After parents were asked to leave a pizza place, etiquette experts weigh in

There were no further details provided, and what actually happened is unclear. The Globe has not been able to reach one of the parents involved.

But the restaurant used the episode as an opportunity to issue six directives for dining at Dragon Pizza. They included #4: “We Loath [sic] parents who use our games as babysitters while they ignore their children and let them damage and abuse our games;” and #6: “We do not appreciate parents who treat our pizza as a cheap, simple option to feed their children until they can have their own dinner.”

It’s hard to know how to interpret those rules, but it certainly did not stop people from trying to dissect them online, with moral superiority being claimed on both sides of the issue. (A quick summary of the two sides: “Parents nowadays are the worst” and “The pizza shop owner is the worst.”)

But what do actual experts say about this? Betsy Brown Braun, an author and child development and behavior specialist, said the problem with demanding that someone “parent” their children is that one person’s idea of parenting can be very different from another’s.

“It seems that parents think first about what works for their family and second about anyone else in a particular environment,” according to Braun. “I often hear parents say that they want their children to learn how to behave in a certain environment and so they take the child. The problem is, they don’t leave when it doesn’t work out.”

Braun said that she respects the owner’s desire to protect the environment in his restaurant, but taking the fight to social media is shooting himself in the foot.

“Believe me, when word gets out in the parenting community of what he has done, his business will drop quickly,” she predicted.

Evie Granville, the coauthor of “Modern Manners for Moms and Dads,” worries that the incident at Dragon Pizza may have escalated because “people get really touchy when an outsider comments on their parenting, because the implication is that you’re not controlling your kids and this is your fault.”

Without knowing the particulars, she said restaurants in general are a known minefield for parents, who need to expose their children to all sorts of environments to teach them how to behave in that environment.

“And a restaurant is demanding work for a parent because having to correct little ones all the time while you’re trying to enjoy your meal is exhausting,” said Granville, who runs the parenting website evieandsarah.com with her coauthor, Dr. Sarah Davis. “And if you’re with friends in a restaurant that offers games, it’s so easy to say ‘You kids go play, we’re going to enjoy our pizza.’”

Maralee McKee, owner of the Etiquette School in Winter Park, Fla., said that the bottom line with bringing kids to a family-style restaurant is that it’s OK until it’s not.

“You have the right to go enjoy a meal, but your right should not infringe upon anyone else’s right to enjoy their meal,” McKee said. “If a couple is allowing their child to just roam and ‘entertain’ other guests, that’s inappropriate.

“People without children need to understand that children will be children, but parents need to understand that if their children act out, they need to be quickly quieted or taken out of the restaurant.”

To be sure, misbehaving in a restaurant isn’t the exclusive province of children, she noted.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re 2 or 42, your entertainment isn’t entertainment when it’s stepping on the ability of others to enjoy conversation with the people at their table,” she said.

Billy Baker can be reached at billy.baker@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @billy_baker.