Australian journalist: "I don't want my kids sitting next to a man on a plane"

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller

Australian Sky News Anchor, Tracey Spicer, might not be all that well known to us over here, but in Australia she is one of the most experienced and most respected female news presenters. She is not just a TV presenter, she is a radio broadcaster, columnist and has even done a couple of TEDx talks, in which I thought she made some excellent points.

However, her recent article regarding her children and how she doesn't want them sitting next to a men on planes should those seats be the only ones available.. disgusted me. For someone who labels her self a feminist and has been championing equality for the past couple of decades, I find it astonishing that she would have the gall to come out with the following tripe:

I don't want my kids sitting next to a man on a plane

I know it's sexist. But I don't want my kids sitting next to a man on a plane. Sure, almost 90 per cent of child sexual abuse is committed by someone in, or known to, the family, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. However, stranger danger is a risk and women are perpetrators in only about 8 per cent of cases, says the ABS data.

In 2001, Northwest Airlines paid a US family half a million dollars after a 10-year-old girl was molested by a 28-year-old man on a flight from Kansas to Detroit. So how do we protect our kids? A spokeswoman for Qantas says the airline is seeing more and more unaccompanied minors travelling, especially during school holidays.

In 2012, flight crew forced a male nurse to swap seats with a female passenger, because he was sitting next to an unrelated girl travelling on her own. "It seemed I had this sign I couldn't see above my head that said 'child molester'," he said later.

The airline defends its policy, which still states: "Unaccompanied minors are allocated seats next to adult female customers. Where possible, Qantas aims to seat children near crew areas or next to an empty seat. This policy reflects parents' concerns and the need to maximise the child's safety and well-being."

My nine-year-old Taj and seven-year-old Grace flew as unaccompanied minors, for the first time, on Virgin last year. They were put in the last row with a bunch of other kids where doting staff plied them with treats. It was a relief to see their smiling faces at the end but I was disappointed I had no choice about where they'd be sitting.

My advice is this: Plan well in advance, as airlines have only a limited number of unaccompanied minor seats on each flight. If you're worried, request that your child is seated next to another child, or an adult female. Some airlines will quietly comply. Talk to your child about stranger-danger: Not to scare, but to inform them. Sure, not all men are paedophiles but offenders are predominantly male.

I figure it's better to be safe than sorry.

Does anyone actually think she has a point with this?

I just can't understand how someone who is seemingly otherwise quite intelligent, could hold such a misandric view in this day and age, let alone think it printable in a bloody news paper article. If it was about skin colour, she would most likely be guilty of inciting hatred. I can't see how this is far off that to be quiet honest.

i read this last week

yeah women can be child molesters also

Cookie_Monster

If it means I don't have to deal with kids beside me on a plane I'm all for it :pac:

Sir Arthur Daley

Flew with Qantas many times, top class service.

Standman

So its fine to let your kids fly unaccompanied on a plane, but it's "better safe than sorry" when it comes to sitting next to a man. Can't really get my head around that. Then again, parents can be ridiculously unreasonable when it comes to their kids.

old_aussie

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller wrote: »

Australian Sky News Anchor, Tracey Spicer, might not be all that well known to us over here, but in Australia she is one of the most experienced and most respected female news presenters. .

Never heard of her, who'd you say she is.

Chattastrophe!

Standman wrote: »

So its fine to let your kids fly unaccompanied on a plane, but it's "better safe than sorry" when it comes to sitting next to a man. Can't really get my head around that. Then again, parents can be ridiculously unreasonable when it comes to their kids.

Yeah that's the first thing that came into my head ... she's cool with letting them fly unaccompanied, just as long as they don't come into contact with any men? Those evil bastards. OK ...

Canis Lupus

It must be stated that 99% of television news in Australia is the equivalent of The Sun turned into a tv show so those kind of comments aren't particularly surprising.

RayM

Qantas. Qantas never crashed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeYf-rhMQIQ

AllGunsBlazing

Fine with me luv. I don't want to have to sit beside your obnoxious, bratty offspring.

Pat Mustard

Can't be too careful these days. A dingo ate her baby on a previous flight.

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller

old_aussie wrote: »

Never heard of her, who'd you say she is.

Seems to be a rent a gob these days, part time anchor on Sky News Australia.

Perhaps you'll know her from the following (before, as was said, she got sacked)..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhgvYIdUBGM

Lucifer MorningStar

Hey Tracey

Manach

Given her knowledge of statistics, I suspect she buys loads of lottery tickets every week.

