A video has gone viral the last few days from a Lufthansa narrow body flight.
Although faces are obscured to protect their privacy, it show a passenger in the aisle seat filming the two seats next to them (i.e. to the window).
A small child has been drawing on the back of the middle seat in front of them, and has then moved to sit on the lap of the adult sitting in the window seat, which is presumably the child’s parent or guardian.
The child continues drawing on the back of the seat in front with some sort of crayon or marker — the window seat in this case.
What makes this video crazy is that the adult whose lap the child is sitting on not only fails to stop the child from vandalising the seat in front, but actually guides their hand to help them continue doing so.
Here’s the video:
I have no issue with a child wanting to draw on every surface they can access — they don’t know any better. What I struggle to comprehend is the adult actually helping them to do so.
Would you say something?
I don’t know all of the situation, but I would like to think if I was in that situation I would suggest to the parent that they both stop vandalising the aircraft, and if they wanted something to draw on they should ask the crew for some scrap paper.
If they told me to mind my own business I would probably subtly alert the crew to what was happening, and if there was a spare seat on the aircraft would ask to be reseated while the crew dealt with the situation.
I doubt they would be very pleased to see what had happened.
What do you make of this situation? Would you have said anything?
@bluepanda I believe that almost every able-bodied parent would have force to restrain a child's arms and hold a pacifier in mouth. That is the minimum standard of treating a child that is acceptable in public. No excuses for letting a child cause public disturbances or commit a criminal activity such as vandalism.
We’re all too quick to judge these days. If the parent or guardian didn’t “go with the flow”, perhaps we would all be viewing and judging a screaming kid video instead?
@ James,
Thank you for deleting the offensive comment. It may be as well if you now delete my previous comment and also this comment, which, following your welcome action, are irrelevant.
Traveling with kids is hard. I’m flying solo in a couple weeks jfk to Mia with a four year old and 18 months twins.
It will be hard, the kids will fuss, probably cry and I’ll probably resort to some tactics I normally wouldn’t use (given them lots of snacks, letting them watch videos on my phone). I’ll come prepared w snacks and toys and booked a flight time so they’ll hopefully sleep for...
Traveling with kids is hard. I’m flying solo in a couple weeks jfk to Mia with a four year old and 18 months twins.
It will be hard, the kids will fuss, probably cry and I’ll probably resort to some tactics I normally wouldn’t use (given them lots of snacks, letting them watch videos on my phone). I’ll come prepared w snacks and toys and booked a flight time so they’ll hopefully sleep for some of the flight.
While I’d expect my fellow pax to be understanding and cut me a little slack (unlike one jerk last year who got in my sons face and screamed at him to shut up), this doesn’t give me the right to not be responsible for my children and their actions.
If my child picked up a marker and drew on the seat I’d take the marker away and try and clean up the mess. Kids make messes these things happen. But as a parent I can’t encourage them to be destructive of things that aren’t theirs.
@James,
Phil's comment, which was posted at 6.51 pm on Dec 31 2018, is gratuitously offensive, as well as being badly written. I do not wish to read such a foul-mouthed comment on this blog. Please delete it.
@ A Consumer - I don't know how that passed the spam filter. It has now been manually deleted.
Must be a Turkish parent or some other immigrant allowing this to happen.
Don’t get me wrong, the kid isn’t guilty of anything but having parents with poor judgment. I don’t blame the child at all.
As for video tapping people, I am generally not in favor of it at all. I hate it when people snap selfies in public and get me in the background. Keep me the hell out of your pictures. But then again, I try not to go around committing crimes in public...
Don’t get me wrong, the kid isn’t guilty of anything but having parents with poor judgment. I don’t blame the child at all.
As for video tapping people, I am generally not in favor of it at all. I hate it when people snap selfies in public and get me in the background. Keep me the hell out of your pictures. But then again, I try not to go around committing crimes in public or doing anything else that infringes on the rights of others.
I say videotape the parents. If they object, let them know you object to the destruction and defacing of private property that is not theirs. I know some may say it isn’t my property so I should mind my own business. But guess what, it is my business and it effects everyone who pays for a ticket on the plane. If the airline has to spend extra time cleaning or replacing equipment because somebody encourages and helps their kid damage the plane, then that cost gets passed along to me and everyone else who flies.
Live and let live, until somebody comes along and doesn’t understand the concept. At that point, they need to understand there are consequences to their actions.
