Was This Woman Right to Stop Stranger’s Kid Repeatedly Closing Plane Window Shade? A Travel Expert Answers

A video of a female passenger expressing her irritation at her child’s insistence on trying to close the window shade has gone viral, igniting a debate online.

TikTok user vmaymah posted a video earlier this month, showing a little boy’s hand reaching out from the row in front of hers to close the shade next to her seat. She responds by opening the curtains again, and when he tries again, she holds him until he lets go.

“POV: Kid in front of me thinks he can close MY window,” she captioned the video, “That’s my window.”

Many commenters on the video, which has amassed 16 million views, sympathized with the passenger, saying she should have controlled the window next to her seat.

“If I’m sitting by the window, I want to look out the window….. who closes the window blind on a day flight?” one commenter said.

“As far as I can see, that’s YOUR window!!!” read another comment, while someone else wrote: “I’d be so mad if I couldn’t!”

However, others offered suggestions as to why the boy wanted to close the window.

“You know he’s trying to do it because he gets a glare on his iPad,” one person wrote.

“I mean, what if the little guy was trying to sleep…” read another comment.

Another user had his own opinion: “Airplane window open for takeoff and landing. It’s too bright for all that in flight.”

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PEOPLE spoke with travel expert, writer and consultant Nicole Campoy Jackson of Fora Travel, who weighed in on the divisive situation.

“The main thing that surprised me about this TikTok was the amount of anger in the comments,” says Jackson. “That hand is very obviously a child’s and there are many nuances and unspoken rules of air travel that people often fail to grasp even in adulthood (looking at you, bare feet!).”

“From what I can tell in that short video, she made it clear that she wanted to leave it open, and the kid in front stopped trying to close it,” Jackson continues. “She seems to have dealt with it quite quickly, efficiently and no one was inconvenienced or upset. If it escalated or the child didn’t stop, the next move would be to calmly ask the parent to step in.”

As for the passenger’s claim that it’s “her window,” Jackson says it’s “very clearly in her row,” and she’s clearly in the window seat.

“I don’t see how anyone can claim to have control over it,” she says.

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If a passenger is in a middle or aisle seat and has a desire to position the sunshade, Jackson recommends that you “politely” ask the window seat passenger to move it.

“Of course, asking does not mean demanding or feeling entitled,” she adds. “If that person is trying to rest and doesn’t want to open up, for example, that’s ultimately their decision because they booked a window seat. This assumes that everyone is sane. If you insist on leaving the window shade on when it’s otherwise dark in the cabin or everyone around you is trying to rest, it starts to get into pretty reckless territory.”

If there’s a dispute that the passengers involved can’t resolve peacefully, Jackson says to seek mediation from a flight attendant.

“If you’re debating whether you can leave it open for the next 20 minutes before the initial descent, for example, that would be useful to know,” she says. “If you’re fighting over something like keeping it closed mid-flight to rest while someone else wants it open for photos, it can help to have a trained third-party person to negotiate and make everyone happy.”

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“Flight attendants have dealt with it – and much worse, as we’ve all seen – so helping passengers to agree on window shades should be pretty easy,” she points out.

And what if the dispute involves annoying children?

“The best way to deal with anything your child might be doing mid-flight that’s bothering you is to calmly and respectfully approach the child’s closest parent and ask for their help in explaining to the child why it’s wrong,” says Jackson. “Parents are understandably on high alert when traveling with their children, but most will hear you and deal quickly.”

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And if not, Jackson suggests they call the flight attendant for help.

“I think it’s crucial that everyone does their best not to overreact to the initial offense, which is incredibly difficult given that we’re unceremoniously stuffed into an aluminum tube 30,000 feet in the air,” she says. “There are ways to stand up for our comfort and our spaces without getting into an argument. If you’ve asked someone — a parent or someone else — to stop doing something two or even three times and it still hasn’t stopped, it’s time to hit that call light and get professional help.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education