Extra screening-just wow...

[SaintsManiac]

My 5 year old daughter has become very sensitive in the past few months. She said she does not like "jokes on her" or when we "try to be funny" toward her. If she had been asked this question she more than likely would have just ignored the guy and said he was weird later.

That being said people are goofy and try to make kids laugh all the time. It's fine usually, but the security guards should probably refrain from it. Just my $.02

 

[DisneyWishes14]

No matter how you slice it, it's an inappropriate question. If the goal is to have the child pick which parent is going through screening (which sounds like a GREAT idea ), simply ask them to pick. How much do you want to bet they aren't playing this little game today?

 

[Angel Ariel]

No matter how you slice it, it's an inappropriate question. If the goal is to have the child pick which parent is going through screening (which sounds like a GREAT idea ), simply ask them to pick. How much do you want to bet they aren't playing this little game today?

Exactly. if the question was "Who do you want to go through the detector with you" then I doubt this thread ever gets posted in the first place.

 

[Hibiscus]

The fact that this is a thread at all, much less a 4 page one, is mind-boggling.

It was a joke. Get over it.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

The fact that this is a thread at all, much less a 4 page one, is mind-boggling.

It was a joke. Get over it.

Exactly. People need to teach their children to toughen up and stop being so sensitive, instead of worrying about every little off the wall comment scarring them for life. How do these people expect these kids to make it in the real world?

 

[Magpie]

Exactly. if the question was "Who do you want to go through the detector with you" then I doubt this thread ever gets posted in the first place.

I suspect this thread could easily get posted, either way.

"Which parent do you want to send through the detector?" Becomes, "My child can't handle the pressure of being asked questions by complete strangers! Why did that guard feel entitled to even speak to my child in the first place?" And, "Disney is undermining my efforts to teach my children not to speak to strangers! They need to retrain their guards, so that they never speak directly to children, without first getting permission from the child's parents."

I think there are many ways to slice this one.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Exactly. People need to teach their children to toughen up and stop being so sensitive, instead of worrying about every little off the wall comment scarring them for life. How do these people expect these kids to make it in the real world?

Just because there are children who may not be able to understand or deal at a stroller age doesn't mean parents aren't teaching them or that they won't understand at an older age. Some children take longer to develop specific skills and abilities. It isn't a matter of needing to teach them to "toughen up" as you so word, but that their development needs more time to get to the point where they can appropriately understand.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I suspect this thread could easily get posted, either way.

"Which parent do you want to send through the detector?" Becomes, "My child can't handle the pressure of being asked questions by complete strangers! Why did that guard feel entitled to even speak to my child in the first place?" And, "Disney is undermining my efforts to teach my children not to speak to strangers! They need to retrain their guards, so that they never speak directly to children, without first getting permission from the child's parents."

I think there are many ways to slice this one.

Perhaps. I personally doubt it, and even if it had been posted my response certainly would be different. But I can only speak for myself.

 

[maxiesmom]

Good grief, it isn't like he was asking them to make Sophie's Choice, for crying out loud. It was a joke. Move on. There are enough real things to stress and worry about, if we all haven't noticed.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

Just because there are children who may not be able to understand or deal at a stroller age doesn't mean parents aren't teaching them or that they won't understand at an older age. Some children take longer to develop specific skills and abilities. It isn't a matter of needing to teach them to "toughen up" as you so word, but that their development needs more time to get to the point where they can appropriately understand.

What exactly are you characterizing as "stroller age"? I would think that if OP's child was a toddler the comment would have merely gone over their head rather than upsetting them. Children mostly take their cues from their parents--if they see you are upset and overreacting then they will follow suit. Bottom line is that there are many parents who overly coddle their children and make a big deal out of nothing. This is not helpful to the child.

 

[Mike&AllisMom]

What exactly are you characterizing as "stroller age"? I would think that if OP's child was a toddler the comment would have merely gone over their head rather than upsetting them. Children mostly take their cues from their parents--if they see you are upset and overreacting then they will follow suit. Bottom line is that there are many parents who overly coddle their children and make a big deal out of nothing. This is not helpful to the child.

My 4 year old used a stroller. Hope you never have a child with special needs.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

My 4 year old used a stroller. Hope you never have a child with special needs.

