[Ansteorra] So, how do we keep our children and the SCA safe?

[Rose]

"As with waterbearing, should the SCA disassociate themselves from 
children's activities? As I understand it, the reason that waterbearing 
became an unofficial, non-recognized activity in the SCA and all formal 
waterbearing offices removed, was so that the SCA could say they weren't responsible for providing water to fighters or making sure it was safe 
and that safe practices used. Perhaps the Minister of Children offices should also be dissolved and removed from our governing documents?"

I believe that the problem with waterbearing was that there was no feasible way for the Society to put general rules into place. There were simply too many locales with differing laws, so we scrapped waterbearing altogether. However, the same is not true of children's activities. Other organizations have already weathered similar suits, and best practices have emerged from their experiences. At the time of the suit, we were not following those practices. Now we are following those practices, and should be similarly insulated.

I do believe that we need to make sure that this can't happen again, but it has nothing to do with children. Instead, we should further mimic these other organizations and reorganize our structure, so that the SCA as a whole can no longer be held fiscally responsible for an oversight in one area, or by specific officers. This will protect us by removing our image as a financial honeypot by anyone, be it a chivalric fighter's insurance company, or a group of parents. Other organizations are already structured in such a manner. Perhaps it's time for us to follow their example again.


 
My tuppence,

Lady Rose the Obnoxious



 
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Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile. ~Hippocrates