Is this out of order?

No way my kids would have got away with that behaviour at that age - or now!

Agreed I would always insist my children or small DGC take my lap if there was a seat shortage.
On the flip side why do some elderly folk look daggers at anyone not obviously elderly sitting on the lower deck even if there are lots of priority seats left? I always sit on the lower floor because I can’t manage stairs and am currently most likely eligible for priority seating (even if I don’t appear elderly) due to extreme limited mobility?

there is no way my children would have been allowed to do that. Sit on my knee or if bigger stand up. There is no consideration any more. I don't like they way everything has to be based around what the child wants all the time.

I wouldn't have asked. Mine would have been plonked on my knee (and frequently was)

Same here Deedaa!

Hear, hear.

Definitely out of order cressdale but I find nowadays parents are reluctant to be firm with their children. The word 'no' is not often used.

No way to teach your young how to behave,disgusting.

But I think parents are often too afraid that their child might throw a wobbly,so they settle for what clearly is disrespectful to those older,infirm etc..........and the child has learnt nothing.

I agree, the child shouldn't have had a choice.

It shouldn’t be up for negotiation! Straight on lap, end of.

If they don’t pay, they don’t get a seat. That goes for BAGS too. ?

Its a different world now, more's the pity.

I think you are right. My children would have sat on my lap in the circumstances.

Mine wouldn't have been given the option: she would have been put on my lap.

Agree with everyone.
Children are given too many choices these days.

Mine would have been plonked on lap or, if older, I would have said something to them about standing and offering seat

Yes, simply say to the child, come on and sit on my knee, so that person can sit down. In our family and I'm sure in everyone else's, it was just 'known' that children gave up seats for adults. Young people gave up seats for anyone who seemed to need to sit-that is anyone older than them, or pregnant women.
Simples.

I agree with what has been said. I think I actually learned at school, rather than from my parents, that children should offer their seats to adults or anyone that obviously needed a seat.

Agree, agree, agree!

far to much asking the children these days! They are at severe risk of becoming little Emperors/Empresses, thinking that they are the centre of the universe!

Didn't there even used to be signs on buses saying that children must give up their seats to adults, or words to that effect? I am not sure if I am imagining this or not.

Words fail me. I think I’d have insisted it moved.

Agree, a child of that age should simply have been whisked onto a lap. A child of any other age shouldn’t be asked either, but told to stand up and give an older person a seat.
Then parents wonder why their children run them ragged!

If you look in the small print for most public bus companies you will find it says something like ... Children travelling for free cannot occupy a seat if it is needed by a fare-paying passenger. I think we can assume that that rule would extend to the elderly travelling on concessionary passes as if they were fare-paying. I rarely travel on a bus so I don't know if they display signs to this effect. If not, they should.

The same general rule may apply in other situations. For example, the ticketing policy for the local theatre here is simple. If you want a seat for a young child you buy a ticket, else it sits on your lap.

I remember conductors, as the bus got full, calling out 'All half fares stand, please!'