Passenger Calls for Child-Free Airports, Many Agree

There are several inconveniences associated with flying. We've all experienced them at one time or another. We all know how expensive it is,  airport security is time-consuming and frustrating, and having to deal with delays and cancellations is also frustrating. Then there are the uncomfortable seats, baggage restrictions, fellow passengers who remove their shoes, and the increased risk of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a condition in which blood clots form in the legs. In addition, exposure to germs and viruses in the close quarters of an airplane can increase your risk of getting sick.

An irate airline passenger recently vented on Reddit that he believes there should be child-free airports. The traveler wrote a lengthy piece about how his flight delay was made "100 times worse" by having to listen to multiple children whining. He posted, "Not only do I have to deal with the general noise and slight tantrums; I’ve had a kid throw a fit because he wanted my seat, and another child yank my strap from behind my seat just because he could."

https://www.reddit.com/r/childfree/comments/12hys2n/what_i_would_do_for_a_childfree_airport/

The passenger received several supportive responses from other Reddit users, who believe airports should ban children altogether. One user shared the following tip for avoiding kids: "You can usually get info about the inbound plane somehow. United lets you see this via the app. You can also use something like flightradar24 for this info too. I usually find a gate that is completely empty to chill, then about 10-15 minutes before the plane lands per the app or flight radar, I mosey myself over to the gate, straight to the boarding line. You can avoid kids for most of your wait and you get the bonus of actually having access to power."

I think it's safe to say that this will never happen, but may they'll create "child-free zones."

The COVID-19 pandemic has had major social and economic impacts. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health has been widely affected. "Plenty of us became more anxious; but for some COVID-19 has sparked or amplified much more serious mental health problems," said WHO. "A great number of people have reported psychological distress and symptoms of depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress."

Recently, the BBC reported on a study that said the damage to people's mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic was "minimal." Of course, people took to Twitter to share their true thoughts on the study BBC reported.

The study was done by Canadian researchers from institutions including the McGill, Ottawa, and Toronto universities, and published on March 8 in The BMJ. A peer-reviewed medical journal. This study found that "changes in general mental health, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms," due to the pandemic have been "minimal to small."

After the BBC shared its report on the study on Twitter, their account was flooded with responses from people who disagreed with the study’s conclusion. A lot of the tweets had examples of what people did during the pandemic that would debunk the study. It was noted along with the tweet that the review "was lacking in data for many vulnerable groups, and that the findings in it can't necessarily be applied to everyone." The tweet has more than 122.6 million views and over 47.8 thousand quote responses.

One user quoted the tweet saying, "i stayed up for 40 hours straight bc i thought 1d was getting back together on july 23rd 2020." Another Twitter user said that they "had a birthday party for the dishwasher." Their tweet showed her and a child sitting in front of the kitchen appliance while holding a birthday cake with a zero candle.

See how Twitter reacted to BBC News’ recent study below.

"My husband and I had our first baby and had to take care of him completely alone for the first six months of his life, but no, we are completely normal and trauma-free after that," tweeted Lucy Huber (@clhubes).

"'Women felt the impact of the pandemic more because of the jobs they do and the role they play in family life.' This suffering is not 'minimal,'" tweeted Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis (@RevJacquiLewis).

"I bought an orange one person tent, put it up in the garden, and sat cross legged in it for a week, just for a change of scenery. It blew away and I cried for another week," tweeted Jen (@CopyOfACopyJen).

"My hundreds of hours day trading in animal crossing beg to differ," tweeted Chris in Internal Comms (@chrisincomms).

"this study is a huge pile of trash," tweeted audrey farnsworth (@audipenny).