I wrote this as a response to a wonderfully thought and discussion provoking question by Childcare-by-Design who witnessed a child attacking a clown. Some of the responses to her article are that she should have intervened, but just for the record, I have seen very heated arguments erupt when a
parent disciplines another persons child when they are present. This was my response- I was asked to post it as advice:
I have been a children's entertainer for 10 years performing as a circus performer, a DJ and also as a clown/fairy/jester/pirate at children's parties. Out of all of the children I have worked with there have only been a few violent ones and within that, even fewer whose parents haven't intervened- so if you're a parent that has intervened, THANKYOU :) Most children have WONDERFUL manners with me and their parents are surprised about the 'unprompted' pleases and thankyous that I get.
Occasionally a child gets a bit over excited- we DO bring happy colourful and exciting things with us, as it sounds like your clown did, and she sounds like she was experienced and professional enough to understand that and that's why she was patient. Here's a couple of ways that I handle tricky situations like that and how parents can help:
Sometimes children have seen clowns in cartoons or acts that hurt/pretend to hurt themselves and the kids think clowns are like superheroes and can't really get hurt so maybe that explains the unemotion. Please help keep the fun illusion and don't mention we're a person to your kids. Instead tell your kids BEFORE they go over to the clown "Clowns get hurt just like us so be gentle" you can even add "you're a big boy/girl, so I can tell you that secret."
When a child hits me, I say "Please be gentle with me, I get hurt too" and that usually works. If the hitting continues I use a gentle reminder and say "Im being kind to you, please be kind to me. Remember, be gentle because when you hit/punch/kick me it hurts". I try and distract the child into another activity. If THAT doesn't work, I get out my bongo drums and they can hit those as much as they like :)
Children under two are fascinated by my BIG red squeaky nose and it always gets a laugh from the older kids. Occasionally children will be rough with me and I just have to say "ow that hurts" and say "I know you didn't mean to hurt me". That usually works. An icebreaker with shy children is to get them to squeak my nose. If children grab at my nose unexpectedly, I tell them "ohhh you don't want to do that. If I don't hold my nostrils when you squeak my nose I'll sneeze all over you!" or something silly and in character. Help from parents to get babies to let go of my nose is appreciated- so is that fact that the baby laughs when my nose squeaks, I like that too :)
I LOVE having the children in my personal space, so does every children's entertainer I have ever worked with. I like helping them blow bubbles, do acrobatics with the kids and having a good old fashioned hug. The only time I ever ask the kids to stand back is when I am doing a trick. There's something so sweet about having a tiny child toddle over and want to hold your hand or a baby using you to pull themselves up. So please wait and see if the clown is uncomfortable with the contact before you step in- unless it's contact that's going to hurt us then ...heellppp haha.
I let the children play with all of my 'toys' because I like to modelling 'sharing'. The children have fun copying me, so I encourage them to 'share like me'. When children go to my bag before I am ready to bring out a prop, I have a fun way of handling it, so it's ok. If you notice that a child or baby is pulling things out of the clown bag while the clown isn't looking, that's a good time to help us out, or if you see a child breaking something that belongs to an entertainer, you can really help us there too by just happily showing the child how the toy is meant to be used :)
It is important for a clown to remain in character, so if you see your child hurting a clown, please remind your child that clowns get hurt too. Tell them clowns love them, so if they like us, they should show us by being kind :)
Do children's entertainers deserve respect? YES! Just as much as everyone else does! Everyone has the right to feel safe at work!
There aren't many occasions where the parents sit and watch their child hurt you, but they do happen. I'm just being cheeky here, but you just can't control some parents hahahaha
Tanya
(October 2007) (