Chips Lovell

Yes, logic fail

whupdedo

It's a pity her children have to be raised by such an arrogant sexist bitch.

Gatling

So would anybody be happy having there sitting child sitting beside s strange man if they had to take an unaccompanied trip,be or a flight or other ,

What's funny everyone is having a go at her and yet Quantas its a standard procedure ,

As a father of 2 girls I agree with the reporter

whupdedo

Gatling wrote: »

So would anybody be happy having there sitting child sitting beside s strange man if they had to take an unaccompanied trip,be or a flight or other ,

What's funny everyone is having a go at her and yet Quantas its a standard procedure ,

As a father of 2 girls I agree with the reporter

i feel sorry for your children, you must not be able to sleep at night with all the crazy paedophiles running loose

No Pants

Gatling wrote: »

Quantas its a standard procedure

That means nothing. Quantas is simply taking ass-covering action.

caustic 1

Biggest majority of abuse is someone known to or related to victims. Wonder is she as careful about that?

whupdedo

Gatling wrote: »

So would anybody be happy having there sitting child sitting beside s strange man if they had to take an unaccompanied trip,be or a flight or other ,

What's funny everyone is having a go at her and yet Quantas its a standard procedure ,

As a father of 2 girls I agree with the reporter

You would be a strange man to other young children on a flight, would you be comfortable with being treated and publicly acknowledged by an airline to be a potential paedophile ? Because that's what you are, and that's the way they see you

No Pants

I was disappointed I had no choice about where they'd be sitting.

Not true. She could have purchased any remaining seats in the row and left them empty.

lollsangel

Id never have my 2 flying alone but anyway. It doesn't bother me if the person around my kids is male or female provided they mean them no harm. When they are away from me I have to take belief that those (eg teachers) will not cause or allow hurt to be done to them. Once some8ne decides to allow their kids to fly alone, they have to put fate that the air hostesses will care for them, and I really dont see how gender should come into it. She has given one example of child molestation on a plane to back up her theory, id need more than 1 incident out of millions of flights to colour my opinion against every man

GalwayGuy2

i feel sorry for your children, you must not be able to sleep at night with all the crazy paedophiles running loose

Hmmm, I'd be more afraid of his children being unable to sleep at night because of fear of all the potential pedophiles.

sydthebeat

So airline policy is now supposed to be formed by parents who allow a 9 yo and 7 yo fly unaccompanied !!!!!

Good help us all.
I wouldn't allow my 9 + 7 yo get a bus to the next town unaccompanied.

The simple answer is not to allow under 16s fly unaccompanied. That would teach these "parents" some responsibility. ... and not labeling ever man as a potential pedophile.

stimpson

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller wrote: »

However, her recent article regarding her children and how she doesn't want them sitting next to a men on planes should those seats be the only ones available.. disgusted me. For someone who labels her self a feminist and has been championing equality for the past couple of decades, I find it astonishing that she would have the gall to come out with the following tripe:
.

Lol.

NipNip

This is mental! One ever case in 2001 of a minor being assaulted out of the millions of flights yearly over the past 15 years? If she's that concerned, she shouldn't be putting them on a flight unaccompanied. Talk about an over-reaction!
I can't imagine how she manages to bring them to the cinema, or stand in a queue with them, or play in a playground, or God forbid, they have a male teacher!
For all her quoting of statistics in the introductory paragraph, she could have done with quoting:
A: the number of convicted (or even estimated) male paedophiles, expressed as a percentage of the entire male population
B: the number of incidents of molestation of minors on flights, expressed as a percentage of the number of incidents of minors flying unaccompanied

Crazy 'logic'.

kylith

Gatling wrote: »

So would anybody be happy having there sitting child sitting beside s strange man if they had to take an unaccompanied trip,be or a flight or other ,

What's funny everyone is having a go at her and yet Quantas its a standard procedure ,

As a father of 2 girls I agree with the reporter

You know they're 9 times more likely to be abused by one of their uncle's, right? Are you happy for your male relatives to babysit?

NipNip

kylith wrote: »

You know they're 9 times more likely to be abused by one of their uncle's, right? Are you happy for your male relatives to babysit?

Indeed, statistically (since the journalist is so fond of statistics), they are actually more likely to be abused by their father than a stranger. Scary statistic right there!

