[Ansteorra] Children's Activities in the SCA

[Liz Wilson]

As a formerly childfree person (until age 38), I respect Hosey's opinion,
and I appreciate his having the courage to raise the issue of "why children?" 
in the SCA.  I'm sure there are some who agree with him.
However, I don't agree.  I feel that the children add to the ambiance of our game
and are a vital part of it, although they are not and should not be the main
focus.

As a non-practicing but still licensed attorney, I believe that most of our
"liability" actually comes from our martial activities, despite our
extremely serious attention to safety and our waivers.  "Waivers were
made to be broken!"  The SCA waiver for activities is well-crafted and obviously
had substantial input from attorneys while it was drafted.  But no
matter what we do, no matter what we have people sign, that does not
prevent someone from suing us and attempting to break the waiver,
or argue that we were negligent in some way (for which we would
incur legal fees even if we prevail).  That is just the nature
of plaintiffs' litigation in this modern world.  Hopefully most of us,
should we sustain any type of minor or even major injury, would take
seriously the waiver and not attempt to sue the SCA, since we know
the SCA is doing everything it can to assure our safety while we have fun.
But we can't predict every injury or what every person will do, given
circumstances.

And yes, there is probably liability attached to our Feasts (and it makes
it difficult sometimes to get venues because we have non-professionals
preparing the food), our Hospitality tents, our Potluck dinners, our
Ansteorran Chili NIghts and Known World Parties at Gulf Wars, and any
place that food is served, even in individual camps.
Someone could have an allergy, someone could choke or have a heart attack
 and who knows what could happen that
might draw a lawsuit?  We could also have people drop dead in the
Chiurgeon's tent from heatstroke, through no fault of the Chiurgeons,
and still get sued.  And the horses!!!   And the arrows!  And the propane
torches for the lampwork! (I burned myself the first time I tried it).
And the children running  around loose who aren't in sight of their parents!  
What are we thinking????? It makes a defense lawyer shudder.

That's why we have insurance and are attempting some corporate
reorganization.  And we do what we can to try to 
comply with modern laws and demands while having fun.  Because
if we have no martial activities, no feasts, no food, no equestrian
activities, no archery, and, I would argue, no children's activities, it's not the SCA
any more.

If we start telling certain groups that they can't participate, it will hurt
our membership and tick people off.  We would never say "no fighters" or
"no archers," although we can't always have fighting
or archery at every site and event (think Kingdom A & S, for example).
And we should never say "no children" either.

We need young college students, young 20-somethings, and young
people in their 30's to come and stay.  And we can always use those
members who may be a little older than that as well!  But sometimes,
even if these people start out as single and childfree, along the way
they have children or grandchildren, or marry someone who has them,
and they want them to participate.  In fact, if their children or stepchildren
or grandchildren can't play that weekend, neither can they.

A babysitter out here where I live costs $10 AN HOUR.  We don't even
go out to dinner by ourselves unless the girls are spending the night
at a friend's house.  We sure as heck wouldn't be able to afford to
come to any events.  The pet sitter is bad enough. 

 I venture to say that even if babysitting is $5 an hour where you live,
 if you have kids, you aren't leaving them at home for events.
 Not unless you have a  friend or relative who can watch them for
free, or it's not your weekend for custody.

Now I know that sometimes the children wander the camps, and
if they approach adults who are engaged in adult conversation or
other activities, and these adults don't want the children around,
the children should be told to return to their camp and their parents
(politely but firmly).  I always say, depending on the age of the child,
"Honey, you need to go back to your campsite or find your mom or 
dad now!"  If they won't leave, then two of you could always escort
them back to their camp or to Gate, or the autocrat if they can't find their camp.

As far as I'm concerned, I don't expect people to moderate their
behavior just because my children are around.  At the first camping
event that we went to (NOT a Steppes event), there was a "newcomer"
who got extremely drunk and abusive, broke things, swore,and was an
all around pain in the rear right in front of my seven year olds.   He was
escorted back to his tent by others who didn't want him around either.   I 
considered it a moment to teach my kids about the effects of consuming
too much alcohol and how foolish one could look if one really got
out of hand.  I didn't chastise the poor fellow for misbehaving around
my kids; I felt bad for him.

Regarding conducting Children's Activities,
my understanding of Kingdom law and Society policy is that as long as
one adult has a valid background check and is working with at least one
other unrelated adult to put on children's activities, there is not a problem with doing
so.  This is the type of procedure that churches and scouting organizations now use. 

 When I have done Children's Activities, in addition to following the above policies,
 I've done a sign in and sign out sheet for parents with information concerning where
the parents can be found, cell phone number, etc.  It's mundane but it kept me from
looking for some parents for an hour after the activity ended..  
I also started limiting Children's Activities to 2-hour stretches of time so that
it was a learning activity and not a babysitting service (read the MOC pages
on the Kingdom Website for more information).  I also have tried, sometimes
without much success, to get parents to volunteer for an hour or so to help out.
And I've tried to get other volunteers as well.  I also tried to conduct the activities
in a public place so that people could see what we were doing.  I don't go into
the bathroom facilities with kids who aren't my own at all, unless someone stays
in there for longer than they should, in which case I knock on the door or
go into the appropriate facility,  or send a gentleman into the men's
to call out and find out if everything is alright.  Again, this
is training I've received through church, scouts and substitute teaching, and
the main goal is to not be alone with or isolated with children who are not your
own.  This protects both the organization and the volunteer.  And this also
applies to when you are working in an official capacity for your organization,
not when you have parental permission to have a child hanging
around camp with your own kids.

Why do ANY Children's Activities?  Well, it gives the children something to
look forward to.  It gives the parents a break so they can have more adult
conversations.  It may be enough to keep the children interested in the SCA, so that
their parents don't have to stop coming when the children become teens.
It also keeps those kids who are participating from being "at loose ends,"
bothering the merchants or the rest of you who may be 
trying to have a childfree experience.

But we can't MAKE Children participate either.  And we can't make every
group provide some entertainment for the younger ones.  And with few 
volunteers and little interest from some autocrats, it just doesn't always
happen like it should.  But  I can tell you that,
until fairly recently, that was one of the key things we looked for when deciding
what events to come to:  are there ANY children's activities, even for an
hour or two?  If nothing was posted on the website about Children's
or Youth Activities at all, that may be an indication that the event is not 
very child-friendly.  Something to keep
in mind when allocating those event dollars.

We can't make every parent stay on top of the whereabouts of every child.  We
can't make sure that no one ever gets hurt doing archery, equestrian, heavy
fighting, rapier, or even some forms of A & S.  We can love each other, try
to protect each other, and pay our insurance premiums.  And fight with
our insurers if they deny coverage if we get sued.  It looks to me like that's
what our BOD and our Society are trying to do.  

It doesn't really matter
what SCA activities create "the most liability."  The thing to do is to try to address
the potential liabilities as well as we can and move on.  I know we are all
unhappy and upset about this lawsuit, but we need to realize that we've addressed
it as well as we can, and we need to move on.

Christianna inghean Fearghus, formerly Steppes MOC and Northern Regional MOC
for Ansteorra