European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Kids a vegetables even beatings bribes fail by Kevin Cowherd Baltimore evening Sun in Between Downing fistfuls of Tranquili Zers atthe dinner table most parents Are consume with getting their kids to eat their this Day the Only sure fire method is to tie the child Down pry open his Little Mouth and Force the required string Beans or what have you Down his Little oesophagus taking care the Little monster does t bite off a Finger or two. Unfortunately Given the Liberal child abuse Laws in the United states that method is now frowned on in Many circles. In fact it can actually earn the Parent a stretch in the county jail since kids today think nothing of alerting their attorneys the moment Mommy or daddy reaches for the rope and a for Ful of peas. Many parents Tell the child that by eating his vegetables he or she will grow up big and however if it is a Choice Between growing up big and Strong and eating something like Squash a child will often opt to grow up Small and weak or even wan and some children Are so terrified of Squash they will actually beg to remain 3 feet tall and 35 pounds for the rest of their lives. Many parents coax children to eat vegetables by referring to the child s friends such As Timmy eats his that of course is usually an outright lie which the child could ferret out in a matter of seconds with a simple phone Call to Timmy a House. Heck no i would t eat spinach if you paid me Timmy would doubtless say. And that would be the end of that. But How Many parents will actually allow their child to excuse himself in the Middle of dinner to make a business Call especially if the kid is so bold As to demand his parents calling card number to get to the Bottom of this spinach some parents feel the Only Way to get a kid to eat his vegetables is to Promise a Reward. The Reward can take Many forms. If the parents Are truly desperate for instance they might Promise the child a stack of Crisp $100 Bills to finish his carrots. Once the kid cleans his plate however the parents should quickly renege on the Deal correctly pointing out that any child too Young to Cross the Street by himself is far too immature to Deal with three grand in cold Cash. Besides they should add in a disdainful tone you d Only spend it on toys some parents feel the Best Way to get a child to eat his vegetables is by bribing him with a Fine dessert. For instance let us say the parents happen to be pushing Lima Beans which is a particularly vile vegetable better left undiscovered in the steaming Jungles of Indonesia or wherever it came from. God i hated Lima Beans. I still hate them. The very thought of them squatting on the plate in an evil Green Mound steaming under a gooey Pat of butter Why i just. Sorry. Bad Flashback. Anyway the parents pushing this sorry stuff might say finish those Lima Beans and Mommy has some Nice chocolate pudding for in the classic pavlovian response the kid would promptly gag his Way through the Lima Beans to get a shot at the pudding. Except some kids apparently never heard of Pavlov. Or they re too damned smart for their own Good since they la Start bargaining with you three Lima Beans for a Quarter cup of pudding six for half a cup Etc. With All that haggling dinner can take 10 or 12 hours and bring you right into breakfast where you have to do another con Job getting the kid to eat his Oatmeal. Another favorite Way to Gat veggies Down a kid s Gullet is the de Niro method named after the famous screen actor who inc Dently never went in much for vegetables As a child preferring to spend his time in front of a Mirror mouthing the words "yo1 Are you Talkin to me so let s say the Mother is trying to persuade the child to eat his cauliflower. And the child quite naturally says no Way Jose huh. Forget it. No can meaning the child would prefer not to. Employing the de Niro method the Mother would then take a for Ful of cauliflower place it in her own Mouth smack her lips and gush my Mem delicious Mommy loves cauliflower in other words she would turn in an Oscar winning performance designed to show the child cauliflower does t taste like plasterboard after All. If the kid has half a brain of course he will see through this obvious charade Pronto. She s pulling a de Niro on me the kid will think. If it tastes so Good Why does the dog run to Vermont when he has to eat it and the kid would have a Point. So maybe you should just Start the meal with chocolate pudding and see How that works. Distributed by los Angeles times Washington Post news services a Lisa Rivard precautions to take when kids Fly alone by Betsy Wade new York times the department of transportation cannot guess How Many children Are travelling unaccompanied on airlines in the unite states these Days. But a 5 a general indication two years ago United airlines said it carried 500,000 Over the summer. Piedmont said it carried 212,293 last year and expected 230,000 this year. Trans world airlines said 300 to 350 unaccompanied children made connections every Day through St. Louis. Everyone agrees that the numbers Are rising. As divorce increases children May need to travel Long distances to spend vacations or holidays with the Parent they re not living with. In addition in a period when families will Transfer the Width of a continent to pursue a Job children May have to travel alone to see their grandparents. Children who May Fly unescorted on . Carriers starting at the age of 5, Are charged adult fares for a seat plus a fee of $20 or $25 for help in making a connection. Child passengers Are vulnerable in the word of Allaire Williams director of special projects in the office of the Secretary of transportation. Not All those children Are handled by airlines with the care they deserve and sometimes their parents Are too casual about the venture. While most trips Are uneventful Here Are examples of How things go wrong. These cases came to the attention of Barbara Wyatt head of a consulting firm in Washington who assisted the department of transportation in developing a program to educate parents guardians and airlines about preventing problems. In one Case parents dropped off three children the oldest 14, at a Washington Airport and continued on to the Beach. The flight was delayed for some time but the parents were out of Contact. By this time the grandparents at the other