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re: Sending kids alone on airplanes, is it bad parenting?
Posted on 8/10/14 at 9:20 am to KSGamecock
Posted on 8/10/14 at 9:20 am to KSGamecock
I sent my 12 year old to see his Aunt in Florida many years ago.
He was noted as an 'unaccompanied minor' and Delta had a flight attendant assigned to such travelers. Had to change planes in Atlanta, they took care of him. All went fine.
He was noted as an 'unaccompanied minor' and Delta had a flight attendant assigned to such travelers. Had to change planes in Atlanta, they took care of him. All went fine.
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Posted on 8/10/14 at 9:23 am to KSGamecock
quote:
I'm not sure why people do this.
My ma' did it back when I was around 6 or 7 and the airline took fantastic care of me. She was a Drill Sergeant, a single mother and had me staying with my grandmother to attend mandatory training and didn't have the capacity to send someone else with me.
The stewardesses flirted with me and I had a blast -- although I was never alone and checked on constantly.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 9:25 am to UMTigerRebel
quote:
At 21, I and people I worked with were chaperones for a bunch of 17 year old girls on a week long trip to London, and no parents came along. I look back now and can't believe those parents trusted us.
I like where this story is going. ^_~
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:29 am to KSGamecock
quote:
I'm not sure why people do this. I sat next to an unescorted kid today on my Charlotte-KC flight and he was a trooper but I couldn't help but think that most kids couldn't handle navigating an airport/plane on their own - I know I wouldn't have been able to at 7-8 years old.
Why do parents do this? Is it shitty parenting or is it just more convenient?
They don't navigate the airports on their own, an employee does that for them. Airports are very good about navigating children through airports and to their final destination. It's not irresponsible parenting at all.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:32 am to KSGamecock
quote:
This kid didn't. I asked him where his parents were so I could offer to swap seats with them and he said that he was alone then a flight attendant came by and asked the same thing, she looked at me and said "They really can fly a lot younger now, they just changed the rules".
That's what bothered me, I think that sending the kid with an airline escort is different than sending them completely alone.
The airline employees don't fly WITH them. They just notify the flight attendants, and they know how to take care of the kids. Once the plane lands, some other airline employee will take it from there and make sure they get to their final destination. If it's one thing airlines and airports are good with, it's taking care of kids, especially since no airline wants that publicity of saying they're the one who lost a kid.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:32 am to OMLandshark
quote:
They don't navigate the airports on their own, an employee does that for them. Airports are very good about navigating children through airports and to their final destination. It's not irresponsible parenting at all.
I had never really thought about it before but that was one of the best days of my life -- I got to ride the little cart from one side of the airport to the other. Man do I miss being young, sometimes.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:34 am to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
quote:
I like where this story is going.
Nothing too crazy. We had to sign contracts saying we wouldn't drink any alcohol on the trip. However my partner for the trip had a supply of GHB that he shared with the staff members. I just look back now, and think that's really young to be entrusted with other peoples' kids in another country.
This post was edited on 8/10/14 at 10:47 am
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:35 am to weadjust
quote:
My mom would put me (9) and my sister (7) on the Greyhound bus and we would get off 60 miles away where grandma was waiting. It was the 70s and we always sat in the front row by the driver.
Well that's just downright shitty. It's only 60 miles. The only people use greyhounds are either poor as hell or just crazy.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:35 am to UMTigerRebel
quote:
Nothing too crazy. We had to sign contracts saying we wouldn't drunk any alcohol on the trip. However my partner for the trip had a supply of GHB that he shared with the staff members. I just look back now, and think that's really young to be entrusted with other peoples' kids in another country.
Ironically I went to a soccer tournament in the Czech Republic -- I was about to say I wouldn't trust my kid in another country either but I did that when I was 12 I think. Of course, we had our coaches and all that jazz.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:38 am to South Alabama Fan
quote:
At 24 years old I'm not convinced of my own ability to successfully complete air travel. I can't imagine doing it as a child.
This lol
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:39 am to PrivatePublic
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At 24 years old I'm not convinced of my own ability to successfully complete air travel. I can't imagine doing it as a child.
Sorry you have trouble following signs and standing in lines. Some schools just don't teach the basics I guess.
