by Dorothy Jo Bourbeau

Created on: May 27, 2008

This topic brings up many questions, not to mention potential problems, perhaps even law suits.

The last time I was on a plane the movie could be viewed from every seat. So, where would the airlines put the children under the age of 13? They couldn't be put in the cargo hold, they would either die from lack of oxygen or freeze to death; I'm not sure which would occur first.

Putting all children under the age of 13 in a separate section also means that someone would have to be responsible for them. Who would that be? Children, especially young children, tend to panic in emergency situations. God willing nothing bad would happen on the flight, but if something did and all the children were separated from their parents who would help them through the crisis? In an emergency situation passengers are told to stay in their seats and follow the instructions of the flight attendants. Passengers who are separated from their young children are not likely to do that. As a parent I can honestly say that the first thing you think about in an emergency is the children. Are the airlines going to have to hire more attendants? If they do that will raise the cost of a ticket; should people who don't have children be forced to pay for a service they won't use?

Who decides which scenes are too violent for children to see? Most movies with violent scenes are rated PG something, meaning that if the PARENT is willing to let the child see the movie than the child can see the movie. If airlines somehow managed to set up a separate section for children so no one under the age of 13 could see the movie they would be taking away the right of a parent to determine what is and isn't appropriate for their child. Parents don't like being told they don't know what is best for their child.

Just because the airline is showing a movie does not mean that every passenger has to watch it. Parents can choose not to purchase headphones for their young child; they can supply their child with activities that they feel are age appropriate. Better yet, make it so the airlines are not allowed to show movies that contain violence.

Most people fly to reach a destination not to see the in-flight movie. The simplest solution would be to show movies that are appropriate for all age groups. The adults may not like it, but they would like a dozen or so unsupervised children even less. Besides, with the airlines canceling more and more flights, and regional airports closing, soon it won't matter because no one will be flying anyway.

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