Did I Really Just See That.....in Disney World?????

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Can I just say that there nothing as underrated as a good ertha.

 

[kaylasmom]

Amen to that! :sohappy:

I am a firm believer in corporal punishment. And when I was a child, one of the dreaded sights was seeing Dad get out of his chair and undo his belt...because I knew he wasn't getting ready to go to the restroom! :lol:

On a sidenote, though, while I'm certainly glad to hear that corporal punishment (even with a belt) is legal under Florida law and not considered child abuse, ultimately, that's irrelevant. I believe in giving a good old fashioned whippin' when necessary, and I don't give a flying fig what the law says about it. I'm really not sure if it is legal under Illinois law, but it's irrelevant, because I'm gonna discipline my child as I see fit. That's my business and not the government's.

This was only mentioned because other posters had stated that hitting your child with a belt is an assault. I was just pointing out that it is not considered an assault under Florida law.

I had a mother that would use the belt. And I have grown up to graduate from college, have never been arrested, and have never been in a fight before, so I don't think that corporal punishment is as bad as some people label it.

 

[sbkline]

Let me just clarify what exactly happpened in my post a while back. I see some of you are getting defensive over some senseless parents. The parents with the potty in the gignatic backpack were in no extreme hurry or emergency for the child. They were directly in front of the restrooms. They could have taken that disgusting potty out and easily walked into the private restroom to use it. I felt it a bit extreme to let the boy go in the potty outside in front of everyone. By the way it was only #1 not #2, thank goodness

Those facts certainly do shed new light on the situation.

 

[Dwarful]

Well, as a mother of two girls I can tell you, when you are potty training public restrooms are about the last place on earth you want to be. Now, with that being said, I wouldn't go to wdw during the 'training' stage. Flipping back and forth between diapers/pullups etc., and the training only delays the desired outcome. Both of our girls were out of diapers by the time they were two years old. We had what was called a "porta-potty" and it was this little blue inflatable potty that we could keep in the van for emergencies, it used garbage bags as liners and was quite clean actually. For the theme parks we had a fold-down toilet cover. It came in a carrying bag, that contained clorox wipes, it folded down twice. When you un-folded it, it sat right on top of the toilet seat but kept the child from feeling like they would 'fall into the toilet'. It also had little handles on the side for the kids to hold onto. I would wipe it off with clorox wipes after each use and put in the bag. It fit in side of a quart size bag. Adult size toilets can be hard for child size bottoms to use. Some kids freak out about this.

But in no way would I haul around a full size potty chair...ughhh...

 

[WickedQueen22]

This was only mentioned because other posters had stated that hitting your child with a belt is an assault. I was just pointing out that it is not considered an assault under Florida law.

I had a mother that would use the belt. And I have grown up to graduate from college, have never been arrested, and have never been in a fight before, so I don't think that corporal punishment is as bad as some people label it.

Just today I was thinking what a shame it was no one beat their kids anymore. I got spanked and my sisters got the dreaded wooden spoon. We were not the children at the beach throwing sand on other children or kicking sand on near by adults. However that doesn't seem to happen anymore since my 2 year old got nailed in the face by a tourist child's shovel this afternoon. All the mom did was say "Oh Jamie you just hit that little girl, do you think that was a nice thing to do?" Not even a time out or ANYTHING! It made me so mad.

Sorry to anyone who parents with a pillow instead of a paddle.... not my style.

 

[EpcoTim]

Just today I was thinking what a shame it was no one beat their kids anymore. I got spanked and my sisters got the dreaded wooden spoon. We were not the children at the beach throwing sand on other children or kicking sand on near by adults. However that doesn't seem to happen anymore since my 2 year old got nailed in the face by a tourist child's shovel this afternoon. All the mom did was say "Oh Jamie you just hit that little girl, do you think that was a nice thing to do?" Not even a time out or ANYTHING! It made me so mad.

Sorry to anyone who parents with a pillow instead of a paddle.... not my style.

Well, in my opinion, there's also a difference between deserved punishment and public humiliation. Taking a belt out in public is not only disrespectful to those around you, but also most likely mentally taxing on the child.