Yeah, if you're 24 and can't navigate an airport by yourself, then you should just give up and live in your mother's basement the rest of your life.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:47 am to OMLandshark
I do this every summer with my two step-sons. They are now 11 and 13.
We pay 50 bucks each, as unaccompanied minor, we get a ticket that allows my wife and I to go to the gate with them. Once there, we have to wait until the plane takes off before we can leave, obviously.
When they fly back, we get the same ticket and meet them at the gate, then walk with them to baggage.
An attendant takes them to their seats, and they are always the last off the plane with an attendant. Everyone working on the plane knows they are alone and takes good care of them.
Unaccompanied minors are NOT allowed to have changing flights anymore. Direct flights only.
We pay 50 bucks each, as unaccompanied minor, we get a ticket that allows my wife and I to go to the gate with them. Once there, we have to wait until the plane takes off before we can leave, obviously.
When they fly back, we get the same ticket and meet them at the gate, then walk with them to baggage.
An attendant takes them to their seats, and they are always the last off the plane with an attendant. Everyone working on the plane knows they are alone and takes good care of them.
Unaccompanied minors are NOT allowed to have changing flights anymore. Direct flights only.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:48 am to OMLandshark
quote:
The only people use greyhounds are either poor as hell or just crazy.
Wasn't necessarily that way in the 70's. It was a convenient and cheap way to get around. No worse than what mass transit is now, in fact, probably safer.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 10:50 am to WonderWartHawg
quote:
Wasn't necessarily that way in the 70's. It was a convenient and cheap way to get around. No worse than what mass transit is now, in fact, probably safer.
Stats show that the world is safer now than it's been since the 50s.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 11:07 am to OMLandshark
quote:
Stats show that the world is safer now than it's been since the 50s.
I don't think there were as many warnings then as there are now. There are documentaries, the internet and tons of anti-kidnapping literature at this moment -- I doubt there were as many outlets back then.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 3:36 pm to PowerTool
quote:
Into the big nasty station in Downtown Houston at night where my parents picked me up.
One time I saw a hobo passed out in a pile of his own piss and vomit outside that station
Posted on 8/10/14 at 5:22 pm to ShaneTheLegLechler
Sounds like a lot of you, when you become a parent, plan on wrapping them up in bubble wrap until they turn 21
Posted on 8/10/14 at 6:31 pm to KSGamecock
When I was 7 or 8 I would fly from DFW to OKC to spend the week with my grandparents in the summer. I don't see why that's bad parenting at all. I would eat the peanuts and read books I brought on the plane. How in the world would that fall under "parenting"?
Posted on 8/10/14 at 9:44 pm to KSGamecock
I dont think so.
I recently sat by a 7 year old little boy on a delta flight from Tokyo to Atlanta. He was by himself. Me and him for 13 hours. Very nice little boy.
His dad and mom divorced 4 years ago. Mom lives in ATL. Dad transferred to Japan with his job. Kiddo spends part of the summer with Dad and school year with mom.
I felt sorry for the little guy, but he was a good trooper on the trip and had done it before. Delta flight attendants watched him like hawks.
Its not bad parenting. its a sad defacto result of failed marriages.
I recently sat by a 7 year old little boy on a delta flight from Tokyo to Atlanta. He was by himself. Me and him for 13 hours. Very nice little boy.
His dad and mom divorced 4 years ago. Mom lives in ATL. Dad transferred to Japan with his job. Kiddo spends part of the summer with Dad and school year with mom.
I felt sorry for the little guy, but he was a good trooper on the trip and had done it before. Delta flight attendants watched him like hawks.
Its not bad parenting. its a sad defacto result of failed marriages.
Posted on 8/10/14 at 9:55 pm to Pavoloco83
quote:
I dont think so.
I recently sat by a 7 year old little boy on a delta flight from Tokyo to Atlanta. He was by himself. Me and him for 13 hours. Very nice little boy.
His dad and mom divorced 4 years ago. Mom lives in ATL. Dad transferred to Japan with his job. Kiddo spends part of the summer with Dad and school year with mom.
I felt sorry for the little guy, but he was a good trooper on the trip and had done it before. Delta flight attendants watched him like hawks.
Its not bad parenting. its a sad defacto result of failed marriages.
Yep, often the case. Going from Japan to Atlanta, holy shite, that kid had to be a tough little guy to make it all by himself. I bet he'll be quite the character when he grows up.
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