[MR] article about lawsuit and BOD

[Kelly Keck]

On 5/11/07, james barker <flonzy at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> We have to be careful with the "dropping the kids off" idea; I do not
> believe that is the intent of the organized children's activities. If we
> are
> doing that then we have an official daycare which is a whole new can of
> worms; regulations from the state, insurance, training requirements, and
> so
> on.
>

You're right that it's not.  The current society seneschal's handbook states
that children's activities are not baby-sitting, that parents are
responsible for their kids at all times, and that SCA officers are *NOT* to
accept responsibility for any kids other than their own or those they
brought to the event (and therefore have the minor waiver filled out for).
I agree that children's activities aren't daycare, and they shouldn't be.

However, that doesn't necessarily prevent a parent from dropping a kid off
at children's activities and doing something else, especially depending upon
the age of the child.  Whether that's responsible or irresponsible depends
on lots of things--how old the child is, where children's activities are,
whether the kid knows where the parent will be, when/how/if the parent is
checking in on the kid, etc.  There's a big difference between dropping off
a five-year-old and disappearing completely and dropping off a ten year old,
letting the kid and the children's officer know exactly where you'll be, and
staying close enough that you could get back to children's activities
quickly if necessary.

Additionally, I don't think parental responsibility necessarily implies
*constant* supervision.  Obviously it does for very small children, but for
older ones, it's not uncommon to send them outside to play and check on them
occasionally, to let them walk to a nearby friend's house (depending on the
sort of neighborhood one lives in), etc.  By the same token, in certain
conditions, it wouldn't be unreasonable to have a child go to children's
activities without the parent sitting right there the whole time, but
without any implication that the children's officer was providing daycare.

In service,
Adriana Michaels