Posted on 01/23/2007 10:26:18 AM PST by Fawn
On Jan. 14, 3-year-old Elly Kulesza and her parents, Julie and Gerald, were kicked off an AirTran Airways flight from Florida to their Worcester, Mass., home because Elly would not stop crying.
Elly, who had been a model passenger on the flight to Florida four days earlier, began to cry uncontrollably once she got on the plane, throwing a temper tantrum on the floor.
AirTran employees demanded that the Kuleszas calm down their child. When Elly didn't stop crying, the crew banned the Kuleszas from flying for 24 hours. Later, AirTran offered an apology to the family along with a refund on their tickets.
"As we have an obligation to the 112 other passengers onboard the flight to operate the flight on time," AirTran said in a statement, "we had to make an operational decision to ask the Kulesza party to deplane so the flight could depart."
On "Good Morning America," the Kuleszas insisted that their toddler wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.
"I don't know what happened. No one can tell when something like this is going to happen. She had a great morning, but then she got on the plane and she started to cry," Julie Kulesza said.
"She's like the typical 3-year-old. She has her moments, but overall she's a very, very good child."
The Kuleszas said that unlike the AirTran crew, the passengers on the flight were sympathetic to their situation.
"I jokingly turned around and asked the three gentlemen behind me, 'Aren't you glad you got these seats?" Julie said. "Another passenger offered up a lollipop to try and calm her down."
Despite AirTran's apology and offer of a complimentary flight, the Kuleszas don't plan to fly with the airline anytime soon.
"We'll pass on that," Gerald Kulesza said. "After that, I told them I'd never fly with them again." PAGE 2 CONTINUED AT SITE
This is why all children should be raised on remote farms and released in to the population at the age of 25. :)
LOL! If I had done that as a kid my a$$ would STILL be stinging.
snerk....
snort....
Bwahahahahahaaa!!!!!!!
That stuff used to spin my daughter up like a top. Turns out it was the red coloring they used ... the clear benadryl didn't have that effect. Then again, even the clear stuff didn't knock her out.
LOL!
That was great!
Same here I have 4 kids myself,same deal. Several years ago one of them started something like that just when we we where walking into walmart or someplace like that. I grabbed him by the shoulderss and looked him straight in the eyes and told him in a quiet but Very stern voice that if he didn't "Knock It Off" I was going to SPANK him in front of all these people! Then I asked him,Do You Want To Get Spanked?!.. I could almost see a tear forming in his eyes and he said no. That was it never happened again.
You bring back Lockheed Constellations (possibly the most beautiful airplane ever built!), and I'll dress up for the trip.
Otherwise its cargos and carry-ons; whatever makes it easy to get through security, board, and relax on the airplane.
As for crying kids - if they delay the plane, and the parents can't (or won't) deal with them, run 'em off. I support AirTran fully in this.
It does that to my husband too. It knocked my youngest son out so bad that we decided that he was better off with active allergy symptoms.
I had to listen to one of these 3y.o. kids throwing a tantrum in the grocery store a few days ago.
Apparently the boy wanted to ride in the already occupied race car attached to the cart.
The kid was out of control, shrieking, kicking, the whole thing.
Mom was trying to humor him to no avail.
At checkout he was so loud noone in the area could talk over him.
A whack on the rear was in order,IMHO, but alas, can't do that anymore.
The airline was within their right to bump the family.
I would have demanded they do it if I thought I had to listen to the kid for 2 hrs.
Obviously the unruly 18 year old is definately more of a danger to himself and others than the unruly 3 year old... And yes, some very well behaved kids do somehow fall on the wrong path no matter what the parents do, and wind up problem teenagers.
By and large though the unruly 18 year olds were unruly long before they got that far along. I know a gal right now who's teenage daughter is running wild, fortunately no drugs or sex or things of that nature yet, but shows the mother next to zero respect, and the mother demands little if any. Worried about having her daughter "mad" at her so much she refuses to actually parent her.
Time outs in my oppinion are a minor punishment good for perhaps a minor infraction where self reflection is needed. For most kids they aren't much use, some children making them sit still can be enough deterrent to produce results, but not most. Some kids spanking doesn't do a whole lot either, but they are the minority. I think parents who just refuse to spank ever do no favors to anyone.
Spanking is not something that should be done often, and frankly my experience has been, when used appropriately at a young age, you usually don't have to do it much at all after they get older. The fear of the paddle is far more motivation than the actual use of it.
No doubt all children are different, but for a 3 year old who can communicate to be so damned unruly that she can't/won't stay in her seat so a plane can take off, and is throwing a tantrum so bad it is hindering 100s of other folks around her... that is inexcusable. These parents should not be upset they were removed from the plane.. 100 other people had places to be and the plane could not take off because this child would not sit in its seat for takeoff as is required by FAA regulations.
