Parenting: What would YOU do?

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I'd use a contraceptive.

Having a child is 20 minutes worth of work for a man and at least 20 years worth of work for a woman, well for quality product, anyway.

That is a mightly long commitment. Wn't do the time? Don't do the crime.
 
Small children are neither rational nor self-cleaning. These are two of four reasons why I have none. Having said that, kids make noise. It's their stock in trade. Little kids get hysterical over nothing, occasionally. It's why we don't let them drive or decide what's for dinner.

If it appeared the child couldn't be calmed, the crew should have politely explained to the family they would have to leave the plane, but would be put on the next available flight, giving the parents time to sedate the toddler. I'm mean, what else are airport bars for, right?

Instead, they treated the family like crap and it hit the national news. That's why they had to give them free tickets. Had the airline's behavior toward the family been more civil, all the bad press and free tickets would have been avoided.

Now, had the offensive offspring been, oh, say, 16 years old, then less civility would have been required. But a 3-year old is not a rational being. They scream; they're three.

I think the airline got what it deserved.
 
Airtran should be TOUGHER

My opinion differs somewhat. No matter what Airtran did to try to fix the situation quickly they were going to look bad. Big, bad airline against poor little family...
People (customers, clients) do NOT like to hear that THEY are doing something wrong so any corrective action by Airtran (or any airline) would not be taken well.
I would give the difficult client (and their child) an ultimatum. Get the kid in the chair, do it now or we're escorting you off. There is NO REASON why an airplane full of busy people should be delayed due to one uncontrollable brat. Airtran's giving the customer a free ticket or whatever is just the cost of doing business. Get the troublesome customer off our planes, make nice-nice afterward for damage control - the hope like hell they never grace your doorstep again!
 
Did you see them the next morning???

On one of the early news shows they interviewed the family who was horrified of the way they were treated. The little "brat" couldn't sit still was all over her parents and finally just ran off. (t was filmed in their living room.) I guess I was raised in the dog era of child rearing. Sit meant sit and stay meant stay and be quiet meant be quiet. And if I didn't obey, I knew the consequences--and they weren't pretty! And Lawsy, never, NEVER have to be taken out during church; talk about God's Holy Wrath!

duetboy
aka jeff
 
Taking Ownership

No one wants to take ownership anymore. If I were that parent I would have been horrified. My mother would have given me the look and it would have been done... end of discussion. I don't remember ever being spanked, yelled at or any other violent means of punishment... just the look.

I think the airline was more than generous by offering them a ticket for the next day. What parent would be so selfish and have a child with an ear infection board a plane and wonder why the child was frantic getting back on the plane..
 
I don't have children, but I come from a huge extended family (66 cousins, 32 second cousins, at last count), and I look after a toddler quite frequently, so I have a little bit of experience in this area.

First off, the airline was perfectly justified in what they did. The other passengers on that plane had places to be, some had connections to make. That airplane was needed down the line for other flights. They shouldn't be exepected to have to drop everything because some child wouldn't behave. Maybe they weren't "polite" enough (I don't know, I wasn't there.) But they looked after the best interest of the passengers.

Second, what's with these parents? If a child I was looking after had a tantrum like that, and I'm not fool enough to think it wouldn't happen, I would be mortified. I would accept the refund and free tickets gratefully, and I would keep my trap shut about it.

Note that I am not blaming the parents for the kid's tantrum, nor am I blaming the kid. Kids spaz out all the time, especially after what was probably a long day and a lot of excitement. But airlines don't have to be concerned with that: They're there to get people from point A to point B safely and efficiently, and as pleasently as possible. A screaming kid is not pleasent.

Bottom line: AirTran did the right thing (kicking them off) and the gracious thing (refunding and offering tickets). The parents are now the ones misbehaving. They seem like the type of people who - when they don't get their own way - make a big stink and accuse anyone who doesn't bend over for them of being "rude". There's lots of people out there like that (They're a dime a dozen in hotels and restaurants), and they're just big babies.

Just my .02
 
"The parents are now the ones misbehaving. They seem like the type of people who - when they don't get their own way - make a big stink and accuse anyone who doesn't bend over for them of being "rude". There's lots of people out there like that (They're a dime a dozen in hotels and restaurants), and they're just big babies."

I am in total agreement with this statement.

It doesn't take a village-or an entire aircraft of people-to raise a child.

It needs only the adult or adults who are responsible for their presence.
 
This has been a topic of discussion on a few pilot websites as of late. See my link at the end

My own personal opinion is that the Flight Attendants were correct, the FAA stipulates that the Flight Attendants must have the cabin secured for any aircraft movement. This includes all passengers are seated and buckled in. It is their responsibility. Having a little kid that controls her parents by using tantrums to hold up a flight is unacceptable. This is preventing the flight attendants from performing their duty. Airlines lose money by having delays. And if anyone misses a connection at the other end, AirTran would be liable for getting them to their destination, even if it means transfering them to another airline. This also costs money.
I think AirTran should have offered them a refund, or rebook on another flight, period. They should not have offered additional compensation.
I am afraid now that this has happened, we will see a rash of
people trying to get free tickets utilizing this "strategy".
 
I'm not saying they should have been allowed to stay on the plane. You can't hold up a plane over a screaming 3-year old, nor does anyone want to endure an entire flight to that soundtrack.

