Should airplanes have a kid's section?
Categories: Newborns, Babies, Toddlers, Preschoolers, Places to go, In the news
These days, traveling by air can be an extreme test of patience and restraint. Herded like cattle and crammed into tiny seats, most of us suffer quietly and try to make the best of the situation. Most of us adults do, anyway. Kids are often a little short on patience and restraint and being cooped up for hours in an airplane can be pure torture for them. And for those who sit anywhere near them.
What if there were a separate section on the plane where families traveling with children could sit? Wouldn't that make things a lot easier for everyone involved, including the frustrated parent who can't seem to get junior to sit still or use his inside voice? Airfare Watchdog asked that question and a whopping 85% of respondents said that airlines should have a section of the plane reserved for parents with babies and smaller children.
I wish there had been a kid section the first time I flew with a baby in tow. I thought I was being very considerate of my fellow passengers by keeping her quiet with bottle after bottle of apple juice plugged into her mouth. It kept her quiet alright. After about the fifth bottle, she quietly had a massive apple juice-induced blowout in her diaper, causing everyone in our immediate area to reach for their barf bags. I am sure each and every one of those passengers who caught a whiff and glimpse of that mess wished there were a separate section for kids. And I would have been happy to sit there.
But, as 27% of those polled agree, having a section just for babies and small kids will probably never happen and wouldn't work anyway. Airlines want to fill each and every seat and telling non-family traveling passengers that they have to sit in the loud, stinky section probably wouldn't go over too well.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sandyone 8-15-2008 @ 2:29PM
I sure wouldn't use a kids' section on an airplane. Just because I travel with six kids, it doesn't mean I want to be subject to concentrated poor behavior. I don't sit in the cry room at church, either. Kids learn best when proper behavior is modeled and expected. That just isn't going to happen in a segregated environment.
Why do so many people think that children should be segregated? There is no other time in their lives that they will associate with only (or even mainly) people their own age. Basic Training is the only adult situation that comes to mind where everyone is within a couple of years of each other.
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jess 8-17-2008 @ 10:49AM
you're wrong about basic training just to let you know, I was 17 when i went in the army and there were people as old as 35 or so everyone trains together reguardless of age.
Carolyn 8-18-2008 @ 8:22PM
god here we go with one of these my babies are angels self entitled annoying selfish parents who think they are gods gift because they can pop out kids indiscriminately and the whole world should just revolve around them.well heres a news flash, your the only people on the plane who care about or even like your kids. there should be a section for your little bundles of joy so no one else has to put up with them. PERIOD. im tired of bad loud annoying kids everywhere i look. i cant take it anymore.im sure you think your kids are the best and maybe they are behaved but the majority arent and i am paying just as much or more than you to travel and i want some peace and quiet while i do so.
Bpers2001 8-18-2008 @ 8:28PM
Sandyone - After reading your comment, it's apparent to me that it is actually people like you that pose the biggest problem. You have the same attitude as many parents have of "not my little angel - they are perfect." Whether you want to admit it or not, I'd bet my life that those six children do not act "perfect" in every, single situation. I don't care how you want to dress up this argument, the fact remains, children are just that, children, and yes they can be often, very annoying to those around them. I, for one, am not "anti-child" but I am quite often perturbed by parents that think I should give them that little extra "consideration" for their children to be "children." Well, since I have no children, but my taxes go to help educate and school other's children, I figure, I've already done my part, and you shouldn't ask me for anymore. Fair is fair.
dlb 8-18-2008 @ 9:04PM
I agree - I have 2 children who knew better than to act up in public. When they were at the age that they did not know better, I would have willingly sat in the "children's" section. But I would not want to be forced there just because I had children or because of their ages. If they had been forced into a section with kids that were not acting appropriately, then the chances are that they also would not have, which would have compounded the problem. My parents had 6 kids within 8 years, and trust me, we did not act up in church. My mother did not need a cry room and would not have needed a kids section if we were on an airplane either. Discipline is an amazing thing!
Dan 8-19-2008 @ 12:24PM
Parents do not restrain their children and as an example One sat in the lap of his mother who let him kick the back of my seat untill I got up and told the lady? that if she did not stop the child from kicking my seat I would vomit all over her since the kicking was making me sick and then the kicking stopped.
CLM 8-15-2008 @ 5:10PM
If you travel with six kids, you ARE the kid section. ;-)
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Sandyone 8-16-2008 @ 8:56AM
Hee, hee! I'll be happy to sit in my own kid section, but, please, I really don't want to sit with a bunch of other parents who will allow their "kids to be kids". Most parents have a very different idea of what that means than I do!
