Restaurant gives diners a 'polite kids' discount

We've all been there.

You've left your kids at home with a babysitter and you're enjoying a rare night out with your partner when some badly behaved kids at the next table threaten to ruin your night.

What do you do? Grit your teeth? Complain to the waiter? Send a filthy scowl in the parents' direction?

Well those tricky situations may soon be a thing of the past if one restaurant owner's policy catches on.

Instead of banning unruly kids from his restaurant, Antonio Ferrari has come up with the idea of rewarding parents when their kids are well behaved. He gives a five per cent "polite-children" discount at the end of the meal to recognise those parents who are putting in the effort.

As he says, banning families with poorly behaved kids costs him customers where this method teachers parents to encourage better table manners.

What a brilliant idea! Everyone wins.

The cafes and restaurants who need patronage.

The parents who through short-term effort will enjoy a long-term gain in the form of well-mannered children.

And the kids themselves who learn that restaurants are not places to run around and shout but to respect other diners and eat their food with good manners and grace.

Antonio is a genius, in my view. As he says: 'I've seen five-year-olds put their feet on the table and four-year-olds jumping from chair to chair while parents do nothing.'

He says when he complains to the parents they tell him their children can do what they want.

While some, like me, think Antonio's idea is superb others believe restauranteurs have no right to judge children and their behaviour.

What do you think?

This article originally appeared on New Idea.