Two passengers aboard a domestic flight in China, allegedly took it upon themselves to discipline another person's child. Gou Tingting posted a video of herself and another woman with the child on Chinese social media, where it quickly went viral. Many felt Gou and her friend went way too far.
The toddler was reportedly crying during the flight, so Gou and another passenger took the toddler from her grandmother to the airplane bathroom to "set some rules," reported Sixth Tone, and English-language news website based in China. Gou posted the video on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and it seemed to go differently than she'd planned.
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The child was reportedly crying.
Per Sixth Tone, the toddler was restless on the flight and was crying. The behavior isn't usual for a young child, but Gou didn't like it, according to her post on Douyin.
"Many passengers were using tissues to block their ears," she wrote. "Some had moved to the back of the plane to escape the noise."
She and another passenger approached the grandmother and, with her permission, took the child to the airplane bathroom.
Gou allegedly threatened the child.
Gou told the child she would lock the child in the airplane's bathroom if she didn't quiet down, Sixth Tone reported. She posted a video on Douyin, and the backlash was swift.
She reportedly clapped back at a negative comment, writing, "I prefer to take action rather than be a bystander. I just wanted to calm the child down and let everyone rest."
Gou ended up deleting her post.
It appeared she wanted people to tell her she'd done the right thing by disciplining the child, but viewers didn't see it that way. Many told her that she was wrong, and some even accused her of abuse. She took her post down, but only after many people took screenshots, and some reported her to police.
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Police did not charge Gou.
Per Sixth Tone, the Guizhou Airport Public Security Bureau investigated, and because the child's grandmother gave Gou permission to discipline the child, they declined to charge her.
Wang Xin, a mom to a young child, told Sixth Tone she thinks people are too intolerant of small children.
"Nowadays, people have a low tolerance for children crying," she said. "To avoid the problem, I always tried to drive rather than take public transport when my child was young."
Jiang Anyi, a 26-year-old from Shanghai, disagreed and told the news outlet that Gou and her friend were justified and that since the grandmother gave them permission, no harm was done.
