[Ponte Alto] FWD: Minors at A&S Classes at Pennsic

[Robert Capozello]

From: John Spiegel <vondervelde at gmail.com <vondervelde%40gmail.com>> 
To: webpage at pennsicwar.org <webpage%40pennsicwar.org>; 
publicinfo at pennsicwar.org <publicinfo%40pennsicwar.org>; 
culturalaffairs at pennsicwar.org <culturalaffairs%40pennsicwar.org>; 
eventresources at pennsicwar.org <eventresources%40pennsicwar.org>; 
university at pennsicwar.org <university%40pennsicwar.org>; 
aspoint at pennsicwar.org <aspoint%40pennsicwar.org> 
Sent: Mon, Jul 12, 2010 2:23 pm 
Subject: Please Post to the Web and cross-post everywhere- From Pennsic 
Mayor 
 
>From the Mayor of Pennsic 39 Concerning Minors in A&S Classes 
 
Greetings to all from the Mayor of Pennsic 39! 
 
Let me first say that the war is coming together very well and we are 
looking forward to many great activities and wonderful memories. 
 
I am writing to clear some air and to take direct charge of the minor 
policies at the University. Please note as I continue this letter that 
all relevant youth policies dealing with young children are still in 
full effect.  (See Rule 11 of the Pennsic Site Rules) I do want to 
review with everyone the current policy in the University dealing with 
the teens (and twelves J ). Where do we stand today? As of the last 
update, Minors (12-17) were allowed to attend Adult A&S Classes if 
they were escorted by a responsible adult appointed by their parent or 
legal guardian. Each escort was allowed to be responsible for more 
than one child, but the escort did have to remain in the class while 
the minor was there. 
 
The question has come up many times demanding to know why this change 
is being made. Well, there are many reasons a few of which I will 
share here (mostly to try and keep this letter under the length of my 
dissertation J). 
 
On March 25, 2010, a post went out from the SCA Board of Directors as 
follows: 
Announcement from the Board of Directors, SCA, Inc. 
The directors and corporate staff have the unfortunate obligation to 
inform the membership that the SCA, Inc. has been named in a civil 
suit seeking damages as a result of sexual misconduct of an adult 
toward minors. 
Unfortunately, at the time the activities occurred, the individual was 
a member and officer of the SCA. The SCA clearly did not sanction the 
alleged misconduct, had no prior knowledge of the misconduct, and had 
never received any complaints concerning the adult involved prior to 
his arrest. 
 
This suit originated in Pennsylvania, USA, and was filed in January of 
2010. Complete information regarding this suit is not yet known, as it 
is still in the preliminary stages. 
 
The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. intends to take all 
appropriate actions available to defend itself against the allegations 
in these suits.  As we are able, we will continue to update our 
membership. 
Board of Directors 
SCA, Inc 
As any responsible autocrat of Pennsic might do, I went to my senior 
staff and requested that they review all of their policies and 
procedures to make sure that we were in complete compliance with ALL 
youth policies. They did an amazing job to review ALL Pennsic policy, 
rules, procedures and activities in two months in a herculean effort. 
They could not have made me any more humble to know how hard they were 
willing to work. At the May Staff Meeting held during Aethelmearc War 
Practice (a GREAT event, FYI), we put our pieces on the table and 
created solutions to any problems or grey areas found. The Division of 
Cultural Affairs? policies were found to be grossly out of compliance, 
and the staff began working on a fix for them. 
 
As we began to overhaul these youth procedures and policies, we began 
to get feedback from a wide variety of sources: Society, teachers, 
students, past staff. We discovered that we had grabbed the proverbial 
tiger by the tail. We had much larger issues that we had thought at 
first. Many issues began to be brought forth. Minors received 
materials through teachers at the University that they legally were 
not allowed to posses. Minors were attending classes that were not 
appropriate for their age, and teachers were unsure of the mundane 
laws dealing with their topics and Minors (brewing for an example). 
Issues were raised about the uncomfortable situation of going up to a 
minor and requesting their age (think man in 40?s and girl in teens? 
creepy much?). Many, many discipline issues were raised dealing with 
the behavior of some teens during classes in the past (I will not 
innumerate these to protect the children from embarrassment). With all 
of these issues raised and many discussions held, the staff created 
the only policy they felt they could legitimately execute with the 
resources they had. There were many potential policies put forth, but 
time and time again the staff ran into the wall of resources, 
background checks, and volunteers. 
 
The great thing about SCA people is that when there is a dire need to 
help children, people are eager to step forward. We are not a Society 
of Complainers, but a Society of Doers. Since our most recent postings 
we have had many wonderful people step forward and offer their time to 
help. These people (many of whom have SCA background checks) are 
willing to give up parts of their vacations to help try to give our 
University more resources. So with these new resources, we are able to 
set a new policy and add a new service to facilitate our solutions. 
 
New Pennsic University Teen Minor Policy (12-17): (Established 7/12/2010) 
Minors are welcome to attend Pennsic University classes. Individual 
teachers and classes may have restrictions due to topic, materials, 
request of instructor and such. Unruly or disruptive youth will be 
asked to leave the class as per Society Seneschal Handbook Policy. 
Classes specifically geared for minors are handled through Youth Point 
and will adhere to all relevant policies for youth activities. No 
classes through the University and Youth Point specifically for minors 
will be permitted in private camps or merchant booths. Further, any 
minor who wishes to attend regular University class in a private 
encampment or in a merchant booth must be escorted by a responsible 
adult appointed by their parent or legal guardian. 
 
New Pennsic University Service: 
The Pennsic University Ambassadors are a group of volunteers organized 
through A&S Point to aid teachers and students. They will roam through 
the University areas prepared to help teachers if the ?Two Deep 
Leadership Model? is necessary, aid with basic classroom discipline if 
required, and assist all members of the populous to find class times 
and locations as desired. Our Ambassadors are there to help with quick 
easy questions. For more in depth questions and normal University 
business, please visit A&S Point in the middle of the University. 
 
Again, please let me thank all of the staff and volunteers who are 
making this new addition possible. If you would like to volunteer to 
help with the ambassadors, please come past A&S Point and sign up! 
Further, if you are SCA background checked and would like to lend a 
hand we are in desperate need of you. Please come past A&S Point and 
speak to us. 
 
Please note that the Pennsic Book went to press almost a month ago and 
the material dealing with this issue will be incorrect. We will make 
available at Troll an insert updating this policy, but please know 
that on this issue the original published text will be incorrect J. 
 
Sincerely, 
Master John von der Velde 
Mayor, Pennsic 39


      
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