That’s literally not at all what they said. They mentioned that it could potentially help the child through a torturous flight. Whether or not that is indeed the case or not is at the very least a noteworthy discussion.

Being obtuse about it, is not helpful in any way.

I’m in healthcare, and often work with children. It doesn’t matter if they do or don’t understand something, they don’t have the emotional regulation to continue with something uncomfortable.

I don’t blame parents wanting to increase the sleepiness of a child prior to something like a long plane trip.

8+ is the age I see the majority of children being able to grin and bear it, and to be reasoned with.

You see on Lemmy, it’s okay to say children are “essentially animals”, unless it’s in the context of Israel referring to infants in Gaza as essentially animals. The fucking crazy shit that gets upvoted in Lemmy vs reddit is weird. It’s like a giant reading group of edgy undergrads in here most of the time.

Why do people try to say people aren’t animals. People are animals their entire lives. We aren’t plants, or lamps, or airplanes. I have chickens that behave better than many people. Never once has one gotten drunk and got in a fight, or had a yelling match with someone. They don’t get in car accidents and drive off, steal from stores, murder each other. Mine make so little noise I have to actively remember they are out back. I puppysat a dog for 12 days recently, not a single time did he try to overthrow the government or sue someone. Took 4 days to figure out he could bark. Humans are some of the worst animals around. We murder and rape and destroy ecosystems out of greed or boredom. I had a bacon cheeseburger recently. That means I enslaved a cow to steal it’s milk for cheese, slaughtered another for the beef and had a pig felled for the bacon. I don’t even think bacon on a burger makes it better, I just didn’t want to hurt the persons feelings who suggested/made it.

~end rant… strange thing to ramble about at 2am

100% of my family besides my wife and dog are far enough away that flying is the only practical way to visit them.

I hear you. Many people are perfectly content in their own little bubble, and that’s fine. I found travelling far away the few times I did vert impressive. Especially as a dutchy a country like Mongolia is almost incomprehensible… So big and just nature. We travelled a whole day without seeing buildings or people… we also saw poverty in other countries we where not prepared for… It changed my perspective on things.

I wasn’t forced, nice strawman. But families are spread, or a specific Docter is at a specific place… you don’t know the reason. And other modes of transport are not always an option.

So yes, kids can be unruly. Plug your ears. Some airlines even have kid free flights. But the parents have just as much right to be there as you and will do anything to keep their kids quiet… but sometimes that does not work.

Ps: when my wife flew with our 2 year old she had 30 sets of earplugs with her for other people, just in case. But our kid slept the whole flight.

To clarify a bit: I DO think that what this woman did was child abuse. But not specifically because she locked the kid in a bathroom. Because she did it for a social media audience.

For some context, I use what is often called “gentle parenting” (although I think it’s just what I would call “parenting if you’re humane and responsive to the needs of a child”). So I would never do this. But I also am very aware of the feeling of helplessness that comes from having a child in distress and having exhausted every remedy I know. I am familiar with the logic that a child who is screaming is doing so for attention, and will stop when their behavior isn’t being tolerated. Putting a child into a time out until they stop doing something is not a radical approach. If I saw someone do this on a plane, I wouldn’t immediately consider it abusing a child.

HOWEVER: if I saw this lady chatting animatedly into her phone’s front facing camera while dragging a distressed kid (to whom she’s not addressing her attention) toward a lavatory, I’d immediately think, ‘Oh fuck: is that one of those people who turns every moment into a social media opportunity? That kid needs rescued.’

I think it’s an omission that the article didn’t recognize this. This woman didn’t just put a kid in a bathroom to try to get them to calm down (dumb idea, but not abuse by itself, imo). She did all that while talking to strangers and saying, ‘Hey everyone! Look at me! Look AT MEEE!’

THAT is what makes it abuse.

Is it? Leisure is about half of the purposes of flying, business and non leisure make up the rest.