Piling on – Air controller dad loses job when kids do his

It’s hard to believe with all that’s happening in the world, but this story has dominated the TV networks every day.

An air traffic controller’s stunt in letting his 9-year-old twins direct planes has landed with a thud – on the kids.

The brother and sister are blaming themselves because their father has been suspended for bringing them to work at Kennedy Airport, a relative said Thursday.

“The kids are upset,” Glenn Duffy’s brother-in-law, Larry Johnstone, told the Daily News. “They feel it’s their fault … They’re thinking, ‘Daddy’s in trouble because of me.'”

[From We cost Dad his job! Kids who took over for Kennedy airport air traffic controller blame themselves]

Was it the horrible travesty and violation that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood suggests? Or was is just a typical “Bring your Child to Work” day?

My knee-jerk opinion was “mountain out of molehill,” but have come to agree with Ray LaHood that this is more than just bad judgment on the dad’s part. It wasn’t a case of him just bending the rules a little, and while nothing the kids did put anyone in danger, it showed a carelessness that could creep in if higher standards of security aren’t kept. As people in other professions have mentioned, would you want a cop’s child calling in crimes on a police radio? Would you want a surgeon asking his daughter to help prep a patient? There are lots of professions where this wouldn’t be an issue, but in these cases, kids need to get a simulated lesson on what daddy does at work, rather than bring them to really sit in.

But does it warrant five days of news coverage? More like a slap on the wrist for the dad and everyone back to work.