JTA for a "violent" child?

[Raenstoirm]

My 5 year old nephew is obsessed with Star Wars right now. We are heading to WDW next week and I thought he would love to do JTA. His mother is concerned that he will be to rough though. He does play with swords a lot at home and he is pretty rough (he aims to hurt). He does listen to instructions, but can get carried away in the moment. Do the cms have a work around for this? When he fights darth he may try to actually wound him.

 

[hiroMYhero]

He needs to not only listen to instructions but also actually follow the directions.

The "work around" will consist of taking his lightsaber from him and leading him from the stage. If your family doesn't think he can follow directions, it would be best to wait until he is old enough to comprehend what is going on show-wise rather than having him take a spot away from another child who would enjoy the show.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

He needs to be able to follow directions. as the previous poster said, they will remove him from the stage if he does not.

 

[lovethattink]

@hiroMYhero would probably know.

 

[kamik86]

I definitely wouldn't let him do this. If he is going to go off script to try to actually hit Vadar, he is going to end up hurting the innocent CM that is Vadar's friend that day.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

If there is any doubt about him attempting to injure someone, I say don't let him do it.

 

[HopperFan]

My 5 year old nephew is obsessed with Star Wars right now. We are heading to WDW next week and I thought he would love to do JTA. His mother is concerned that he will be to rough though. He does play with swords a lot at home and he is pretty rough (he aims to hurt). He does listen to instructions, but can get carried away in the moment. Do the cms have a work around for this? When he fights darth he may try to actually wound him.

I think you answered your own question.

This is not an appropriate activity for him. Take him to Launch Bay to see all the cool stuff, meet Darth and Chewie for a photo, ride Star Tours and check out the other Star Wars stuff.

This would set him up for failure to comply, could injure someone and ruin the experience for the other kids involved.

 

[wilkeliza]

There is no work around. Children are expected to only do the strikes they are taught. Kids who look like they will "go off script" have been taken off stage before. Even when the little girl just wanted to join the darkside at DL they took her straight off stage and wouldn't let Darth do anything special.

 

[Jennasis]

No. Just no. Please no.

 

[mshanson3121]

My 5 year old nephew is obsessed with Star Wars right now. We are heading to WDW next week and I thought he would love to do JTA. His mother is concerned that he will be to rough though. He does play with swords a lot at home and he is pretty rough (he aims to hurt). He does listen to instructions, but can get carried away in the moment. Do the cms have a work around for this? When he fights darth he may try to actually wound him.

Yeah this is not the thing for a child that actually aims to hurt. A 5 year old should know better. And since for some reason he doesn't it would be irresponsible to put him in it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Must be hard being the aunt in this situation! When DS was first shown SW his behavior became atrocious. Once I finally was told that they'd seen SW when I was sleeping in, the movie was out in time out for a year. He could handle pirate movies but SW turned him into a monster. I have no interest in dealing with a child like that, so the movie was gone until he'd matured. Otherwise I would have ended up with your nephew. Wild that his mom accepts this from him!

 

[3Gsandme]

He's really not ready for this experience yet, OP, and I think you know that.

 

[Alesia]

My 5 year old nephew is obsessed with Star Wars right now. We are heading to WDW next week and I thought he would love to do JTA. His mother is concerned that he will be to rough though. He does play with swords a lot at home and he is pretty rough (he aims to hurt). He does listen to instructions, but can get carried away in the moment. Do the cms have a work around for this? When he fights darth he may try to actually wound him.

I can not, for the life of me, figure out why anyone would even consider letting him do JTA.

Trying to hurt another person is not "violent," it's violent. Period.

 

[butterfly71076]

My 5 year old nephew is obsessed with Star Wars right now. We are heading to WDW next week and I thought he would love to do JTA. His mother is concerned that he will be to rough though. He does play with swords a lot at home and he is pretty rough (he aims to hurt). He does listen to instructions, but can get carried away in the moment. Do the cms have a work around for this? When he fights darth he may try to actually wound him.

I have to agree with the PP's. It sounds like your nephew is not ready for this experience yet. Since you have said yourself, he aims to hurt people, it would be irresponsible of the adults with him to purposely put other people in a situation where they could get hurt.

 

[pixarmom]

Our older boys are great at following directions and have never been aggressive, so JTA was a breeze when they were younger. Our youngest, on the other hand, has disability-related issues that make it difficult for him to self-regulate - he can get very excited and carried away. He's not violent, but he just didn't have the self-control to play with swords and lightsabers from ages 3-7, so our swords and lightsabers went into the attic. Then, the lightsabers gradually reappeared under supervision, with a focus on the light side of the force. At WDW, we distracted him when walking past JTA for years. When he finally noticed it and expressed interest, we just watched the show. Then at home, we watched youtube videos of the show together and talked about what kids needed to do to participate. Understanding the process of JTA and becoming familiar with the routine really helped him to stay calm and focused on the directions. It was a long road, but necessary for him to be successful, and for the other kids participating not to be disrupted. He finally participated this year and did really well - he was so proud! But it took a lot of preparation, so I'd agree it's good for OP's nephew to sit out this time around - so many other Star Wars things to do! I do wonder whether he would like to watch the show. At least in the old version, they really focused on the message of rejecting anger and always turning to the light side of the Force - it was a great way to reinforce the lessons we teach at home.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I agree. And to be honest it's not for every kid for a variety of reasons. Like everything it depends on the kid.

 

[Kathryn777]

I have a 9 year old who was really rough, he did jta at 5,7 and 8. No issues. We signed him up and then went and watched a group perform. It is like they're taught a dance. It never crossed his mind to do anything other than what they showed him. It is different at home, this on stage in front of people, it is a very different setting. Maybe have him watch the YouTube video and try to follow the moves and see how he does

 

[EEPETEZ]

As long as he follows the instructions, it will be fine. My 5 year old got pretty excited when fighting Vader, but no harm done. Watch a video, they are told exactly where to strike. As long as his light saber strikes Vader's at the time he is told to, it doesn't matter how hard he hits. If you think he will follow the instructions, it will be fine. If you think he will start running and hitting people, it's not a good idea and they will remove him. Remember this is not like free form sword fighting, they are told exactly where and when to hit. It's very different than at home. Also do not discount the fact that Vader is huge compared to the little ones, pretty intimidating. There are tons of videos on you tube, watch and see if he can follow the instructions.

 

[wilkeliza]

You could practice with him. Watch the videos and see what 3 strikes they are taught to do. Take 2 light-sabers into the backyard and practice listening to only hit those three strikes. If he can follow it at home then let him do it. If at home he can't follow those 3 strikes then he isn't ready.

 

[hiroMYhero]

My additional concern is that "he aims to hurt." There will be 11 other kids onstage with him and he appears to be conditioned to attempt to hurt others with his lightsaber. The Padawans can't protect all the kids at all times let alone making sure Vader isn't struck when a violent child is onstage.

If he injures Vader or any other onstage CM, the session will be downed and all the other kids will be directed off the stage.

I happened to watch a session where Vader was struck and the Youngling's lightsaber was immediately removed from his grasp and he was led from the stage. Vader's friend did finish the session but did not continue beyond that session. For the following sessions, another friend of Vader had to be found.

If Vader had not been befriended by a "new" friend, the remaining sessions would have been canceled... a huge consequence due to one violent child's behavior. It really is more than just three strikes and ducking. There has to be a genuine respect for authority and for the other Younglings who are onstage.