IT is not the Airlines job to cajole your unruly child. Sorry, but I lay this one clearly on the parents.... its clear from their reaction to all this that poor little susie or whatever has been pandered too and her parents have a bit of entitlement mindset as well.
My oldest son (who turns 10 on Sat) is high functioning autistic. The only time he's ever really acted up on a flight was about three years ago. I had flown home to Louisville from Virginia Beach for Christmas with him and his younger brother (my husband was away on Navy deployment) He had a HUUUUUGE meltdown on the Louisville to Baltimore flight. The flight attendants were understanding but firm in the rules that stated he needed to settle down and stay in his seat. I ended up buckling him in and holding on for dear life (he did NOT want to sit still) Finally got him to settle down enough and we took off. By the time we got to cruising altitude he fell asleep and stayed asleep the whole flight. He's gotten better since then, of course, but that was one flight I won't soon forget.
I just love ABC's suggestions for how to deal with your child if they are behaving this way. Their answer; reward the child! See below:
"Good Morning America" parenting contributor Anne Pleshette Murphy offered tips on how to calm a crying child.
Focus on Your Child
When in public, every parent's mantra should be this: "I don't know any of these people, and I'm never going to see them again." Just focus on your child, not on the other people around you who are giving you dirty looks. Your goal is to be your child's advocate, to be there for your child.
Don't Scream, Don't Threaten
Screaming at and threatening your child is a bad idea. Do the opposite. Your child is out of control, and the point is to try to help them physically collect themselves.
Hold the Child on Your Lap and Talk Softly
This strategy is very simple but can be very effective. Put the child on your lap, hold him or her tightly, and talk very softly. You should say you understand that they're upset and really sound as if you mean it. You can go on talking about almost anything, as long as you're speaking in a soft, soothing voice. If your child is really thrashing about, you're going to have to restrain him or her. Often, however, this technique of holding and talking softly will calm a child down in a few minutes.
Try to Distract Child
Another way to diffuse tantrums is to distract the child. Come armed with a toy they've never seen, a familiar object like a security blanket, or a candy to suck on. But frankly, when a child is out of control, this may not work
Holding was the only way to calm my daughter down when she had a tantrum in public.
She couldn't go anywhere, and she couldn't hurt anything.
If I could I moved her to the car, but sometimes I couldn't get her to the car.
At home, I would just put her in the room. Half the time,she would end up falling asleep.
Most of her tantrums were because she was tired.
I was struck by this sentence. Lady, they didn't say your kid was the spawn of Satan, they said she couldn't fly if she wasn't in her seat.
It's not as if these people were beaten. It's not as if their kid was called "The Spawn of Satan" by the airline staff. The kid wasn't in the seat, the FAA says the kid goes in a seat, end of story.
The most important thing a parent can do on flights is exhibit confidence.
I'm surprised by your reaction. If a kid came up to me and said, "Hi, I'm Noah" my response would have been "Hi, Noah. I'm Mr. Silverback. Nice to meet you."
The child was having a tantrum, hot just crying, I had a kid like that, but he listened when I told him that if he didn't behve, he would not be allowed back. I used to have to carry my son, upside down, by the ankles to prevent him from kicking me, when I put him in the car seat to go to excercize class, but when I told him that they wouldn't let him come back if he wet his pants, he would hold it until he got out the door after class, then let loose. I bet if the mother had told the child that the airline would kick them off, the kid would have shut up.
We're ready to push back from the gate, and a stewardess comes up to me and tells me that they think my wife's cat may not be aboard, and they're checking on it. The pilot doesn't want to leave until he knows what's on the manifest. A hugely fat businessman in back of us starts bitching at the flight crew, repeating over and over that he has an important meeting to get to in Boston (shades of Stephen Kings "The Langoliers") and he can't believe we're being held up by a cat. This is followed by snide remarks aimed at me and my wife.
Quietly, so he had to shut his trap to hear me, but with an intensity I usually reserve for my parade ground voice, I said: "Listen up, smart guy. I work for the largest air cargo operation on God's green Earth, and there is not a single pilot worth a damn who takes off before he knows what's on his plane. These pilots have a very complicated aircraft to fly and these FA's have over a hundred other people other than you to take care of. So now's the time for you to shut up and leave the flight crew alone. Don't make me tell you again."
I was astonished when he shut up, though he did continue to sulk and kick my seat occasionally "by accident." Turns out the cat went on an earlier flight. The co-pilot apologized to me and they gave us a ton of meal coupons. Flight even got to Boston on time. All's well that ends well...
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