[MR] Safety

[. .]

Hello All,

There is so much wrong with the idea of EVERY member getting a background check.  First, the sheer cost is very prohibitive.  Who would be forced to pay, the potential members or the Society?  How much would that drive membership prices up?  Second, how would that stop anything?  It would prevent perfectly good people from joining due to privacy concerns (ie, who owns that data?   Who is conducting the background check?  How long is that data stored?  Who has access to it?) and due to the cost.  Who wants to join something where you have to pay a couple of thousand to volunteer?  It would drive people away quickly.   And how is it catch people who haven't been caught previously?   You only have a record if the police are notified.  Also, there are some people who have been forced to register as a sex offender because they were 18 and the person in question was 16 or 17 (I know of one case where it was the 18 year old's fiancee!   They got married but he still had to register as a sex offender).  And what about the people that have been falsely accused?   

Also, who is to say that a child predator -or any type of predator- couldn't just walk up as a non-member and pay the gate fee?  Would only members be allowed at events then?  That would be problematic within itself.  From discouraging newcomers to simply not being able to bring someone who is getting elevated's loved ones in for the day, it would really hurt the Society as a whole.

The way to protect children is for parents/guardians not to be stupid.  Sorry to be blunt, but I can't think of a more kind way to put it.   You don't let your kid go off with someone you just met.  You don't let them sleep over at a person's house who does not have children themselves and that you've only known for two weeks.  Also, train your kids!  Teach them to kick and scream if someone tries to take them away from you or from a public area.  Teach them that if they feel uncomfortable, to run away and get back to you or at least back into a public area.

Background checks aren't the answer.  Responsibility for yourself and your children is.

-Isabella

> Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 02:37:47 +0000
> From: "Helen Rogers" <hennabyhelen at mail.com>
> To: roriktheviking at yahoo.com,atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
> Subject: Re: [MR] Safety!
> Message-ID: <20110822023748.164580 at gmx.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
 I child's safety and causes are something very near and dear to my heart. I agree that the safety of children is often one that tends to lapse in consideration. As there should be a more thorough criminal backgro
>  und check (as you sighted), I think it MUCH more important that anyone joining or existing member should have a child assault/abuse background check done, in my humble opinion. Why? Because as you have noted, parents tend to lay such responsibility on anyone else around (and I know of what I speak). I'd have no problem with anyone checking my background, mostly because I've been a nanny and still babysit (and do truly adore kids and the "reality check" they give us all :) ... ). But, we can't simply dismiss the "Oh, he/she would never do anything like that" and assume things, as we all know what assuming does. If someone has issue with a background check in relation to children, I would be more worried about why, than potentially offending them ... and I hope parents would agree. This is, of course, my humble opinion. I know several may agree, but it takes several to make a change. Cassandra
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