Parents Get Flak After Letting Unruly Kid ‘Run Wild’ During Flight

Nov 30, 2022

It's been a perennial dilemma since passenger planes first took to the skies – what do you do when there's an unruly child on board whose parents do not care?

For many, there is no working around it, and the only thing to do is to play something loudly on your headphones or try your best to fall asleep. If these fail, there's nothing to do but sit and bear it. But sometimes, the maddening behavior of an infant can start to grate on you, especially on long-haul flights. 

These instances are as common as in-flight turbulences. Reddit user u/readysetgorilla posted a video that has mortified people on the internet – showing how a child has been left on her own devices on a long haul 8-hour flight. 

The OP, believed to have been on a US flight, posted a nine-second clip of a child vigorously jumping up and down on what is also believed to be one of her parent's tray tables, shaking the passenger in front of them. 

Captioned "Letting children run wild during an 8-hour flight," the OP seemed to have noted that the child, aside from jumping on the tray table, had also run amok on the aisle during the flight.

The person, whose seat was evidently shaken on the video, was cool, composed, and collected, seemingly unbothered by what the child had been doing. 

Upon posting the video clip, people turned to the thread and expressed their frustration with the situation. 

"I would feel like a failed parent if my kids were doing this and I was just straight up allowing it," a user commented. 

"Why is the guy just letting it happen? I would've said something," another pointed out. 

While everyone's consensus was to confront the child's parents, one Redditor has suggested a more "civilized" way to handle the commotion.  

u/RocanMotor, a frequent flyer, revealed that they usually deal with a rude passenger once or twice a year as they had flown roughly four to eight flights a month.

"Ask politely once. Beyond that, dont engage, call over the flight attendant. They will ask them to stop, and if they refuse theyll usually move you to an upgraded seat if available. If no seat is available and the aggressor keeps it up, they'll usually have an air marshall come over if one is available, but this is super rare," the user shared. 

According to the user, that move would have sufficed already. But if an air marshall is not available, which usually happens, a flight attendant would sometimes threaten the unruly passengers, in this case, the parents of the child, that they would speak to the pilot – which would likely lead to a premature landing depending on the severity of the incident. 

"If it gets to that point, the customer will be blacklisted and you'll get a complimentary upgraded flight. Usually the FA coming over is enough to put a stop to it," the poster furthered. 

Other users on the thread praised the user for giving very sound and professional advice to people who will encounter the same situation. 

"Amidst all the internet tough guy comments and imaginary witty comebacks, this is the sound advice. Getting mad and being rude back means you lose the moral high ground," someone posted. 

"This is how civilized travelers handle conflict. Thank you for attending RocanMotor's TED Talk," another said. 

The original video has made waves on social media, with more people blasting the kid's parents for her unruly behavior. 

Would you let your kids behave like that during flights? If you were a passenger bothered by someone's kid, what would you have done? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to your family, friends, and other loved ones!