Esltroy

Love^

will2288

That is my feeling, as well. I wouldn't expect a 4 year old to know how to gently touch the screen. I have a feeling she was hitting it rather hard. Obviously, that wouldn't justify hitting a child, but I have suspicions on how true that claim is.


I wish the IFE would show a 10 second guide on how to touch the screen effectively. I find lightly grazing it with a finger nail is the most accurate and least disruptive method.

Carl Johnson

I've got a tablet with a case that came with a pen/stylus that fits into a little loop, and I usually use the stylus to work the IFE. It's easy to touch very gently with the stylus. And if I stream through the tablet, I can watch as much as I want without disturbing the in-front passenger in any way.

DeepUnderground

Seems to be system dependent. The one on Garuda seems to require a hammer most days.

alphaod

Should have just slapped her back.

SCEflyer

+ 1

spamkiller

If anyone slapped my daughter like that, I would explain that they will be going to jail.

The crew nor the police need not be witness to it, where the police will take someone into custody for a citizen's arrest.

MLCJ

First, hitting anyone on a plane, kid or not, is not good.

Now, the former investigator in me is finding the accuracy of the OP's story in question. First, mom said 14A hit the hand and foot, which later became 14B who was reclining. Did 14B hit the kid with his/her chair as they were leaning back or with their hand perhaps in support of 14A? If just the chair reclining, then I'm believing mom is potentially blowing things out of proportion as this could happen and begs the question, why was the child's foot in a place to be hit by the reclining chair? If it was in potential support for 14B, then they may be just as or more guilty.

Secondly, banging on someone's seat for 5-10 minutes is ridiculous and for the OP to say that is reasonable calls both OP's credibility/judgement and mom's lack of assistance to the child into question. That said, did 14A turn around and whack the child? Because from the story, it appears they simply reached back over their head and swatted at the back of their headrest, once missing, the second making contact. Did the person even know they were hitting someone, a child in this case, or were they just trying to make a point and avoid a face to face confrontation?

Again not taking sides, but at what point was mom going to step in and stop the kid from assaulting 14A's headrest? If I would have been in 14A, I think I would have rather had the kid running down the aisle, which according to OP would constitute a brat...

chicaloca453

She was trying to assist her but the screen overlay thing was loose and it required the rough pushing to get it to work. Hopefully at least the flight crew reported the faulty touch screen so it's fixed so 14A will not be bothered on future flights by it.

And it has taken me, a college educated adult, 5-10 minutes to find my desired movie on UA touch screens. It isn't like you can type in what you're looking for. You have to scroll through those screens.

My mother says in hindsight that she would have asked 14A and B if they wanted to switch places so she wasn't being "tortured" but hindsight is 20/20.

My mother is notifying Delta as well about the crew's indifference to the whole thing. If one adult struck another they'd ask the person hit if they wanted to press charges upon landing, and they'd have come back to check on that person periodically throughout the flight. The crew could care less in this case which is the second most unfortunate thing about this incident, the first of course being an entitled woman who felt like she was righteous enough to discipline someone else's child.

As I said previously, it wouldn't be her place to do that even if the child was jumping up and down and causing a ruckus on board.

chicaloca453

Best response I've gotten! Give my niece a couple of years and she would have. At 4 she's still respectful of adults and authority.

Perhaps the most unfortunate part of this was she'd gotten up at 4:30 for a 6:30 flight. She was really sleepy and had this not happened, she likely would have turned on her movie and fallen asleep. But after this she was too wired to sleep.

And I will also point out that when it happened she didn't scream and cry like most kids would have. She curled up in her seat mortified. That right there should give you an indication of her demeanor. She is very blessed to be given things and trips, but she's not a brat about it. If she were, she wouldn't receive these things. She knew if she acted up on the plane that she wouldn't get to go back to her uncle's and even when faced with something so uncalled for she kept her mouth shut. So those of you talking about my mother doing a poor job or my niece being a poorly behaved child should really think about that.

davetravels

First, let me say that I have no kids, and surely never will.

That said, is it possible that an innocent backwards hand wave over the top of the seat back unintentionally made contact? How hard would her hand have to hit the girl's hand to be the difference between a hit, a smack, or an innocent attempt at a wave off.

ABSOLUTELY FOR CERTAIN that nobody should touch anybody else's child, but, I always remember the story a number of years ago, somewhere in an Atlanta supermarket parking lot, a woman was arrested for spanking her own child. I really feel today's society is just too sue / arrest happy.

Another thought is, that you say it was a five hour flight, and this happened at the beginning. I can imagine the tension for 5 hours knowing that you are going to be met by the police at your destination. With the tension building, I could see this leading to a flight diversion and then even more problems. Perhaps the crew took this into account.

I also don't see any response from the woman. Maybe I missed it. Was she apologetic at all, or adamant that she did the right thing?

fpmurphy

So it is OK for your mother to spank her granddaughter? Humm, in some states that is regarded as battery.

babeavs13

I am all over the place trying to follow the events but my initial thought is that if there was a "real" slap and it appeared intentional there would have been a much bigger reaction (I know I would likely not have a good reaction if a stranger slapped my daughter) and others on the plane would be aware there is a problem very quickly likely causing a reaction by the FA.

I can also say that if I was sitting nearby and witnessed this I would have reacted if I saw anyone hit a child.

Therefore, my initial reading of the incident would lead me to believe this was something very minor and likely easy to move on from. If the child was actually hurt or in pain I feel like the whole plane would have known what was going on and the adult would have had a more instinctive reaction.

Any word on the OP's niece's description of the incident? My almost 4 year old likely would have reacted and told everyone nearby what had happened.

HDQDD

This is why judges generally don't allow hearsay in testimony...

IBTL.

PS: Isn't there a TV show about this?

dtabbs

"It takes a village to raise a child."

When I was a child at school, the teachers and staff had no problem disciplining me.

When I was a child and at a neighbors house, they had no problem disciplining me.

Back before my time, children had respect. Now it is all about me.