Special carriage keeps the peace on a long journey

It's that time of year again, when myriad migrant workers embark on long-distance travel by train, often with their young children, as they return to work in faraway cities after spending the Chinese New Year holiday in their hometowns.

For many years, the racket of kids running about or whining on trains appeared to be a major headache for some passengers, who had to endure the seemingly unending noises from those they called "little brats."

On February 8, however, reporters from Xinhua news agency found a train leaving Xiamen City in Fujian Province for Beijing was surprisingly quiet, although quite a few children were on board. The reporters discovered that dozens of children, many with their parents, had been invited to play or even study in a special carriage adapted from a dining car and designed to cater to their various interests.

"There were many colorful jigsaw puzzle cards, wooden building blocks and candies in the 'children's carriage' which were so attractive to the little travelers," the Xinhua report noted.

"Our little daughter began to cry as soon as we boarded the train," said one young couple. "She used to live with her grandmother in our hometown, so she cried the moment she realized her grandmother was not on the train, and we tried in vain to stop her from crying."

Hearing the crying child, a crew member on the train came to the rescue. With their permission, the crew member cuddled their daughter and cautiously ushered her to the "children's carriage."

"She immediately stopped crying when she saw so many colorful jigsaw puzzle cards in the special carriage," the couple told reporters.

Aside from colorful play cards, the special carriage also offered disposable nursing pads so young parents could take good care of their babies. Crew members also took turns to read stories to the children to calm them down.

Having read Xinhua's report, I did some further research and found the "children's carriage" on the aforementioned train from Xiamen to Beijing had been in use since last Lunar New Year holiday. China Central Television reported in January this year that such a special carriage was not necessarily available every day, as the number and ages of travelers varied from day to day.

Local crew members told CCTV that whenever there was a demand to take care of many little travelers, they would try to turn appropriate cars into "children's carriages."

"It's not just about physically restructuring a train carriage, it's more about an ability to provide better humanistic care," the CCTV report concluded.

Indeed. Travelers' experience on a train depends in no small part on the crew's caring ability. I used to blame the racket of screaming kids on negligent parents, but the latest stories from Xinhua and CCTV drive home the point that train crews' efforts can make the difference between pleasant and gruesome journeys.

Certainly, there are parents who pamper their naughty kids at the expense of other travelers' reasonable interests, but in the case of small children who can hardly control their emotions, even parents may sometimes feel helpless.

That's where train crew members, or school teachers, come in.

Last year, when I traveled in Tokyo on a bus, I was surprised to find a dozen kindergarten kids, led by three young teachers, either remained silent or spoke in low voices throughout their journey. And whenever a child wanted to talk, a teacher would quickly bend down so that she could whisper to him or her. Moreover, of all the kindergarten kids on board, none ever asked for a seat. They all stood, their hands clinging firmly to posts.

Children can be taught. Properly nudged, even small children could stand to reason. The thing is whether we care to be humanistic and whether we know how to nudge. I hope more trains in China can emulate the one commuting between Xiaman and Beijing.

Where there is a will, there is a way.