The Baddest TOTs...how do you stop them?

[ShadyManor13]

10 year old trick or treaters
Punching actors, tearing down walls, and best of all having their parents wait outside to defend them if anyone disagrees with their ways. How do you stop them?

[Monk]

Punch their parents. Sorry, I shouldn't condone violence as a solution, I'm still working on that.
Luckily, I haven't had any problems of these sorts, but I am sure someone on here has. I am curious as to what responses you'll get here from others' experiences and what they did/do to stop it.

[dave the dead]

My encounter last year with a young punk went something like this ( yes, he was about 10...you nailed the age group)
dude discovered my pneumatic coffin jumper, and to show his friends that he was a tough guy and in no way scared, he proceeds to practice his ninja moves on the prop...sneaking up to try to activate it, and then karate chopping or kicking when it actually jumped.This prop is on a remote trigger, so I had complete control of when it activated. First I tried to just ignore him and not activate the prop, hoping he would get bored and go away...no luck...he just kept getting more and more bold with the unactivated prop, trying to make it jump out. ( the whole while his mom is checking out my dispaly and completely ignoring his obnoxious behavior) So finally I waited for the right moment as he was preparing to kick the prop, (thinking it was not going to activate anymore) and I hit the button, sending him on his butt in surprise in mid kick. He sat there with a stupid shocked look on his face, his friends laughed at him, embarrassing him to no ends, and he decided it was time to leave with his young pup tail between his legs.

my answer to your question...embarrass them. The obnoxious behavior is all a show trying to prove they are too cool to be afraid. Get a good scare on them and humiliate them in front of the friends to knock them down a notch.

[pyro]

sweet -----dave to bad you didnt get that on vid-- FHV would have loved it

[Frighteners Entertainment]

We all have head sets...so at the point we had a problem (if I was already inside the haunt) would stop the haunt (turning on all the interior lighting), enter and escort the little trouble maker out the front of the building.
I had to do this with older teens as well.
Thankfully this didn't happen often.

Something I changed also was the number of folks that could go through at once.
3 was our magic number, breaks down the group of 4 to two and the groups of five to a three and a two.
This is a psychological trick, no one wants to go alone and everyone wants to go with dad, usually leaving mom...it's quit funny to watch.
Works well with teens too.
One thing to mention, you need to have worked your through-put out so you don't have big delays if you have a good crowd.

[Eric Striffler]

We're lucky enough to have security guards in every exhibit in our haunt, as well as two active police cars with 3 - 4 police every night. There isn't much trouble hahah

[Bone Dancer]

Both Dave and Jeff (FE) are right on the mark. Embarrassment is the key. For both the kid and the parents. Kids at that age hate to be uncool and parents (most of the time anyway) don't like it when its brought to the attention of other adults that "thier" kid is acting like a spoiled brat.

[GothicCandle]

well i have never had that happen. All the tots ive had were very welled behaved. However, if one of them broke a prop or tore something down i would tell them and their parents that is not acceptible behaver and that i work very hard all year long to put up a nice display. It is my private propety and they are guests on it. I would try my best to be polite. If anything was badly broken I would expect someone other then me(the parent or in some cases the child) to pay for it.

[Haunted Bayou]

One tried to unplug my lights...I caught him and said, "what are you doing?" In a slow, creepy voice....He got wide-eyed and walked-away. No harm done. That was really the worst other than a kid punching my Jason prop, which he can't hurt.

[Spartan005]

I've had some annoying kids but none that I had to kick out or embarass. There was one occasion though where we had to literally shut down the haunt for a solid 20 minutes because some girl (a really obnoxious/hyper one) got scared so badly (by me) that she tripped on the person behind her and fell down... tearing about 50 feet worth of black plastic along with her. that was fun

and if worse comes to worse, just pee on the little bastards. that always makes them shut up

And on a side note....

Erick, I saw your prank video on youtube and almost died from laughing so much. seriously, awesome job

[naberhoodhaunts]

well. dont let the 10 year old go in by their self. must be accompanied by an adult

[Don Givens]

Have you tried tieing them up with silk cord, wrapping them up in webbing, then hanging them from the ceiling?