@Jackie there is zero excuse for this behavior. No one is blaming the child. This is 100% on the parents. Our child had over 50k butt in seat miles flown before she was 3 years old and never vandalized a plane, and I don't believe she's the exception to the rule. Stop making excuses for horrible parenting.
Hey but they bought a plane ticket. They are entitled to do whatever they want while onboard. /s
I welcome the purser or cabin crew opening the air-lock and tossing them out midflight.
I just don't know why flight attendants can't give the kids Benadryl and call it a day
Vandalism is vandalism, and if your child is a minor, you are responsible for their actions. Slap these parents with criminal charges and fines, and watch how fast they learn to control their children.
I once had a couple plop their 6 year old down next to me in the middle seat on a transatlantic flight while they were seated together a few rows back. I promptly notified the flight attendant of their neglect, and...
Vandalism is vandalism, and if your child is a minor, you are responsible for their actions. Slap these parents with criminal charges and fines, and watch how fast they learn to control their children.
I once had a couple plop their 6 year old down next to me in the middle seat on a transatlantic flight while they were seated together a few rows back. I promptly notified the flight attendant of their neglect, and they were given the choice to change seats so the child was not alone or get off the plane. After making a scene, they moved to an empty row at the back of the plane. If don’t want to take care of children, don’t have children.
I have seen all manner of irresponsible parenting on planes (as well as elsewhere). I was seated in front of a toddler who was vigorously kicking my seat. When I asked the kid’s mother (who was engrossed in a magazine) to entertain her child so that she would stop (something I did with my own children), she replied, “She’s two years old. There’s nothing I can do.” Then she went back to reading her magazine....
I have seen all manner of irresponsible parenting on planes (as well as elsewhere). I was seated in front of a toddler who was vigorously kicking my seat. When I asked the kid’s mother (who was engrossed in a magazine) to entertain her child so that she would stop (something I did with my own children), she replied, “She’s two years old. There’s nothing I can do.” Then she went back to reading her magazine.
Once we were coming home from Europe. Our teenage children somehow got seated several rows away from me and my husband. Rows were two across. A family with one seat next to my daughter and two seats in front of her, plunked their toddler next to her and sat in front. They expected her to babysit the little brat.
I think it's time to stop publishing Debit's hate rants.
Well Parented dan !!!
I'm in a Casino hotel @ 1pm PST and saw folded something on the carpet was going to pick it up but a 30 something beat me to it . It was 2 $50 bills which he turned over to the guard right there. All 3 of us were on the camera and the person should get the money back .The Guard said " Oh yea their watching Every Thing...
Well Parented dan !!!
I'm in a Casino hotel @ 1pm PST and saw folded something on the carpet was going to pick it up but a 30 something beat me to it . It was 2 $50 bills which he turned over to the guard right there. All 3 of us were on the camera and the person should get the money back .The Guard said " Oh yea their watching Every Thing I do .. I TOAD the story an hour later a Lady said she found a wallet .That's why u have to show an ID when u use a CC in them places.
Happy New Years and a Happy Ending I hope..
CHEERs
Dan
They are children, not robots. That is why they are not all the same. Just because you have children behave a certain way, doesn't mean all children will and should do the same. We don't know their family situation. Maybe they just flew 10+ hours red eye and parents are just too exhausted to fight with their kids. Maybe they are using erasable markers. When flying on a crowded flight, I often have...
Dan
They are children, not robots. That is why they are not all the same. Just because you have children behave a certain way, doesn't mean all children will and should do the same. We don't know their family situation. Maybe they just flew 10+ hours red eye and parents are just too exhausted to fight with their kids. Maybe they are using erasable markers. When flying on a crowded flight, I often have to deal with bad smells, crowded seats. That's just the way it is. I also wouldn't like it if someone is changing diaper right behind me, but I know sometimes that is just unavoidable.
Jackie
We have flown with children. Ours learned there is a time and place to play and a time and place to behave.
You can change a diaper on a plane its called a lav. the people around you don't want to smell one anymore than the flight attendant wants it to be handed to them during meal or drink service.
Do you have better things to do than judging other people? This blog is turning shit because of articles like this. Have you ever flown with a child? Do you know how difficult it is to keep a child calm on a flight when they are confined to a tiny space? Have you ever changed a diaper on a flight? Try these things before you publish an article judging other people.
Try being a good Landlord today as in No Thanks !! ' My Kids are Perfect and so are I "..Let the Gov handle the trash which they are and STAY Out of It .. .
