So true. It didn’t matter if the travel was to Europe or the corner store, running wild in public was not done. Kids might have dared each another to act up, but the consequences were never worth it.
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First, you generally don’t really have to take your kid on an airplane. Plenty of people never do.
Second, I would be more than happy to pay for enough sedatives to keep him quiet for a few hours out of my own pocket.
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Indeed, you were doing some award-winning parenting that day!
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I for one have two kids, one of which has no problems behaving, the other of which can be somewhat unpredictable and while I can’t imagine him acting up like this for this long, I’ve definitely been in situations. And yes, no matter what you do, what doctors you see, pretty much anything, you get in situations you can’t simply exit from like this and you’re automatically a bad parent. Society, eh?
I had a lot more to say about this, but I removed it, it made me too angry. Anyway we don’t know why they were flying, and you can bet that poor woman knew damn well the chances of this happening before the flight, and that the accusations would be around her + the damn screaming for 8 hours. Thankfully we have the internet so the people that only had to deal with it for 8 hours can make news out of it too.
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Didn’t watch the video, because even 5 minutes of uncontrolled screaming is 5 minutes more than I will willingly put up with.
I have been on flights with screaming children. If the parent is trying to calm the kid, or distract them, or pacify them, I try my best to find something to listen to via headphones to block it out and ignore them. Once I was on a flight where the parent was unconcerned and letting the child become a menace to other passengers. I asked the flight attendants to explain to the parent(s) that their child is running in the aisle and if I trip and fall on them as I go to the bathroom, it’s the parent’s responsibility to pay my medical bills. The attendant politely explained the safety hazard of the out-of-control child to the parent(s), who then took some measures to not have that mean lady sue them for the acts of their child. Or maybe the attendant didn’t pass on my passive-aggressive legal threat. The child was corralled, and relative peace was in the cabin.
There’s really no difference to me whether the disruption in a plane is caused by an adult, a child, someone with disabilities, or a pet - talk to the flight attendant. It’s their job to try to make traveling in that little metal and plastic cabin tolerable, if not pleasant.
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Yeah, when I share my “my god, that flight was hell” among friends and families they feign polite interest, make sympathetic noises, and change the topic.
Me: There was an out-of-control kid on my plane screaming for literally eight hours.
Them: UghThatstheWorstbutGladyouMadeitAnyway - want a beer?
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I was sanitizing nothing at the end, I was replying to the earlier commenter who bolded a phrase of mine (which I could have phrased clearer). I didn’t want anyone reading to think that I had any issue with disabled people, because I don’t. Anyone who knows me personally knows that to be, unequivocally, the case.
To your point, I understand where you’re coming from and I don’t disagree with you. There’s so much more that we as a society can and should do, heck, that we should have been doing years ago. I have no issue with occasional outbursts or standard child-like behaviors from any child. They’re kids for heaven’s sake, they’re going to act like them. I should have phrased what you’re responding to better as well.
All I’m trying to say is that parents need to have some manners and make an effort to control their kids, and until they are able to do so with some success, they really ought to make choices that benefit everyone, rather than being selfish or assuming they’re a special case and can operate with immunity/impunity outside of common decency. I see plenty of parents being responsible, in every way, all the time. Clearly it’s possible. There’s no mystery to it. But it’s the small subset of “the rules don’t apply to me and how dare you tell me what to do” parents that make life miserable for everyone, and that’s what I have an issue with. If the video is to be believed, then the parental unit in question seems to fall into the latter camp, but I wasn’t there, so I don’t know.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go curse the wind. Damn kids… get off my lawn!
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What is the value of Boing Boing posting this? How would you feel if your
worst parenting moment was filmed and watched by the world and you were
judged in the absence of context?
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I’m the first one to say parents take it too easy on kids today.
But I hate watching videos like this an assuming the person posting it is being honest; “8 hours of screaming” could be hyperbole, and these excerpts could be the extent of it. To which I would say, “meh”. Kids freak out sometimes.
If it really was a full 8 hours, then either the parents are super ridiculous or the kid has some issues.
Either way, that makes the video mostly worth discussion re: airline policy. None of this is the kids fault.
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It would have the same effect on condom sales as a mass shooting does on gun sales.
Yes, too soon. But also too early. 50 more hours until the next one.
Wow! I thought air planes were meant for people to fly from one place to another.
Perhaps the passenger wouldn’t have guessed that the air plane existed, perhaps had never been in one before!
I guess someone started running in the air from one place to another.
That’s a new development - humans can fly, or it must’ve been the birds!
How far would you go with that “make choices that benefit everyone”? Would you think that 60,000 reichsmarks is too much?
I am an atheist nowadays, but I was raised catholic, and some of the Judeo-Christian teachings still resonate with me. In particular, in this case, one of the works of spiritual mercy: “Sufrir con paciencia los defectos del prójimo”, as I learned it, or in English “To bear patiently those who wrong us.”
We don’t know what was the issue with this kid. I finally watched the whole video and it seemed to me that his caretaker did not seem to ignore him, she tried to calm him. The kid sounded distressed. There are many possible reasons for his behavior and for the trip. Perhaps he had been adopted form one of those awful orphanages where kids with disabilities are dumped in some countries and he was being transported to a new loving home. We don’t know, but let’s try to be compassionate and merciful.
May peace be with you.
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…and also with you.
Thank you, sincerely, for the reminder.
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Per below, gun sales would spike up or down (following mass shootings) based on the political environment:
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I’ve literally had that happen when I asked another passenger (a loud-talker) to be more quiet or just shut up. I think in a case like this you’d have so many free drinks that you’d need to get a ride home from the airport upon arrival.
I’m very much with @anon41912231 here.
Many, including some well respected regular posters, are being jerks on this thread.
And this guy
should have been politely but firmly asked to stop recording. And if I as a parent found out he put my child on YT, he better have a good layer.
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I would give the little child a drink with some alcohol or drug and spare the rest of the passengers and crew the unbelievable annoyance. It’s hard to believe nobody went up to the mother and wrested her head from her neck. No crew solution - really?
Here’s the thing, Sam. It was NOT a MOMENT. It was EIGHT hours of hell for the other passengers. Yes, almost every parent has had a MOMENT of bad parenting: Snapping or cursing your child, a slap, whatever. That is a MOMENTARY lapse in judgement. Eight hours of demonic behaviour is extremely poor parenting.
This mother ENDANGERED her child and other passengers by allowing him to run around and climb over seats. What would have happened if the plane hit a sudden air pocket?
And, I don’t care about context. If the child has issues that would prevent him or her from flying for long distances, don’t bring that child. My sympathies go to the other passengers. I am flying to Newark tomorrow - with my daughter who is old enough to know better - and am fearing another demonic child.
I agree that the child’s face should not have been shown, but his parents’? No, the noises and behavior would have been sufficient to get the point across.
It is the fault of the airline for allowing such behavior and other passengers who could have stepped into help. I once helped a mom with a very large two-year old by walking with and reading to her son when I saw that she was exhausted.
I regularly fly overseas with my child. And, I do know that my daughter and I would have never been allowed to get away with such poor behavior because we’re flying while black.
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Ideally until they’re not upset, like most things.
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That was my first thought. My ex had really bad anxiety issues, and would have literally been committing self harm by the second hour. I mean, I’ve seen her in less stressful situations start punching herself in the head and scratching herself hard enough to draw blood. EIGHT hours, I think she would have had a psychotic break. I’m not exaggerating,
Seriously, if the police locked someone alone in a room for eight hours and played this over a loudspeaker, we’d be accusing them of torture.
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