[Beth]

I always make them hold my hand while I turn them into their parents. They REALLY don't like to hold an adult's hand!!! Cracks me up!!! (Especially the boys!!) They get treated like a baby because they were behaving like one!!!

[skeletonowl]

I have seen some gooey substance for sale called prop saver that is invisible but when you touch the prop it is all slimy. Seems like it would help keep their hands off things.

[The Bloodshed Brothers]

our magic number was 4. I was scaring in the haunt my brother was manning the line situation.

there was this group of 3 kids 4 adults. they begged to go in all together even after zach told them we had to split them up. it eventually came down to zach deciding well its mostly adults so it wont be that big of a deal.
(the first half of our haunt actually went through the downstairs of our house)
The group gets past the first scare on the patio no problem but when i came to my scare of electric sparks they (the parents) started acting all stupid.
They pulled down 3 walls and a huge chunk of drywall hit the floor.
I run outside and tell zach stop the line shits falling down.
I go back inside and theres pretty much no walls and a heap of black plastic.
The people have already moved on to the garage and when i go out there, the clown room walls have come undone from the ceiling and those are now on the ground.
(two of our helpers were frantically trying to staple it back up)
meanwhile i can hear the people in the rest rest of the haunt i kill the music and start yelling "settle the F*ck down"
so the people leave without saying anything and before we could stop them. (being more concerned with the 100+ rule abiding guests we had lined up outside)
go figure we run out of staples so we had to shut down the haunt for 45 minutes trying to just rig it so it stays up for the rest of the night and we were to make any major repairs the next morning for that night.
Zach got outside and yelled down the street to everyone, told them what happened they booed the people that ruined it for them.
After getting everything fixed we opened back up and didnt have any other problems.
ony major damage was the unk of drywall that was now missing form our living room. We had plastic clothes line from simply staples to the wall...i guess a little to good lol.
and our clown room was spray painted with mynay dots and lines well after the collapse the paint started chipping really bad so some of the affect was lost for the next night

i know theres nothing about TOTS being dumb in here but we learned to not bother with the inside of the house even tough it was SOOOOOO freaking awesome.
and we are in the process of collecting many wood pallets to make our walls out of for this year since it will only be going through the backyard.
oh also 4 max NO EXCEPTIONS

the end

[MotelSixx]

About five years back, I had a group of four or five teenage girls, probably fifteen to sixteen yrs old, as well as their mom start running their mouth about being scared, WHILE standing in my front yard an hour after TOTing was over. I took off my my mask and explained to the mother that it was Halloween and if they are scared then move along. The mom started threatening me, and no sooner than the mom preoccupied me the group of "too urban for their own good" girls got me to the ground. Probably in an attempt to go to their violence laced school in the morning and brag about beating up an adult man. I got up swinging, ended up knocking out one girls tooth and smeering anothers' nose across her face, all whilst her mom takes off trying to find as many 'gangstas' that she she can to take me on. Nice mom. Long story short. I got jumped by a group of teenage wanna be thugs, they took a loss, they got reinforcements, cops came, they got arrested. i dont condone the violence, however, when your kicked to the ground, primal instinct takes over, male or female or young or old. Have I had problems since? NOT ONE. What makes my situation refreshing is that the cops were in the neighborhood looking for people that stole a kids costume, and lo and behold the the people that came to help out the hoodrats, were the ones that stole the kids costume. Talk about justice. Now everyones situation is different, but in mine, was it the teenagers to blame, or their mother for A- starting the fight B- telling the kids to jump me C- leaving the kids to fend for themselves after A and B. Happy mothers day to that piece of S#!t!

[Ghastly Joker]

Nice job, I would've done the same. Mother should be ashamed of herself, starting stuff and having her kids finish it only to fail miserably.

