At 10/31/09 03:02 PM, WeHaveFreshCookies wrote:
Now I don't agree with this at all. We've all been on planes with screaming kids, but they're just being kids. It's really bloody annoying, but they're being kids and personally, I've always understood that. The mum is embarrassed already, so an understanding smile and a nod is the best thing in the world for her. The kid will stop eventually. Kicking them off was a bit ridiculous.
I agree wholeheartedly with this decision by the airlines to kick the two off, and I'm a bit disappointed that they offered an apology/travel voucher.
First, if the child is being so loud that the passengers cannot hear the safety instructions, then the child is endangering everyone on the flight. I know most of the safety instructions are common-sense, but they serve to remind people how to act during an emergency.
Secondly, the "kids will be kids" argument just takes the blame off of the parents for not doing their job. The mother should have either raised her child better (I can understand if the kid was 3 months old, but at 2 years the child should know better than to throw a tantrum - come on, mom) or should know her child's bratty behavior well enough to not take him onto an airplane.
Some might argue that it is unfair to the parent to not allow her to fly simply because her child is a brat - but it's HER brat and she took on those consequences when she didn't raise him properly. When a parent says"be quiet", its time to be quiet.
So parents - if you screw up and raise a tantrum-throwing little brat, then keep him out of our restaurants, airplanes, movie theaters, malls and stores. Maybe if this mother starts now, she can turn the kid's behavior around and have a decent child by the time he is 4. Then she would be graciously allowed back into public society.
