Back when there were smoking and non smoking sections in restaurants and air planes, I often thought there should be a non screaming kid section. I would often opt for the smoking section (what difference did it really make) just to get away from the screamers.

Sometimes 2 year olds will tantrum. There's no getting around that and you can't always know when one will. So...if one is, they leave the plane. Easy enough. Sounds like everything was handled well there.

I've been flying with my kids since they were 5 months old. Never had one tantrum on a plane. Got one tantruming right next to me, now, though. Fun times.

screaming genetic defects is the reason tasers and stun guns were invented...
its called negative reinforcement, zap the little monsters often enough and they will stop, even the dumbest catch on with enough "training"..
oh, and the parents should be zapped twice for each time their genetic defect is zapped once...
extreme? hell no, get stuck on a 6-8 hour flight sometime with one of these jr freddy krugers and you'll lobby for a massive expansion of the death penalty...

"We have them seated. Can we go now?" Really?!?!? Meanwhile they had to hold their children down with "all their might". To me, that tells me the girls were not seated and ready for take off if the parents had to continue restraining them. I'm sure they were also screaming their heads off. The mother was "shocked" at how JetBlue treated her and her family. Why? In my opinion the pilot had every right to return to the gate and ask them to exit the plane.

Everyone is quick to chalk it up to bad parenting or the kids acting like "little monters" or say that the "little princesses or darlings" have not been properly disciplined/raised which is why they were kicked off the plane. There could have been a number of circumstances at work here. They could have had to rush to get to the airport, putting added stress on the kids, maybe they were tired, hungry or after the flight down maybe they didn't want to deal with the flight home due to cabin pressure, being stuck in a seat for an extended period of time, etc.

Regardless of what the reasons may have been, the bottom line is the pilot followed protocol and I applaud him for doing so. I'm sure the other passengers did too. I know I would. If an unruly adult acted belligerent, refused to sit down and/or buckle their seatbelt they would be taken off the plane AND arrested.

Despite that the parents managed to get their children seated and buckled in, their kids were struggling to get out of their seats. I STILL can't believe Colette said (while forcefully restaining them) "They're seated, can we go now?" That still totally boggles my mind!

Had the pilot given them more time to get their kids under control (and there's no guarantee if that would be a matter of a few minutes or a half hour or more) he runs the risk of falling behind schedule at his next destination and the potential for passengers on his flight to miss connecting flights - it would create a domino effect and inconvenience everyone else on the plane - one way or another.

The mother needs to swallow this whole situation like a bitter pill and GET OVER IT instead of giving interviews about how JetBlue did her family wrong and cost her an additional $2K to get home. Expensive lessoned learned. Way to go, "shocked Mom". Keep defending your actions - the hole you're digging is getting deeper. lol

Back when there were smoking and non smoking sections in restaurants and air planes, I often thought there should be a non screaming kid section. I would often opt for the smoking section (what difference did it really make) just to get away from the screamers.

Bruce, I've talked to parents who've happily admitted they're not for "family sections" on planes, because they don't want to be near other people's children on a long plane ride.

"Holding them down with all our might." Sheesh.

An adult using all of his or her might to restrain a child sounds like something that in our society could get you charged with child abuse.

While I don't appreciate unruly children, and as a former parent struggled to instill some basic civility in mine, I have to wonder if we haven't made such events inevitable. Parents are not allowed to discipline their children for fear of being investigated. So, not surprisingly we have undisciplined children.

Goddess:
it was just not an option for us to throw tantrums at any age -- especially not to the point where we needed to be held down.
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And you remember the details of being 2 years old?

More likely - you were whisked out of the restaurant/bank/theater. Which began the process of signaling this behavior would not be tolerated.

I certainly hope your parents didn't come down hard on a 2 year old.

Often there's not much that can be done at that age - and I simply *loathe* the modern narcissists who try to reason with small tots who are clearly too tired/wound up for it.

Yep, get off the plane.

"Jewish Hitlers" lol

From what I've read, this family did need to be kicked off, but most articles leave off some of the real mischief that was going on. IIRC, she was running up and down the isles while taxiing.

In regards to most kids in public, when did adults become such princesses? I mean really, you can't buck up and deal with a kid within 20 feet? You're really that much of a wimp? Were adults always this selfish? Everyone accuses the parents of being selfish. You ever think about your selfish a** expecting people to stay locked in a cage (home) because their kid might annoy your poor sensitive thin skin?

No, your selfish A** brought on multiple over sized baggage for the overhead compartment, while having the most obnoxious conversation with your x-wife. And you took your time doing it too. Holding up everyone in line.

Kids, even obnoxious ones, have just as much right to travel as you do. Buck up and buy a MP3 player!

@Zombie--

You know the phrase "It takes a village to raise a child?" We actually used have that system in place up until, oh, the early 90's.

When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, my friends and I knew that running through certain yards would get us yelled at and our parents called, running out in front of cars or not stopping a street game would garner the same, sassing an adult would get a sharp reprimand, *and* when we went out and about on errands and such with someone else's parents *all* children got the look but don't touch and don't fucking embarrass me speech.

Also, plane travel used to be a special occasion--something to dress up for. Company manners applied. Now planes are really no more than flying Greyhound busses. Restaurants, even McDs, were special occasions. Again, company manners. (Yes, even at McDs).

We used to be denied things we desperately wanted with no extended explanation. Why? Because we were kids, not adults. Nobody had to explain shit to us. We heard "wait til you grow up" a lot. So we agonized, and behaved, and sought to act like grown-ups so as to garner grown-up privileges. And it worked.

