I don't get what's so odd about this. Two of them were even teenagers.

[Edited 8/16/10 2:57am]

luv4u said:

Published: Friday, August 13, 2010 | 5:53 PM ET

Canadian Press Brendan Farrington, The Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Bored on a hot summer day, three Florida youngsters were just sitting around when one sent a text message to another with an adventurous idea.

"Hey do you want to go 2 Tennessee today," the message read.

"Sure," the other responded.

Not even old enough to get a driver's license, they took a taxi to the airport Tuesday, bought tickets with babysitting money and — unbeknownst to their parents, the three (ages 15, 13 and 11) — boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from Jacksonville to Nashville, according to a TV news account of the incident.

Nobody asked a question. Nobody asked for identification.

Not the taxi driver. Not the ticket counter. Not security officials or flight attendants or other passengers. So when they landed in Nashville with just $40 left and their destination, Dollywood, still hundreds of miles away, they finally called home.

The jig was up.

"I just wanted to fly," 15-year-old Bridget Brown, told WJXX-TV in Jacksonville. "I had the money."

Now their parents are wondering how the trip was possible.

Southwest Airlines said in a statement that the company's policy on minors is similar to other carriers in that it covers children ages 5 through 11 travelling alone, and that the 11-year-old in this case was accompanied by two older companions. The Transportation Security Administration does not require anyone under age 18 to show identification, but all bags are still screened.

It is still unclear if any of the three should have been allowed to purchase tickets. A Southwest spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment on that issue.

Messages left by The Associated Press on Friday at the families' homes were not immediately returned.

In an age of heightened security and terrorism threats, some are concerned that three youngsters could so easily board an airline without parental consent.

Richard Bloom, an aviation security expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said while this incident amounted to a childhood jaunt, it highlights legitimate safety implications.

"The moral of the story is, at least in other parts of the world, young people are engaged in weapons, planting bombs, testing security," he said. "The point is terrorist groups, insurgent groups, other kinds of transnational groups, what have you, they read the papers, they watch TV, they look at the security lapses. And they take that information as they develop their own terrorist operations and anti-government operations."

The three youngsters certainly had no problem hopping a flight.

Brown, with the $700 she had saved, took her 11-year-old brother Kodie and 13-year-old friend Bobby Nolan III to the airport in the early afternoon. She said she purchased the three tickets at the Southwest Airlines counter without any problems from the clerk.

"He said OK and told us how much it would be and then we paid him," Brown said. "Then he put the flight things on our bags, and then he said, 'You better run because you might miss your flight.'"

No issues at security, either.

"We just took our stuff out of our pockets, took our shoes off and walked through it," Nolan told the TV station. "And they didn't say nothing."

The three arrived in Nashville and, realizing their plan was flawed, finally 'fessed up.

Their parents came home from work and thought the kids were merely out playing. They had left messages on the children's cellphones that went unreturned. When their children phoned home from Nashville, they were stunned and scared.

Nashville airport spokeswoman Emily Richard said the children never left the airport property and were immediately rebooked on return flights that night. Southwest said it has refunded their airfare.

The parents are just glad their children made it home safely.

"I never would have dreamed my kids would have got on a plane without me or their mom," James Brown said. "But they did. It was very scary, very scary. Luckily, they're OK."

___

Associated Press Writers Antonio Gonzalez in Orlando, Florida, Matt Sedensky in Miami and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this story.

© The Canadian Press, 2010

The parents r stupid - and ignorant

chocolatehandles said:

The parents r stupid - and ignorant

Wanna sue the Airline?

novabrkr said:

I don't get what's so odd about this. Two of them were even teenagers.