Andrea 8-15-2008 @ 11:01PM
This is why I like Southwest Airlines- I line up very early and grab a seat by myself with my son (under 3yrs). I figure if someone "wants" to sit in my row then they take the chance on what their getting (altho he is usually pretty well behaved).
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paula 8-16-2008 @ 9:13AM
I can honestly say that kids acting crazy no longer bother me-as long I can sit back smile and think hey it's not my kid I'm good :)
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Sabrina 8-16-2008 @ 9:32AM
Would they be showing a more appropriate movie in this section? If so I'd choose to sit there. I cannot believe some of the things they show when there's a mixed crowd on an airplane!
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Jamie 8-16-2008 @ 11:00AM
Hmmm, as long as parents were able to opt in (or opt out!) of this section, I think it would be a good idea.
I've stayed in hotels (with my kids) where there were noisy babies right next door, and wondered if we'd been lumped together somehow in a kids' section...
Jamie
www.travelsavvymom.com
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julie 8-16-2008 @ 9:14PM
I do think there should be a kids section. That way you are guaranteed to sit next to your kids. I have been on plenty of flights where we were all spread around - even my three year old was assigned a seat no where near the rest of us. Further, you don't have to worry if your kid makes a fuss. The people around you are parents, so they understand that kids will have off times and will not mind a temper tantrum. I do think there should be an age limit though, of like 10.
With that said, however, I really did enjoy one flight when my then 18 month old was kicking the chair of the woman in front of him for almost an hour. She was a bitch the whole three hour flight to everyone, flight attendants included. I didn't do anything to stop him either. It was glorious payback. And the funny thing was that some people around me gave a thumbs up in support of it because they knew how this woman had acted.
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Barbara Kane 8-18-2008 @ 8:25PM
Well I guess you tought your 18 month old how to behave on a plane, didnt you? Use your child for revenge...Nice What a jerk.
Lilly 8-16-2008 @ 10:02PM
I think that there should be a seperat section for families traveling with children under the age of 4. After that the child is old enough respect at least basic "rules of the air" at least to the point where they won't be screaming their heads off for stupid reasons. Also if parents bring some of the childs favorite foods (unopened and security allows it just not liquids) along with coloring books or simple games and quiet toys...maybe even a new one then the child should be more than fine for a few hours. But for those of you who think there should not be a kid section then I say we should also take away preboarding for families traveling with small children and the option of taking your child on unticketed as a lap child and you should be forced to pay for a kid ticket and lug that abnoxious carseat on board even though we all know the child will most likely spend most of the flight in your arms anyway.
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Kim 8-17-2008 @ 2:22AM
I am sorry that some of you have a problem with children. I am about to adopt a newborn and I have already raised four children. They have flown on planes and I never had a problem. I don't expect any with my new child either. If there was a seperate section for families, I would find another airline. Children need to learn how to behave out in public and that includes being on an airplane. My husband and I travel several times a year and we plan on traveling with our new baby.
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Jennifer 8-17-2008 @ 3:49AM
Southwest Airlines doesn't do preboarding anymore for families with small children.
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amanda 8-18-2008 @ 12:19PM
I think that if its a nonfamily passenger then maybe they can offer the ticket at a discount. I know when i traveled with my 8 month old he got sick on the plane and threw up over me him and the person next to me.
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Sparky 8-18-2008 @ 8:09PM
Any child under the age of 12 should be Fed-Exed to its destination.
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Yvette 8-18-2008 @ 8:40PM
Sparky, I don't know if you're a parent - but I am - and that was the funniest thing I read today. I don't know if you were just being funny, or if you're a hater. I hope it's the first.
I have four kids ranging from 6 to 17 and the only time I've ever had a problem was when any of them were infants. In that case, I always feel sorry for the parent - NOT the other passengers. Older kids should be taught acceptable behavior in ALL situations and places. I'm so sick of everyone bitching about plane RIDES. As far as I'm concerned, air travel is just a way of getting from one place to another. Complain if somebody brings their kid to the MOVIES or a SALON etc!! A kids section is just an acceptable place for brats to be allowed to behave badly and disrespectfully - which is PARENTS' fault. Has anyone ever heard of crayons, books, games, ATTENDING to your child!?!? How about this - CONSEQUENCES!?! Also - being in the air is dangerous enough without disruptive kids (or adults) distracting attendants. If a child has some kind of disabiltiy or something, people should be empathetic if the child isn't violent or dangerous. But...the unattended, misbaved little brats SHOULD be fed-exed - ALONG WITH THEIR PARENTS!