Two airline passengers in China locked a stranger’s crying grandchild in a plane washroom and sparked a heated debate online about how to handle crying children in public spaces.
The passengers, who locked the toddler in the washroom, said that they wanted to calm the child as he was continuously crying and claimed they were trying to help others.
The video of this entire scene got viral on several Chinese social media platforms like Weibo and TikTok where netizens slammed them for their actions.In the video one of the women, sitting on the toilet told the toddler as she struggled out of the adult’s lap and reached for the door, seen telling the child that she could only leave the bathroom if she stopped crying, The Independent reported.
As the girl stopped crying, the woman filming the video picked her up and told her: “If you make any noise again, we’ll come back (to the bathroom).”
Juneyao Airlines, in a statement, said that the incident was reported on August 24 and it was child’s grandmother who gave permission to the women to “educate” the crying child. The airlines further said that the whole situation was conveyed to child’s mother through her relative and expressed her understanding of two passengers.
“We noticed the online rumor that a crying child passenger was taken to the restroom by a stranger for education. We immediately launched an internal investigation and contacted the child’s parents to inquire about the situation and verify the facts in order to restore the truth of the matter,” the statement read as translated by Google.
“The child was travelling with his grandparents on flight HO2382 (Guiyang-Pudong) on August 24. The flight took off on time at around 7am. During the flight, the child continued to cry. In order to avoid disturbing other passengers, with the consent of his grandmother, two passengers took the child to the restroom to educate him. During the process, the child’s grandmother went with him and waited at the restroom door. We have verified the situation with the child’s mother over the phone. She said she had learned the full story from her grandmother and expressed her understanding of the two passengers’ assistance on board,” it added, according to CNN.
Meanwhile on internet netizens slam both women. One of the user on China’s X-like Weibo platform said, “Adults in their 30s can have emotional breakdowns, but people don’t allow toddlers to have theirs.”
“We were all once children … Don’t be a cold-blooded adult,” read another popular comment.
Gou Tingting, one of the women involved, defended her actions on Douyin, stating that she wanted to calm the child and allow the other passengers to rest. “I prefer to take action rather than be a bystander,” she wrote. However, her explanation did little to quell the backlash, and her social media account has since been set to private.
The passengers, who locked the toddler in the washroom, said that they wanted to calm the child as he was continuously crying and claimed they were trying to help others.
The video of this entire scene got viral on several Chinese social media platforms like Weibo and TikTok where netizens slammed them for their actions.In the video one of the women, sitting on the toilet told the toddler as she struggled out of the adult’s lap and reached for the door, seen telling the child that she could only leave the bathroom if she stopped crying, The Independent reported.
As the girl stopped crying, the woman filming the video picked her up and told her: “If you make any noise again, we’ll come back (to the bathroom).”
Juneyao Airlines, in a statement, said that the incident was reported on August 24 and it was child’s grandmother who gave permission to the women to “educate” the crying child. The airlines further said that the whole situation was conveyed to child’s mother through her relative and expressed her understanding of two passengers.
“We noticed the online rumor that a crying child passenger was taken to the restroom by a stranger for education. We immediately launched an internal investigation and contacted the child’s parents to inquire about the situation and verify the facts in order to restore the truth of the matter,” the statement read as translated by Google.
“The child was travelling with his grandparents on flight HO2382 (Guiyang-Pudong) on August 24. The flight took off on time at around 7am. During the flight, the child continued to cry. In order to avoid disturbing other passengers, with the consent of his grandmother, two passengers took the child to the restroom to educate him. During the process, the child’s grandmother went with him and waited at the restroom door. We have verified the situation with the child’s mother over the phone. She said she had learned the full story from her grandmother and expressed her understanding of the two passengers’ assistance on board,” it added, according to CNN.
Meanwhile on internet netizens slam both women. One of the user on China’s X-like Weibo platform said, “Adults in their 30s can have emotional breakdowns, but people don’t allow toddlers to have theirs.”
“We were all once children … Don’t be a cold-blooded adult,” read another popular comment.
Gou Tingting, one of the women involved, defended her actions on Douyin, stating that she wanted to calm the child and allow the other passengers to rest. “I prefer to take action rather than be a bystander,” she wrote. However, her explanation did little to quell the backlash, and her social media account has since been set to private.