[Edited 8/16/10 2:57am]

Because they left and didn't tell their parents or any other adults what they were doing. I personally am not surprised that they were able to get through, but I thought you did have to present ID at least at SOME POINT during the process of boarding a plane...especially since 9/11. I can't say that I can blame the airline for "being suspicious" enough to ask for their ID's. I always thought that minors could purchase airline tickets without parental consent anyway. Still kind of a fucked up situation that all three needed to get a whoopin' for.

chocolatehandles said:

luv4u said:

Published: Friday, August 13, 2010 | 5:53 PM ET

Canadian Press Brendan Farrington, The Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Bored on a hot summer day, three Florida youngsters were just sitting around when one sent a text message to another with an adventurous idea.

"Hey do you want to go 2 Tennessee today," the message read.

"Sure," the other responded.

Not even old enough to get a driver's license, they took a taxi to the airport Tuesday, bought tickets with babysitting money and — unbeknownst to their parents, the three (ages 15, 13 and 11) — boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from Jacksonville to Nashville, according to a TV news account of the incident.

Nobody asked a question. Nobody asked for identification.

Not the taxi driver. Not the ticket counter. Not security officials or flight attendants or other passengers. So when they landed in Nashville with just $40 left and their destination, Dollywood, still hundreds of miles away, they finally called home.

The jig was up.

"I just wanted to fly," 15-year-old Bridget Brown, told WJXX-TV in Jacksonville. "I had the money."

Now their parents are wondering how the trip was possible.

Southwest Airlines said in a statement that the company's policy on minors is similar to other carriers in that it covers children ages 5 through 11 travelling alone, and that the 11-year-old in this case was accompanied by two older companions. The Transportation Security Administration does not require anyone under age 18 to show identification, but all bags are still screened.

It is still unclear if any of the three should have been allowed to purchase tickets. A Southwest spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment on that issue.

Messages left by The Associated Press on Friday at the families' homes were not immediately returned.

In an age of heightened security and terrorism threats, some are concerned that three youngsters could so easily board an airline without parental consent.

Richard Bloom, an aviation security expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said while this incident amounted to a childhood jaunt, it highlights legitimate safety implications.

"The moral of the story is, at least in other parts of the world, young people are engaged in weapons, planting bombs, testing security," he said. "The point is terrorist groups, insurgent groups, other kinds of transnational groups, what have you, they read the papers, they watch TV, they look at the security lapses. And they take that information as they develop their own terrorist operations and anti-government operations."

The three youngsters certainly had no problem hopping a flight.

Brown, with the $700 she had saved, took her 11-year-old brother Kodie and 13-year-old friend Bobby Nolan III to the airport in the early afternoon. She said she purchased the three tickets at the Southwest Airlines counter without any problems from the clerk.

"He said OK and told us how much it would be and then we paid him," Brown said. "Then he put the flight things on our bags, and then he said, 'You better run because you might miss your flight.'"

No issues at security, either.

"We just took our stuff out of our pockets, took our shoes off and walked through it," Nolan told the TV station. "And they didn't say nothing."

The three arrived in Nashville and, realizing their plan was flawed, finally 'fessed up.

Their parents came home from work and thought the kids were merely out playing. They had left messages on the children's cellphones that went unreturned. When their children phoned home from Nashville, they were stunned and scared.

Nashville airport spokeswoman Emily Richard said the children never left the airport property and were immediately rebooked on return flights that night. Southwest said it has refunded their airfare.

The parents are just glad their children made it home safely.

"I never would have dreamed my kids would have got on a plane without me or their mom," James Brown said. "But they did. It was very scary, very scary. Luckily, they're OK."

___

Associated Press Writers Antonio Gonzalez in Orlando, Florida, Matt Sedensky in Miami and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this story.

© The Canadian Press, 2010

The parents r stupid - and ignorant

How can the parents be blamed for this? They had no idea that the kids had left and thought that they were at home as usual. I don't think the parents should get blamed for the children's lack in judgement, but most certainly the children should be punished for their stunt.

missfee said:

novabrkr said:

I don't get what's so odd about this. Two of them were even teenagers.

