Restaurants in South Korea banning children from their restaurants following local court verdict
Some restaurants in South Korea have begun to ban children from being served in their establishment after a local court recently gave a controversial verdict.
Recently, a local court had a restaurant pay 10 million and 47 million won to two families respectively after their child were injured during a visit. According to Korea Times, one child ran into a server holding hot water while another burnt themselves on the charcoal fire.
Due to this verdict, there is a rising ban against children in restaurants as establishments aren’t looking to be held responsible should a child be harmed for whateber reason. In addition to fire and potential dangerous kitchen equipment laying around at a restaurant, restaurant owners are saying that the reckless actions caused by children also disturb other customers’ dining experience.
Other parts of the world, including Texas and Pennsylvania (U.S.), have restaurants where children are barred while in Berlin, there are cafés with children-free zones. This is also even seen in airlines such as Malaysia Air banning children on their flights. In the U.S., there are also increasing news reports about parents being kicked off airplanes due to their babies crying.
A debate over banning children from eating establishments have risen with many arguing it is a violation of their equal rights.
One mother expresses that restaurant owners and parents should find a way to co-exist and find common ground with responsibility falling to both parties. While parents should be more attentive to their children while out in public, restaurant employees should be more careful.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC) has commented that banning children is illegal from restaurants and against rights of equality. However, if a restaurant presents clear reasons as to why they are upholding a ban, then the sanctions would not be forced upon them. In 2010, such as a case occurred when a restaurant banned children from its establishment but gave clear reasons of why it was doing so, and thus they were not breaking the law.
What do you think of the ban?
Source: Korea Times
