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
I have lots of experience dealing with 3 year olds, and yes, other than the ones who are mentally slow or off, I stand by my statements.
The ones that don't fit into the box are the ones whos parents either refuse to discipline them properly, and be the parent... or are mentally slow or off. By 3 there is no excuse for that behavior.
If the child had an ear infection than the parents should not have put her on the plane in the first place. They should have taken her to a doctor for treatment then either waited in Florida for her to improve, taken the train or bus or driven. But this plane never got off the ground because the brat war crawling under the seats, hitting her parents, etc.
I have said nothing about being sick, I even conceded sickness or pain in previous posts.. unfortunately I don't see this event as either of those.
Secondly, even if it was, the parents should still be mortified not expecting the airlines to bend over backwards for them. They offered them a later flight... the airline respected the rest of its customers.... nothing wrong with their decision.
Its rediculous the airline apologized, and even more rediculous that this couple is blaming the airline for poorly handling a situation they clearly were unable to handle themselves.
I don't believe you.
You have to scare the pants off your little ones or they will be in control. If my finger comes out and points at them they know it's time to quiet down.
But Dr. Spock (Or what ever that wimps name is) is gospel to a lot of (Dem) moms.
Whether you want to believe me or not is irrellevant... You are free to believe whatever you want, doesn't change the facts.
I'm sure there are folks that believe the earth is flat, and that Communism is a great form of governement, or that women get pregnant by sharing soap.. what you believe and what is need not have any relation to reality whatsoever.
No common sense act will go unpunished.
All parents say that everybody loves their special little darling.
Dad didnt need to say anything, he just gave you that look.
Exactly,
I don't understand why so many people don't understand this simple reality. YOU are the parent, period. Its amazing, you discipline a child properly up front, you don't need to fight with them perpetually the rest of the time.
Too many people just write off bad childish behavior is "oh he's only 3 its normal" when it is not remotely, its poor parenting.
Set the rules and enforce the rules from day one without fault and its amazing how rarely you have to do so down the line... far to many don't set or enforce anything up front and then try to make it up later.
My experience says that your knowledgeable posts about 3-year olds fit in the set of topics above.
The other article says they were removed from the flight because the parents couldn't get the kid to take a seat for takeoff.
I doubt the other passengers were sympathetic.
The first rational and reasonable assessment yet. Agreed.
Again, you can believe what you want.. since it makes your world view more stable for you, but I deal with 3 year olds all the time have for a decade now, not counting siblings growing up, and there is absolutely no doubt in any of my experience where fault lies for 3 year olds who believe temper tantrums are EVER ok.. and that is squarely and completely on the ineptitude of their parents.
A temper tantrum is something a child old enough to communicate should happen only 1 time, 2 if the child is a slow learner. Of course if parents handle it poorly it becomes a regular and routine occurrance, and of course like you the write it off as normal, because heaven forbid they actually realize their offspring is being a brat, be the parent and put a stop to it.
I was the same way with ours. You want to scream and cry? Good, let me give you something to cry about! And then whack them good...this kind of behavior stops real quick. We never had our son throw a temper tantrum in public.
I love threads like this - we get to see all the perfect parents promote their parenting piety.
One of my daughters had a terrible fit after going to the circus while visiting my folks. She was around 4 1/2.
We had stayed at friends the night before, and they kept us up later than my kids were used to.
She fell asleep while we were at the circus. We had to wake her up when we had to leave, and she just lost it. She wanted this little stuffed animal, but we didn't have time (or money) to get it. She was also just out of sorts from falling asleep and waking up. She must have screamed for half an hour. My mom and my sister-in-law were just horrified.
I didn't really punish her much. I figured I was as much at fault as she was. I knew when we left for the circus it was goint to be too much, but my parents had already bought the non-refundable tickets. I decided to never do something like that again with my young children. My daughter is now 10 and very well-behaved.
Exactly. My youngest threw a tantrum once, in public. He was dragged from the store (he went limp) my arms were full and I had to drag him out of the store before he started walking again. He got more when we got home. He never did that again.
The parents were wrong, kicking them off of the plane was the right thing to do. The airline has nothing to apologize for.
My twin daughters could not talk at 3. One started talking when she was about 3 1/2, and the other still has speech problems (they are twins).
You would not believe the tantrums we have had to endure because they could not communicate.
One of my 10 year olds still cannot talk well when she is tired at the end of the day or sick. She can still get so frustrated and start screaming.
My daughters are not mentally slow: one is gifted. However the other one does have brain damage that has affected her motor planning (coordination) and muscle strength.
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