Is an overhead bin an appropriate venue in which to play peek-a-boo with a 17-month-old child?

CC BY: Christopher Sessums

ustralian mom Natalie Williamson says a male flight attendant on a Virgin Blue flight from Fiji to Sydney locked her 17-month-old son Riley in the overhead bin for about 10 seconds, scarring both her son and herself. Virgin offered the family free flights and fired the attendant, who claims he was merely helping Williamson's now-estranged husband play a game of peek-a-boo with the baby. "For days on end I was crying," Williamson says, and Riley is so traumatized that despite seeing various specialists, he refuses to "leave my sight now." How misguided was this stunt? (Watch a discussion about the incident)

Virgin overreacted: Locking a toddler in the overhead bin was a "bad call," obviously, says David Parker Brown in Airline Reporter. But probably not bad enough to warrant firing the flight attendant. And Virgin isn't the only party blowing things out of proportion. I mean, look, "I am no counselor, but it seems a bit odd that Riley would have so many issues after only a few seconds in the overhead bin."
"Peek-A-Boo! Kid gets locked in a Virgin Blue overhead bin"

The airline's not off the hook yet: We all know how much "babies just love being enclosed in airtight spaces," scoffs Ami Angelowicz in The Frisky. "What a fun idea!" Seriously, sometimes you want to "get in some people's heads and noodle around until you can understand what the HELL they were thinking." Firing the doofus was a good start, but I "smell an impending lawsuit," too.
"Babies don't belong in overhead bins"

Hey, at least America's not the punchline this time: It's sad that the boy is apparently traumatized, says Jen Doll in The Village Voice. But, in a curious way, "we're just glad this happened [elsewhere] than the U.S. It's nice to see someone else freak out ridiculously every now and again."
"Parents do not find 'kid in the overhead compartment' joke funny..."