from an iPad. Actually, though, I hate it – and a heartening number of other people seem to be hating it, too. The initiative sparked widespread indignation in France (the high commissioner for children, Sarah El Haïry, called it “shocking”) and beyond, leading SNCF to partly backtrack, changing the original “children are not allowed” wording to say the space is only inaccessible to under-12s. Continue reading...