A viral video capturing a tense confrontation on a Gol Airlines flight in Brazil sparked widespread debate and controversy.
In the now-infamous video, Aline, the mother of a four-year-old boy named Arthur, confronted fellow passenger Jennifer Castro for refusing to give up her window seat. Arthur was throwing a tantrum and disturbing other passengers because he wanted to sit next to his grandmother. La República reported that Aline accused Castro of lacking empathy for her son. "You have no empathy for people, that's disgusting. We're in the 21st century and people have no empathy for children," she says.
BBC News noted that the video quickly went viral on platforms like TikTok and Twitter, provoking a wave of reactions on social media. Viewers overwhelmingly supported Castro and criticized Aline.
Aline clarified in interviews that she was not bothered by Castro's refusal to change seats and was focused on calming her son during the incident. "I want to make it clear that at no time did I ask or direct myself to Jennifer. She knows this; she knows that I wasn't the one who recorded the video," Aline stated, according to BBC News. She explained that someone else who was bothered by the child's crying during the flight shared the images, as Terra reported.
BBC News reported that Castro was astonished by the mother's inappropriate attack but then chose to completely ignore the woman. Il Fatto Quotidiano noted that Castro's refusal to give up her seat led to a heated exchange, with Aline becoming furious.
The incident sparked discussions among child development specialists about permissiveness in child-rearing and the challenges of positive discipline. "We have so little experience with what it is to respect a child that we quickly fit what happened on the plane into respectful education. But no: the strategy chosen to calm that child was permissive, negligent. What was taught there is that it is acceptable to be invasive with others," said psychoanalyst Thaís Basile, as reported by BBC News.
@fofoca_famosos438 PARABÉNS MOÇA, NÃO SAIU DO SEU LUGAR A pessoa que tá expondo a moça queria obriga_la a sair do seu assento pra criança dessa pessoa se sentar lá ,mas ela não aceitou. #jjeniffercastro #larye #mulhernoavião ♬ som original - JESUS ESTÁ VOLTANDO
Psychologist and child neuroscientist Mayra Gaiato also weighed in on the situation. "Having someone filming is a factor that amplifies the whole situation and can lead us to take actions we don't want," she said, according to BBC News.
Gaiato emphasized that, no matter how angry parents may feel in these situations, that feeling needs to be controlled. "We are the main model for children and we need to take great care of all our actions, because those are the messages we pass to them about how to coexist in society," she added.
Psychologist Nanda Perim highlighted the importance of addressing children's frustrations respectfully. She suggested that parents should explain situations clearly to their children while validating their feelings. "An alternative is to say: 'I know you are upset, but you don't have the right to sit there because that place belongs to another person. You have the right to be frustrated, and I am here to give you my comfort,'" Perim said, as reported by BBC News.
Aline explained that her son had confused the seats and wanted to sit next to his grandmother. "I told my mother-in-law that Arthur was taking pictures at the window, thinking that was his seat," she said, according to Terra.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq