Where can I find more information on child-related crimes in Disneyland Paris?
May 28, 2006 12:19 PM Subscribe
Help me find a good place in Disneyland Paris where my students won't get accosted.
I and four other colleagues took a group of 31 students (12-13yrs) to EuroDisney last week, only to have one of them approached by a stranger outside the hotel we were staying at, grabbed by the arm and told to come with them. Luckily the student resisted and ran away, as did their assailant.
Because we plan this trip annually, I want to know what things to look out for next time we go. Obviously we will not be going back to the same hotel, which assured us that they would have a nightwatch and dog patrolling our floor (we stayed up outside the rooms on our own patrol until 2am - didn't see anything) after the incident. We will also be bringing our own night watch person next time and enforcing the rules more strongly. In this case, the student was by herself (error one) and went outside the hotel to find the others who were playing football (error two).
It occurs to me that this sort of thing must happen all the time! Our students were pretty well monitored by myself and other colleagues, but there were plenty of other families who stayed in that particular hotel and let their kids run around on their own.
So can anyone point me in the right direction? I'd like to find a better hotel for next year (for a start), but also some data/feedback from others who know exactly what to plan for on their risk assessments, also some reports on similar activity in the Disneyland Paris resort area (of which hoefully there will be few)?
I and four other colleagues took a group of 31 students (12-13yrs) to EuroDisney last week, only to have one of them approached by a stranger outside the hotel we were staying at, grabbed by the arm and told to come with them. Luckily the student resisted and ran away, as did their assailant.
Because we plan this trip annually, I want to know what things to look out for next time we go. Obviously we will not be going back to the same hotel, which assured us that they would have a nightwatch and dog patrolling our floor (we stayed up outside the rooms on our own patrol until 2am - didn't see anything) after the incident. We will also be bringing our own night watch person next time and enforcing the rules more strongly. In this case, the student was by herself (error one) and went outside the hotel to find the others who were playing football (error two).
It occurs to me that this sort of thing must happen all the time! Our students were pretty well monitored by myself and other colleagues, but there were plenty of other families who stayed in that particular hotel and let their kids run around on their own.
So can anyone point me in the right direction? I'd like to find a better hotel for next year (for a start), but also some data/feedback from others who know exactly what to plan for on their risk assessments, also some reports on similar activity in the Disneyland Paris resort area (of which hoefully there will be few)?
Response by poster: I fully accept that this sort of thing happens all the time and anywhere - and I don't blame the hotel for the incident (although I do fault them for not sending a security person when they said they would). I just think that for that particular area where three or four hotels specific to the theme park are located, there would be a heightened awareness of the possibility of this sort of thing happening.
You raise an interesting point about educating the kids' personal safety though. It's very easy to drill policy at them all day long and not actually tell them how they should react, when you're so used to telling them how they *shouldn't* react.
We remain very proud of our student, and are extremeley happy that she is safe as well.
posted by jim.christian at 1:12 PM on May 28, 2006
You raise an interesting point about educating the kids' personal safety though. It's very easy to drill policy at them all day long and not actually tell them how they should react, when you're so used to telling them how they *shouldn't* react.
We remain very proud of our student, and are extremeley happy that she is safe as well.
posted by jim.christian at 1:12 PM on May 28, 2006
You seriously think that changing the hotel will avoid this sort of incident (which will probably not happen again anyway)? Or that people here would know the specifics of things like this happening around Disneyland Paris?
Your other ideas (enforcing the rules, and keeping a watch) are much better and will probably be much more effective.
posted by grouse at 1:26 PM on May 28, 2006
Your other ideas (enforcing the rules, and keeping a watch) are much better and will probably be much more effective.
posted by grouse at 1:26 PM on May 28, 2006
What makes you think "It occurs to me that this sort of thing must happen all the time!"? I agree with grouse that awareness and keeping an eye on your students is much more effective than trying to find a place where no such incidents are reported.
posted by m.openmind at 2:02 PM on May 28, 2006
posted by m.openmind at 2:02 PM on May 28, 2006
You raise an interesting point about educating the kids' personal safety though.
Yeah that is the salient point here.
Luckily the student resisted and ran away.
This shouldn't be left to luck. You need to train them, keep them in pairs, keep the group together as much as possible. Tell the story of what happened this time as a warning. I hope a small point of criticism is okay here: you really need to get serious about preparing them. Finding a different hotel is a red herring.
posted by scarabic at 2:35 PM on May 28, 2006
Yeah that is the salient point here.
Luckily the student resisted and ran away.
This shouldn't be left to luck. You need to train them, keep them in pairs, keep the group together as much as possible. Tell the story of what happened this time as a warning. I hope a small point of criticism is okay here: you really need to get serious about preparing them. Finding a different hotel is a red herring.
posted by scarabic at 2:35 PM on May 28, 2006
Any place frequented by kids is going to attract nasty people, whether it's your local park, or Eurodisney. The risk isn't any greater because of the location, and you should take the same steps to minimise risk that you'd take on any school trip.
I agree with everyone else that the best way of reducing this particular risk isn't simply to find another hotel, it's to inform the kids of the dangers and provide them with skills / confidence for dealing with them.
posted by bella.bellona at 3:57 PM on May 28, 2006
I agree with everyone else that the best way of reducing this particular risk isn't simply to find another hotel, it's to inform the kids of the dangers and provide them with skills / confidence for dealing with them.
posted by bella.bellona at 3:57 PM on May 28, 2006
Child molesters obviously will haunt places that attract children, e.g., your school as well as an amusement park. Both of the sexes in your charge should be versed in personal safety - whether or not the instruction makes them roll their eyes in the classic ignorance of naiveté.
posted by Cranberry at 4:09 PM on May 28, 2006
posted by Cranberry at 4:09 PM on May 28, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
When I was a 12 and 13 year old girl I was accosted three times: in the lobby of the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, in a swimming pool in Heidelburg, Germany and in my parent's home at one of their cocktail parties by a drunk friend of my fathers. What would have helped me - and your students? Being taught how to react, and what to do: screaming bloody murder, kicking and shrieking and in general raising a huge fuss will often chase guys like that away. They're counting on the girl being docile and quiet and embarrassed. I think you should have a matter of fact meeting with your students before the next trip and discuss this kind of situation: how to be aware of potential problems, how to be safe, and how, if necessary, to react. I wish more schools did this. I wish someone had told me it was okay to scream and kick and raise hell instead of a) downplaying it and b) being so uncomfortable with it that I assumed it was my own fault. It sounds like your student did a good job of getting away and, even better, was confident enough to tell you what had happened. You should be proud of her.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:03 PM on May 28, 2006