<p>At the risk of sounding like the “get off the lawn guy,” what would your parents have done to you if you’d behaved this way even on a bus when you were that age?</p>
<p>You wouldn’t have done it. why? see above.</p>
<p>Not gonna fault the airline but given two more minutes…
One chaperone for every 10 students. Really, where were they? Were they that clueless? Lazy? “Unempowered”? The kids weren’t rioting or anything from what I gather. They were excited for a trip and pretty much owned the plane. Not an excuse for bad behavior but just reality.<br>
As a chaperone, I would’ve been unbuckled and “explaining” to my charges–along with my other 8 chaperones in attendance… “Take your seat NOW, give me the phone NOW, and you’re dead meat if you utter another word before we land.” Not much religion in that…but I learned that parenting/chaperone tactic from mom and dad! Maybe it’s not written in the “chaperone rule book” these days. It’s right next to the “see you into next week”.</p>
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<p>Uh yeah, right or wrong, that’s what they’re suppose to do. Maybe the kids are too young to remember 9/11? Somebody should break out the video tape to remind them. Also Jews should be a little more sensitive and respectful of the terrorism situation.</p>
<p>The business traveler quoted on CNN (who was sitting near the front) commented that he only saw a couple of adults get off the plane with the kids, he didn’t think they had that many chaperones.</p>
<p>Jym–gotta ask. Did YOU ask the helpful young man to sit down and listen to the rules? Or was he trying to be helpful DESPITE rules he didn’t think were warranted? (and no, I don’t think he should have gone to any point of being tackled–but honestly, not sitting down before the plane is at the gate doesn’t feel like a federal crime).</p>
<p>Nine chaperones from what I read for 100 kids. If the business traveler didn’t see them it’s because they were hiding behind their carry-ons trying not to look like part of the group…</p>
<p>Like most of you, I am a veteran chaperone. On a trip like this, the chaperones are the last ones in their seats after making sure that all of the kids are promptly settled in. When they are all settled, the majority of the chaperones can then sit, with one or two left to watch over the charges and make sure that all of the kids remain seated. The head chaperone should have already spoken to the flight attendant (s) and/or gate agents prior to and during boarding to insure that all goes smoothly.
Yes, these kids did not behave well. But at the end of the day, it is the fault of the chaperones.</p>
<p>The year my dd’s class took a bus to Washington DC, several kids were seen throwing paper that they had set on fire out the windows of the bus. Bus arrived in DC and those kids were escorted to the airport and flown home at their parents’ expense. There was no more bad behavior.</p>
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<p>Maybe some “chaperones” were very recent grads who didn’t look (or act?) like adult chaperones would.</p>
<p>On my D’s class trip to DC a group of girls took someone’s video camera and took videos of themselves with their shirts off. Then they returned the camera to the kid’s bag. He was reviewing his video while sitting with the teacher in charge of the trip. :eek: They didn’t send the girls home, but called their parents and made them room and sit with chaperones for the rest of the trip.</p>
<p>gouf-
I never asked him to do anything, one way or the other. Needless to say I was pretty preoccupied with my own impending task of saying goodbye to my mother (long story for another time and too painful to rehash, to be honest). He offered to get my bag down for me when we landed and I thanked him. He asked me which bin it was in. I had no clue he was going to get up prematurely, and the flight attendants stepped in pretty quickly. It was not my place to be involved. I stayed out of it. </p>
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sosomenza, while you may have made that statement with the best of intentions, its pretty tasteless.</p>
<p>Goodness, I think behavior on airplanes has gotten out of control. More and more lately, it seems like people are adopting an “it’s all about me” attitude. I constantly see people either argue with flight attendants when they are asked to put away their cell phone, put away their carry-on item, etc. or comply with the request only to go back to what they were doing after the flight attendant walks away. Many of these people say, “I’m a paying customer. You shouldn’t be able to tell me what I can and can’t do with my phone, bag, etc.” Well you know what? The rest of us who are being endangered or inconvenienced by your bad behavior are also paying customers and we’re following the rules for our own sake as well as yours, so it’s your job to do the same.</p>
<p>I feel that some people just assume they don’t have to listen as long as the person issuing the orders can’t write them a ticket or give them a detention. What ever happened to following the rules because it’s the right thing to do? And also, just because the person giving the order doesn’t carry a badge and gun, that doesn’t mean disobedience has no consequences. If you’re behaving in a way that makes it unsafe for the plane to fly, you’ll need to get off the plane so that it is safe to fly. Too bad if you don’t like it. Follow the rules next time and you’ll be able to fly.</p>
