[Ansteorra] Underage Participation In The SCA

[Paul DeLisle]

Hello, all....Alden Pharamond, Olde Ansteorran Fossil here.

 

Good-my-lord Cionaodh...you more-than likely don't know me;  but
Way-back-when...I was .......moderately involved in the Stellar Kingdom of
Ansteorra.

Pray, allow me do what I do *best*.....Good Gentles, pull up your chairs,
and fill your mugs..Uncle Alden's going to tell a story.

 

Once upon a time (the way *all* good stories start) There was a fellow in
the mundane Military. 

He was smart, but disaffected. 

For you see....this fellow's parents had tried to instill in him some
pathetically out-dated concepts: 

Honor. 

Honesty.

Nobility.

Noblesse Oblige.

Concepts that are all *foreign* to Modern Life...*especially*to  modern
Business (either high-level, or day-to-day.)

Every time the fellow tried to apply the concepts his parents strove to give
him.it seemed like he got taken advantage-of.or ridiculed.or worse.

Then he heard of a bunch of freaks...who wore cloaks, and beat people
up...and...stuff.

This fellow sought out these weirdoes...and after he got to know them...he
found a wondrous thing.

This* group of so-called Freaks did more than just *talk* about these
ideals.they actually *believed* them! .*LIVED* them!

This fellow had found a Home.

 

Of course, you know.the "fellow" was me. 

I spent better than two decades Living the Dream.the only thing that drove
me away was that I was not strong-enough to survive the constant Mundane
filth and depression that being a Regional Seneschal brought  (I salute
those of you who *did*.and *do* still.survive it.)

However, I *still* treasure the time I spent there, and I miss my friends
(some of whom I haven't seen for a decade or more.)

 

Yet (If I understand correctly) you postulate that "Children don't belong in
the SCA, because they are a liability."

 

Good-my-lord.in *any* objective measurement..children are a liability
*everywhere*.

Yet.In spite of everything, we continue to produce them. We continue to
nurture them. 

Since that is the case.should we not nurture them with the *best* we have to
offer (The afore-mentioned Honor, Honesty, Nobility, Noblesse Oblige); or
should we cast them out to founder in the darkness of modern immorality?
(which, BTW.has *nothing* to do with sex.)

I believe the former.

 

Does that absolve the children's *parents* of responsibility?...Of course
not. 

This lawsuit is a thing of Mundanity.based not on personal
responsibility.but on the *absolution* of it.

Are we forced to deal with it? Absolutely. 

That does not make our Values invalid.

 

Good Lords, Ladies, and Gentles.I beg you:

Do *NOT* let this ..*THING* of modern immoral (but legal) construct...twist
the SCA any more than it has already.

Raise your Children in the cradle of the SCA's beliefs.but do not let it
lull you from your own responsibilities.

 

Here endeth the lesson.

 

In (small) Service, I still remain

Alden Pharamond

WSA, CIM, CIS, Thistle(Costuming, Bardcraft), Crane, OHBG, AoA.

Ansteorra.

 

 

 

 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: ansteorra-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org [mailto:ansteorra-

> bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Cionaodh O'Hosey

> Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2012 4:33 PM

> To: Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.

> Subject: [Ansteorra] Underage Participation In The SCA

> 

> 

> In the SCA we have always done things we did not want to have to reduce or

> eliminate our liabilities. We have weapon and armor standards that we hope

> reduce our liabilities, waivers we sign and rules we follow because all we

> hope that doing so will reduce our liabilities. These rules we follow we
hope

> make sense in a risk verses cost way, that is the root of risk management.

> With that in mind i say the following.

> 

> It is now apparent that having people underage participation in the SCA

> accounts for over 90% of all of our liabilities in the SCA.  This asks the
first

> question: Does under age participation and / or their parents provide
enough

> revenue to the SCA to cover those expenses or is every one else having to

> make up the difference? Personally, I don't see how with the SCA charging

> half price with family maximums at calendar events and family rates on

> memberships how those underage participants and their families can

> possibly be covering those costs.

> That means those of us who are not underage and who don't have underage

> members in our families are covering the costs incurred by having those

> underage participants in the SCA. Is that fair?

> 

> For instance when you ask "Why are membership dues so high?" a large part

> of the answer is now "We all have to pay more, so underage people and
their

> families can play"

> 

> So an interesting question would be "How much less in cost and how many

> fewer regulations would we have if we went adult only?"

> 

> And, "How much more should we charge for underage participants to cover

> the costs involved in continuing to serve them?"

> 

> Or "Is it OK to everyone that we all have to pay more so we can have

> underage participants?"

> 

> I understand this will offend a lot of people and i apologize for that but
these

> are the questions faced in the "mundane world" we live in every day by all

> sorts of organizations.

> 

> Cionaodh O'Hosey

> 

> 

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