The incident of two women locking a crying toddler in an airplane toilet has sparked an online debate in China about how children should be managed in public places.
The incident went viral on the Chinese Internet, with one of the two women, Gou Tingting, posting a video of herself carrying the girl into a cubicle.
In her post, she said she tried to help others on the boat, but quickly faced backlash.
The airline later said the girl’s grandmother had allowed two women to “educate her”.
The incident occurred on a Juneyao Airlines flight from Guiyang to Shanghai on August 24.
The toddler was traveling with his grandmother and started crying during the flight.
The airline said in a statement two days after the incident that the girl’s grandmother, who was traveling with her, agreed to let two women take the girl to the toilet.
A video posted by Gou on Chinese social media reportedly showed another woman telling the girl that she could only leave the toilet if she stopped crying.
Local media reported she was one year old, but the airline did not disclose details.
Shortly after the video was released, there was swift backlash, with many criticizing Gou for lacking empathy and “bullying” children.
In response to the criticism, Gou said she “would rather take action than be a bystander.”
“I just want the kids to calm down and let everyone rest,” she wrote on Douyin, China’s equivalent of TikTok.
She also explained that some passengers “moved to the back of the plane to escape the noise,” while others stuffed tissues into their ears.
Ms. Guo’s account has been set as a private account.
“Children can no longer control their emotions when they are one or two years old. What’s wrong with crying? Didn’t you cry when you were a child?” one user wrote on Weibo.
Another, concerned about the psychological impact on girls, said: “We should think about how public spaces can better accept and accommodate young children.”
But others defended the women, saying their actions were justified because the girls’ grandmother had given her consent.
“To be honest, some children cannot live without education,” one Weibo user wrote.
There is growing debate over how to manage China’s so-called “naughty children”, spoiled brats who make a fuss in public places, such as screaming or damaging public property.
The use of the word “bear” in this example indicates that some Chinese people believe that some children may behave in a barbaric manner.
Some public trains have started to provide separate carriages for children.
The rest of the world sees it differently. South Korea, for example, has designated hundreds of child-free zones in restaurants, museums and theaters.
But lawmakers have called on the government to scrap the zones, citing the need to rebuild a society more accepting of children – especially as the country grapples with low birth rates.
Global airlines, including Turkish-Dutch carrier Corendon Airlines and Singapore-based Scoot, are offering passengers the option of paying more for child-free seats.
