Man posts video of screaming child on flight and sparks a major debate

We’ve all been on a long journey with a crying baby next to us before, but one man has divided the internet after posting a viral clip of himself on a plane.

Pat McAuliffe, a writer with Barstool Sports, posted a clip which has been viewed more than 10 million times on Twitter/X alone.

The clip showed him grimacing in his seat as a child could be heard crying behind him.

“If your child is screaming on a flight (that’s late with no AC and hasn’t taken off yet @Delta) show it a f***ing phone,” he wrote. “Brain rot the baby on TikTok until it’s quiet. Is that too much to ask?”

He added: “I do feel bad for the parents but at some point you gotta try something new. Walk his ass up and down the aisle, distract him, do something. It’s still going on. Simply praying it’ll stop is not acceptable.”

In another follow up post, he added: “At what point does this become a medical emergency? It’s been two hours. Also why are these people not at least talking to their kid to soothe him? STAND UP AND WALK HIM AROUND.”

The post was seen by millions, and the comments were split right down the middle.

Some believed the parents could have done more to stop the baby crying, but others believed Pat should have put on some headphones and shown more tolerance.

“Is it too much to ask to buy proper noise cancelling headphones..?” one wrote.

Another critical social media user replied to the clip by saying: “Tell me you don’t have kids without telling me you don’t have kids what a loser lol.”

Others pointed out that it’s a difficult situation many parents have faced – and it’s not easy to stop children crying, especially on planes.

“If the parents actually aren’t doing anything to try to sooth this baby then I’m with you. Otherwise, if they are trying, sometimes nothing you do works man and some level of grace is necessary here,” one wrote.

Others were more direct, with a user saying: “As a parent of 3 shut the f*** up put your headphones and enjoy the flight. That parents is in absolute hell.”

“I can guarantee you that parent is stressing out way more than you flying by yourself with ear buds in. Grow up,” another added.

“Can tell you have never had kids before. Not as easy as this. Get headphones,” one more said.

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