Toddler's temper ousts family from plane

and of course, the parents blame the airline.

 

They got reimbursed for their tickets and got additional free roundtrip tickets....

Considering that other passengers' connecting flights etc, I think it's fair to ask them to leave.

 

I applaud the airline... too often you see children who are spoiled rotten and their parents let them do whatever they want... a little discipline in the child's life and things would have been fine.

 

Ok, how does a 3 year old REALLY refuse to sit down? More like the parent's refused to resolve the problem...

Kid's dad should have been like, "SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET." while physically putting him in the seat and fastening his seat belt...

...yet another example of the expression of liberal values and ideas, attempt to "reason" and "calm down" a 3 year old...

Which reminds me, last night, I watched an Afterschool Special from back in 1974... Talk about stuff that would NEVER fly today... First off, kids were far more articulate in their speech, opposed to the 500mph Southpark-esque-I-have-ADD, babble... ...and secondly, this episode was actually about a kid afraid of a bully, seeking out the bully, and actually raising his fists and getting into a fight with him. Kid got a bloody nose and black eye, but the point was, he confronted his fear and earned self respect for it.

In today's liberal arse PC world, that would never fly, and you can thank all the kind hearted liberal commie ___s for that. :angry:

 

Like i said, it's a question of discipline... the parents clearly weren't willing to be strict or to enforce anything with the child... she got what she wanted when she wanted it, and in this case the parents paid for it... wait, actually they didn't - they got their money back, put on another flight, and given a round trip flight for free...

 

"The father said he would never fly AirTran again."

No doubt, they said good riddance. Seriously, how on earth can this be considered the fault of the airline? Why should everyone else on the plane be held hostage, for lack of a better term, by your screaming child? I like to think that I am a relatively compassionate individual, but take responsibility for your own problems. :angry:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Jan 24 2007, 12:48 PM) [snapback]380046[/snapback]</div>

Is this not a spectacular example of bleeding heart liberal philosophy at work? Not ONLY is it not their fault, but they actually got rewarded for it. beanchick would surely approve... :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Jan 24 2007, 10:43 AM) [snapback]380042[/snapback]</div>

We all agree. Airline went out of their way if they gave them their tickets back and a set of free passes for another trip.

 

That's what they get for teaching their child that to get what you want, throw a tantrum.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jan 24 2007, 01:04 PM) [snapback]380054[/snapback]</div>

Not if they're scared 'itless of their dad when he becomes stern..., or simply held down by both parents until they "get it". You can easily secure a spazzing 3 year old between both parents. The scenario you're presenting is an optimized hypothetical.

 

I am on the sirlines side, regardless of why the child was yelling or what "could" have been done about it, if anyones child is not able to understand where they are and how they should behave, they should be removed form that situation until they can learn it. In some places, say a restaurant, the child is taken outside, realizes s/he needs to calm down, and is brought back in and the day continues with no problem.

Includes church services, movie theaters, etc... It is NOT a good/bad thing, it is simply what it is. If they had calmed the child then, but during the takeoff the kid went spastic again, NOW what????????

Upon raining my 3, there were some places I could not go until my child learned some basic behaviours. I will say that I did have that "look" which worked quite well. While I am my adult kids friend a lot more now, I was NOT a friend when they were children. I was "THE DAD!!!"

 

sure, i can see a kid getting upset about being on a plane. but is it really too much trouble to soothe and calm the kid by explaining what's gonna happen BEFORE boarding? so they know what to expect and that they are expected to sit their nice person down and behave so all the other nice people can get to their next plane on time?

i guess i don't have enough experience with kids of that age to know what's going through their minds, so don't go lambasting me, but i'm sure that if parents could control their kids for how many generations that the trend can be continued today.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Jan 24 2007, 07:43 AM) [snapback]380042[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Jan 24 2007, 07:51 AM) [snapback]380049[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Jan 24 2007, 08:26 AM) [snapback]380070[/snapback]</div>

While I do agree that parents today tend to not discipline their children properly, I have to disagree with some of your points. First, don't blame liberals for this problem. The problem isn't a liberal vs. conservative problem. The problem is that the general public sees lots of spoiled kids from rich and/or famous families (even just the rich kid at school), and they want to spoil their own children. So they don't discipline them properly, the kids get whatever they want, and everyone suffers for it.

