West Lakes,
I think the extreme examples of bad behaviour you quoted are probably the exception rather than the rule.
you said:
"I don't have anything against kids themselves, as I said we've had many lovely children on flights,.."
Well, it is actually normal that kids are not always "lovely" and "cute" and quiet all the time, they are kids! still growing and still having to learn how to deal with the world around them, fatigue, new environment etc...
As far as the parents are concerned, just because a child is screaming or throwing a tantrum, does not mean it is due to poor parenting! Like I said before, I have 3 kids all raised the same way, I always bring onto the plane toys, pens, paper etc.. to keep them enternained, yet my youngest daughter (3 yrs old) still refuses to sit down buckle up and she does throw a tantrum particularly at the end of the flight if she is tired. If people here get annoyed about it, and expect that parents will magically make them lovely again, then I am sorry but it is those people complaining who show a lack of compassion, tolerance and understanding towards children.
But really, what shocked me the most about your post was:
"We approached it slightly differently by deliberately not taking our son on an aircraft until he was old enough to understand what was going on and had enough social skills not to annoy other people."
What????? Do you mean that people should not fly with their babie's/ small kids because they "don't have enough skills" yet????
" I know some parents have no choice but to fly with young children - and from what I have read on here (in other similar threads as well) most of them are "switched on" enough to not let their children cause annoyance. To those parents - well done."
Well, I do have a choice, and I do choose to fly with my kids, and so, according to you, I must be "switched off" because, like I said before, my daughter does cause what you call "annoyance", but what I would call "being a tired child and not knowing how else to express it".
It all depends on what some here call annoyance, some people get annoyed at the kid in the front seat looking at them, and some (like me) don't. etc....
And the extreme cases quoted here such as kids spitting, poo in the overhead lockers, kids tripping the crew... I am sure that kind of extreme behaviour is more the exception rather than the rule..