by Peter Harris

Created on: August 31, 2010

Human rights - that is the long and short of it. Whatever next? Should we have separate sections on airlines for obese people, disabled people, politicians; why discriminate against children? It is not fair to exclude any individual, let alone children.  Do they get a say in this? OK, being a kid is a tough job, but for heaven's sake, kids should be allowed to be kids.

It is not necessarily the case that all kids will run riot during a flight. I agree that longer flights will test anyone, so children may well become bored and start acting up a little, purely for something to do. But can you really blame them? Why on earth should parents be treated as outcasts? It is not as if their children (well, the majority of them) are dangerous? No, parents and their children deserve to sit where they choose - after all, they are paying exactly the same fares as anyone else on that aircraft, so why can't they enjoy the same privileges.

It's laughable that all of these executive business types, with their silly technolgy-driven contraptions, get annoyed at the faint moan of a child or maybe a child who is upset, scared or unwell and cannot stop crying. If they are such high-flyers (excuse the pun) in their business and target-driven environment, then why on earth don't they travel first class if they do not wish to be disturbed.

Also valid, is the point that these families are exactly that - families. They may be visiting someone they have not seen for years, or travelling to their holiday destination; they should also be enjoying the build up to their trip. It should be exciting, fun, enjoyable - not merely some mundane, routine business-style trip that some people take for granted.

Passengers with children should be treated as valuable customers - in fact, more so than others because they are the next generation and will be the future customers of airlines worldwide as they develop and grow into adults. Hopefully, when they reach this age, they will remember the initial excitement, the smells, the sounds, the experience of flying on an aeroplane. Hopefully, they will not turn into the narrow-minded bigots who whinge about children at every opportunity, when in reality, they only wish they were children themselves, not getting dizzy from travelling the world, living out of a suitcase and hotels, chained to a stressful job they absolutely hate.

Anyone who has the audacity to moan about travelling with children should either move to another part of a section, travel first-class (goodness they can often afford it), or simply get an imagination and remember what it feels like to be a child. They may actually find that they learn something from these kids. We all can.

Learn more about this author, Peter Harris.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.