 

[Dwarful]

As a child, we always took a two week vacation to California every summer. We drove from Illinois. Dad didn't put up with any cr#p. He never threatened to 'turn this car around'. Instead his rule was "I will beat you three ways...1. HARD, 2. FAST & 3. CONTINUOUSLY! I will beat every child just so I make sure I get the right one!" We always got the warning first! With that being said, we always knew to behave whether we were at church, the movies, a baseball game etc. It was just understood if we were going to get to do 'grown up things' we had to behave like grown ups. Now I don't even see grown ups behaving like grown ups. Bad role models lead to worse behavior in the children.


As far as the beating with the belt. I read it to be excessive beating, but perhaps I just read that into it.

 

[WickedQueen22]

I think I might have come across kind of corporal in punishment. I NEVER embarrass my girls in public and never after the fact. After the fact is ridiculous as who remembers why they get in trouble hours later.

I merely mean maybe a time out... an apology to the person my kids may have offended/injured. Some sort of reprimand or corrective action. I wouldn't hit the kid back with the shovel.

Although I did bite my littlest back when she was 19 months old and bit her sister in a store. I asked her if she liked when mommy bit her, she said no, and then I told her not to bite anyone again or she would be bitten back. Biting solved. To each his own I guess. There are others that would never do that, or that it wouldn't be that easy for.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Well, in my opinion, there's also a difference between deserved punishment and public humiliation. Taking a belt out in public is not only disrespectful to those around you, but also most likely mentally taxing on the child.

True. If i pulled that crap, it would be back to the hotel for me and a well-deserved punishment.

Which, IMO, more parents should do. Don't beat your kids in public; do it in the privacy in of the hotel.

 

[Elonwy]

This was only mentioned because other posters had stated that hitting your child with a belt is an assault. I was just pointing out that it is not considered an assault under Florida law.

I had a mother that would use the belt. And I have grown up to graduate from college, have never been arrested, and have never been in a fight before, so I don't think that corporal punishment is as bad as some people label it.

There's actually a lot of leeway to the law so hitting your child with a belt could indeed legally be considered abuse under Florida law. If it left any type of mark, including a bruise it would legally be considered abuse and if a qualified therapist deemed that hitting your child with a belt caused any harm to the emotional or mental health of your child it could also be considered abuse.

I just wanted to point out that (as all legalities are) it's not all black and white...there are a lot of grey areas

My siblings and I also grew up never having any trouble with the law, never been in a fight, graduated and do charitable work all over the world and we have never once been hit by our parents with hand, belt or anything else so I guess it can work both ways :shrug:

 

[wdwjmp239]

I love reading those threads where we talk about what is your favorite, most disgusting, most embarrasing, most magical (etc.) moments in Disney World. I thought I would start a similar type of thread.

Have you ever seen somebody do anything in Disney World so outrageous, so jaw-dropping, and so out there that literally stopped you in your tracks and made you ask yourself if you really saw what you just saw (good or bad)?

One situation that comes to mind for me happened in March 2007. My wife and I were returning to the Contemporary resort via the monorail after a full day at Epcot. While waiting in line for a monorail, there was a family of four a few spots in front of us (Mom, Dad, Boy - 9ish, Girl - 5ish). Well, the older boy was leaning on the metal chains. The Mom asked him to stop. He did for all of 10 seconds and then proceeded to lean on the chains again. Well, the Mom did not appreciate it much. She proceeded to take off her belt, yell at her son that she had enough, and began whipping the boy with the belt right there in front of everyone. You could tell who wore the pants in the family because the Dad was looking away trying to ignore the whole thing. While this was going on (throughout the 4-5 lashes lovingly bestowed on the Boy), the little girl was singing happily that her brother was getting the belt. Are there people out there really like that? Did I really just see that?

Talk about making everyone on the plaform feel uncomfortable, not to mention how awful we all felt for the Boy, who was hysterically crying. A man standing next to them told her to stop, and she then lashed out verbally at the man to mind his own business. And wouldn't you know it? They sat in the same car as us.


(off topic - has there ever been a thought of opening an additonal forum for these types of "favorite" posts so we don't have to sift through multiple pages in the General Discussion forum?)

Holy crap! Are you kidding me? I wish I would've taken the belt and used it on the mother just to give her a taste of what she was dishing out.

