Mom And Talkative Tot Kicked Off Plane

Ga. Woman Says Stewardess Told Her To Drug Her Child To Keep Him Quiet

(AP)  The mother of a 19-month-old boy says she and her son were kicked off a plane after she refused a stewardess' request to medicate her son to keep him from talking.

Kate Penland, who lives in Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta, said she and her son, Garren, had boarded the Continental Express plane last month after an 11-hour delay in Houston on a flight from Atlanta to Oklahoma City.

Garren kept saying, "Bye bye, plane," Penland recalled. And she said the stewardess objected.

"At the end of her speech, she leaned over the gentleman beside me and said, 'It's not funny anymore. You need to shut your baby up,"' Penland told WSB-TV in Atlanta.

When Penland asked the woman if she was kidding, she said the stewardess replied, "You know, it's called baby Benadryl."

"And I said, 'Well, I'm not going to drug my child so you have a pleasant flight,"' Penland told the TV station.

Penland said other passengers began speaking up on her behalf, and the flight attendant announced they were turning around and that Penland and Garren were going to be taken off the plane.

"I was crying, I was upset and I was thinking, 'What am I going to do? I don't have anything with me, I don't have any more diapers for the baby, no juice, no milk," Penland said.

The young mother said she later learned the flight attendant told the pilot that she had threatened her. Penland said that never happened.

Express Jet Airlines released a statement saying, "We received Ms. Penland's letter expressing her concerns and intend to investigate its contents." Express Jet did not immediately return a call Thursday from The Associated Press.

A fellow passenger told WSB none of the other passengers had problems with Garren and that Penland never threatened the flight attendant.

[Consumerist]

If the Continental flight attendant LIED to the Pilot by reporting a FALSE threat by a passenger, that attendant should be ARRESTED.

Also if true, then Continental should be giving this passenger MILLIONS OF DOLLARS for their threats and FALSE REPORTING OF A NON EXISTENT THREAT.

I have flown Continental in the past, and though I am sure most of their flight attendants are professional and obey the law, a few of them are unprofessional and abusive.

[roberta111]

The media should not be presenting a story until they know ALL the facts. When people don't have all the facts they then start speculating. The media actually does a spectacular job of speculating itself.
Posted by erasmus6 at 02:55 PM : Jul 14, 2007

I fully agree.
I'm really not on the side of either since we don't have all the facts.
I do want to know why these folks who are saying "sue the airline" aren't at all concerned that the AP is using a toddler to play on the emotions of the American public?
Surely there aren't that many people who blindly follow what the media says.
They don't have all the facts and the AP isn't presenting them with all the facts either.

[erasmus6]

The media should not be presenting a story until they know ALL the facts. When people don't have all the facts they then start speculating. The media actually does a spectacular job of speculating itself.

[family2007-2009]

Whether the AP story is biased or not, I cannot say, but a lot of the pro-airline folks in this discussion seem to be taking the story at face value. In fact, you almost wonder from at least a couple of the responses whether they would have wanted to do more than drug the child. :-(

[roberta111]

Go get a lawyer, sue the airline I would say, it's just a 19 month old talking.
Posted by jowand at 02:49 PM : Jul 13, 2007

I say sue the AP for such biased reporting. Shame on them for even allowing biased reporting like this. However, it's getting where biased reporting seems to be the only stories that get any attention.

[roberta111]

Personally, I find this story to be very biased. In my journalism classes, this story would have received a very low grade. A "D" at best.

We don't have all the facts here. The article is just working on getting folks upset at the airline and the flight attendant. The poorly written and biased article is doing just that.

When the media presents the whole story, then maybe we'll see unbiased reporting. Until then, the AP should be ashamed.

[hootsmun]

Planes are public places. (I nearly posted pubic places. LOL). Babies have every right to be on 'planes just like everyone else...and they don't STOP being babies once they get on board. It's not as if it was an expensive restaurant. She was trying to travel. This attendant was out of line. It's interesting that the other passengers were sticking up for this young mother. Also - 11 hour delay - they have the flight attendant to thank for that publicity.

[cdfoxtrot]

Our society is far too indulgent towards children and the flight attendant ought to be congratulated for trying to get this annoying brat to shut up on this flight. Isn't it enough that most homeowners each pay thousands each year in property taxes to pay for the education of other people's children?

I was once on a full flight where a woman in the row in front of me changed the diaper on her kid, while she sat there, and then handed the ***-filled diaper to the flight attendant, over the heads of two other people. The stink was unbelievable and I shudder to think of the airborne health risks we were all exposed to, due to this selfish, inconsiderate woman. No-one said a word. I was in a window seat and it was too late for me to do anything by the time I realized what had happened.

Why we all are expected to suffer the annoyances of other people's children is beyond me. What's the expression? Children are best seen and not heard?

[willnotfly]

All of you who keep defending the flight attendant's actions, in particular her suggestion to give the child benadryl are clearly not doctors. Often young children (and the elderly too) have a paradoxical reaction to benadryl. It makes them hyper, it does not make them sleepy. I would sue the stewardess for practicing medicine without a license.


The past 4 flights I have taken I have seen passive-aggressive, rude, out -of- line flight attendants. The most obnoxious tend to be older women. They need to be reminded they are waitresses providing a service. They are delusional if they truly believe their presence is a required safety measure. I certainly do not feel any safer flying because a stewardess has explained to me how a seat-belt works. I pay for my seat, you pay for your child's seat, you even pay for your dog ($85), who doesn't even get a seat. A waitress with that much power is a danger to everyone on that plane. Does anyone know if they removed her checked luggage? I certainly would not want to fly with luggage unaccompanied by a passenger. I'm pretty sure there are regulations against that.

