A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly products avoid marketing solely to children and attempt to make the product palatable to adults as well.

History of the concept

The concept behind the term family-friendly is a friendly modern society and dates back to antiquity. The

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

s called their society as the "way of elders". In

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, it was known by the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s in

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

as the "way of mammals", whose sequences are followed by

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...

. At present, family-friendly still continues to be a part of society along with

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...

, event venues,

fun center A family entertainment center, often abbreviated FEC in the entertainment industry also known as an indoor amusement park, family amusement center, family fun center, or simply fun center, is a small amusement park marketed towards families with s ...

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social * Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...

leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Lei ...

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt describes ...

laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

Politics

In politics, new workplace legislation may be introduced to strengthen the family unit through giving parents more flexible family-friendly working hours or educational reforms to helping children with special needs and to give parents more control over how they are schooled.

Hospitality industry

The concept of family-friendliness within the tourism sector is constantly evolving. Hotels concentrate new services towards family-friendliness in a narrower concept such as child- (kids stay and eat free) and pet-friendliness (pet friendly hotel chains) within the overall family-friendliness customer oriented concept.

Media

The precise definition of "family-friendly" can vary depending upon the perceived acceptability of content for children — one of the most challenged books in United States libraries is ''

Captain Underpants ''Captain Underpants'' is an illustrated children's novel series by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, living in Piqua, Ohio, and Captain Underpants, ...

'', a book that contains

toilet humor Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour (compare scatology), is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions. It sees sub ...

that parents read out to children. Consumer advocacy groups representing parents have lobbied against media that contains profanity and criticized what they see as attempts to deny other families the ability to choose what is appropriate for their children. In December 2019 a broad coalition of US consumer groups, including the CDC and the CCFC, called for the Federal Trade Commission to carry out a sweeping review of digital media companies that target children. The values of the individual family, such as their belief in

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

, can also affect whether the family perceives a product as family-friendly. Both the

MPAA film rating system The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...

and most

television content rating system Television content rating systems are systems for evaluating the content and reporting the suitability of television programs for minors. Many countries have their own television rating system and countries' rating processes vary by local prior ...

s have ratings for family-friendliness: a G rating in either is universally acceptable for all audiences, while a PG rating suggests that, while generally safe for children to watch, that there should be a parent or guardian present for guidance, since some mild adult-oriented material may be present. The MPAA's film rating system has not been without controversy (itself established after the Hays Code, which required all films to be at least somewhat family-friendly, was abolished), as theater chain interest groups have noted that films rated as high as R (adult-oriented films that persons under 17 cannot watch without an adult) could be interpreted as being family-friendly if the viewer is tolerant of profanity, while others may have far too much graphic violence or borderline-pornographic sexual images to be suitable for children. The North American

Entertainment Software Rating Board The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in the United States and Canada. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Ass ...

, which rates video games, classifies family-friendly content with an E rating.

Events

A family-friendly (or all-ages) show, event or venue refers to one with no age restrictions for entry. In the United States, as applied to the world of concerts, this can refer to a show or venue where minors are permitted to attend a live performance, since those who are not of

legal drinking age The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The minimum age alcohol can be legally consumed can be different from the age when it can be purchased in some countries. These laws vary between ...

are generally not permitted in bars, but are permitted in restaurants which serve alcoholic beverages. In some cases the

pop-up retail Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to catch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

model is applied, as with the pop-up venues at the

Treefort Music Fest The Treefort Music Fest is a five-day, indie rock festival which is held at numerous venues throughout downtown Boise, Idaho in late March. The inaugural 2012 festival took place March 20–23 with the featured acts Built to Spill, The Joy ...

. More ideologically, following the trends of punk rock and embracing to an extent the opposition to drugs and alcohol inherent in the

Straight-edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, thi ...

movement, All Ages shows have either no alcohol sales whatsoever, or sales are restricted through a system of wristbands or for patrons legally prohibited from consuming alcohol, generally as a large, black, "X" on the back of each hand. This symbol has been featured on many punk album covers, and the attendant term, "

All Ages ''All Ages'' is a compilation album by the American punk rock band Bad Religion. It was released on July 26, 1995, through Epitaph Records. The compilation contains songs from '' How Could Hell Be Any Worse?'' to '' Generator'', and two live trac ...

," was used as the title of a compilation album by North American punk icons

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

. The term in this context does not denote a restriction on the thematic or lyrical content of the music.

References