Would you let your child fly alone?

coasterqueen wrote: I'm sitting here in shock because I think my SIL is DUMB! Maybe not, I don't know. I knew she did this before but DH confirmed it for me today. She lets her 9 year old son fly on planes alone to Cali and to Illinois from Georgia. There would be NO WAY on this earth I'd let my child fly alone...especially the way the world is now!

Am I wrong in my thinking? Would you?

Boys r us replied: excuse my "french" but HELL NO!!!!!

Kaitlin'smom replied: depens on the age 9 probably not but something like 15 or older I might, just depends on the world then

MomToMany replied: Nope, no way, no how. Never!

My2Beauties replied: I've heard of people doing this before and while I personally would say hell no to it, the flight attendants and airport personnel assist the child and stay with them most of the time. You have to make sure you get an airline that does this, but they have certain attendants that will stick with the children. But then again the flight attendant is a stranger to..I still say hell no myself!!!

coasterqueen replied: I guess I'm also thinking the very worst here too. WHat if something happened on the plane? My child would be alone...I wouldn't be there to comfort her. KWIM? Ugh, I shouldn't even go there.

kimberley replied: well, i probably wouldn't let my kids go because i am completely paranoid about everything lol... but, my sis has been flying alone since the age of 7yo (now 24yo) and it is perfectly safe. my mom moved across the country when my sis was about 6yo and my dad would never see her if she didn't fly out here. my mom couldn't/wouldn't bring her and since my dad has worked at air canada for 25+ years, my sis had free flight priveleges so she came often. the flight attendants are complete mother hens. the child is never out of their sight. they wear a huge tag around their neck that says "unaccompanied minor" so even airport staff know to watch over them. besides being on a plane (lol the big difference) it is the same as leaving your kid and daycare and having someone else pick him/her up.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: NO NO NO NO NO!!!!! I would NEVER let my child fly alone!! I'm very overprotective and I know it! Me and my best friend just had this discussion while we were in Austin. She said on her flight to Dallas there was a pedophile (sp?) and he was preying on these two young kids right behind her. She got the attention of the flight attendant and they spoke with him and watched him like a hawk. She (best friend) said she was so sick that she could have thrown up. She told me to warn everyone I know with small kids who fly. I know several people whose children must fly b/c of divorce, etc. The flight attendants are very helpful and they do watch, but not that closely. My friend had to bring it to their attention. He was tickling the kids and everything. The fact that there were several open seats on the flight and he chose to sit with 2 minors is disgusting enough.

Oh and the thing about the tag that reads "Unaccompanied Minor" It is also a red flag for pedophiles. The whole situation freaks me out!!!

Okay, I'm through........

Kirstenmumof3 replied: Now they have chaperions that fly with your child and make sure they arrive safely. Now saying this and doing this are 2 different things. I'm not sure that I would do this. Too many things could go wrong! Maybe if the child was a little older, I don't know!

MomofJandB replied: No way! I would never forgive myself if something ever happened to one of them. Some things are not worth it. We have a friend in the divorce situation with his daughter living in another state. Any weekend he's supposed to have her with him, he flies out to get her and flies back with her. She's 9 or 10. I give him alot of credit for that!

dolfinrse replied: Almost every summer we fly our niece from California to New Jersey for a few weeks. She is only 9yo., she has been flying alone for several years now. When you get to the airport, one of us (dh or myself) sign her in and accompany her to the boarding gate. Documentation is checked at several checkpoints, and a flight attendant is always with her or within reach. They always sit her in the front of the plane. When she gets to her destination, a flight attendant accompanies her off the plane and to whoever is picking her up at the airport. They check our id before they let her go with us. Knock on wood, she has never had a problem.

momof2girls replied: I would not ever let my child fly alone... no way Jose!

aspenblue1 replied: I couldn't do it. I would worry too much.

loveydad replied: HELL NO! Henry, yes. But the other kids, H-e-l-l NO! That's just ..wrong.. I don't even let my kids go to Boise with someone elses parents. I wouldn't ever trust a stranger who had other jobs and people to take care of to watch my kids. Even the daycare they go to I wasn't comfortable and stayed for a long time watching. I could never ever do it!

coasterqueen replied: Thanks everyone for your opinions. I see good ones on both sides. I guess I just feel its a lot to expect a 9 year old to take on that huge responsibility of trusting "strangers" to get them where they need to go. It seems at that age I'd be teaching my children or will have taught them not to trust strangers and that's an awful lot of people she'd have to trust making changes at airports and such. Also it just seems like a huge responsibility to put on the shoulders of a child in general. I know how frustrated and stressed out I get when flying. I can't imagine my child having to fly alone.

kimberley replied:
see, but in the case of my sis, she was used to flying since she was a baby. since my dad worked for the airline we flew for free and traveled a lot. so there was absolutely no stress for her. she actually thought it was fun. i guess it just depends on the child... and the parent.

3xsthefun replied: NOPE!! Maybe like when they are 16 or 17 years old.

DansMom replied: I would not, no. I was a frequent flyer as a kid---my sister and I flew to spend summers with our father from age 6 through age 11, every year. But I think the airlines and the chaperone system were better run in those days, and I just would not be able to relax and let my child fly without me. I also took a greyhound bus from Portland, Maine to New York City, changing buses in Boston, when I was only 12 years old, to visit my best friend. While I was there, we took the subway around the city, hung out in Washington Square park and got into a XXX movie in a horrible part of the city, all with no parental supervision. Having been an unsupervised child traveler, I know what goes on and what kind of situations can arise, so NO WAY would I allow it.

A&A'smommy replied: NO NO NO I would not and she is crazy that is WAYYY to young!!!

bucky replied: I'd say only if it's to visit immediate family, a grandparent or aunt or uncle... and a direct flight, no stopovers.. otherwise, no.

Maybe because I'm a guy, you moms worry too much.

Josie83 replied: Absolutely no way. I wouldn't let her travel on a bus or a train, and definitely not on a plane! esp after September the 11th. NO WAY! xx

coasterqueen replied:
Hee hee. My DH would say the same thing..but suprisingly this is one thing we actually agree on.

Now going down in our acreage of woods alone...he thinks I'm paranoid for not letting Kylie go but the plane we agree on.

mama3x replied: With the way things are with security and questiionable characters around, I would have to say no to letting any of my kids fly alone while under 18 years old. At least to the mainland or other country. As for inter-island, I might when they're 15+ however if I can't go with them, what's the sense in having them go?

That's just me of course.