ANST - re: Teens in the SCA

[Helen Brown]

> From:          Kelsie Buntin <kelsij at intellisys.net>
> I joined the SCA when I was 13, without either of my parents.<snip> but I felt bad that  even though I was
> doing the same exact thing as others, because of my age I wasn't being
> recognized.   I feel strongly about this because of the mixed signals I have
> recieved.  
> 
> Ly Elspeth Lancaster
> Stronghold of Falconridge

Forgot to say in my earlier post that Lady Elspeth's sister, Gwyneth, 
earned her Rising Star the same year as Elspeth and she was only 11 
at the time.  She was presented with her AoA at the Laurel's Prize 
Tourney last fall (I was told that she would have gotten a Thistle, 
but that she did not have an AoA yet, so she was presented her 
AoA), and has been our Minister of Children  for over a year.  She 
has worked in the Tavern at our event every year and last year was 
the Tavern Mistress with her mother, Miranda, but will be heading 
up the children's activities this year.  Yes, they have managed 
to pull their mother into almost full SCA activity.  She, Lady 
Gwyneth, also makes all of her own garb, most of it hand sewn, and 
makes garb for her mother.  She's 14 now.  

I'm very proud of both girls ("The Ladies") and their friend Arianne, 
who now lives in Namron.  She also earned her Rising Star at the 
same time as the other two girls and now has her AoA and a Thistle in 
Costuming.  You should see her dress of 10,000 pearls!

They can do the job.  If they are willing and show that they can do 
it, I have no problem with allowing them the space and responsibility 
to do the job.  They usually know when they have reached their limits 
and ask for help (and like most teenagers [I hear those groans in the 
background] they sometimes don't want the help or won't ask for it) 
and I'm happy to oblige them.

Happy with my part of the Dream (most of the time),

Helen Brown
HL Hellen Bales MacQueene
Stronghold of FalconRidge, Kingdom of Ansteorra
browns at intplsrv.net
Altus, Oklahoma

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