end of the line had left for the Airport and they could not be reached either. The parents had Given the 14-year-old a responsibility he could not handle because they had not anticipated any hitch in the plan. In another Case a child was bumped by an airline from an 11 . Connecting flight. Another time a flight was cancelled after a Long delay and when the airline tried to phone parents to retrieve their children there was no answer at some of the numbers provided by the parents. The airline sent the children to a hotel with a mature passenger herself a grandmother. An unaccompanied Little girl a concerned passenger noticed was seated next to a Man whose attentions were clearly unwelcome. That passenger an off duty flight attendant said that the working attendants were oblivious. She went to the child and said i think you need to sit by me and walked her to another seat. After a mix up Over a missed connection an airline let Wyatt s son then a tall 16-year-old, and a second unescorted teen age boy leave the Airport to get a hotel room. They went to seven hotels before they thought to say that they were 21 so they could get a room. Wyatt said that this experience had sensitized her to the possibilities that nearly grown children might still not be Able to manage All emergencies. Her advice As a result is that parents ask the airline to assist younger teen agers in making a connection. Although the government does not regulate the transportation of unaccompanied children in the United states it does regulate the air transport of pets the Rise in the number of unaccompanied child passengers has made the department of transportation anxious. In 1986 it pulled together a leaflet called kids and teens in flight which some airlines distribute As does the department. The Hope was to suggest to parents that leaving a child at the Airport was not so simple As dropping a child off at school. The department also wanted to guide parents to press the airlines for intelligent care of children. The leaflet includes two copies of what the j department Calls the travel card. This is to be filled out once for the trip away from Home and once for the Trimback. The cards Are for the Parent to present if the airline neglects to record the minimum necessary information phone numbers and addresses of the people sending the child and the same for those meeting the child flight numbers including connecting flights last destination ticket number seat number and any passport number and any medical or dietary information that the airlines need to know. The leaflet summarizes several items of general airline policy although it says that you should ask the airline what its specific policy is. For example on the question of whether the child is being picked up by the right person the summary says unaccompanied children will be delivered by the flight attendant to the Gate agent. The child must be met by the responsible adult listed on the travel card or unaccompanied minor form. Proper identification and signature Are required before the child s release. The airline must be notified of any actually a number of airline spokesmen said a signature is Seldom asked for. If a child being walked past the Security area runs to someone waiting the airline considers its duty to identify the responsible adult fulfilled. However Wyatt said that she thought an airline should Honor a Parent s request not to release the child without getting positive identification. All the airline spokesmen who were asked said that employees were trained to keep custody of a hesitant child until the waiting party s identification was matched with information the airline had. One question that this raises is whether a child who was supposed to be met by someone else might Rush instead to a Parent who did not have custody rights. A spokesman for Continental airlines which the department of transportation said was one of three main supporters of the kids and teens project the others were Piedmont and Delta said that Continental required positive identification a Driver s License or the like from the person meeting a child on arrival. If a Parent who has been in a custody dispute cannot accompany a child on a flight the Best move would seem to be having a responsible adult escort the child. If the child is under 12 and can ride half fare when travelling with an adult this option would Only Cost the additional half fare. Children under 5 cannot normally travel unaccompanied on . Domestic airlines although there Are arrangements that can be made for overseas travel by infants in the custody of an off duty flight attendant. Most Domestic airlines will accept a child 5, 6 or 7 years old Only on a flight that involves no changes of plane. Children 8 to 11 Are generally allowed to make a connection providing the extra fee is paid. But the tickets must be confirmed All the Way through and a second airline must know that the child is travelling Solo some lines won t let children make connections late at night lest there be a flight delay. If you want a child of 12 or older to be accompanied by airline personnel through a connection and to be helped with Luggage if this is needed ask for this and pay the fee. Otherwise the airline has no mandate to keep the child from leaving the Airport or plunging into a video games room where flights May not be announced. At a few connection cities there Are children s lounges maintained by specific airlines Continental Piedmont and trans world airlines among them where unescorted children May play or watch television under supervision. When you take your child to the Airport you should have time to put the child into the hands of an airline Gate attendant. It is Best to wait until you actually see the flight take off not taxi but take off monitors in airline terminals Are not always accurate. Then you should be at the phone number you have Given until you hear from the other end that the child has arrived safely. Likewise when you Are meeting a child Williams of the department of transportation stressed do not wait in a car since the airline should not release the child until you appear inside and ii tiny yourself. For a copy of kids and teens in , Send a stamped addressed envelope to room 10405, department of transportation 400 seventh Street Southwest Washington . 20590. 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