Perhaps I misunderstood

So, every  now and then I have to use a site that doesn't like Firefox, and forces me to use IE. Blech.

msn.com is the homepage on IE, and I so rarely use it, I've never bothered to change it. Today, when I launched IE, there was a blurb about how to get your child to behave on airplanes. And they ask the question, "Should parents get the boot from flights when kids misbehave?"

Ummmm, is it just me or does that sound a bit drastic?

Comments

[Gina]

Depends. Would the plane be in the air at the time?

[Christie]

Yes, I think that's the relevant question.

[Sharyn]

I think allowing kids should be like allowing dogs...if they're well-behaved, they're allowed. If not, they should stay home.

Why should anyone have to put up with either ill-behaved kids or ill-behaved dogs?

Sharyn

[Melle]

I saw the news article that sparked that on tv the other day. A family with a three-year-old girl got booted from their flight home from their vacation in Florida because the kid threw a monumental tantrum on the plane and wouldn't stop crying. The airline banned them from taking another flight for 24 hours.

Reaction to the piece was... divisive, needless to say. Basically came down to two this-vs-that arguments: 1) people who're tolerant of kids in all their shapes, sizes, colours, and volumes, and those who are not, and 2) the rights of the family with the kid vs. the rights of the other couple hundred people and staff on the plane.

[Melanie]

I had heard/read somewhere that the plane was about to take off and they couldn't get the child seat belted. Being a preschool teacher it's amazing how many "parents" have no control over there two year olds in the house. These kids do not know the word no anymore. I believe the plane had every right to diffuse the situation this way, they would of done the same thing to a out of control adult or a person drunk.

[Terri]

LOL, Gina. If the plane is in the air, I assume the airline provides parachutes, but ground transportation is up to the parents.

[larkspur]

Oh dear. Is it really child abuse to dose a little one with Benadryl right before the flight? Make 'em all sleepy, and possibly help with the genuine ear pain many of them feel on account of altitude.

But there's behavior and then there's just OMG what are they thinking. I read a story (can't verify its veracity) that our Britney Spears has, on at least two occasions, changed her older son's diaper (1) at the table in the restaurant where they were eating, and (2) on the floor next to the cash register of the boutique in which they were shopping. Not the kid's fault. But totally worth an invitation NOT to patronize a business for, say, three years.

Truthfully, though, I am willing to put up with child-related discomfort (I am a childless spinster lady) because once upon a time we all committed similar acts. But I do expect the parent(s) to make a true, good-faith effort to ease their child's distress (and thus ours as well). If they don't, I will get cranky.