[Edited 8/16/10 2:57am]

Because they left and didn't tell their parents or any other adults what they were doing. I personally am not surprised that they were able to get through, but I thought you did have to present ID at least at SOME POINT during the process of boarding a plane...especially since 9/11. I can't say that I can blame the airline for "being suspicious" enough to ask for their ID's. I always thought that minors could purchase airline tickets without parental consent anyway. Still kind of a fucked up situation that all three needed to get a whoopin' for.

My parents would have KICKED my ass...

missfee said:

chocolatehandles said:

The parents r stupid - and ignorant

How can the parents be blamed for this? They had no idea that the kids had left and thought that they were at home as usual. I don't think the parents should get blamed for the children's lack in judgement, but most certainly the children should be punished for their stunt.

Yes you can. Your parents certainly have influence on how you judge and see things, especially at such a young age.

shorttrini said:

missfee said:

How can the parents be blamed for this? They had no idea that the kids had left and thought that they were at home as usual. I don't think the parents should get blamed for the children's lack in judgement, but most certainly the children should be punished for their stunt.

Yes you can. Your parents certainly have influence on how you judge and see things, especially at such a young age.

But I know some kids that were raised to be responsible adults with both parents in the home, but the child somehow ended up losing it's way, hung with the wrong crowd or ended up with major issues....doesn't mean it's the parents fault that they ended up that way though. That's just how I see it. I mean if two parents brought their child up to be an upstanding citizen but when their child grew up and became a murdering psychopatic adult, it doesn't mean that the parents should be the ones to be blamed for it. IMO.

missfee said:

shorttrini said:

Yes you can. Your parents certainly have influence on how you judge and see things, especially at such a young age.

But I know some kids that were raised to be responsible adults with both parents in the home, but the child somehow ended up losing it's way, hung with the wrong crowd or ended up with major issues....doesn't mean it's the parents fault that they ended up that way though. That's just how I see it. I mean if two parents brought their child up to be an upstanding citizen but when their child grew up and became a murdering psychopatic adult, it doesn't mean that the parents should be the ones to be blamed for it. IMO.

So, who's fault is it, especially at that young age. At that age, it is your parents whom are responsible for setting the tone, for your development. Some parents today, have no clue as to what their kids are up to nor do they talk to them. Most are too busy trying to be their kids' friend, instead of setting boundries and letting them know that there will be consequences for their actions. As my mom would say, being a parent, can be a tough job. But, too much love and freedom, is just as bad as none at all.

missfee said:

shorttrini said:

Yes you can. Your parents certainly have influence on how you judge and see things, especially at such a young age.

But I know some kids that were raised to be responsible adults with both parents in the home, but the child somehow ended up losing it's way, hung with the wrong crowd or ended up with major issues....doesn't mean it's the parents fault that they ended up that way though. That's just how I see it. I mean if two parents brought their child up to be an upstanding citizen but when their child grew up and became a murdering psychopatic adult, it doesn't mean that the parents should be the ones to be blamed for it. IMO.

Sorry but I completely disagree.

Simply put, when a child grows up and makes it into Harvard and gets a great job, parents are quick to take credit. But let a child fail and then parents are all "its not MY fault".

BS! Drug abuse doesn't happen to a child overnight, and failure commited by a child is the direct result of a lack of guidance on the part of the parent. So yeah, its the parents fault when they fail 100000000000000000000%.

You (the teenager) choose the friends that your parents allow you to hang out with BTW, your judgement calls as a teen, how you deal with the world around you, how you react to negativity is all relative to how your parents rear you. Most parents are so busy, that they neglect their children, these children usually come from good homes. Just the the Pastor's child syndrome where the pastor is out healing the world but at the cost of making sure home is OK.

I see many parents in nice homes driving nice cars treating their children like an expense and not a people. They see their children in a cold way and the child is left to fend for themselves emotionally. These children aren't nurtured, they are sent to pre-school, school, after school, soccer, tennis, ballet, etc. because mom and dad are always busy. They only stop the routine when something "goes wrong" until then... its full steam ahead on the emotional neglect. So the road to recovery is the only the journey most parents notice, they actually do not pay attention to the journey that takes the child down to addiction and failure in the first place. IMHO

M children would not do that... they would be too afraid of pissing me off, because they know I care and would stick to my word about making their lives hell if they dared to dissapoint/disrespect me.