But they were treated badly by the airline once they were back in the terminal. The airline didn't start being gracious until the story went national. Had they just helped the family get on the next plane, we wouldn't have heard anything about the incident.
 
I'm not sure.

Here in New York, a twelve-year old kid was recently struck and killed by a speeding commuter train, after he climbed on to the tracks and tagged (sprayed graffiti on) a signal box.

The parents almost immediately retained a lawyer in order to sue the railroad.

Who ultimately should be held responsible for his death? The parents, for improperly supervising the evening activities of their kid, or the railroad, for allowing fencing that, in other , more civilized countries would not even be considered necessary?

I'm no fan of corporations or transportation conglomerates, but at some point, there needs to be order. The train may be a bad comparison to the airplane, but to pander to the parents who refuse to control their children sends a dangerous precedent.
 
Toddler Tantrums!

I viewed this story as both a parent and a airline customer. I think that it is inappropriate for parents to take small children on a flight if the tots can't behave. There is nothing worse than being cooped up on an airplane with a wailing child. It's like being in a soup can with a banshee!

I took my oldest child on their first flight at 21 months. I made sure I had a bulkhead seat (lots of room) reserved and plenty of entertainment and snacks. There was not a peep to be heard. Had my child misbehaved and proceeded to throw any sort of tantrum, I would have de-planed. We are only two out of, let's say, 150. It would be unfair for the rest of the people on the flight to have to suffer. I believe Bill Cosby had a great routine about a misbehaving child on a looooonnnnnng flight. It was pretty hilarious.

In short, the airline did the right thing. The parents were no longer in control of the situation; the toddler was. They all needed to be removed from the flight. Of course, the parents probably pitched a fit of their own and contacted the media for some sympathetic face time. I'm sure the airline will be hearing from their lawyers soon (yawn).

People need to take responsibility for themselves and their children. It is selfish for parents to allow their children to misbehave and disrupt flights, dinners, or movies. Get a grip folks, do the right thing, and save us all a big headache.
 
Again, I wasn't there, but it just seems fishy to me.

When I worked for Four Seasons Hotel here in Seattle, I used to write the responses to comment cards that we would receive. (The manager would always review and sign them, but it was my job to try to come up with something that addressed the comments.)

People would write the most outlandish things. One guy actually claimed to have been unable to consumate his marriage on his wedding night because of a missed turn-down service and, of course, a "rude" room attendant. He was going to go to "the media" if we didn't give him a free weekend in a suite, presumably to try again. Our Manager, a true old-school hotelier and gentleman, didn't take that kind of crap. We basically told him to go ahead and tell "the media" about his little problem.

The "news" encourages this kind of bad behavior of course, because they are always looking for something sensational to get their panties in a bunch about. In the end, the story is this: A flight attendant was "rude" to a family. That's hardly anything to stop the presses over ;-)

And a word about suing: There's always a lot of talk about "frivolous lawsuits", but most of it is just that: talk. Unless a lawyer thinks he can make money on a case, it's not going to happen. But people love to say that they are going to sue. Most people have no idea what that even means.
 
No turn-down a turn off?

If that guy didn't have the strength to turn down his own bedspread, how was he going to find the energy to consumate his marriage? Honey puleeze!
 
Spoiled Children

Here is my opinoin for what it is worth. I am 35 year veteran in the classroom. Parents are not being parents, as a rule; they want to be the kids best friend etc. I think the parents had better get a hold on this kid now, because when it is 16 or so, they are going to rue the day that they didn't make this monster behave. I think a good spanking is what this kid needed way before this trip on the plane. Set rules, stick to them and you are on the way to success; don't and you could have a neurotic child on your hands who has no clue what is right from wrong. This b/s about letting the kid explore his options etc. is just an excuse so the parents don't have discipline the kid. A 7th grader in my classes (Lang. Arts, Reading and Spelling) recently earned an F in those classes for the semester because he has done F work or the lack there of. I sent a letter home and said that I am going to recommmend that he be retained in 7th grade for next year. After several phone calls, notes home etc. this finally got the mother's attention. "What can I do?" I told her that it may be a good idea for her to stay home and not spend all night long at the local tavern most nights and that she needs to be in charge; lol like that will happen. I am retiring from school at the end of May and will be glad to be rid of all the nonesense and all of the excuses why "my kid is the way he is!" Oh please, get a grip. Ok, sorry for this. Have fun. Gary
 
Allen:

They'll never fly AirTran again? Boy did AirTran luck out. They will probably have even more ridership, as customers know there will be no "screamers" on their flights!!
 
I hate making a double post, but...

You are so right on Gary! Parents are not only leaving the childrearing to school teachers, but are jumping on the instructors for disciplining their offspring! Go figure!!

I have a friend who was a teacher in the public school system. Her class was difficult, and she expected her students to actually learn. When it came time to dole out report cards, the popular jocks and jockettes were shocked to find out that they were failing her class. Of course, the parents took issue with the fact that a teacher was failing their little darlings (no, the parents are actually failing them), and summoned the principal in for conferences. In the end, because of the emphasis on athletics, the principal caved in and did not back up the teacher. She has since left teaching. Another example of why so many great teachers are leaving the profession.
 

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