Teen punched for refusing to turn off cell phone on flight

An elderly man was charged with misdemeanor battery for punching a teenager in the arm during a Southwest Airlines flight.

The beef apparently arose when the teenager wouldn’t shut off his iPhone before the plane landed. Sixty-eight-year-old Russel Earl Miller is said to have become enraged on the Las Vegas – Boise flight when the unaccompanied 15-year-old refused to shut off his cell phone after the no electronic devices announcement over the intercom. Police said that there was evidence to suggest that the older man had punched the teen, because the blow apparently left a mark on his arm.

Now, I don’t want to jump to any conclusions here, but I really think that the world would be a better place if more old people punched teenagers who refuse to follow reasonable instructions. The way I see it there are three unfortunate things about this incident: that Miller was arrested; that what he did is against the law; and that a bunch of witnesses were offended enough by Miller’s actions to report what he did to authorities.

In his defense, Miller said that he merely tapped the teen. [KBOI]