thomaskr wrote:I've witnessed Donald in the past getting punched by little kids and I remember the character acting in an exagerated manner. I found it actually innappropriate and the character should have killed the act right there and then, turned tail and left. I'll say it again: the best way to deal with simple - and probably unintentional - aggression is to ignore it and those characters are essentially giant, walking stuffed animals to a kid. Especially when the parents point them to the characters and say "look! There's Goofy!" rather than "look! There's a guy in a Goofy costume!".
Teenagers and older acting out and attacking characters should be punished in relation to the severity of the act. Punching Chip (or was it Dale?) in the head is something severe enought that the police should be brought in to get involved with.
Still, I agree with a lot of the respondents that Disney is lacking cojones lately. Remember that arrest at DW of a much sought-after central american drug dealer because he and his girlfriend were stupid enough to shopliftthere? Like Mickey said "sometimes if you take care of the little things, the big things take care of themselves."
WOW! Just wow!
With all due respect, it all comes down to the parents teaching the kids respect and how to behave at Disney. For the two children that did punch Donald, look at the thousands of kids who did not. The parents are responsible for their kids actions and they should not have been rewarded. Why can thousands of children go through the day at Disney and not punch a character? Because their parents taught them it was wrong! The ones who do punch characters have been the result of poor parenting.
As far as the description of the characters as "giant stuffed animals"? No, I don't buy it. There are enough kids that are polite and do NOT kick and hit the characters. They do not see the characters as "giant stuffed animals". They see the characters as living breathing characters. Tigger is REAL. He IS Tigger, not a stuffed animal version of him. He walks and plays and poses. He is Tigger. And there is no need to tell a child it is a person dressed as Tigger so the child won't punch. Teach them NOT to punch!
Donald is REAL, NOT a giant stuffed animal that does not react. He IS Donald, walking and posing. NOT a stuffed animal. Same with ALL the characters!
Characters play around all the time with kids. They pose and hug and sometimes play/tussle with them. But Donald *baiting* the kids? That is a bit of an extreme statement. The characters do NOT bait the guests to fight. The characters are there to entertain and meet the guests, not to be pummeled by them. Anytime a guest hits or kicks or otherwise attacks a character, it is out of line. There is no excuse in the world for it. It is wrong. And the guest who does this should be escorted away.
And to ignore this behavior? What does that do? It tells the kid that it is okay to punch the character. (Unless I am reading your statement entirely wrong. It sounds like you are saying it is better for the parents to ignore the kids punching the character and fighting each other as it will run itself out?) One should NEVER ignore aggression in a child. It says something about the child's perception and if it is ignored, the child will continue to do it and it may lead to worse things down the line. Then how do you stop it after you have *ignored* it for so long?
If the parent does nothing but ignore the behavior, the child gets the message it is okay. Wow! I cannot believe I just read a parent saying that a parent should ignore aggressive behavior in a child! This is why we see parents NOT taking responsibility for their kids behavior in the Parks. They ignore the child and hope the behavior will stop, while someone else is getting the brunt of the childs behavior. Sorry, I completely disagree with you, tho I respect your right to believe how you want.
And of course the characters act in an exxagerated manner. That is how they communicate! It is part of their *act*. But it is not part of their act to be baeten, kicked, bitten and have the parent ignore the child that is doing that! It is up to the parents to STOP the aggressive behavior, be it with a character or a sibling.
The two children were brats and allowed to act like brats in public and the parents are responsible for their brattiness. They need to teach them respect. Period. AND the little kids need to be punished for their behavior as much as the teens. Or else the little kids will grow up to be the asinine teens!
Good behavior is taught. And a parent who thinks it is okay to watch their kid punch a character and ignore it as a *little* thing, completely boggles my mind.
The Princess