ANST - Re: Teens in the SCA/was Amtgard vs. the SCA

[Laury Torrence]

> Ly Elspeth Lancaster wrote:
	<note this has been heavily edited to get to the point>

> I joined the SCA when I was 13, without either of my parents.   One of the
> things that drew me and kept me was that the people I met in the group were
> willing to take me as I was and not judge me simply because I was a
> teenager.   I must say that if I had run into this kind of attitude I might
> not have been as inclined to stay.
> I was the co-autocrat for our groups' event when I was 15.  I was able to do
> these things because people were willing to look past my age and believed
> that I could do the job.
> One other thing that I noticed was that although I was doing the as much
> as others around me with my garb, helping at events and such, they were
> getting AoA's and I had been flatly told that I was not because of my age.
> I felt bad that  even though I was doing the same exact thing as others,
> because of my age I wasn't being recognized.

This young lady, speaking from her personal experiences, has very neatly
illustrated **exactly** what I was driving at in earlier posts.  WE, as adults
tend to minimize the talents and abilities of our young participants.  And
although we do not *mean* to do it, we tend to think of them as our
personal drudges, and that is completely unfair.  Any "adult" in our group
would be *highly* offended if treated in that manner, so why do we do it
to the teens? And then why are we surprised when they go play with
the LARP's,  or just drift off.

I applaud her ability to even co-autocrat an event at 15!!  There are a few
of us who have problems dealing with that at 30-something!!  I'd be interested
in knowing where she was told she wouldn't be eligible for an AoA because of
her age. We have the Rising Star here in Ansteorra, and certainly anyone who
does the work should be recognised. And I don't know of anything that should
prevent a Sable Thistle if the costuming work was being done. (by hand no less)

I would be interested in knowing her age now, and if she remains as active as
when she was a teen.  I noticed her location is a Stronghold, which if memory
serves me is located on a military base? If she would prefer, she can send me
a private missive in reply.  I hope you are still enjoying our strange little Society,
it seems to have so much for most of us, and not quite as much for some.........

HE Caterina
je suis le tenebreux

J-LTorrence at worldnet.att.net

============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.