Should there be child-free zones on planes and trains?

Bushwacked. No worries 😀 I just thought that I’d make the point that its not the fault of children themselves, imo. As you point out, they’re only being children.
🙂

I’m normally too polite to say something

It’s a good job you have the anonymity of stw then isn’t it?

these

+

=heaven (and never having to converse with fcukwits)

“those who think it acceptable to eat egg sandwiches, oranges and crisps in public”

This … plus one

How many times does a middle age woman with three bags, (why do they need three bags? God only knows and why do they want to put those said bags at thier feet and therefore infront of my feet rather than use the storage racks above, out of the way?) sit opposite to me and open up a bag of crisps? Is 5 o’clock luv, you’ll be home for your tea in 40minutes can’t you wait? No you want to stink the place out with your prawn cocktail crisps and I bet on saturday night when your old man has to take you out as you get ready you’ll ask him “does my bum look big in this?” … YES IT DOES YOU CRISP EATING OLD HAG

deadlydarcy – Member
I’m normally too polite to say something
It’s a good job you have the anonymity of stw then isn’t it?

Yep better said in here than in an enclosed pressurised box where you are stuck for a few hours. No point in making the parents feel worse about the situation. Perhaps it would be better to have a child friendly zone.

Better PR on the whole thing really – parents would be queuing up if they thought it was designed for them….

My delightful daughter last time I took her on a plane (at just over 1), screamed her head off full pelt from the moment we queued to board, and continued to scream through all the safety announcements, to the point that they turned the volume on the announcements up to ear bleedingly loud. They gave us a whole row to ourselves as obviously no bugger would want to sit next to us.

I hadn’t done anything wrong that time – she was well fed, clean, had been entertained etc. she just got tired just at the time of going onto the plane, and was not impressed with the whole business of planes and being strapped into things and the like.

Fortunately, the moment the plane took off, she went fast asleep until it landed, so it was okay in the end, but really, there was nothing I could do except cuddle her.

I don’t mind kids on flights – if they kick the back of my seat all the time or whatever, I’ll tell em off, which is what anyone should do – sometimes any kids have moments where they are being deliberately obtuse and their parents are unable to control them, and being told off by a stranger is often way more powerful than being told off by their own parents.

Surely it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have an area that is assigned to families with INCREASED facilities catered towards kids and looking after kids – eg toilet with baby change facilities, free kids drinks at the galley, bottle warmers, games to borrow and put all the kids food options in the galley serving that area That way people with a hatred of kids can book well away from that area (charge them more for it?) and families can book the family area (for no extra charge).

That way on night flights you can get all the kids going to sleep uninterrupted by people without kids and in the day you can have a bit of fun – get the stewards who are happy to entertain working that section as they will end up having more fun than serving grumpy adults.

ie make flying more fun for kids and families while also making life quieter for other people.

Just to add a bit of colour, my kids are now past the upsetting other passengers / diners stage. When they were playing up however, I soon realised that me getting embarassed and stressed at their behaviour helped no one. I became quite relaxed about it towards the end – obvioulsy I’d make a bit of an effort to control them, but I wouldn’t be internally hand wringing.

Kids be kids and we’ve all been one once.

Now, where did I put my EasyJet Plus card? 8)

Dear God!!! Some people on here constantly surpass themselves with just how utterly miserable and bloody joyless you are. Have you really got so few ‘real’ problems, that you get to complain about stuff like people eating crisps? Seriously? Then maybe think yourself lucky eh?

In the meantime, I know its Monday morning, but FFS, smile you miserable ****s! Here’s Oolong to cheer you up. Everyone loves Oolong

😀

mikewsmith has it.
how many parents would pay a small/reasonable surcharge to sit in a child friendly zone, where all the other passengers had kids and therefore no need to worry about anyone getting uptight at the slightest squeak?

ran up and down the aisle informing his fellow travellers that “Mah boodgeh had ‘eart attack. In its tummeh”

euurrgh.. I hadn’t considered the possibility of northern children.. that’s a game changer if ever there was..

hideous.. *shudder*

I travel a fair bit and can’t say that I’ve ever been bothered by screaming kids in economy/standard class (headphones/earplugs are never out of my ears though!).

I can’t imagine ever complaining about a noisy kid unless he/she was just being naughty, then all it takes is a glance at the kid and you’re normally left in peace (one kid kept slapping my head, but he stopped when I gave him a minature bottle of gin 🙂 it was empty, but at least made his parents pay me some attention!).

