Washington
Post.com
By Petula Dvorak—Washington Post Staff Writer
April 3, 2008
Original
Article
In the minefield
of contemporary parenting -- where the developmental
impact of hard-soled shoes, peanut butter and
tiaras are debated passionately -- one alleged
no-no this time of year strikes at the core of
a quintessential childhood experience.
The circus.
Cotton candy! Popcorn! Clowns!
Ethical quagmires!
"Don't tell me they're messing
with the elephants. That's terrible," said
Dre Jones of the District, as he accepted a flier
from an animal rights activist outside the Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus show
at Verizon Center on Thursday night. It was his
son Cory's second birthday.
"I mean, it's the circus, you know? That's
good for kids," he said. "But if they're
messing with the elephants, man. Those are the
strongest, biggest creatures in the jungle. You
don't mess with those."
Each year, as the circus comes to town, parents
who aren't particularly fanatical on either end
of the animal rights spectrum are faced with
the dilemma of how deeply they want to take their
parenting philosophies when it comes to Dumbo.
"It's tough. A circus can be a wonderful
thing. But I struggle," said McLean resident
Carol Brunner, who walked a tightrope of self-flagellation
and rationalization as she waited outside the
circus with her 7- and 9-year-old kids.
"I know, I know. I'm a hypocrite because
I know there's a problem with having animals
perform," said Brunner, as she watched her
kids leaf through coloring books handed to them
by animal rights activists wearing elephant masks,
prison stripes and shackles outside the main
entrance.
"I think they understand the issues. We're
going to talk about making choices," she
said. "I told them we should write letters."
The two-hour show was dazzling: sequined trapeze
artists flying through the air, a gilded lady
flash-banging from the mouth of a cannon, clowns
tumbling past. And the elephants, 10 mighty pachyderms
with trunks in the air, sitting on king-size
stools like giant, wrinkly toddlers.
"The circus is for the kids, and they love
it," said Aisha Kearney of Landover, who
brought her 2-year-old daughter to the show last
week. "I remember when I was little, I rode
on the elephants. That was real cool. But they
don't let you ride on them anymore."
The circus is a place to see animals and humans
in "a caring relationship," said Steve
Payne, head of communications for Feld Entertainment,
which owns Ringling Bros. "The circus affords
children and adults opportunities to see animals
up close and personal."
Payne said the 138-year-old Ringling Bros. is
known for creating generations of fond childhood
memories, not the undermining of children's behavior.
Many parents interviewed at the circus last
night at George Mason University's Patriot Center
couldn't agree more. Toni Porcelli, who was there
with her 14-year-old and 10-year-old twins, said
she had no concerns about how the animals were
being treated.
"I would think it is very controlled and
very well maintained," said Porcelli, who
lives in Stafford County.
But for years, People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals has picketed circuses. The group has
issues with the physical treatment of circus
animals and the moral issue of using animals,
particularly mighty and dangerous ones, for what
it calls human subjugation and entertainment.
Ringling Bros. denies mistreating elephants,
and during the circus's intermission, it plays
a short film extolling its elephant sanctuary
and training program.
The issue of whether Vienna-based Ringling Bros.
is violating animal-cruelty laws will be debated
in federal court this year, after U.S. District
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered that an animal-cruelty
lawsuit filed against the circus by several animal
rights groups and a former Ringling Bros. employee
under the Endangered Species Act go to trial.
But the moral debate -- whether it's good or
bad for kids to see circus animals doing tricks
-- is a serious parenting issue to some.
"To see a bear ride a bicycle, it is ridicule.
You're really just laughing at that bear," said
Mel Levine, a renowned pediatrician at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who has written
numerous books about child behavior and the way
children learn. "So the question is: What's
the message you're giving to kids when you take
them to the circus and they laugh at animals?
I think to laugh at animals is to devalue them."
And laughing at animals as they do unnatural
tricks can transfer to human relationships and
to the playground, Levine said.
"Why do we want an ape to act like a human?
Why not have an ape act like an ape?" he
asked. "There is an implicit message of
intolerance. I don't think it's a long distance
from ridiculing animals to laughing at other
people. Then you have kids singling out and laughing
at the fat kid. Or it can lead to racial intolerance."
For these reasons and more, Caitlin Hills's
19-month-old son, Cole, will not go to the circus.
When his babysitter or class wants to visit the
zoo, mom intends to say no.
"For me, wild animals belong in the wild," said
Hills, of Capitol Hill, an animal rights activist
for decades.
"I really do think of this differently
now, as a mom," she said. She has protested
before but now says graphic, bloody literature
on animal cruelty shouldn't be handed out.
And she acknowledges the tug of the nostalgic
portrait of American childhood, even though her
son's circus memories will be made outside the
big top, handing out fliers on recycled paper.
"I know, it seems so unfair to keep him
from the zoo and the circus," Hills said. "I
don't want him to be excluded from all these
fun, childhood things. But I also want to raise
a compassionate, caring person."
Jessica Bonilla, 11, has been to the circus
about "50 times" and has always loved
it, she said. The Gaithersburg fifth-grader delights
in the acrobats and the animals. But looking
at the elephant-costumed protesters last week
took away some of her bounce.
"Now that I think of it," she said, "if
the elephants aren't treated well, I really don't
want to go now."
Staff writer Amy Gardner contributed to this
report.
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