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller

Gatling wrote: »

So would anybody be happy having there sitting child sitting beside a strange man if they had to take an unaccompanied trip...

http://www.femalesexoffenders.com

stoneill

I started with "I know it's sexist", then I stopped reading.

whupdedo

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Hmmm, I'd be more afraid of his children being unable to sleep at night because of fear of all the potential pedophiles.

Children wouldn't usually know the dangers of the real world, thankfully innocence in a child protects them from the likes of this woman's idea of the male population,.

diveout

NipNip wrote: »

Indeed, statistically (since the journalist is so fond of statistics), they are actually more likely to be abused by their father than a stranger. Scary statistic right there!

If they are that concerned, why send your kids unaccompanied on an airline. Why people do this is beyond me. I know it saves time and money but still....you are the one taking the risk and trusting strangers....yes for all your talk about stranger danger these people are staff but they are also strangers...to take responsibility for your kids.

Kids are way more likely to be abused by a step parent. They hold the highest likelyhood... not just sexual but physical... about 120 more likely to be beaten to death for example. But yes it's usually someone familiar because someone familiar has trust and authority.

The J Stands for Jay

I would've though the best action to take to avoid risk to the child in this situation would not to put them on an aeroplane on their own. That seems a lot riskier than having a man close to them for a few hours.

donutheadhomer

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller wrote: »

Australian Sky News Anchor, Tracey Spicer, might not be all that well known to us over here, but in Australia she is one of the most experienced and most respected female news presenters. She is not just a TV presenter, she is a radio broadcaster, columnist and has even done a couple of TEDx talks, in which I thought she made some excellent points.

However, her recent article regarding her children and how she doesn't want them sitting next to a men on planes should those seats be the only ones available.. disgusted me. For someone who labels her self a feminist and has been championing equality for the past couple of decades, I find it astonishing that she would have the gall to come out with the following tripe:

Does anyone actually think she has a point with this?

I just can't understand how someone who is seemingly otherwise quite intelligent, could hold such a misandric view in this day and age, let alone think it printable in a bloody news paper article. If it was about skin colour, she would most likely be guilty of inciting hatred. I can't see how this is far off that to be quiet honest.

would it not be better if the kids were downstairs with the women - or perhaps the men should be caged up like in ConAir

Teyla Emmagan

That's so offensive! Imagine being the nurse who was asked to move so a woman could sit beside the unaccompanied kid? He must have Bern furious at the insinuation.

Surely they see seating plans in advance anyway. If they have to do this couldn't they make sure they aren't publically humiliating people?

jordata

I wonder when I travel can I requested NOT to be seated next to someone else's unaccompanied children?

Consciously seating them beside a female traveler turns her into an unpaid nanny. When I travel I have gone to the bother of making sure my children are safely looked after by an adult (who I pay for their time!) until I get back. So why should I have to "babysit" unaccompanied minors during the flight?

Gatling

whupdedo wrote: »

i feel sorry for your children, you must not be able to sleep at night with all the crazy paedophiles running loose

I sleep perfectly at night so do my children ,

Common sense vs interweb stranger quoting parenting

GarIT

I don't think people understand modern feminists. Modern feminism is about having control and being superior. If a Feminist wanted equality their name wouldn't be made from female. They would be equalitists which do actually exist.

Females doing the same job as a man with the same experience are paid on average 17% more in this country (Source).

I have personally talked to a representative of a large Irish feminist organisation and have been told these two statements. I asked if women should be paid less then men in jobs where on average they get less work done during the working day e.g. manual labour. I was told, no "because society needs to stop treating women like they are physically different to men based on their gender." and when I asked if you agree that men and women should receive equal time for maternity and paternity leave, or that maternity leave should be transferable if the woman would like to return to work and the man wanted to mind the child and I was told "No, because you have to realise that there are many physical and biological differences between women and men"

GarIT

About the plane though think about it, children should never be allowed sit near their families on planes, for safety we should even make children get a separate plane from their family because statistically the child is 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted by their family than a stranger.

.jacksparrow.

Sick of listening to people's brats roaring on a plane while the parents do nothing.

One section for people with kids and another section for people who just want some peace and quite.

Brats I tells ya. Hit them a smack, that will shut them up instead of threatening to take their Nintendo ds off them.

r3nu4l

lollsangel wrote: »

Id never have my 2 flying alone but anyway. It doesn't bother me if the person around my kids is male or female provided they mean them no harm. When they are away from me I have to take belief that those (eg teachers) will not cause or allow hurt to be done to them. Once some8ne decides to allow their kids to fly alone, they have to put fate that the air hostesses will care for them, and I really dont see how gender should come into it. She has given one example of child molestation on a plane to back up her theory, id need more than 1 incident out of millions of flights to colour my opinion against every man

"Provided they mean them no harm"? How do you tell? Are you a mind reader?
"(eg teachers) will not cause or allow hurt". A profession is absolutely no guarantee of safety. Criminal record checks just mean someone hasn't been caught doing harm, not that they aren't a devious, clever child molester who has been getting away with it for years.