 

[kaylasmom]

There's actually a lot of leeway to the law so hitting your child with a belt could indeed legally be considered abuse under Florida law. If it left any type of mark, including a bruise it would legally be considered abuse and if a qualified therapist deemed that hitting your child with a belt caused any harm to the emotional or mental health of your child it could also be considered abuse.

I just wanted to point out that (as all legalities are) it's not all black and white...there are a lot of grey areas

My siblings and I also grew up never having any trouble with the law, never been in a fight, graduated and do charitable work all over the world and we have never once been hit by our parents with hand, belt or anything else so I guess it can work both ways :shrug:

I did point this particular point out in my original post, but thanks for re-iterating this to anyone who may have thought I implied the law allows you to bruise or seriously injure your child. And as I stated, parents have the right to discipline their children as they wish. If your parents chose not to employ corporal punishment and it worked for them, great! I'm glad you turned out alright!

 

[sbkline]

In my trips to WDW, I can't think of any totally "Holy Cow!" type things that I've seen, but I do remember seeing something that seemed rather odd and out of place. We were in line for BTMRR and we saw a group of what was apparently Budhist Monks or something. Bald Chinese guys in brown robes...probably 5 or 6 of them. Nothing wrong with them being there and they have just as much right as anyone else of course, but it's just one of those things that strikes you as odd...at least it did me. I think of such people and their lifestyle as being secluded from a world, chanting in a monastary, and here they are in line for a ride at WDW! They reminded me of that group that hung out with Mr Miyagi on "The Next Karate Kid". :lol:

Like I said, that story doesn't hold a candle to some of the ones others here have told, but that's all I can think of right now, other than contributing to more thread drift about corporal punishment or public defecation. :ROFLOL:

 

[Scott951]

Fact: Corporal punishment in Florida is LEGAL. See Chapter 39 of Florida State Statutes if you doubt this is so. I know, because I used to work for DCF as a CHILD PROTECTIVE INVESTIGATOR. Hitting your child with a belt is absolutely NOT child abuse, it is a form of corporal punishment. If you choose not to use it, that is your business. But that mother's choice to use it is only an assault if you think it is, not according to Florida Law.

Having said that... if you hit the child so hard or so repeatedly that the child obtains injuries, such as bruising or swelling, then you have an abusive situation, not a corrective one.

It never ceases to amaze me how people think that their method of disciplining their child should work for everyone else. You raise your children your way and let other people raise theirs!

Personally, I would never spank my child with a belt, certainly not in public. But I do believe in corporal punishment and that is my right as a parent. And I too would have told that man to mind his own business, because how I choose to discipline my child is my business, not yours!

And just because the chain wasn't bothering you is not the issue. If the mother told the child to stop and he did not, then OH MY GOD, here's a mother that actually tried to make her child behave!!! The horror! How dare that mother just ignore the fact that her child is defying her!! I might have spanked the child with my hand, and trust me, when I was done, I would have spanked the other child for laughing at her brother! Then they both would have gone back to the hotel/home for misbehaving at the park. I would think much less of this mother if she had kept telling this child repeatedly to stop doing something and yet never made him stop it.

You can't win.... how many posts have been about people not making their children behave? Now we have a mother who was trying to make her child behave and she gets ridiculed because the OP doesn't approve of her disciplinary techniques? Six of one, half dozen of the other...

Kudos to all parents who make their children behave.. in whatever fashion that works best for them!

You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I would never tell you how to raise your kids.

However, in my opionion, this incident was wrong on so many levels. First and foremost, taking a belt to a child and beating him like he is a rented mule should not be condoned except in maybe extreme circumstances (and leaning on a chain certainly does not qualify in my opinion). Secondly, to do this in public was also unbelieveable. Not only for the embarassment of the kid (for doing what I deemed to be a minor infraction), but as another posted noted, it also made everyone else in the area uncomfortable. What a way to cap off the night after a great day at the parks.

Once again, I am not telling you how to raise your kids. I was just pointing out why in my opinion this was the unbelieveable thing I saw in WDW. I have 3 kids of my own, and to act the way the Mom did here wouldn't even be a fraction of a thought in my mind.