CHEERs
And parents wonder why their child is a misbehaved brat.
What if all the passengers copied and started to draw on their seats? Vandalism? Lack of parental control?
The parents did not make any good faith effort to stop vandalism but encouraged it. This is a slippery slope. One day the parents may encourage and help their kids bring down a plane with a bomb or rape another passenger. Discipline starts early. Doesn't need to be a harsh spanking but some parental control is needed.
@ Steve, Dude, it was a child, of course they should protect his identity and not show his face. C'mon man, sure, the parent was wrong but for god's sake let us have some level of civility these days.
Debit
this is a travel blog, not a place to talk politics.
Disgusting they should be fined and banned from lufthansa
I think the videographer is in on it. All three seatbacks are marked and it would be hard to get a video like that without it being obvious what you’re doing.
windex and a napkin -- done. people piss, sh*t, and puke on planes
cleaning crew might well have thought it cute
but bloggers gotta write about something
(actually, they don't .... )
I’m not surprised. In college I worked as a waitress at a high-end restaurant and occasionally people would bring their toddlers with crayons and allow them to draw on the menu and table. And these were also the ones that didn’t tip.
@Steve: "If you saw someone defacing a public statute or mural, would you hesitate to video the incident because of their “privacy rights?”"
Judgment call. That situation is not the same as this one, though I'd need to think about why. Perhaps I'm more sensitive to defacing something of beauty that is intended for the pleasure of all than I am a commercial airline seat back that can be easily replaced. Perhaps I'm also sensitive...
@Steve: "If you saw someone defacing a public statute or mural, would you hesitate to video the incident because of their “privacy rights?”"
Judgment call. That situation is not the same as this one, though I'd need to think about why. Perhaps I'm more sensitive to defacing something of beauty that is intended for the pleasure of all than I am a commercial airline seat back that can be easily replaced. Perhaps I'm also sensitive to the idea that on an airplane you are literally trapped with other people for hours on end.
Not that anyone has the *right* to vandalize, but there is a slippery slope here in which anyone feels the right to video and make public anyone doing anything, and I don't think that's positive for our culture.
Simple. Is have rang the call button and just pointed with my eyes.
I agree with IvanX.
That said, I frequently see parents who seem to be oblivious or indifferent to the damage, noise, or disturbance that their young children cause, and not just on airplanes. Not the children's fault, of course.
P.S. IvanX, please get to blogging again! Your $#!)('s great! Lol!
I am horribly disappointed that someone has obscured the faces. I do not blame the child, but that is just bad parenting and/or supervising. Vandalism of a plane is a crime, pure and simple. You forfeit any privacy rights you may have when you are in a public place intentionally committing a crime. If you saw someone defacing a public statute or mural, would you hesitate to video the incident because of their "privacy rights?"...
I am horribly disappointed that someone has obscured the faces. I do not blame the child, but that is just bad parenting and/or supervising. Vandalism of a plane is a crime, pure and simple. You forfeit any privacy rights you may have when you are in a public place intentionally committing a crime. If you saw someone defacing a public statute or mural, would you hesitate to video the incident because of their "privacy rights?" I hope Lufthansa identifies the adult(s) and at a minimum makes them pay for any damage/clean up. My real hope would be that it bars them from all future flights.
I actually believe I was on the flight on which this occured. I was seated one row ahead of these people where the child was drawing. I don't have much information on it though because I was asleep for most of the flight. When we deplaned though i saw the seatback with drawing on it and when we were boarding I saw a child and adult seated ahead of me. I won't give the flight number or date to protect privacy.
Glad this wasn't a U.S. moment as the comments would already be filled with, "idiot Americans." At least now perhaps we can agree that while we may have fights at Ritz Carlton bars on Christmas we do indeed refrain from drawing on the back of seats.
Maybe its some kinds of kids crayon that wipes off?
This isn’t all parents and it isn’t all kids. So frustrating for normal parents who have to bear the brunt of stuff like this.
I’m of a mixed mind about this. I’m on the one hand horrified by the parent’s appalling behavior, but I’m also horrified by the notion that people feel entitled to video strangers at will, even if they do obscure the faces.
That's just disgusting and, I have to say, very Un-German. Rather disappointed and embarrassed by this. Hope they find the culprits and make them clean it up and/or pay for the damage.
I think your idea of offering blank paper is a great idea and non-confrontational. If that fails then I’d report them.