'Demonstration Gone Horribly Wrong' or 'What the Hell Was I Thinking'?

[Tames D]

My guess is that you scared the parents way more than the kids and the kids were crying because they felt their patents were scared.

You hit the nail on the head. The kids thought it was cool after they found out it wasn't real. I'm hearing from my kids that they(the other kids) want me to do it again (I don't think so )

 

[just2kicku]

I think that is pretty funny, I would have loved to have seen that one. I'm in SoCal, next time you pull a stunt like that, let me know, I would have loved to have video recorded that one!

 

[Tames D]

Hind sight being 20 20, I think if presented in a different way this could have been a great lesson to all. If you had said something before hand like, Ok everybody gather around and we will show you how they do this on tv, and shown them the blood packs and all it would have helped them understand that the tv violence isn't real and would have had a very positive effect.
Regards, Don

Here in Southern California we have an amusment park called Knotts Berry Farm. They have a train ride that circles the park and you just relax and enjoy the view. During this ride a couple of bandits (old west) emerge from the back of the train with masks and guns and demand your valuables. I've noticed over the years that this scares little kids (and some adults that didn't know it was going to happen). After the kids see that it was an act they are ok and laugh about it. This has been going on since I was a little kid.

I think if a representative from Knotts made an announcement prior to the train leaving that this stunt was going to happen, it might ruin the effect.

 

[Tames D]

I think that is pretty funny, I would have loved to have seen that one. I'm in SoCal, next time you pull a stunt like that, let me know, I would have loved to have video recorded that one!

You might be in luck. My buddy and I are looking at some way we can make this right.
Since the kids really seem to want to see more of this type of thing we're looking at putting on another demo but on a larger scale and raise some cash for a group in our area that helps care for kids with disabilities.

 

[CoryKS]

Here in Southern California we have an amusment park called Knotts Berry Farm. They have a train ride that circles the park and you just relax and enjoy the view. During this ride a couple of bandits (old west) emerge from the back of the train with masks and guns and demand your valuables. I've noticed over the years that this scares little kids (and some adults that didn't know it was going to happen). After the kids see that it was an act they are ok and laugh about it. This has been going on since I was a little kid.

I think if a representative from Knotts made an announcement prior to the train leaving that this stunt was going to happen, it might ruin the effect.

They have a similar train ride at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. The train conductor foreshadows the encounter by telling the passengers to keep their eye out for the baldknobbers that have been lurking about. I think the difference is that if the kids are really scared, the parent can explain to them that it's part of the ride and they're not really bandits. Not sure what to do about the adults who might have thought there really were Old West-style bandits running around Knotts Berry Farm, though. :rofl:

 

[Tames D]

Not sure what to do about the adults who might have thought there really were Old West-style bandits running around Knotts Berry Farm, though. :rofl:

LOL. Yeah, I don't think there is much we can do.
But you should see the looks on their faces when the bandits come out yelliing before they see them and realize what's going on

. Especially them Kansas tourists

 

[BLACK LION]

I dont think you did anything wrong. They asked for it.
What do they think people train for and what so they think really happens when someone is kicked or punched in the face.

Good job habituating violence. Its a shame most of the people watching were domesticated.

Dont worry about it...there is nothing to regret... its what you are and what you do.

 

[just2kicku]

You might be in luck. My buddy and I are looking at some way we can make this right.
Since the kids really seem to want to see more of this type of thing we're looking at putting on another demo but on a larger scale and raise some cash for a group in our area that helps care for kids with disabilities.

Let me know and I'll record it! I'm no filmmaker though

 

[Bruno@MT]

I dont think you did anything wrong. They asked for it.
What do they think people train for and what so they think really happens when someone is kicked or punched in the face.

Good job habituating violence. Its a shame most of the people watching were domesticated.

Dont worry about it...there is nothing to regret... its what you are and what you do.

Interesting thing about the US society. Many people think violence is ok for kids, and like you, think they should be desensitized for it.
But show a breast on tv and the entire country seems to fall apart.

Personally, I'd rather have my kids learn that the human body is normal, and violence is not ok.
Teach kids that violence is normal, and perhaps you get violent adults?

 

[Bruno@MT]

The best way forward -imo- would be to gather everyone again, and explain why you did it, and that this is how real situations would go: fast, unexpected and vicious.

What's done is done. But if you can make them understand this, then it might be easier for them to come to grips with it, and perhaps even understand why you did it.

It will also make it easier for them to accept what you did and not hold it against you. If you can explain that there was a reason, then they will no longer think that you did it 'because you thought it was funny' and their faith in you will be restored, at least partially.

 

[Jade Tigress]

Aw Pam. You really do understand the little child inside the man

. Still your goofball after this fiasco?

You'll always be the number one goofball. lol

Here in Southern California we have an amusment park called Knotts Berry Farm. They have a train ride that circles the park and you just relax and enjoy the view. During this ride a couple of bandits (old west) emerge from the back of the train with masks and guns and demand your valuables. I've noticed over the years that this scares little kids (and some adults that didn't know it was going to happen). After the kids see that it was an act they are ok and laugh about it. This has been going on since I was a little kid.

I think if a representative from Knotts made an announcement prior to the train leaving that this stunt was going to happen, it might ruin the effect.

They have a similar train ride at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. The train conductor foreshadows the encounter by telling the passengers to keep their eye out for the baldknobbers that have been lurking about. I think the difference is that if the kids are really scared, the parent can explain to them that it's part of the ride and they're not really bandits. Not sure what to do about the adults who might have thought there really were Old West-style bandits running around Knotts Berry Farm, though. :rofl:

Tweetsie Railroad. Blowing Rock, NC. Same thing.

 

[Kacey]

Cub scouts might be a little young for an unheralded demonstration such as you describe (although I'd have loved to see it!) - and I do think that a debriefing afterwards would have helped a lot. Maybe telling someone in charge (the troop leader, maybe?) what you were going to do first, so that you could have countered comments with "this was prearranged with __________________. "But hey, hindsight is 20/20, and you can't change what was - only how people interpret it in the future.

 

[BLACK LION]

Interesting thing about the US society. Many people think violence is ok for kids, and like you, think they should be desensitized for it.
But show a breast on tv and the entire country seems to fall apart.

Personally, I'd rather have my kids learn that the human body is normal, and violence is not ok.
Teach kids that violence is normal, and perhaps you get violent adults?

Well I would rather instruct them on what its really like and not what they see on tv and video games.... its the media that makes them "violent" becuase its falsely absorbed so much that there is no concept or respect for it in actuality.
So a lone gunman can assault an entire school and everyone is perplexed and scared and confused and running for thier lives and trampling one another... Meanwhile we are more worried about wardrobe malfunctions or curse words or other irrelevant issues...
You cant teach anything and expect it to work against the ways of the world if it exists in a fantasy or some media device.

thats all I am saying. Let them know what it really is... dont sugar coat it or put a costume on it...

 

[Tames D]

I tried to rep you JUST2KICKU, but for some reason I can't access your post on this thread. IOU...

 

[Tames D]

You'll always be the number one goofball. lol


Pam -A- Lam Thank You Mam

 

[just2kicku]

I tried to rep you JUST2KICKU, but for some reason I can't access your post on this thread. IOU...

No problem, got my vid camera half assed figured out. Just let me know. Haha