ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police say a Southwest Airlines flight attendant took a baby from her parents on a flight from Dallas to Albuquerque after the mother slapped the crying child.Other reports are that the act of taking the infant away *calmed down* the situation. Excuse me, but you take my kid away from me, "calm" is going to be just about the last word in the dictionary to be used to describe me, coming well after "incensed" and "psychotic screaming rage fit". Every story has been long on sensationalism and short of facts, so much of this is conjecture, but if the baby was returned to the parents, then there were no signs of abuse.
The flight attendant told Albuquerque International Sunport aviation police she removed the 13-month-old after she saw the mother slap the girl and passengers complained.
It's hard to imagine a scenario where it would be acceptable to slap a 13-month old, but then again, "slap" is a pretty nebulous term. The kid could have grabbed mom's glasses for the 178th time and received a slap on the hand - or it could have been a full, open-handed backhand for shrieking as the altitude changed. With the kid being returned and no charges, it seems more like the former than the latter - as far as "other passengers complained", it's not clear if they complained about the slapping or the crying...
One thing is for certain, though. I'll be sure to ask Southwest Airlines where their flight attendants get their training in spotting child abuse before I book my next flight. I mean, I sometimes have to raise my voice to get my kids to listen to me; I can only imagine the horrors that would unleash should some overzealous nanny catch the shaved head biker yelling at his kid. I can only assume they'd ask the air marshal on board to shoot me...
This fits into something I've observed as a parent - we're damned if we do, damned if we don't. Had that mother not slapped her child, everyone around her would have tut-tutted about the woman who couldn't control her squalling child and how the incessant screaming ruined their flight. Having taken action, she's now viewed as some horrific monster, a child abuser so heinous that her kid had to be taken away by the first authority figure on the scene. Don't discipline your kid? You're obviously an unfit parent who has no business raising children. Raise your hand to your child for disciplinary reasons? You're obviously an unfit parent who has no business raising children.
Sometimes being firm doesn't work. Sometimes removing them from the situation isn't possible. Heck, I've been given grief for doing exactly that - BabyGirl G. threw a tantrum in Boston, threw herself down on the ground in the middle of Faneuil Hall market, and refused to move. After repeated attempts to get her to move under her own power, I picked her up over my shoulder and soldiered on, only to have some intrusive harpy berate me because "she doesn't like that!" Had I let her continue her tantrum in the middle of Faneuil Hall, in the middle of winter, with hundreds of people passing by every minute, I'm certain that same busybody would have had words for me as well. And I'm equally certain she'd have called for a SWAT team and firing squad if I had swatted Baby Girl G. on the butt...
One thing is for certain, though - you take away my kid over a slap and the situation is most decidely not going to calm down...
That is all.
8 comments:
Take my kid and we got problems. . . lets talk what we can charge the attendent with since they are not the lawful gardian of the child. . can I get assalt or battery? She is grabing my kid - That is battery no? How about kidnaping? How about unlawful restraint or anything else my lawyer can come up with. I would be PISSED. Of coures I would probably be busted for interfearance with an air crew for stopping her too . . . .
I partially disagree. The flight attendant took a huge risk of enraging the parent and getting into a savage fight.
But slapping a 13-month old is always, always wrong. There's no possible justification for striking a child too young to discipline. A child that young simply can't understand the cause and effect relationship between his/her behavior and the subsequent blow.
John,
a) Remember the lack of detail in this story - as Jay noted, "slap" could be nothing more than a very mild smack on the butt or the hand. Keep in mind how many people these days are against any kind of physical discipline whatsoever.
b) "But slapping a 13-month old is always, always wrong." Bull-droppings. At 13 months they are starting to be able to associate their actions with negative consequences like that swat on the buttocks - and the idea (unlike with an older child) is not to cause pain but to startle them, which a child that age would find unpleasant, but is not harmful.
If it was a slap to the face, or - given the child's age - done to intentionally cause pain, that would be one thing. There's not enough information in the article to really say if that's the case or not, but considering that they gave the child back and that it looks like no charges were filed, it's probably not.
The flight attendant did, however, take a huge risk of significantly escalating the situation.
I'm with Jay. If you lay a hand on my kid you are going to be on your hands and knees pretty soon, looking for your teeth.
If a flight attendant tried to take my child s/he would draw back a bleeding stump.
That is all.
I'm with Lissa, What kind of parent actually GIVES THEIR INFANT OVER??
I'd be met at the gate by a SWAT team, for what would happen to the person that even attempted it.
I was under the impression that taking a child away from it's mother was considered kidnapping... and the attendant should be charged as such.
More info has come out now.
"Flight attendant Beverly McCurley told officers that she saw the mother hit the child on the face with her open hand while the father yelled at the mother to stop screaming at the girl. She noted the girl had a black eye. The parents said the bruise was from a dog bite."
If this is true, then the flight attendant actually did do the right thing, and I have to wonder why CPS isn't involved. That explanation for a black eye on a 1 year-old child is complete BS, and is a sign of previous abuse.
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