Parents ”˜Potty Train’ Child On International Flight By Encouraging Him To Poop In Seat

On an international flight last week from Beijing to Detroit, Delta Airlines passengers were outraged when a Chinese child defecated in his seat, upon the encouragement of his parents.

In an attempt to ”catch the mess,” the young child’s parents spread newspaper over the airline seat and allowed him to do his business.

This is the kind of dilemma that I often think about when traveling with a young child. However, I don’t think I would ever go so far as to encourage on-seat pooping, as these parents did:

Passengers reportedly asked the parents to bring the child to the restroom, but the child’s grandfather insisted that his grandson finish his business at his seat.

Passenger Luolan Gang Wang told Chinese Sina News that an odor filled the plane and passengers were complaining and outraged. A flight attendant spoke with the family but according to China Smack, ”the elders were unmoved, leaving the flight attendant no choice but to drop the subject.”

Good news””a Taiwanese flight attendant confirms that ”there’s no law prohibiting a child from pooping on his seat.” But there are plenty of things that should stop a parent from endorsing this kind of behavior, like human decency and common sense.

I was trying to be fair as I read this story and think of any possible scenario that could warrant this behavior. I was coming up with nothing. On the one hand, perhaps the parents really had a ”potty training nightmare” on their hands””a young child who was resistant to using public facilities. But if that was the case, I’d still march my kid into the bathroom and put up with the dirty looks from other passengers as he kicked and screamed until he finished his business.

On the other hand, if I was a passenger in the near vicinity of this family with their newspaper potty training tactics, pissed would be an understatement. I can only assume that passengers on this international flight paid good money to travel from point A to point B. These same passengers pleaded with the parents to take their child to the bathroom; their pleas were ignored. These parents should be ashamed.

(Image: Micha Klootwijk/Shutterstock)