What to Know
Traveling with kids is a stressful experience, even with the most well-behaved kids. Being cooped up in a small area with limited space is a nightmare for me as an adult. But for a kid? It’s basically torture. And while some kids handle it with no problem, others don’t. But where is the line for what’s tolerable behavior and what demands an intervention. Courtney Seard was traveling on a long flight recently and encountered a disruptive kid on an airplane. And she’s going viral for the way she handled it.
The woman made it clear that she wasn’t going to tolerate the behavior.
Courtney Seard shared her experience with a kid on an airplane on Threads.
“I’m on a flight this kid is kicking the FAWK outta my seat,” she began. “I calmly turned around looked at his parents and said one of you need to switch seats because I’m not going to tolerate 4 hours of your child kicking my seat and you NOT paying attention and properly parenting. BOOM the shock.💥 The Dad said sorry and moved his child to the middle seat. Well played Pops. And yes, I realize I’m childfree in a childfilled world, but what I’m NOT gonna do is be inconvenienced by a lack of parenting.”
People were quick to share their experiences with a kid on an airplane.
“Happened to me, I gave the kid the evil eye between the seats hoping that was enough, but nope he still continued to kick my seat until I got up and said, ‘I feel sick and if you keep kicking my seat I’m going to throw up and when I do I will turn to you so that it goes on you.’ He went bug eye and his parents apologized and then I heard the mom say, ‘See, I told you to stop.’ Parents don’t just tell them to stop, make them stop,” one person replied.
“Child traveling with his grandparents. They told him no about something and the seat kicking started,” another story began. “They tried but made no headway. I stood up and looked over the seat back with my teacher face and a voice he had to strain to hear ‘that is not appropriate’ with a single finger raised. Blissful quiet for about half the flight when they again had to tell him no. This time I just raised 2 fingers above my head. Not a peep the rest of the way. I hope Disneyworld is a good memory for all 3.”
“Last time I traded seats for someone else I was in front of a toddler who kicked my seat the whole flight parents never once corrected her the mother said she’s just a baby she was at least 3 plenty old enough to understand what no means parents never once said no,” another user wrote.
Many parents were commending her behavior as well.
“As a parent of 2 tiny frequent fliers, I appreciate the way you handled the situation. Kids existing in the world does not entitle them to not be parented or mean they can do whatever they want without consequence,” one parent wrote.
Another parent added, “as a parent, the first person my kid is bothering (let alone, embarrassing) is ME. having kids doesn’t give you the right to disrespect everyone around you in public spaces.”
“As a parent, when I’ve flown with my daughter (or traveled by train), first thing-’don’t kick, don’t bounce around, don’t turn around, etc’. And I explained why and I paid attention to stop it if it did happen. But good on you for handling it like a boss. Parents need to do better in general and stop ignoring their children,” someone else added.
Courtney Seard spoke more at length about her choice to speak up.
Seard, who is based in New York and Miami, spoke with Newsweek about the incident and her viral post.
“What I was observing wasn’t a child being a child — it was a pattern of behavior the parents were actively ignoring,” she said. “I didn’t feel upset, just firm — I thought everyone here deserves a peaceful experience, including me.”
Seard, who coaches leaders on accountability, felt like it was important to follow her own advice in handling the situation. She was surprised but grateful for the way the dad handled the incident. But she knew that as a childfree person, she had to be careful not to ruffle feathers.
“What I stood up for wasn’t a preference—it was a reasonable standard of shared courtesy,” she said.
