Singing, dancing and public displays of affection are the biggest sources of embarrassment for Britain’s children
Being embarrassed by your parents seems to many as part and parcel of growing up, what with their failure to understand current trends, interest in your lovelife and inability to grasp that they can't dance.
YouGov's Children's Omnibus asked 1,058 children aged 6-15 what they think are the most embarrassing things their parents do.
Topping the list at 16% is singing. Girls are slightly more likely than boys to be left red-faced by their parents’ warbling (19% vs 14%).
Dad dancing is in second place, with one in eight (12%) saying that they get embarassed by their parents hitting the dance floor.
Public displays of affection were the third and fourth biggest sources of awkwardness, with 7% of children resenting their parents for hugging and kissing them and 6% disliking their parents having a smooch or a cuddle with each other.
However, the research finds that not all of Britain's children are subjected to frequent parental humiliation. One in eight (12%) children say they don’t find their parents embarrassing at all.
Many of the children we surveyed were incredibly forthright (and specific) about the embarrassing things their parents do. We’ve picked out some of our favourites below.
Some children were unhappy with their parents’ tastes in entertainment…
…as well as their taste in clothes
Dancing was a particular bugbear for some children
Some kids really don’t like public displays of affection…
…or being wound up about their own romances
Singing was also a common cause for concern
The way they interact with their friends
And seeing your parents doing some things are just downright embarrassing no matter how old you get
But some lucky children had no complaints about their parents
Photo: Getty
