Millennials Want to Scold Your Child More Than Boomers

As much as we'd like them to, children can't always be on their best behavior. But what happens when you're in a public space and someone else's child is misbehaving?

Millennials are most likely to tell off another person's child for their behavior. This is according to a new poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a millennial as someone "belonging to the generation of people born in the 1980s or 1990s."

In a poll of 1,500 eligible voters in the U.S., participants were asked: "Do you consider it acceptable or unacceptable to tell someone else's child off if they are misbehaving?"

Two-fifths (40 percent) of respondents said that it would depend on the circumstances, while 36 percent replied it was usually unacceptable. Just under a fifth (19 percent) agreed that it was acceptable to discipline a misbehaving child.

While the majority felt that it would depend on the individual circumstances, there was a big difference in opinion when it came to generations.

Whether it's an aunt making her niece cry by telling her off because her mom was being "too soft," or a passenger on a plane telling a child to "keep it down," there was one generation that was overwhelmingly more likely to tell off a child that was not their own.

Millennials (aged 25 to 44) agreed overwhelmingly that it was usually acceptable to tell off a child that was misbehaving. Of those aged 25 to 34, 52 percent said it would be acceptable to step in if a child wasn't behaving appropriately, while 57 percent of people aged 35 to 44 agreed.

This was in stark contrast to other generations who were much more likely to look the other way if a child that was not their own wasn't behaving.

In the youngest group polled, Generation Z (aged 18 to 24), only 29 percent said it was acceptable to tell off someone else's child, while slightly more of Generation X (aged 45 to 54) replied that it was acceptable, at 31 percent.

Boomers are least likely to step in to give a child a talking to, with only 25 percent of those aged 55 and above agreeing it was acceptable.

While we may be familiar with stories of baby boomers—the generation born around 1946 through 1964—being more vocal about their opinions, this research found they were most likely to turn the other way if a child was misbehaving.

Of those polled aged 65 and over, only 25 percent felt it was acceptable to tell off another person's child. Just over a fifth (21 percent) said that it was usually acceptable to step in, while 49 percent replied that it would depend on the circumstances.