Judging by your original reponse, you parent the exact same way I do. Your kids would not do something like this... they would know better.

novabrkr said:

I don't get what's so odd about this. Two of them were even teenagers.

[Edited 8/16/10 2:57am]

I don't see this a big deal for the airline, since many teens travel alone to get from point A to B.

But what I find is odd is the fearlessness and lack of self-preservation these kids have. Its great that these kids are independent enough to just get up and go and not be afraid to explore, but there has to be a limit to where they are still safe and within reach of help.

Its like they crossed the line from fearless (which is usually a good thing), to downright daredevils.

paintedlady said:

novabrkr said:

I don't get what's so odd about this. Two of them were even teenagers.

[Edited 8/16/10 2:57am]

I don't see this a big deal for the airline, since many teens travel alone to get from point A to B.

But what I find is odd is the fearlessness and lack of self-preservation these kids have. Its great that these kids are independent enough to just get up and go and not be afraid to explore, but there has to be a limit to where they are still safe and within reach of help.

Its like they crossed the line from fearless (which is usually a good thing), to downright daredevils.

Well, the the big deal for the airline is, they let these kids go by without a question or an issue. Regardless of policy, someone should have asked, these kids something about their trip or where their folks were. I know as a disabled person, I get asked allot of questions, when travelling on business or pleasure. It seems like the airlines were like, "Go right ahead". Also, as much as I hate to bring this up, people are using kids to do strange things nowadays. Someone should have questioned these kids.

shorttrini said:

paintedlady said:

I don't see this a big deal for the airline, since many teens travel alone to get from point A to B.

But what I find is odd is the fearlessness and lack of self-preservation these kids have. Its great that these kids are independent enough to just get up and go and not be afraid to explore, but there has to be a limit to where they are still safe and within reach of help.

Its like they crossed the line from fearless (which is usually a good thing), to downright daredevils.

Well, the the big deal for the airline is, they let these kids go by without a question or an issue. Regardless of policy, someone should have asked, these kids something about their trip or where their folks were. I know as a disabled person, I get asked allot of questions, when travelling on business or pleasure. It seems like the airlines were like, "Go right ahead". Also, as much as I hate to bring this up, people are using kids to do strange things nowadays. Someone should have questioned these kids.

But they didn't, that's why it wasn't a big deal. They only reason why the airline is looking into this incident is because they got caught and now have angry parents to deal with. Policy will change after this fiasco.

paintedlady said:

shorttrini said:

Well, the the big deal for the airline is, they let these kids go by without a question or an issue. Regardless of policy, someone should have asked, these kids something about their trip or where their folks were. I know as a disabled person, I get asked allot of questions, when travelling on business or pleasure. It seems like the airlines were like, "Go right ahead". Also, as much as I hate to bring this up, people are using kids to do strange things nowadays. Someone should have questioned these kids.

But they didn't, that's why it wasn't a big deal. They only reason why the airline is looking into this incident is because they got caught and now have angry parents to deal with. Policy will change after this fiasco.

It is a big deal, because they are kids and the airline dropped the ball. Let's supposed one of them had gotten sick on that fiight, what then? You cannot just say, "But they didn't". If something had happened to these kids, it would have been a different story. I am all for letting kids be kids, but someone has to step in and say, both parties need to share the blame, the parents and the airline.

shorttrini said:

paintedlady said:

But they didn't, that's why it wasn't a big deal. They only reason why the airline is looking into this incident is because they got caught and now have angry parents to deal with. Policy will change after this fiasco.

It is a big deal, because they are kids and the airline dropped the ball. Let's supposed one of them had gotten sick on that fiight, what then? You cannot just say, "But they didn't". If something had happened to these kids, it would have been a different story. I am all for letting kids be kids, but someone has to step in and say, both parties need to share the blame, the parents and the airline.

Oh yes! Agreed.

