Should airplanes have a kid's section?
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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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ReaderComments (Page 3 of 3)
8-18-2008 @ 8:53PM
nvraine said...I'm just concerned that the parents will relax their rules knowing the children are in their own area. You will still have the loud, annoying children while the parents are reading a magazine, ignoring their behaviour.
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8-18-2008 @ 9:14PM
ayndreawilson said...YES!!!!!!!
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8-18-2008 @ 9:10PM
mjkaylor said...I know that the one time I flew with a child. My oldest was just under two at the time. On the flight to Tx he was the perfect child. The plane had many empty seats and was comfortable. Unfortunately, after a week of vacation with his grandparents, the flight back was a horror. He was exhausted, the plane was overbooked. He screamed for the entire two hour flight, no matter how I tried to entertain him. I felt sorry for the others who had to listen. I also felt like I was failing for not being able to calm him down enough to take a nap. For mine and everyone elses peace and quiet.
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8-18-2008 @ 9:40PM
Ellie said...I am so sick of people dimissing children as if they are not human. Some of you have more compassion and respect for an animal than you do for a child. The parents of these children paid good money for their tickets just like everyone else. I don't have any children but parents just remember these "little people" are the same one's you hope don't throw you in a nursing home and write you off in 20 years.
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8-18-2008 @ 10:12PM
Cearralyn said...My oldest daughter has 8 children, and whenever they go anywhere, the children are ALL well-behaved. They are not perfect angels at home, but when out in public, that is the rule. When my daughters were little, they also had to behave in public. There was a time when one thought she would throw a fit, so I told her to go ahead...and everyone will laugh at you. I went and did my own thing while keeping an eye on her. The tantrum did not last very long and I never had another problem with her. Kids can be well-behaved...a lot of it depends on whether a parent is going to let themselves be under the power of a misbehaving child. I didn't, my daughter didn't, and she is a great mother whose children and husband adore her. I have a loving relationship with both of my daughters...it may be hard to believe but neither one of them tore up their books, broke their toys, refused to eat any foods or any of that kind of stuff. Neither one grew up and got involved with drugs, etc. I am not patting myself on the back...far from it. I am just saying that parents should let their children know from the start how things are going to be...and that does not mean being a parent who is a tyrant or a dictator either.
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8-18-2008 @ 10:23PM
Chris said...Kids shouldn't be flying unless it's an emergency situation. Aside from many of them acting up and disturbing others, It's putting a child in a potentially unsafe situation, and it could hurt their ears. A small child is too young to appreciate a vacation, so get a sitter or stay home until they can be left with friends or grand parents. And if the grand parents live across an ocean, drive them to visit. Not that I'm against kids, but for people who aren't parents, well, they shouldn't have to put up with any kids. It would be ideal if all kids were well behaved and respectful, but let's face it, there are too many people out there that don't dicipline their kids and let them have their way. The kids run the parents these days when it should be the other way around.
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8-18-2008 @ 10:20PM
Gabby said...YES! I vote for a kids only plane. I had to endure a kid kicking the back of my seat on a 10 hour flight from London. Finally, when the kid went to sleep (only for an hour or two, mind you), I was able to get a little bit of peace. The parents acted like they didn't understand when I asked them to do something about their grossly misbehaving kid. Next time I'll ask the flight attendant to reseat me. I don't care if it's a seat next to the bathroom. Better that than torture from "The Bad Seed." Thank you for whoever came up with the idea for this article. Personally I think that stuff about having kids as being "the ultimate reward" is a bunch of crap. What else are parents who have to give up their sleep, energy, time, money, freedom, and sanity for the next 18 years supposed to say? "Oops?" I don't think so...
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8-18-2008 @ 11:31PM
janet said...You apparently have never loved a child. If you had you could never call them a "bad seed'. In your opinion, to give up sleep, time, energy and MONEY for something as "rewardless as a child' is fruitless. In my opion you are selfish, lonely, and angry. To choose to have children or not have children is one thing, to disregard them as being a "bad seed" is another. Believe me, no parent that takes there children on-board a plane thinks that when they are misbehaving is cute. That is only your take on the situation. Children are part on the human race, they are expected to be in public places whether you like it or not. They make up a great number of the population. They will prevail when you are dead Embrace them instead of complaining like a little baby.
8-18-2008 @ 10:48PM
FAYE said...Yes, because parents these days are not parents from back in the day, whoever heard of a nanny coming to tell you how to raise your children,geez if parents would just get a belt out every now and then the jails wouldn't be so over poplulated, these little rugrats, baybay children these days need DISCIPLINE, parents scared of their kids, geez when I came up, it was a belt,frying pan,branch off the tree, these days it is called child abuse(MY A _ _),so yes, they should have their own section,cause parents these days think everything is so cute and trying to be their best friends, and bad enough you have to fly with the TSA, then to have to put up with a bratty child I DON'T THINK SO..give them their own section and charge the parents a penalty if they get out of control?????
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8-18-2008 @ 11:31PM
deaner911 said...If they get a kid section and subject us to the screaming and yelling ... I want my smoking section back!!!!
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8-18-2008 @ 11:56PM
mel said...As a flight attendant of 18 years, international as well as domestic, there are many times where parents "don't realize" their children are being unruly; this occurring in all classes, including first/business/exec class, my dears.... Yes, the norm of children crying is acceptable, however the kicking of the seat in front of them is not, nor is "running wild through the ailes" or grasping the seatback (along with the hair) in front of them for balance.
I am not too sure whether having a "section" for children would cure all, however, I don't think it would hurt either in many instances.
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8-19-2008 @ 12:28AM
Gabby said...Hmmm....it is quite clear that one person on this discussion panel can't take a joke, (The Bad Seed one, yes, I admit that was in poor taste) nor does she have the forethought to catch on when someone is being aggregious to make a point more obvious. Of course parenthood has its share of rewards. However, I don't believe it is totally a bed of roses, and many kids can drive their parents nuts for a number of years, especially during adolescence. That was my only point.
For the record, I very much enjoy well behaved children, and I am well aware that they do exist. I also am a property owner who consistently votes for increased taxes for educational funding. So I vote to pay for services that (hopefully) positively impact youth even though I do not have children. This is because ultimately a well educated population of youth benefits all of society, not just the parents raising the kids.
I do stand by my original statement that it is inexcusable for parents to allow their small child to kick the back of an occupied seat on a 10 hour, flight that cost $1,200. It's obviously not the child's fault, but that child should be kept from engaging in that behaviour.
Please try to refrain from engaging in character assasination and from making assumptions about my lifestyle or attitude when you don't know anything about the person who makes a post. For the record, I happen to have both a Bachelors and a Master's Degree in the "helping" professions, and I volunteer by mentoring at-risk teens. My passion is with the elder community, a population that in my humble opinion is sorely neglected in our youth-worshipping society. Now don't go and get bent out of shape over that comment too. But if you do, God bless you. I'm done.
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8-22-2008 @ 2:42PM
sabrinabethdavis said...Please help me ban small children from R-rated movies. People's bad parenting shouldn't have to affect movie patrons, especially when we are spending so much to see movies these days. Please sign the petition at the link below.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/childrenandthemovies/index.html
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