<p>I agree with busdriver. It is easy to imagine that if two or three kids were goofing around, that it would be a different story. Get ten or a dozen or a couple of dozen or more doing the same and it becomes a problem. In the air. In a confined space. No thank you.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that kicking 100 passengers off a flight would be done lightly because the airline is still stuck with them in some fashion, right? The people who had to re-book them were probably murderously angry and I’m sure their co-workers on the flight knew they would be.</p>
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<p>Very nicely stated, if not understated :-).</p>
<p>“That some fools spoke knee-jerk and wrongly about discrimination proves that among 100 students some are immature or called it wrong, not surprising.”</p>
<p>The quotes I read about discrimination were from adults, not students.</p>
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<p>Balderdash. It is highly unlikely – no, darn near impossible – that students did not hear the announcements bcos it is highly unlikely that these were all first-time air travelers. Like their parents, they’ve ‘been there before’…these annoucements have been around since the dark ages.</p>
<p>The school principal should be embarrassed as heck, and should take full responsibility for not chaperoning the chaperones.</p>
<p>“The quotes I read about discrimination were from adults, not students.”</p>
<p>The one I read in the initial article was from a student, but I expect the opinion would be shared.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, teens who are all couped up for 12 years get very excited when they get furloughed from house arrest. They do stupid stuff. Drink, drug, engage in unprotected sex, make a scene on planes (or in museums!). There’s no surprise in any of this. But that’s why there are chaperones, and school policies. The kids should have been briefed before the trip, and tolerance levels should have been clear. </p>
<p>I don’t know what happened on the plane. Having been on planes with 30-40 teens where they weren’t kicked off (I would have done so), I expect it was pretty bad. It might have been the overwhelming number. But that’;s what the chaperones were for. I’m just surprised (and disappointed) that Southwest refunded the tickets.</p>
<p>If I were the school, from the little I know, I’d start by banning those chaperones from ever accompanying a school trip again.</p>
<p>The AirTrans terms of carriage (I posted earlier in the thread) states that a ticketed passanger removed from the flight will receive vouchers. I do not think the airline had any choice at the point they took them off to NOT give them vouchers. </p>
<p>At least at the private my son attended, the chaperones were fully preped as to what was expected of them. And, yes, there were a few parents who were not allowed to participate in future trips after showing that they did not fulfill the school’s expectations.</p>
<p>I too read the quote of the STUDENT that discrimination was the motivation. The school seems to have taken the position that the removal was “overreaction.”</p>
<p>Well, they could give them vouchers for the cost of the flight. And then charge them extra for what the same-day cost of the new flights.</p>
<p>Who said they were able to use these vouchers for the next flights that day? Its pretty unlikely.</p>
<p>Airtran has at least 2 different level of vouchers (though may have changed since merger with SWA). One is a voucher you get when you’ve earned a free flight after getting a certain number of points. The other, which is a higher priority one, is called an “inconvenience voucher” which is given if you give up a seat on an overbooked flight. Doubt its the one given when a passenger inconveniences someone else!!</p>
<p>Rabbi Seth Linfield
</p>
<p>[101</a> students kicked off Air Tran flight to Atlanta | The Clarion-Ledger | clarionledger.com](<a href=“http://www.clarionledger.com/viewart/20130604/NEWS03/130604033/101-students-kicked-off-Air-Tran-flight-Atlanta-]101”>http://www.clarionledger.com/viewart/20130604/NEWS03/130604033/101-students-kicked-off-Air-Tran-flight-Atlanta-)</p>
<p>I flew on a Southwest flight with a group of kids traveling together. They let the group on last, but as we boarded, they announced that there was a group coming and that perhaps we would prefer to bunch up together in the front. You better believe the first rows were all filled before those kids got on. When it’s a choice between sitting among a large group of kids traveling together and that dreaded middle seat, there’s no choice. These kids were quite well behaved though so it probably would have simply been the milder annoyance of having them trying to communicate over and around you when they were spread out.</p>
<p>"It was likely that many of the kids were so engrossed in talking and having fun, that they never even heard the announcements.</p>
<p>Balderdash. It is highly unlikely – no, darn near impossible – that students did not hear the announcements bcos it is highly unlikely that these were all first-time air travelers. Like their parents, they’ve ‘been there before’…these annoucements have been around since the dark ages"</p>
<p>I’m not defending the kids, just being realistic. The airline would not kick them off unless they had very good reason. I never want to second guess the crew, though I wouldn’t kick all those passengers off unless the flight attendants had walked down the aisle, making personal contact and telling them loudly to turn off their phones and sit down. I’d assume they did that, and didn’t just make announcements.</p>
<p>But I do find it likely that a large group of kids, talking excitedly, might not all be paying attention. Sometimes I’m so busy talking that I’m not listening to announcements, and I know better, I’m an airline captain. Then again, I know when to sit down, shut up, and keep my feet off the seats.</p>
<p>quote:
I am sure that they are taught how to behave, and how to treat others, but these teens are not different from any other teens. 100 overexcited and tired teens of any background can get out of control, and these teens did.</p>
<p>Yes, they ARE different from other teens. Thousands of kids go on school trips on planes every year, without incident. These kids were disrespectful jerks, pure and simple. Maybe not every one of them, but enough to cause their expulsion from the plane. The chaperones could have prevented it with proper preparation, and enforcement on the plane. They didn’t. </p>
<p>What did these kids learn? They learned that they will get rewarded for bad behavior by getting a free flight. Disgusting. And, they learned that their school doesn’t expect good behavior, in fact, the school will defend them.</p>
<p>And those “chaperones?” Give me a break. I’ve led several school trips to Europe. Believe me, those kids knew that they’d better be stellar ambassadors for our school, and in Europe, they knew they were representing the entire USA. No way would that happen on our watch. Honestly, if I had been the trip leader, they would have gotten a speech on how the kids are representing the entire Jewish faith. And they are. No doubt there are plenty of people right now concluding that you just can’t trust those wild Jewish teens…</p>
<p>Chaperones and kids alike should be ashamed of themselves.</p>
<p>Well, personally, I don’t think they represent the jewish faith. Geez! Of course, I live in a very jewish area. People are people IME.</p>
<p>However, based on the way the school reacted, they do seem to have represented their school quite accurately. As a parent, if my kid were in that school, I’d reevaluate.</p>
<p>the kid who claimed they were being discriminated against has been criticized here, and I agree, it is unlikely they were singled out for their religion. they were kicked off for their behavior. now, can we stop making assumptions about their behavior being somehow linked to said religion. if their religion didn’t have anything to do with the outcome, then why would their religion need to even be addressed here? if these kids were a particular race, would you feel quite as comfortable saying the same things.</p>
<p>these kids didn’t represent the entire Jewish faith, they represented themselves, and their own school. period.</p>
<p>With so many cell phones in use at the time of the incident, how come there is not a single video surfacing of these poor, discriminated students being kicked off the plane by the evil flight attendants - to corroborate the claims of unfair treatment? Did I miss that?</p>
<p>The reason the fact that they are jewish is being discussed is because they claimed they were being targeted for being jewish.</p>
<p>I get that, except that we all seem to agree, that is not why they were kicked off. I haven’t followed it closely, but I thought I read ONE kid said this. 1%, a pretty small number. </p>
<p>Therefore why continue to focus on their religion. seems that is being used against them, and it’s not right.</p>
<p>One kid said this, I agree.
I am curious to hear what the reasoning is for the principal to conduct his own investigation though and exactly what that would entail?
If the adults at the school dont think the students were being targeted for their religion, what would make them think the crew including the pilot was overreacting?</p>