 

[Scott951]

In '97 when I took my now hubby to WDW for his first trip. One night we were in the magic kingdom when there was a torrential downpour. We put on our poncho's and tried to keep going but it was just no good. We decided to go into the store in Toontown (Where the character meets are) and decided to try and wait it out. as we are walking around browsing we stopped to look at something when we both saw the same thing at the same time. A girl about 18-19 years old, wearing over all's, soaking wet. She bought a new shirt...dropped the over alls, took the wet shirt off, and put the new shirt on...both DH and I were

I assume she had a bathing suit top on?

 

[jeffk410]

nothing jaw dropping

but this past trip a father and mother and about a 10 yr old son were having the puberty talk right at the pool at the carribean beach infront of everyone. The little boy deffinatly was embarrased and i was right there it was an awkward moment ,but he had to hear someday. It didnt really bother me just the other parents seemed iffy about it .

 

[Elonwy]

I did point this particular point out in my original post, but thanks for re-iterating this to anyone who may have thought I implied the law allows you to bruise or seriously injure your child. And as I stated, parents have the right to discipline their children as they wish. If your parents chose not to employ corporal punishment and it worked for them, great! I'm glad you turned out alright!

I did see your original post and don't worry, I know you weren't talking about punishment that brutal but I just didn't want someone out there to think, "OK so I can beat my child with a baseball bat because Florida law says so" You just never know how people may read into things and what some people consider "corporal punishment" others might not.

"leaving a mark" is a loose definition but I figure it helps to separate those parents who would give a swat on the behind to others who would give a punch to the face (jeez...I hate even typing that)

I grew up with two parents who were abused as children (my father grew up in foster care) and they always promised nevr to lay a hand on their kids which is a better alternative to other parents who may have experienced abuse and pass it on through generations

Anyway, I digress on the topic...just wanted to get my 2 cents in

 

[jennc2001]

True. If i pulled that crap, it would be back to the hotel for me and a well-deserved punishment.

Which, IMO, more parents should do. Don't beat your kids in public; do it in the privacy in of the hotel.

i agree with not hitting your children in public....although i do feel there are exceptions. the only thing i don't agree with is taking the child back to the hotel...but, again, this depends on the age of the child. my son is 3 and wouldn't remember what he was getting punished for by the time we got back to the hotel. i would just take him to a bathroom and spank him in a stall or somewhere secluded....

 

[Gooch]

Nothing really out of the ordinary. The worst I've seen is a bunch of stupid kids try to climb off Kali River Rapids when the ride was jammed earlier this year. They got pulled aside once it started working. Unfortunately, I missed that part of the show as I was getting on the ride.

 

[eliezrah]

DH and I saw tons of people who shouldn't have worn certain outfits. People who wear certain clothing thinking that it's comfortable or looks good on them does the EXACT OPPOSITE and just shows off the rolls of their fat (upper and lower body). When did back-fat, fupas, and muffin tops ever become sexy?:shrug:

OMG I soooo totally agree with this!

On the potty issue that's been discussed, when we took the kids to WDW, our DD had only been potty trained for about 6 months. There were a few times when she looked at me and said she had to go NOW, once we were even on line for a ride and were next to get on the ride. I took her and RAN with her to the nearest bathroom (I even had to carry her to get her there faster and I was 23 weeks PG). There was a line and I asked the women there if my DD could go next since it was an emergency and she was newly trained. Everyone said yes and no one seemed upset. She barely made it, but she made it and I made sure she went in the bathroom, where our society tells us we should go (unless we are camping!). When we made it back to the ride, the CM had let DH and DS wait for us at the front and let us on the next ride. There are quite a few (clean) bathrooms all over WDW and it's pretty easy to get to them. The majority of people would not mind letting a younger child go in front of them, if need be, and if they do get upset that's better than letting your child go behind a trash can.

Holy crap! Are you kidding me? I wish I would've taken the belt and used it on the mother just to give her a taste of what she was dishing out.

LOL I like this! Hey, if parents think it's ok to do what their kids do to give them a taste of their medicine, why can't we do it to parents who beat their kids? And I have to say, this was not one or two hits, this was a full on beating! The mom was going on and on whipping this kid like there was no tomorrow, when all he did was hold onto a chain...