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I have a feeling there is a lot more to it than either side is saying. These are high school kids, not 4 year olds, so they shouldn't need to be told multiple times to buckle up and power down, if that was the case. And I could see why the chaperons couldn't just kick out the ones who were misbehaving-- I'm sure their parents weren't at the airport waiting for them so that would have been really irresponsible. But it seems like the flight attendants could have gone to the chaperons for help before it got out of control.

I'd hate to have been on that flight, that's for sure!

Sounds like some of them were being overexcited but I doubt all 101 were misbehaving.

I flew awhile back with my then teenage BIL and a flight attendant was so mean to him - he had requested a vegetarian meal that his mom arranged when she booked his ticket but they brought him meat. All he did was ask if they had a vegetarian option and she called him selfish and accused him of trying to be disruptive it was really weird. I stepped in and said something to her and then she was apologetic and brought him his meal but maybe teenagers are on flight attendants naughty list right off the bat.

I tend to believe the chaperones and kids. The rabbi that was with them said none of the kids he was near were misbehaving and that he offered to help with the ones that were, and his offer was refused. Somehow I doubt a rabbi's going to lie about something like this. I feel like there was some racism going on. At the very least, I think it was a gross overreaction to force the entire group to get off, and not just the non-compliant students.

What high school kid would admit they were blatantly disobeying a flight attendant? Lol. The first rule of flying is do whatever the flight attendants tell you to do. Dont argue, don't ask questions. The second they think youre going to be any sort of trouble they want nothing to do with you.

I side with the airline on this one.

I don't really think it was an anti-semitic thing, and it's so easy to pull that card out when all the passengers are from the same group.

I've seen some lax chaperones before, and it's difficult for 8 chaperones to manage 100 kids on a plane. High school age kids (especially seniors) are the worst, and i can imagine a few bad apples making it difficult enough to overwhelm the flight attendants. The chaperones really should've stepped in and taken away their phones or something before things got too out of hand.

@Freckles: yeah, I was gonna say there were 101 teens and 8 chaperones. Its possible the chaperones didn't see the kids misbehaving.

@MsLipGloss: I would like to second your BAER!! I highly doubt there was any anti-semitism going on here.

What makes me side with the flight attendants was the comment from one of the kids that said something like "we were behaving better than kids should". First of all, what does that even mean? And second of all, they were seniors in high school... 17 and 18 year olds... they should handle themselved LIKE ADULTS. These weren't a bunch of 4 year olds.

I lost respect for the kids once I read the line "We were targeted". Unless there is something no one is mentioning, that sounds like a big load and an excuse to be able to act like a child. Still, sucks for the whole group that a few of them were rowdy and uncooperative. And I've been on flights where the flight attendants were out of control with pushing authority, threatening to arrest several passengers who politely asked when we would be getting to the gate after we had landed two hours ago and had been sitting on the tarmac with no updates. The captain also hid in the cockpit the entire time in that situation too.

@mediagirl: Ditto, I was waiting to read some quotes from other passengers on the plane.

I work with kids, and I could *totally* see this happening. I've been on trips with students where some of the other chaperones did no supervising at all, almost to a bizarre extent.

I was on a school trip to D.C. once when I happened on a large, unattended group of our students all being crazy in a food court. We'd all split into groups of 1 adult to 8 kids, and I was with my 8 kids stopping for lunch. When I asked the other large group of kids where their chaperones were, I found out that 6-7 chaperones had gotten together for lunch at a real restaurant, and had left their 50-60 kids in the food court to eat and hang out on their own and meet up 2 hours later.

Big surprise the kids were going crazy and throwing things, being loud and obnoxious, etc. Obviously, had any of these kids been confronted, they would have said they weren't doing anything. Because that's what kids ALWAYS say (This is my 10th year in education. I promise you, it's never their fault).

I've seen enough to know these kids could very well have been out of control.

@mediagirl: same. I was wondering where the other witnesses are.

It's hard to know who to believe. My sister was a flight attendant for a major airline and the crap she had to tolerate from people was insane. She was blamed for everything by passengers and they really didn't respect her position. Because of that I lean slightly toward the side of the flight attendants because I know they are mistreated, so maybe it was a straw that broke the camels back?

I also agree with @Anagram:, it's not all that uncommon behavior for teenagers and I can totally understand the chaperones covering from them.

Also and I may be out of line here, but I did roll my eyes when one student said they were targeted for being Jewish. I think that card can be a tad overplayed. I'm wondering if he says that because he knows they were being unruly and is trying to turn this into something else? But again I may be out of line, so call me out if need be.