It would be nice to have a “child friendly” section on planes and trains, where kids have a bit more freedom to make noise and move around, without parents feeling like they have to constantly tell the kids to be quiet or sit down…but….that sort of punishes families whose kids are quiet for the whole journey and just want some rest.

The one thing that I can’t quite see the logic in is this:

I was on a BA flight whith a child who would not stop screaming, it was terrible, one chap complained to the parents, asking them why they could not shut their child up. They said they had tried everything, so the chap indignant, rightously complained to the cabin crew.

Guess who got upgraded to business class?

The family thankfully.

Pretty much the only time I travel business class is for business. It’s generally because I’m working or need to rest. The tickets aren’t cheap.

The thought that cabin crew would move a screaming child into business class seems a bit far fetched to me.

I have seen parents being allowed to take their kids into quiet areas (sometimes used by staff on longhaul flights) for a short while to give the kid some time to relax though.

Guess who got upgraded to business class?

The family thankfully.

More likely it was a ruse to get them down into the hold 🙂

I don’t see why I you need to differentiate between quiet zone and kids’ zone. Quiet kids can go in the quiet zone surely?

A poll by Tripadvisor in August found that over a third of Britons would be prepared to pay extra to travel by air without the presence of children. are bigots & had children

2 sides to every coin Sir.

Bigots can have children too..

Some parents have NO appreciation for how bad their offspring are behaving, in exactly the same way some childless adults have NO consideration for parents with difficult children.

Those of you who are trying to take the moral high-ground are as bad as those at either end of the extreme.

CONSIDERATION needed from all parties.

Binners … couldn’t agree more… just a little ligth hearted crips rant on my part

But did I touch a nerve??

Does your Mrs come home with the tell tail sign of the secret prawn cocktail crisp muncher? …. slightly pink stained finger tips

Aaaaaaah…. I see. Like the fine orange dust that marks out the cheesy Wotsit addict?

*looks guilty*

Quiet kids can go in the quiet zone surely?

Yep though try telling a parent their kids are noisy!

CONSIDERATION needed from all parties.

This is the Key

binners +1

Sounds like there should be a special area on planes and trains for whingers and the miserable with free copies of the Daily Mail on tap.

The people who cause stress on planes are the inconsiderate and the rude

^ Maybe a bit harsh on mainstream crisp-eaters, Binners. Depends on the crisps. Consumers of pickled onion Space Raiders, any variant of Cheese and Onion and Wotsits, especially Wotsits, should all be obliged to travel steerage.

CONSIDERATION needed from all parties.

This is the Key

In so many situations.
😉

Can we have a plane where intolerant tossers are segregated from the rest of us? I can live with a screaming child for hours but bigotry grates after only a few minutes.

Can we have a plane where intolerant tossers are segregated from the rest of us? I can live with a screaming child for hours but bigotry grates after only a few minutes.

Can we all just calm down a bit, please.

Child friendly sections on planes will never happen.

When in NZ a few years back we found a restaurant which had a play area for kids – awesome idea – kids went off and played and it was close enough / designed so we could supervise from a distance while we enjoyed a bit of a relax.

Looked at whether the concept would work here in the UK but we’re obsessed with making money so the idea of having a kid area takes up tables (except in those horrible brewsters pubs).

The same in planes – extra room would take away seats which takes away revenue. Plus if anyone does want to go to an almost kids free zone Business class is the place. Kid free zone on a plane should cost more.

It’s a brilliant idea – other people’s kids can be a nightmare. My daughter, of course, is a delight and wouldn’t bother anyone.

(Actually, as long as she’s got Come Outside on repeat on an iPad, she’ll be quiet as long as you like)

The people who cause stress on planes are the inconsiderate and the rude

and the airlines with their model of cram them in, pile them high and squeeze them for every last penny. if you’re going to be sat still for 2+ hours on a flight the last thing you want is to be as close as you can be to 100 other people no matter how sociable you are. I’m sure conditions on planes are against the Geneva convention and a breach of human rights.

My kids are now adults before you lot accuse me of moaning BUT I find far too many parents are too darn idle to look after/discipline their kids, preferring instead to fiddle with their smartphone.

My child is unlikely to bother you on a flight, as flying to the south of France for hols would be rather – what’s the mot du jour? Ah yes – plebian.

samuri – Member

Can we have a plane where intolerant tossers are segregated from the rest of us? I can live with a screaming child for hours but bigotry grates after only a few minutes.