When did this become a topic about kids with special needs? Did OP state his/her child had special needs???

 

[Magpie]

And this goes back to the fact that some children are able to understand a parent when they respond as you describe, and others are not. Having a child that does not understand the repsonse you describe does not equal poor parenting.

When it's debatable as to whether or not something is appropriate, as clearly this is as it is being debated , then IMO Disney should air on the side of caution.

For the record, I never said you were a poor parent.

I do feel sorry for the security guard in question, if this ever gets back to him. It won't have the nuance you're trying to carry across. Instead it'll be, "No more joking with the kids, Bob! We've had complaints from parents. Keep it strictly professional, and just do your job." And poor Bob (having no idea about autistic children possibly being especially anxiety-prone with regards to a particular question he once asked) is thinking, "But I'm a nice guy! I'm not creepy or anything. I'm just trying to put a smile on people's faces. What's happened to this world, where a father or a grandfather can't speak to a stranger's child?"

And next thing we know, there are folks on the Dis complaining about "stern" guards at the gates of the Magic Kingdom. And comparing Bob to the TSA.

 

[Mike&AllisMom]

When did this become a topic about kids with special needs? Did OP state his/her child had special needs???

When did it become a topic about how parents coddle their children? There is a lot of judging going on here. I have a child with special needs. This question would upset them.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

When did it become a topic about how parents coddle their children? There is a lot of judging going on here. I have a child with special needs. This question would upset them.

My post is not in response to you, so I'm not quite sure why you're making this about yourself.

 

[Mike&AllisMom]

For the record, I never said you were a poor parent.

I do feel sorry for the security guard in question, if this ever gets back to him. It won't have the nuance you're trying to carry across. Instead it'll be, "No more joking with the kids, Bob! We've had complaints from parents. Keep it strictly professional, and just do your job." And poor Bob (having no idea about autistic children possibly being especially anxiety-prone with regards to a particular question he once asked) is thinking, "But I'm a nice guy! I'm not creepy or anything. I'm just trying to put a smile on people's faces. What's happened to this world, where a father or a grandfather can't speak to a stranger's child?"

And next thing we know, there are folks on the Dis complaining about "stern" guards at the gates of the Magic Kingdom. And comparing Bob to the TSA.

You never said anyone was a poor parent You just went on to explain to everyone in detail how you did your parenting. And you posted some links for me to learn how to do it right.

 

[Magpie]

My 4 year old used a stroller. Hope you never have a child with special needs.

Plenty of non-special needs 4 year olds use strollers, as noted in another thread on this board.

Perhaps, instead of "hope you never have a child with special needs", why not just point out that kids at Disney use them up to age six?

My severely autistic cousin wasn't using a stroller at age four. You couldn't keep him in one. We had a harness for him instead!

 

[Angel Ariel]

For the record, I never said you were a poor parent.

I didn't say you did..I'm sorry if you felt I implied it personally.

What's happened to this world, where a father or a grandfather can't speak to a stranger's child?"

Remove disney world from the equation. a random adult approaches a child this on the street in New York City asking them which parent they love more. I very seriously doubt it would be received the way it is in this discussion.

Disney, as we are clearly seeing, is not removed from the rest of the world.

 

[Magpie]

You never said anyone was a poor parent You just went on to explain to everyone in detail how you did your parenting. And you posted some links for me to learn how to do it right.

I answered your question (which I'm guessing now wasn't a real question? You were just making a point?).

Then, when you responded, I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt, in case you weren't being sarcastic, and offered the best advice I could in response to what you said. Unfortunately, you were being sarcastic. So, yeah...

And yes, I did describe my approach to parenting, with regards to exactly this kind of situation. It is, after all, clearly a parenting situation.

If you want, you are always free to describe how you do your parenting. IE, "Oh, that's how you handle this sort of situation? Interesting! Here's how we handle it in our family..." That would actually be interesting to read.

I definitely wasn't trying to put you on the defensive.

 

[mom2rtk]

My issue with the "joke" is that it confirms my concern that they are STILL not doing extra screening on every guest.

If they aren't doing it now, I guess there's not much hope.

If you're going to do it, do it right. Staff up and put in enough metal detectors so that every guest can go through quickly.

Better yet, disperse the security and do it before loading on a parks bound bus (and at the TTC for car travelers).