I remember a time in Ireland when we all thought that leaving our kids with priests meant they were safe...look how that turned out. Paedophiles generally like to be actively involved in organisations or professions that give them access to kids so don't be so naive as to think a profession or membership of an organisation is a safeguard against potential paedophiles, in some cases the chances of a paedophile being amongst their ranks is higher.


The two biggest problems I have with this are as follows:

1. Parents allowing minors to travel unaccompanied. WTF?
2. Airlines allowing minors to travel unaccompanied. WTF?

That said, as the father to a girl myself I wouldn't be happy with my daughter being next to ANY stranger (male or female), unaccompanied on a flight for any length of time. Ian Watkins facilitators were women. Over here in England we had a case of female nursery workers abusing kids and sending the photos to a male so to say women are 'safer' is fine if we are talking statistically but that doesn't mean that there aren't female abusers.

hatrickpatrick

But of course, sexism against men isn't real and isn't a serious societal problem. :rolleyes:

bnt

If I was in that situation, I would only consider moving seat if they could upgrade me at the same time. How many kids do you see in First Class? I don't know, because I've never flown First Class.

AudreyHepburn

So it's ok to put your young children on a plane alone and unaccompanied to another state or country far away from you but it's not ok for them to by anywhere near an adult male?

I've said it before but I'll say it again; we have gone completely and totally over the top in our quest to protect children from the apparent danger that it the fully grown man.

Shockingly enough most men are good and honest and would never in their lives dream of laying a finger on a child, or anyone else for that matter. The truth is, whether we like it or not, abusers can be female too and they are more often than not people known the child.

Such hysteria and over-zealous child protection is in my opinion actually more harmful than beneficial. It wraps children in cotton wool and teaches them only that all men to be feared, are out to hurt them, that all women are perfectly safe to be around and that only Mum and Dad can be trusted.

Alf. A. Male

Gatling wrote: »

As a father of 2 girls I agree with the reporter

"I can't wait until I have children, so I can win every argument"
Frasier Crane

As a father of two girls, I disagree with the reporter. No, wait, as a father of 4 I disagree with her even more. Don't moan about the stupidity of my argument, you started it.

In 2012, flight crew forced a male nurse to swap seats with a female passenger, because he was sitting next to an unrelated girl travelling on her own. "It seemed I had this sign I couldn't see above my head that said 'child molester'," he said later.

What a horrible way to treat the man. I'd have refused to move and let them move the other people, they were the problem there, not him.

No Pants

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Hit them a smack, that will shut them up instead of threatening to take their Nintendo ds off them.

No need to raise your hand. A quick Taser shock will work just as well.

Dravokivich

Finally a chance I get to use this in bat shít crazy parent themed thread,

Speaking as a parent...

...I'd be more interested in the staff on the plane watching over my kid, than who my kid sat beside, if my kid was to be on a plane unaccompanied. And I'd expect to pay more for it. This is a service someone in the public spotlight should be looking to champion, but I guess it's too easy to demonize men, because we all know kids are well able to over power women.

I also don't get why people are looking down on the idea of a kid being on a plane without parents, or someone known to their family. Someone would have dropped them off at the airport and you'd want to be damn well sure someone is picking them up from where they get off.

tritium

Woman is a paranoid sexist pig

[/thread]

No Pants

tritium wrote: »

Woman is a paranoid sexist pig

[/thread]

I wouldn't get too hung up on the sexist aspect. It obviously is, but the focus should be her lack of understanding of the actual dangers her children are likely to face.

kylith

Dravokivich wrote: »

I also don't get why people are looking down on the idea of a kid being on a plane without parents, or someone known to their family. Someone would have dropped them off at the airport and you'd want to be damn well sure someone is picking them up from where they get off.

Probably because I'd barely trust my 13 year old nephew to get himself ready for school, let alone navigate check in, the maze that is duty free, find the right gate, and get there in time to get the plane.

Surely there has to be more to it than just dropping them at the airport? If I had to send a child on an plane alone I'd want to be escorting them to the gate and have someone collect them from the gate also.