[MR] Regarding the New Pennsic University Rule

[Joe S]

I agree that these are the 3 potential reasons for this new set of rules,
however the solutions to 1 and 3 are pretty much in place I would imagine
which suggests that your reason #2 is the reason for the new policy. In any
case, much less onerous solutions to those 3 problems are as follows:

1.) Allow instructors to kick people out (if they can't already). Allow
instructors to designate classes as "adult only" or "supervision only."
Allow non-parent, parent-designated adults to accompany minors in loco
parentis to prevent children from disrupting classes.

2.) If the concern is parental control over content (which is what I
suspect) permission slips would be similarly effective and would probably
require less overhead to enforce than the current proposed solution. (Are
they asking for ID and birth certificates?)

3.) Make sure classes take place in public areas, don't allow instructors to
be the only adult present around children. (Isn't that already how it
works?)

-Gawin Kappler

On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 2:48 PM, William de Faleston <faleston at gmail.com>wrote:

> I share Master Richard's dismay at this, but I can imagine some of the
> possible reasons for the new rule. This section of the letter is telling:
>
>
> The reasons for this rule come out of multiple incidents in A&S classes and
> in the Society in general dealing with children and youth.
>
>
> I'm not privy to any inside information, but that sounds like three
> seperate and serious problems to me.
>
>  1. Underage kids unsupervised acting a fool in somebody's class.
>
> 2. Underaged kids in "adult" themed classes whose parents later found out
> and had a hissy fit.
>
> 3. Real or imagined fears of underaged kids in classes where the instructor
> could abuse them.
>
> I really can't think of a better way to handle these problems.
>
> William de Faleston
>
>  from my iPhone
>
> On Jul 6, 2010, at 9:40 AM, "Richard Wymarc" <rwymarc at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  From the website, for those who have not seen this:
>>>
>>
>> "New this Pennsic: no youth under the age of 18 may attend activities in
>> an A&S venue without a parent or legal guardian. "
>>
>> Open letter at: http://www.pennsicwar.org/penn39/cultural.html
>>
>> As a parent of a 15 year old, as a Laurel, and as a member of the SCA for
>> 25 years, I have extreme problems with this change.
>>
>> I am holding further comment for now.
>>
>> Master Richard Wymarc
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>
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-- 
Joseph J. Shaffer
Graduate Student - Belger Lab
Curriculum in Neurobiology
University of North Carolina
jjshaffe at email.unc.edu