European countries have adopted more judicious approaches to masking young travelers than the United States.

From Ryanair to the TGV to KLM, young children can travel across Europe without masking.

While the United States CDC recommends children aged 2 and older mask just about everywhere indoors — child care, malls, schools, buses, trains, and planes — European countries have not only adopted more judicious approaches to masking in schools, but also on public transportation.

The rigid U.S. approach to masking child travelers inspired by CDC guidance — just extended through January 18, 2022 by the Transportation Security Administration for everyone aged 2 and older — has led to some heartbreaking situations on flights, such as Southwest Airlines kicking an autistic toddler off one of their planes:

“We’re getting close to the runway,” she explained. “They’re going over the security safety features and all that, and the flight attendant walks by and tells me that he has to put a mask on. So, I try to put the mask on him. He is 3 and has autism and sensory processing disorders, so he wouldn’t keep the mask on.”

That’s when she claims the flight attendant alerted the captain who asked her son to put the mask on again before returning the plane back to the gate.

“So the captain went back to the front, then he went over the loudspeaker and said that he had a non-compliant passenger…