◆荣磊

(海南大学旅游学院)

American family education mirrored in Disney

◆荣磊

(海南大学旅游学院)

WaltDisneyWorld is the happiest place in the world and it attracts people of all ages everywhere,especially the kid and parents.I took my internship there.As a castmember,Ifound that it can reflect a novelmethod,a new relationship that is different from whatwe Chinese knew and that could be used as a source of reference between parents and kids.

DisneyWorld Internship American family education

WaltDisneyWorld Theme Park located in sunnyOrlando Florida opened in 1955.As an entertainment center whose motto is“WHERE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE".Saratoga Springs and Old KeyWest Resort Hotels are two elements of the theme parkwith amission to provide"away from home and provide a memorable moment".TodayDisney has more than 70,000 cast members and operating staff.Disney’s common goal is creating"happiness"by providing the finest entertainment for people of all ages everywhere.Here you will see modest income families and affluent families celebrating their own happiness using saved money.

Recently returning home to China Ihave fondmemoriesworking as an Intern in Training at Saratoga Springs Resort Hotel in the hospitality area.During four months as a castmember I look back and find customs and etiquette throughout the world are unique in theirown fashion.Imet and greeted people from Europe, South America,and the USA and became conscious and knowledgeable of all of these various differences that enhanced my communication and precluded misunderstandings thatmay occur.

Absolutely,there is a lot.One point impressed me most deeply...That’s the parents’method of cultivating,educating and communicating with their kids—Their differences in managing family education compared with China. In WaltDisneyWorld parents treat kids not as just kids;they have another title for them—"prince"or"princess".Parents sometimes pay close attention to cultivating their kids’ability of thinking and acting by their own initiative.

Let me give a couple of examples that Iwitnessed on occasions inWaltDisneyWorld.

1.Gift Card

Chinese gentlemen style is indifferent to fame andwealth.In China,parents should be breadwinner and manage money instead of kids.And Chinese parents don’t have the concept of financial education on their kids.

There is no doubt that there is an ocean of souvenirs in the merchandise shops.Also,the lovely princes and princesses are urged by their curiosities to buy items without a second thought in their minds.That’s not good.Wasting money is a secondary problem.

The primary problem is that this kind of spontaneous response will lead characteristics,such as capriciousness,lack of thinking more before making a purchase decision.Disney invented the magical card- gift card decorated by Disney characters that varies from ＄10 to＄50.Thus,kids can slide their beloved card in anymerchandise shop withinWaltDisneyWorld.Meanwhile,they will alwaysmention themselves,"how much else do I have?","do I have enough money for it?","what if Iwould see a better one?"

2.Vending machine

One afternoon,I was waiting for the special shuttle heading towards the Downtown Disney at a bus stop.There are only me and one family:a little prince,a little princess and parents.Itwas quite quiet at that time.Maybe allof us lost ourselves in the magical atmosphere of Disney.Suddenly,the princess’s voice broke the silence,"Dad,I’m thirsty."Iglimpsed at her that she’spointing to a vendingmachine.Logically,the little prince raised a same request.But dad answered him without any hesitation,"No...You can not"Iwas confused and said to myself,"Do the westerners look up to women and down on men?" Later I suddenly saw the light.The reason why the little prince’s requestwas rejected is that he just drunk up the little princess’s soft drink.Dad’s attitude made the prince crying and even scared the princess.However,dad said to the little princess,"you are good.choose one"So the princess pressed the relatively big button by herself.Obviously,a bottle of soft drink costing＄1.25 was not a big deal for dad,but he saved the＄1.25 for a more deserved thing

3.Iphone

In Chinese family education,praise and blame is idiomaticmethods.Teachers like to use Horizontal comparison,that is,using small red flag,ranking table to stimulate kids;when teaching a kid who didn’t behave well,they will always praise other kids and take him as an example.On the contrary,western parents and teachers attach importance to kids’vertical development.

One weekend,Iwas in a long stand-by waiting time for the Big Thunder RollerCoaster inMagic Kingdom.A dad stood in frontofmewith his little prince and little princess.That’s really a long time.The waiting line was like a lazy snake moving very slowly. I saw the dad took out his iphone and bend over to play iphone game with his kids.That’s a kind of game of enlightenment that can help kids learn letters of alphabet.The princesswas older than her little brother so that she can complete all the missions.In comparison,her little brotherwas a little upset and frustrated.But dad didn’tpraise her daughteror blame her son directly.On the contrary,he encouraged his son to learn from his sister and make it next time;told his daughter not to be conceited.

Duringmy fourmonths’internship inWaltDisneyWorld,Ialso saw that little prince took care of the bus driver and bellman(to tip them);I also answered guests’phone dialed by little princesses;I also heard"sorry","my fault"in the conversations between parents and kids.

Truly aWaltDisneyWorld is not just a theme park.It is the happiest place on earth.From my observations,these reflections during my internship reflect a novelmethod and a new relationship with guests,families,in the theme park and hotel industry.