[jdubbya]

I consider myself fortunate in that we have never had any major problems. Last year, a young kid (maybe 10-11) got a little rambunctious and took a poke at one of the kids I had helping me. He was with a group of 8+ people and my helper just told him to knock it off. I had a couple kids three years ago grab some black plastic sheeting and pull it loose from my garage wall, holding up the haunt for a few minutes. I usually have at least 5-6 older kids helping with scenes/crowd control and either myself or another adult is out front to greet people or man the que line at the castle entrance. We do a little spiel and kind of engage the crowd a bit before letting them in in groups of 7-9 people. Maybe word has spread but everyone is pretty well behaved. I think the biggest "threat" is the over-reaction to a scare. Some folks just tend to let their emotions get the best of them and they start acting stupid. I'm hoping our luck holds out.

[Ghastly Joker]

-Ideas to prevent people from acting stupid-

-Tell them there's cameras, helps to buy some fake ones, keeps people on their best behavior.

-If you bought REAL cameras, have them set to record and have the video feed set up outside with a handy dandy VCR or DVD recorder.

-Killswitches are always great, stops buggers dead in their tracks.

-Embarass them, have someone go in through the exit and escort them out through the front. Not only do they have to walk out but everyone will be staring or shouting at said person.

-Anyone refusing to leave can be escorted forcibly by police, it's best to have an officer at the haunt. If they cause a fuss it's always funny to see someone get tackled by a cop...always.

[Beth]

Ours is private and the worst thing we had were kids trying to sneak off and smoke or sneak off and make out or sneak a beer out of an adult's cooler. We have MANY parents on foot patrol and busted every one of them!!!!! Why oh why do teenagers think that they're smarter than 40 something adults???? Been there, done that.........

[HauntCast]

I'm thinking a taser would do the trick:)

[shadowopal]

We've never run a pro haunt. Just a simple walk through. but, the last year, we knew we'd have numbers and since we'd had small issues before, we build an actual cage to hold trouble makers. If we saw anyone in the line that was looking like they would be trouble. We pointed out the cage and said "you'll end up there if you don't settle down".

Almost all did. One did not. He tore a big hole in one of the tarps we were using with a knife. I stopped the haunt. Walked up to him. Grabbed the knife and walked him publicly to the cage. I opened it up and put him in. His mother had a fit. I calmly explained that I had warned him and she was witness to that. I also explained that if she had properly disciplined her children as tots and not let them play with knives, he wouldn't be there.

She called the cops. The kid sat in the cage until they came. The police looked at the scenario, asked me what the story was. I told them, they laughed and told the mother to do a better job with raising her kid. They then told the boy that he's lucky I locked him up. Otherwise they'd have had to. Scared the kid bad. I asked the cops should I let him out? They said just let him go in an hour. They left.

Hindsight being 20/20, it was probably not smart and we probably could have gotten into big trouble. But, it was funny as hell when the night was done. Fortunately, the cops were cool that night.

[MotelSixx]

I love when the troublemakers are the ones that call the cops!!!!!!!

[Masterofmydomain]

I had a little brat this past year who kept hitting my with his bag of loot because he didn't like the candy I was offering him - he wanted something else. I finally threw him off my property much like an MLB umpire throwing a player out of a game. Him came back later "hat in hand" accepting anything I offered; not once did the parent intervene or apologize for this kid's rotten behavior. I still wonder if I should've given him anything at all the second time around.

[scareme]

Several years ago there was a group of 3 10-12 year olds that got their candy, and walking down the sidewalk, one pulled out a lighter and lit one of my ghosts hanging from my trees on fire. After he got his candy! What a little jerk. They were gone so fast there was nothing I could do. My daugher was scare all night thinking the boys would come back and start the house on fire. That was the only trouble I ever had and that was years ago.

[shadowopal]

Several years ago there was a group of 3 10-12 year olds that got their candy, and walking down the sidewalk, one pulled out a lighter and lit one of my ghosts hanging from my trees on fire. After he got his candy! What a little jerk. They were gone so fast there was nothing I could do. My daugher was scare all night thinking the boys would come back and start the house on fire. That was the only trouble I ever had and that was years ago.

I had problems with that before I did the walk through haunt. Destruction was high in the neighborhood I lived in. Got a paintball gun and sat on the porch with it. Anyone did anything, they got tagged in flourescent paint and the cops got called. Cut the sh*t out quick.

