Does Society Hate Children?

I am not necessarily a fan of other kids, but mainly it's my dislike of how a parent handles their child. So many parents let their kids get away with a tantrum instead of dealing with it head on. That's where my big concern lies.

All kids have tantrums at some point...We've all been kids, we've all done it. While I am not a fan of kids freaking out on flights, I am intelligent enough to realize that travel can be stressful for a toddler and tantrums cannot always be avoided. What is really annoying about air travel is not kids having freak outs; what is annoying is obese people who refuse to buy two seats, people with foul body odor, generally unfriendly people, people who wear too much cologne, people who don't cover when they cough or sneeze (I could go on and on)...These people don't get thrown off flights, so why should a testy toddler?

I think, as parents, we've all been in both positions. I know I try very *very* hard to make sure my daughter has good manners and doesn't bother anyone with annoying toddler behavior. However, there have been times when, no matter what I did, she just wouldn't act right. It feels bad to get those unsympathetic looks--and the people giving them don't see my round-the-clock efforts to make her into a civilized individual, so I don't let myself feel bad about them. At the same time, I've been on the eyerolling end of things, too. I'm sympathetic if the parent is genuinely trying to control the child, and is apologetic for the bad behavior. Sometimes, as parents, that's the best we can do.

I have no trouble with toddlers or their age-appropriate misbehaviour. It happens. It's normal. We are sympathetic if a parent tries to stop the screaming tantrum (and occasionally it can't be stopped - I understand that). But try. Try hard.
The issue is with the parents who enable, exacerbate and otherwise reinforce the problem. These are the parents who DON'T intervene to end the misbehaviour. These are the parents who have no authority over their kids -- they wring hands and plead ineffectively with their kids. (Even toddler's can tell the parent has lost control.) And the worst category: these are the parents who act as if everyone else has a problem -- that their screaming toddler is perfectly well behaved and should be revered for the darling little dimpled angel he is.
Well he's not. Tantrums are normal. Lack of parental discipline is not. For pete's sake! PARENT your child, and you won't get kicked off the flight.

On a X mas trip to Barbados, my 1 yr old son cried non-stop for 45 minutes, someone offered a piece of candy, I walked up/down the aisles, as most kids were travelling to visit grandparents etc on the island on the same flight, it was a yelling chorus, one child would start bawling, then like a domino efffect the rest followed... not a bad experience for me, flight cost me $800pp...I wasn't concerned at all about ppls stares, flight attendants etc..only just soothing my child and making him as comfortable as I could while my husband slept, on a 4hr flight..everyone's experience is different..thats why there's head phones available...