[eyespysomething]

Has anyone ever heard of SPANKING?

[eyespysomething]

this might be a hold muh beer

[mhking]

Whip his butt and keep going.... (Oh, but I forgot - there's the child welfare authorities...)

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!

[Xenalyte]

Exactly. Were I bad enough to disobey my parents in public like that, I would have had my butt popped a few times, and that would have definitely shut me up.

[dead]

He's two years old. He doesn't need to be spanked.

He needs to be picked up, put in the chair, and buckled.

This shouldn't be complicated.

[AppyPappy]

You pick up the child, you put him in the seat, you strap him down kicking and screaming. I suspect mommy didn't want to contrary the child.

[nmh]

Of course it's ALWAYS someone elses fault that a little one is misbehaving. It couldn't be that the kid is a spoiled brat being raised in a "child centered" family.

Rather than just criticising, I have a solution - GIVE THE BRAT A SPANKING! My daughter who is about to turn four, has gotten spankings and she is the HAPPIEST well behaved kid in town. The "terrible two's" were a pleasure for us. She continues to be a pleasure.

[Johnny Gage]

Ms DeNatale, her husband Peter Van Schalwyk
...two-year-old Marcello Ferrand
...with his mother, Margherita Gardella

Ok. everyone involved has a DIFFERENT NAME?

What's up with that... *sigh*

[templar]

Has anyone ever heard of SPANKING?

I think that is illegal there. Anyone know for sure?

[Labyrinthos]

Has anyone ever heard of SPANKING?

Gee that's an effective way to get the kid to pipe down and sit in his seat -- NOT. The better approach is not to spoil the kid in the first place, and to teach him what is expected when he rides on airplane before he gets on board.

[cdefreese]

The airline's ground staff then refused to let the elderly couple and Marcello, who lives in Kensal Rise, travel on a later flight. They then had to pay £300 for tickets with Alitalia to get home.

And the airlines wonder why they are going bankrupt. They have got to get their act straight. Non refundable, non transferable tickets, harsh treatment, incompetant employees, and yet they complain when they make no money.

[lady lawyer]

It's obvious the adults wouldn't cooperate and discipline the little brat.

[KellyAdmirer]

I suspect some attitude and lack of willingness to help from the grandparents contributed to the situation, though the article is careful to paint them as victims. The flight crew had probably seen the "Don't you dare touch my child" attitude once too often.

[GilesB]

Anybody who chooses to fly with a young child who has not learned the basics of discipline and behavior, deserves to be treated as a third-worlder.

I don't care how they do it, but the notion that an entire airplane load of passengers should be subjected to a childs tantrums, whining, wailing, and general disturbances is an offense to common sense and the frequent flyer.

One of the things I look forward to when I'm able to upgrade to first class, is the seperation from the brats. Twice, I have had a family of wimp parents run by brat children make the experience a trial.

I applaud British Airways - I will seek to fly them more often.

[HairOfTheDog]

I bet the people on the plane were perfectly content to wait if it meant getting the screaming kid off the plane. Was gonna be a long flight otherwise, if two guardians and a staff of flight attendents couldn't even manage to get his seat belt on. Wait till he weighs more than 40 pounds and is *still* under no control whatsoever!

[Eva]

I was on a flight from Phoenix to Seattle with a couple with two small kids sitting across the aisle. The two year old was standing on the food tray and jumping into his mother's lap and squealing at the top of his lungs for most of the flight. The kid was so loud, but the mother spoke in a voice equally loud and the father just watched until he had had enough and moved to the seat in front of them where the other kid was sitting.

[Revolting cat!]

The kid must of been a peaceful Muslim terrorist!

[TC Rider]

Aside from being delayed, I bet all of those in nearby seats were happy to see the little brat leave.

[John O]

I felt like a Third World citizen

If they are from Italy then they should feel right at home.

There is the first world, these United States.
The second world, English speaking allies of these United States
The third world, non-english speaking allies of these United States.
and the fourth world, enemies of these United States

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Like any two-year-old Marcello Ferrand is prone to the occasional tantrum.

I bet it is more than occasional.

[cynicom]

Spank the kid. Whack the parents.