A flight from Guizhou to Shanghai took an unexpected turn when two women locked a noisy toddler in an airplane toilet as a form of discipline, igniting a heated debate on Chinese social media.
On August 24, a one-year-old girl, traveling with her grandparents, cried persistently throughout the flight, according to a report by Shangyou News. Despite passengers attempting to block out the noise with tissues in their ears or moving to the back of the plane, the crying continued. A nearby passenger attempted to calm the toddler with entertainment videos, but when that failed, she and another woman, both strangers, decided to take matters into their own hands.
The two women took the crying girl into the airplane toilet, locked the door, and disciplined her. In a video shared online, the women threatened that if the girl continued to cry, they would not return her to her grandmother. The toddler was seen slapping the toilet door, calling out for her grandmother, and eventually saying “OK” repeatedly. After a few minutes, the women returned the child to her seat, where she remained quiet for the rest of the flight.
One of the women explained her actions online, stating, “I prefer to take action rather than just watch like other passengers. I thought disciplining her would help everyone get some rest.”
Juneyao Air, the airline operating the flight, reported that the child’s grandparents acknowledged their lack of recent childcare experience and had given consent for the strangers to discipline the child. The child’s mother, contacted by the airline, expressed understanding of the passengers’ actions.
The incident quickly went viral, sparking widespread discussion on how to handle unruly children in public settings, with related posts garnering over 130 million views on Weibo. Opinions were divided, with some applauding the women’s actions as a relief from the noise, while others criticized the method as inappropriate and potentially traumatizing for the young child.
“This method was wrong,” one commenter noted. “Imagine how helpless such a young child would feel being locked in a small toilet with strangers.” Another called for greater tolerance, emphasizing that crying is natural for toddlers and they shouldn’t be held to adult standards.
This event is not an isolated case in China, where there have been other reports of children causing disturbances on public transport.