Second, there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON a child should be afraid of their parents. EVER. I don't think I can emphasize that enough. Afraid of disappointing them, that's fine. Afraid of causing them pain, again, that's fine. But afraid of the parent, never.

So yes, discipline the child. But on the other side, keep in mind that a young child is very difficult to discipline, especially when that child is your own.

All of that said, I agree with the airline.

 

The father said his family would never fly AirTran again.

This is the worst part because now there is a greater chance they will fly an airline I use. I'm a firm believer in allowing the parents the right to discipline their own children as they see fit. However, their rights end at the tip of my nose. It incumbent on me and other fliers to exercise graciousness and patience toward each other in such a confined space. But this does not mean I lose my rights.

I once 'had it out' with a parent of a rambunctious child after repeatedly requesting the parent exercise more control with their child seated directly behind me, after getting no help from the flight attendants. I stood up in the aisle, loomed over the family and yelled bloody murder about how incompetent she was as a parent. I was careful not to physically touch anyone or use foul language. After getting it out of my system and turning to go back to my seat, the plane erupted in applause at my antics. The child quietly whimpered the rest of the trip, but never again kicked the back of my seat nor did she constantly scream or stand on her seat and hold onto the back of the one I was seated in. I fully expected to be detained upon landing, but nothing happened. I guess it takes a village...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jan 24 2007, 10:40 AM) [snapback]380089[/snapback]</div>

Evan, i think by now we've established that it really must make him feel better... :lol:

I still maintain, though, that this wasn't so much the kids fault as it was that of bad parenting. And we're seeing more and more bad parenting every year. A kid can sit there and fuss and yell and scream all they want... but the fact that the kid was hitting the parents and crawling under the seats was a clear example of bad discipline. There is simply no excuse for a child to think that hitting their parents is ok... you take whatever disciplinary actions are needed to rule out that behavior. A good parent will know what will influence their kid the most - when they start throwing a tantrum in public, you tell them they need to stop yelling and take their seat or you'll take away their favorite toys, feed them nothing but spinach for the next week, whatever it is that you know will work - and if they refuse to do as you ask, then you have to follow through on it. Believe me, this type of enforcement goes a long way - it won't take more than a few episodes before they realize that you really mean it and they need to behave.

It's like an article i saw a while back (maybe a year or two ago, can't find it now) where a school teacher had one of her elementary school children arrested in school - the child was throwing a tantrum, throwing and hitting things and basically being a danger and disruption to the rest of the class and the teacher. School policy said that in that situation the police should be called in to safely restrain the child so the teachers wouldn't be at risk of getting injured. This is the same question of discipline that existed in that case - the child didn't know when it was time to reign in and gain a measure of self control. and in that case, the child was much older, too.


I agree, Evan, that we don't know all the facts of the case. I also believe that the media, in situations like this, usually paint a picture where the industry or company is the bad guy. Notice that the article is very quick to give quotes from the family "we only needed a few more minutes" and from the airline rep (not someone on the plane), but there were no quotes or interviews with other passengers or the flight crew on the plane for details. Which makes a more sensational news story, the one about a family that wasn't given a chance to take care of the situation before being booted, or one where a family was booted after being given such an opportunity? The fact that the article doesn't provide better facts has me really suspicious about the statements from the family.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Jan 24 2007, 12:00 PM) [snapback]380102[/snapback]</div>

Bravo/a for you!

"... said they just needed a little more time to calm their daughter, Elly."
Well, they got a little more time.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Jan 24 2007, 07:48 AM) [snapback]380046[/snapback]</div>

In a way you could say they were rewarded for it, considering the cost of tickets today and not withstanding the inconvenience of changing planes.

Wildkow