Being able to fly to and from your destination has been one of the greatest advances in technology. However, the actual process is often a stressful one. You have to get to the airport on time, find your flight, get through security, check-in and then board the plane. Throughout the whole ordeal, you hope that nothing happens that may cause a cancellation or delay. You just want the whole flight to go as smoothly as possible, right?
Once you finally make it onto your plane, you probably are ready to sit back and relax. Maybe you want to read, watch a movie, or rest your eyes. If you are traveling with young kids, they can quickly complicate the process. Kids who are not used to flying often act up. It is to be expected, at least to some extent. However, one gentleman posted a video of an extreme case where a child was throwing a tantrum on a long-haul flight.
According to the Independent, Shane Townley is the man who captured the meltdown of a child on an 8-hour flight and uploaded it to Youtube after the incident occurred back in August. He was on a flight that was leaving Germany to land in Newark, New Jersey when the 8-hour journey became a less-than-quiet trip. It was obviously taxing for anyone, adult or child to be on such a long flight. However, this flight was even worse due to a mother who had her very loud three-year-old son with her, screaming and running around the plane.
The fiasco started before the plane had even gotten off of the runway. In the video, viewers can see the young boy up on the top of the Lufthansa plane’s seats. A little bit after that, the mother can be heard talking to a flight attendant about having the Wi-Fi turned on quicker because she wanted to distract her son with an iPad. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi service is not available before take-off, as it is only turned on after the aircraft reaches a certain height in the sky.
The small child blew off some steam by running up and down the plane aisle for a little bit. However, this only worked for a little while. Soon, he began to scream and yell again. This was obviously tough for everyone on the plane. After approximately eight hours of what some people regarded as ‘demonic’ screams, the plane finally landed in Newark, New Jersey. While Townley said this lasted the whole eight-hour flight, the video itself is under ten minutes long and there is not necessarily sufficient evidence to determine and prove that the child screamed the entire duration of the flight.
Townley described the child as “demonic sounding” and stated that he was obviously “addicted to technology.” Other commenters on the video — which has now been viewed more than 10 million times — said that it could be that the little boy could have behavioral problems. A woman at the end of the video can be heard saying, “What a nightmare. Oh my God, eight hours of screaming.”
At one moment in the video, the struggling mom can be heard pleading with her son as she said, “Calm down, honey,” but her efforts were futile.
In response to the incident that quickly went viral, the airline released a statement to The Daily Mail that the crew, “worked around-the-clock to de-escalate the situation, tend to all passengers and assist the mother,” they also insisted that other passengers on the plane were “understanding of the situation.”
However, the airline told The Daily Mail that they were unable to give any further comments, as they were bound to protecting the “individual’s medical privacy.”
Given the last comment, it is perhaps likely that this child could have been struggling with behavioral issues that led to his unruly behavior. While many people are criticizing the mother, it would be fair to give her some more sympathy, as many mothers struggle with making sure young children stay calm on long flights. According to the CDC, approximately 7.4% of children between the ages of three and 17 years old are diagnosed with behavioral issues. If this were the case for this toddler in particular, it could have been that behavioral issues led him to act out on the flight.
Many commentators on the video called for punitive action to be taken against the child, but research has shown that this is not only ineffective, but can be damaging for all children, and especially children with behavioral issues. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), physical discipline can have long-lasting harmful effects on children, including an increase in the behavior that sparked the punishment in the first place.