[Masterofmydomain]

I would imagine a nice soak down with a cold hose might also correct the problem.

[Dark Angel 27]

wow, i have read all of these and i am shocked about what some kids do...the most trouble i ever had was last year when this group of little storm troopers tried to shoot me with their laser guns...lol..

i was completely in character when that happened and ended up scaring the storm trooper not paying attention flat on his butt...lol

i am fortunate that it hasn't been worse since i run my set up alone.:jol:

[The Mangler]

Dude, are we really talking about knocking people's teeth out here? Brandishing knives? It's time for you to move, or at least help out in an area with slightly more intelligent people.

[MotelSixx]

I'm talking about a group of seventeen year old girls who jumped me, and yes the end result was their first class ticket to the dentist; regrets - none. Police showed up and arrested 6 people. All from the same group of hood rats. Have I had problems since, nope. Hey it was a one time thing . There are problem people out there in every neighborhood. And this group came from an altogether different section of town with the intention of looking for trouble. They found it.

6

[The Bloodshed Brothers]

nothing that a good back hand cant fix right?

[Kaoru]

Oh I like these suggestions. Hubbies haunt is not a big thing and thank god its NOT to that point yet. I agree with Ghastly Jokers suggestions though. Video camera for the win for me. It stops them from being convicted for property damage later on. Them or their stupid parents who allow it. But thank god that has not happened to our front yard around here. Kids are great, young and old.
Although here is Irony for you....i think it was 2006, when my Christmas arch and 2 reindeers got vandelized by some stupid punk kids. The arch was fixed temporarily but the reindeers had to be replaced.

[debbie5]

I find that I am easily disheartened when someone is an a-hole. Despite lots of compliments, it's the one destructive act or idiot kid who bums me out for the night. Still working on getting over that....
I have found that getting right next to the kid and sharply & loudly yelling (to scare them)"HEY! Cut that out NOW" in my best beyatch tone works great. What really bugs me is the sneaky vandalism that goes on..when I discover stuff Nov. 1st that somebody did without anyone knowing at the time. I mean,really: what kind of nutjob kid do you have to be to want to destroy something cool and fun that it only up once a year? There is a whooole psychology to that. Damn freaks.

[Toktorill]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. :) Before a group goes through the haunt, a haunter walks up to them and explains "the rules". No touching (people or props), walk slowly, stay together, raise a hand and stand still if your too scared, etc. We always make the point that the group is watched 100% of the time. And we're happy to have them and they are welcome, and we hope they have fun. The entire spiel sets the tone for the next five minutes.

[Spookineer]

Thankfully I've never had any real problems with tots. Nothing more serious than little ones climbing on the cemetary fence. I suppose a walk through would make for more opportunity, but then my haunt is only a display.
Although this is not a real deterant, it makes them think for a minute. The skull in the middle is animated and says "You better behave or you'll be right here with us next year"
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j201/thathouseonventura/badchildren.jpg

[Demon Dog]

That's pretty funny Spookineer!

[The Archivist]

take their picture with one of those disposable cameras with the instant download. Have a tv or display screen outside next to the queue line. When a TOT wrecks something, take a picture, post it on the screen so that when that person exits, everyone can know who damaged their night out.

[Devils Chariot]

I say just squirt em with water. You'll never be charged with assault, but at night it will ruin their fun, they either get cold and soggy or have to go home to change. Just keep the hose handy or one of those giant push/pull water cannons handy but out of sight.

I would advise against using paintball guns, or mace, or tasers. I have heard about those in this and other similar threads, and I think you only inviting trouble either by escalating the confrontation or by involving the law. If someone gets in your face call the police, if they hit you, hold em down till the police come. You can give em a wet-willy while you wait for law enforcement.

The only trouble I have is smartass teens. When I ask them what their costume is (and they dont have one) and they something stupid (teenager, dude, superman, can't you tell) I just say "oh, I thought you were a douchebag, Great costume though, happy halloween!"

[Spookineer]

Oh, and I'd forgotten about this one....
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j201/thathouseonventura/Props005.jpg