[blue_eyes68]

go to abcnews.com...they haev more details. the child was excited as he saw other planes leaving for the runway. As they were leaving, given the chance, when up in the air I am sure he would have been occupied with other stuff and would have stopped. The flight attendant probably heard him say it a handful of times and because of her immaturity could not handle it. There were other passnegers who came to passengers defense, etc... had not even reach the runway yet, showed what little patience the flight attendant has...can you imagine if person was not happy what she would have been like?

[erasmus6]

shutUpfreak

Your name is very appropriate. You have the freak part down, you just need to get the other part now: "shutUP"

[erasmus6]

Bettr2BWhite or shutUPfreak

I'm thinkin' your mother should have drowned you and your filthy mouth at birth.

[erasmus6]

None of us know for sure what was what with this kid. We do not know, really, whether he was being a brat or not. But just the constant jibber jabbering and repeating the same thing over and over and over can be very stressful for others to hear. The problem is that mothers sometimes think that just because they get a kick out of hearing their kid that everyone else does too. I don't know how many times when I have been sitting somewhere when a mother makes a "BIG PERFORMANCE" out of talking to her kid. It is like they are trying to show them off or something.

I have had kids and mine were always well behaved. I realize at that age they can be hard to control, but I do believe that how you are raising them, even at that age, can make a difference in how they act.

Ok, he might not have been being a brat but if that was me I would have had a bag full of things like small toys, juice, snacks, anything to amuse my kid incase they became bored and cranky. Why did she have NOTHING?

[bettr2bwhite]

Bettr2BWhite = shutUPfreak

Handy to be 2 people. Yep, that's right. You people are so stupid.

hey alexsmom - I think your snot nosed brat is sticking his drool covered finger into a light socket...LOL

[janeyre-2009]

toldyouso21, I like your style... Your children know, what a blessing you are... Too bad, your formula, can't be used, by most of these parent's... Good for your family, and those who come in contact, with your well behaved children... I salute you... Sounds, a lot,like my version of child rearing 101...

agape'
janeyre

[toldyouso21]

OTC antihystamine before starting out. A doctor's recommendation. It helps relax them. I think it should be required. It's either that or check them with your baggage (its a joke - lighten up).
Posted by cntryb4prty at 07:40 PM : Jul 12, 2007


I think it is kind of scary and irresponsible to use drugs just to calm a child down. Parenting appropriately works just as well. I personally seem to be a child magnet. Whether on a plane or at the movies or in a restaurant, the most horrible child and their doting parents always seem to be assigned to the seats behind me. It was becoming so bad, that I often had my kids on alert to trade seats with me. Usually my oldest daughter would take my seat. This was our routine until one day, I traded seats and then the mom with the kids traded seats to be behind me again. I smiled sweetly and told her that I had a phobia or being in front of children, whose parents let them kick the seats and talk incessantly...she gave me a dirty look--but funny thing was..that was 2 years ago. Since then, it seems that either my daughter or son is attracting the seat kicking, hair pulling, talking forever little darlings. I don't think the kids need meds, I think the parents need parenting classes.

[toldyouso21]

( I started the training at my mom's behest when he was 3 months old) I thought she was just mean, but it turns out she was correct, I used similar methods on all my kids, an always received compliments and wonder about how nice, polite and well behaved they were. (they are like that in public, at home...now that is a different story) everyone has to have an outlet.

To the person who asked if I medicated myself prior to the flights--no--no need to. My kids love to fly and are wonderful in any public arena, but at home, it is like they change from their public persona to Mr. Hyde. It is my own fault. I emphasized the "public face" and felt they should be allowed to do and say what they liked (within limits) at home, so that they would not be repressed (still had some doubts about my mom's methods. Well, they are not repressed, but sometimes they fight like cats and dogs and they are very opinionated. If I had to do it all again, maybe...I'd go for a bit more control on the homefront. They do not talk back to me, but they are very expressive and they have sibling rivalry to what I feel is a very negative level. I guess, better at home than in public. If I believed in taking meds (don't like to) then home is where I'd need them.

[scottyusa]

Lets be real folks. They are not saying whether she attempted to hush the kid or not. It may be annoying but it seemed only to this particular employee. For this she was left at the next airport with a 19 month old to fend for themselves? And the pilot let this happen? He didn't investigate at all after landing? She lied to the pilot as to why they had to get her off the plane. This to me is criminal. Both the pilot and the sterwardess owe these people a big apology.

[toldyouso21]

leilani_r :

The solution is to start much earlier at training than the day of a flight. Even a new born will react instinctively to stimuli--reward for a positive, no reward for a negative. One of the hardest things my mom had me to do with my first was to NOT pick him up the instant he cried or to give him what he wanted when he screamed. She told me to calmly check his diaper, make sure he was fed, etc and then let him cry it out--when he was all cried out, or when he stopped--then was the time to pick him up and cudddle him. There were times when crying had to be addressed and he needed comforting or something else--but a child (just like every other human is essentially an animal) if they "learn" that screaming or crying gets them what they want, they will use those skills always. If they learn, that being quiet will get greater rewards, they learn and react to that too. Romanticism aside, this was the real lesson of Pavlov's dog--that all animals learn a lot of behavior and then react to stimuli physically. In other words--you TRAIN from day 1. To keep a child from being a pain, from day 1, learn tactics to distract and learn how to reward appropriate responses and to not reward other actions. My son stopped his tantrums within 4 months.

[alexsmom3]

Wow toldyouso21. You must be supermom. You deserve a medal. So did you take the medication before the flight instead of the kids?