My SIL, who is basically a very good person IMO, does this. Before I had a kid I was increasingly uncomfortable with this-- especially as applied to kids under 13. But now that I have a kid, I'm even more bothered by it. And there are kids I don't care for! Who have been mean to mine! But it's so hard to actively hate a child, for me. Maybe that will change when we're talking about higher levels of actual cruelty (my kid is just 8), but I wouldn't bet on it.