I was thinking more along the lines as the initial stance the airline employees had when they allowed those kids to board the plane in the first place.

Its a very good thing none of thsoe children got sick or ran into some wierdo predator.

paintedlady said:

missfee said:

But I know some kids that were raised to be responsible adults with both parents in the home, but the child somehow ended up losing it's way, hung with the wrong crowd or ended up with major issues....doesn't mean it's the parents fault that they ended up that way though. That's just how I see it. I mean if two parents brought their child up to be an upstanding citizen but when their child grew up and became a murdering psychopatic adult, it doesn't mean that the parents should be the ones to be blamed for it. IMO.

Sorry but I completely disagree.

Simply put, when a child grows up and makes it into Harvard and gets a great job, parents are quick to take credit. But let a child fail and then parents are all "its not MY fault".

BS! Drug abuse doesn't happen to a child overnight, and failure commited by a child is the direct result of a lack of guidance on the part of the parent. So yeah, its the parents fault when they fail 100000000000000000000%.

You (the teenager) choose the friends that your parents allow you to hang out with BTW, your judgement calls as a teen, how you deal with the world around you, how you react to negativity is all relative to how your parents rear you. Most parents are so busy, that they neglect their children, these children usually come from good homes. Just the the Pastor's child syndrome where the pastor is out healing the world but at the cost of making sure home is OK.

I see many parents in nice homes driving nice cars treating their children like an expense and not a people. They see their children in a cold way and the child is left to fend for themselves emotionally. These children aren't nurtured, they are sent to pre-school, school, after school, soccer, tennis, ballet, etc. because mom and dad are always busy. They only stop the routine when something "goes wrong" until then... its full steam ahead on the emotional neglect. So the road to recovery is the only the journey most parents notice, they actually do not pay attention to the journey that takes the child down to addiction and failure in the first place. IMHO

M children would not do that... they would be too afraid of pissing me off, because they know I care and would stick to my word about making their lives hell if they dared to dissapoint/disrespect me.

Judging by your original reponse, you parent the exact same way I do. Your kids would not do something like this... they would know better.

Yes that's true. I can see your point now.

shorttrini said:

missfee said:

How can the parents be blamed for this? They had no idea that the kids had left and thought that they were at home as usual. I don't think the parents should get blamed for the children's lack in judgement, but most certainly the children should be punished for their stunt.

Yes you can. Your parents certainly have influence on how you judge and see things, especially at such a young age.

[Edited 8/16/10 16:04pm]

I wish my kid would take his money, get on a plane unbeknowst to me, and fly his ass off to Harvard or get a great job and exhibit some independence! Instead he's almost 10 and still can't get his own breakfast (this is not for lack of training either, I'm not trying to spoil him at all, he just don't have common sense to be trusted to do the right thing)

I was an independent child. Probably would not have run off to Dollywood, but I was riding the NYC subway system by myself late at night, paying my way with my own paycheck from the job I started at 14! I think I would have thought my self all grown to go out of state by myself, AND not tell my mom. But I think I had enough sense that I probably would have been more like "Ma, I'm going to Dollywood this weekend and paying my own way!"

I think when you see children doing adult activities and you don't see any adults, someone should have spoke up and say "where are your adults, or asked for adult contact information. Just the fact that these kids had no IDs should have been a red flag.

Now that the terrorists (who already like to use children ) have been given another great idea on how to easily infiltrate the American sirline security.......

1) Getting on a plane at 14 was the last thing I was thinking of. I was too busy harassing my mom about taking me to the mall.

2) I KNEW better. My mom would have BEAT my ass. My mom instilled fear into me at a YOUNG age. To this day, I live in fear of her sideeye.

kids can fly on planes without an adult accompanying right?

This is really between the kids and the parents... and not to do with the airline imo.

Kids ride buses and subways all over the world... are bus drivers supposed to ask kids about whether they've talked to their parents?

I think the first thing the parents should do is, drug test these kids. They were trying to get to fucking Dollywood. You know they were high!