I could go on and on, but in summary, kids were *not, not, not* always like this.

Hell, read "Little House on the Prairie" or the "Betsy-Tacy" books, or "Anne of Green Gables" if you want to know what was expected of children up until not so very long ago. They were expected to sit still at church. Help with farm chores. Learn life skills like cooking, knitting, planting, harvesting. We're talking very little kids here, like 4-5 years old. You've seen "A Christmas Story" right? You know what book they were reading in that, what, 4th grade class? "Silas Marner." That's right, Silas fucking Marner. We used *expect* things out of children. And they used to comply for the most part.

So what's your explanation for the Jerry Springer world we now live in? Is it devolution in the space of twenty years? Or is it shitty parenting?

I've never gotten anything but "You kids are so well behaved" "your kids are such good travelers" from anyone-fellow fliers, pilots, attendants, you name it. Until the first leg of our flight home from Orlando in Jan. The plane was no where near full. My 7 year old was seated behind someone who was obviously just aching to put some kid in their place and the parent too. Daughter accidentally bumped the seat in front of her-once-while shifting in her seat. Woman went all snotty "please keep your kid from kicking the seat" on me. I nicely told daughter to be careful, and watched daughter nonstop. I saw her shift and accidentally brush the seat in front again about 15 mins later and woman got all bitchy. AT that point, I had to tell her if she wanted to travel in a bubble she was going to have to pay a LOT more for her ticket, and that my daughter wasn't kicking her. SO it goes both ways. Some adults are just rude asses who think the world should be all about them all the time. Uh, no, not unless you charter a jet.

i think deathbysnoosnoo is my new hero. WORD!

And to be fair, momof4 is also right - there are some people in the world just looking to be asshats.

That said, I run into way more rude parents who are raising rude children. I feel sorry for the three of you out there who are actually doing your jobs, because you have to deal with the fact that your kids see other kids getting away with crazy shit on a daily basis. I don't envy you at all.

"You've seen "A Christmas Story" right? You know what book they were reading in that, what, 4th grade class? "Silas Marner." That's right, Silas fucking Marner."

I', pretty sure that movie was a comedy based on an idyllic childhood that never existed. Probably not a great place to derive factual information from.

@deathbysn0osnoo I too remember the days when we had cute stewardesses and you had to dress like you were going to church when riding airplains. *bleh*

Our world is not Jerry Springer. Just like we have an overblown sense of 'stranger danger' we have an overblown sense of 'these kids are out of control' All old people complain about this sh**. This has been going on for generations.

Just say it.... "GET OFF MY LAWN"

Amy -- If they will sell a ticket to a kid, its a kid's place. That includes places that cannot refuse based on age.

@deathbysn0osnoo I too remember the days when we had cute stewardesses and you had to dress like you were going to church when riding airplains. *bleh*

Our world is not Jerry Springer. Just like we have an overblown sense of 'stranger danger' we have an overblown sense of 'these kids are out of control' All old people complain about this sh**. This has been going on for generations.

Just say it.... "GET OFF MY LAWN"

Amy -- If they will sell a ticket to a kid, its a kid's place. That includes places that cannot refuse based on age.

sorry ... for the double post...

In regards to most kids in public, when did adults become such princesses? I mean really, you can't buck up and deal with a kid within 20 feet? You're really that much of a wimp? Were adults always this selfish? Everyone accuses the parents of being selfish. You ever think about your selfish a** expecting people to stay locked in a cage (home) because their kid might annoy your poor sensitive thin skin? -- ZombieApocalypseKitten at March 10, 2012 3:53 PM

About the same time I could be investigated, charge, accessorized, etc. for whatever injury, mishap, or other damage happened to your uncontrolled child.

There was a case in the late '90s. A relatively docile dog bit a kid in the butt, the parents sued, and won about $15K. The reason it went to the lawsuit and made the press is because it was a lawsuit and wasn't just payed didn't make most of the lame stream media.

The lame stream media left out some of the facts. Little Johnny had gone over the four foot chain link fence. He was standing within the "beaten" path the dog had made around the tree the dog was tied to. He had been shooting the dog with a BB or pellet gun. The dog was pissed off and finally bitten little Johnny in the butt.

Also, I live in the country. I and all my neighbors have a minimum of five acres. My neighbor who had put in a four foot above ground pool for his kids to swim in was going to be required to fence it and the rest of the crap. Meanwhile about 100 yards away was a 12 foot deep pond the owner didn't have to do anything about.

The governments and laws have now made everyone responsible for little Johnny. But if I try to discipline little Johnny -- then I am in the wrong.

"I'(m) pretty sure that movie was a comedy based on an idyllic childhood that never existed. Probably not a great place to derive factual information from."

So, is it good thing to assume that kids can't read until their teens?

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To add to Amy's last point: minors cannot execute a contract. Their guardians must do so, and the guardian is responsible for meeting any term of the sale.

Don't even start to take the point that screaming is a right.

Amy, you got it spot on. Some of the others who said that kids these days are different also got it spot on. I never once in my life saw one kid in my extended family act up and create a scene in a restaurant, plane, or any other public place. It was forbidden to act up with the punishment being a good spanking.

These days parents are scared to actually parent their kids. Scared because they fear their kids will hate them when the get older. Plus they do not have time to parent because other people are raising their kids while they are working. Most kids these days are a bunch of spoiled obnoxious brats with absolutely no manners.

My son has been flying since he was 6. I regularly get nice comments about what a nice young man he is. Even the flight attendants have made comments.