<p>^I agree 100%, it is apparent in more places than just the airports too. I was at the doctor’s office a couple weeks ago and a lady in her mid thirties was letting her toddlers run loose. There were a couple of elderly people in the room, and this Mother is too busy talking on the phone to watch her 2 and 4 year old. The children are treating the large office like a race track, and then started climbing on the nice furniture and jumping around. They’re making lots of noise around some very old people. It’s not everybody, but I can see a growing trend where people are too self centered to even consider other people or the rules. Has anyone seen the the news stories where there are teenagers fighting the teachers? It’s unreal.</p>
<p>“Not much religion in that”</p>
<p>It is plenty religious in my book. “Honor thy father and thy mother” applies to those acting in loco parentis.</p>
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I’ve never really believed this is true. I think they really want devices off during takeoff and landing so people wouldn’t be distracted. Still, you have to obey.</p>
<p>I do have to say that it surprises me that a yeshiva school would have this problem, and it does make me want to know if there was some culture clash involved. I’m as happy as anybody to criticize poorly-behaved kids, but it does happen fairly often that the facts of incidents like this are not as clearcut as they seem at first.</p>
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<p>This drives me nuts. This was another instance where most of my peers and I were taught growing up, when you leave the house with mom and dad, you behave or you stay home next time. My mom always tells stories of taking screaming kids and leaving full carts of groceries in the store because they wouldn’t tolerate our misbehaving in public.</p>
<p>It was especially bad when I worked retail, because the arts and crafts store I worked in had a large kid’s crafts section that had toys open and on display (small figures, dinosaurs, other animals, etc.) There was one parent in particular who let her two small sons lay out ALL the toys (there had to be at least 100 of them) on the floor of the store. When I told her they needed to pick them up because they were a safety hazard she yelled and screamed at ME. I’m sorry, it’s not my fault your children can’t keep their hands to themselves.</p>
<p>Another couple of boys were running around the store with foam swords and were being so rough that one kept falling. I asked the mother to please control them and she again got snippy with me. When I told her that they would have to pay for any merchandise they broke, she finally got them under control.</p>
<p>It just boggles my mind. If/when I have children and take them out, they will behave. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.</p>
<p>It’s one thing to have a screaming infant/toddler; that’s not always the parent’s fault, especially if the child is sick or something similar. It’s also another thing if the child is developmentally delayed or has another behavioral issue that is, again, out of the parent’s control. But if your children are old enough to understand what you’re saying and have nothing preventing them from acting accordingly, for heaven’s sake control them.</p>
<p>My favorite coffee shop in Chicago has a sign in the window stating that poorly supervised children will be given a free espresso and a puppy. :)</p>
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<p>I’ve long suspected that there is no safety issue with cell phones and navigation systems. But I cannot imagine how much worse the flying experience would be if people were able to use their phones on an airplane. God, getting stuck next to someone gabbing loudly on their phone about their personal business for several hours…I shudder to think about it.</p>
<p>I was at a book store recently. You know, one of those nice ones with the big comfy chairs where you can drink coffee and read the book or magazine you just bought. This woman began browsing books right by me talking loudly on her phone. She was arguing with someone and would say “stop it or I’m hanging up on you. I’m hanging up! What? What did she say? Oh my God, did you just die?” Then, after a few moments, more arguing and “Stop it or I’m hanging up on you. I’m really hanging up! Oh-yeah, get the broccoli instead of the asparagus. Oh my God, did I tell you what Stella said to me yesterday? Oh my God, you’re not going to believe it.” And ON and ON and ON. So much for a quiet read. :mad:</p>
<p>I am Jewish Orthodox and I know kids in that school and personally, I am appalled at their behavior. Teenagers can be stupid (I am one!) and the fact that they were rude and disrespectful is one thing. But that the kids refused to even acknowledge that they had misbehaved is unforgivable. I am sorry, but many kids now are spoiled and privileged and the airline was absolutely justified in kicking them off. They needed to learn an important lesson.</p>
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<p>Re: terrorism sensitivity. It is likely that many Yeshiva students will likely visit Israel for vacation, study, maybe even military duty. They had better learn that airplanes have been and will still be used by terrorists. It is the real world with real consequences. BTW better a lesson learned here than on an EL AL flight with soldiers and machine guns. Pull that crap on an EL AL flight and see what happens. It was a hard lesson but now they are better prepared for international travel.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, Your story reminds me of the time I was on a train, sitting in front of a man who talked loudly on his cell phone for long time. He was speaking to his girlfriend and breaking up with her. From the conversation I gathered that she was upset and asking him to stay with her. He was so obnoxious, and his tone of voice so patronizing, that I had to restrain myself from grabbing his phone and telling the poor woman that she was better off without him.</p>