The thing is, intolerant tossers on public transport mostly don’t identify themselves as such. Beyond harumphing, rolling their eyes and shaking out their copy of the Telegraph in an exasperated fashion after young Tyson sitting opposite has decided to throw his Nintendo DS at it.

When I go into a plane or a train looking for a seat, I’m looking for the optimum location for an hour or two of quiet enjoyment. When I scan the available empty seats and adjacent fellow passengers, I’m more likely to want to sit next to Nick Griffin than Stewie Griffin.

That’s some top trolling by the BBC there. We are going on a flight with some mob next month and in the optional services pish thay have a £15 charge per person for us all to sit together. Wont be paying that one, but I’d like to see the reactoin of others when they have one of our kids sat next to them and us at the other end of the plane (not that it’ll happen).

You need to make an effort to keep kids occupied whether that be painting and drawing, reading a book or playing a generic console but it is possible. Its harder with babies and toddlers but sometimes with these there is no amount of effort that will give anyone an easy time.

On the way to Biarritz this summer my eldest sat and read for the whole flight and occassionally chatted to the stranger next to her. So charmed by her bookworm nature was the stranger that she showed us round Biarritz the next day and drove us 50km to our campsite. Not only that she picked us up a week later too.

On the way back from Biarritz we got on near enough last and had to sit where we could. There were two pairs of seats behind one another. One pair was next to a disabled chap that was quite ungainly and it appeared no one wanted to sit next to. We sat next to him and he was more of a laugh than all the prats that jostle and moan to get on and off.

On the way back from Berlin last week it was quite hard as they were both tired and ratty – aren’t we all sometimes – and they didn’t get on. They were both a bit of pain but with a bit of extra effort they weren’t too much bother.

I am always grateful for the understanding and kindness of other passengers. And generally this is what I get.

I think the real problem is that in society there are plenty of people with very different behaviour and some folks fall well outside what the majority expect or desire. But thats just life.

Can we have a plane where intolerant tossers are segregated from the rest of us? I can live with a screaming child for hours but bigotry grates after only a few minutes.

What is it about having kids that messes with parents brains? Is it some kind of pheromone that they give off? Or is it preprogrammed into the psyche so that the child’s ego becomes part of the adults and they lose the ability for rational thought?

Edit: tomaso up there has obviously developed immunity from this condition.

And here was me thinking we all lived in one of those wonderful modern tolerant societies 😀

Anyway, there are clearly many many daft people in the world – the solution is not rocket surgery: if you don’t want to be troubled by other members of the public when you’re travelling, don’t use public modes of transport.

For goodness’ sake 🙄

Is it some kind of pheromone that they give off?

No, you’re wrong.

Or is it preprogrammed into the psyche so that the child’s ego becomes part of the adults and they lose the ability for rational thought?

No, you’re wrong again.

You’re wrong quite a bit as I understand it. But don’t let that stop you writing nonsense.

They definitely change, I have seen this behaviour in friends and family ( thankfully not all) I think you are showing some of the symptoms too, mainly the blind ignorance.

I fly a fair bit and I have noticed that if the parents are trying their best and know its a bit of an issue for those around them that most people smile and appreciate that the kids a bit upset but they are not ignoring the fact and trying to do something about it.
It’s the ones that just sit there and turn their own iPod up and hope the noise/ bad behavior goes away that get the dirty looks.

I struggle with long sentences.
Yes.

On balance, I’d say that over the years I’ve been more annoyed on planes by adults than by children.

This

Also the idea of a “quiet zone” on a plane is quite laughable. Pop on a pair of noise cancelling headphones and you will realise how loud the constant engine noise really is.

I think there should be whinging $%£”^%&-free zones.

My wife was in a shop last week and a woman told her to keep our kids under control.

Their crime? Shouting 5-4-3-2-1 Blast off! as they played on a chair in a changing room. The woman was in a changing room next door and clearly thought such behavior wasn’t acceptable.

My wife was so go-smacked she didn’t respond. I think I would have unleashed on her personally.

(Grrr)

I think you are showing some of the symptoms too, mainly the blind ignorance.

No, I’m not. And again, you’re wrong. I just find it nicer to go through life not being so angry with every little thing that mildly annoys me; and not levelling ridiculous diagnoses of personality disorders on people who do not fit into my narrow-minded view of “how it should be”. If we all show a bit of tolerance and love, life would be much easier.

I detest children, so it gets my vote.