Nora, no disrespect taken. I am glad you spend your days convincing kids that museums are wonderful spaces and available to them. They should be - in appropriate ways. Children require safe situations. They cannot have everything they want, because they are not old enough to know what is good for them.
Of course the age of the children we're talking about must be taken into account (I can't believe the nerve of that grandmother with the 7 year old!) There may be situations where teens can be welcomed on their own - specific research tasks, for example.
Basically I agree with all of Deb's concerns. Just ask any librarian about the policies with unaccompanied children in the library. And although rare, there are the chances of inappropriate behavior from adults. Just recently our community had a man who was approaching children in two different libraries and a Barnes and Noble, taking off their shoes and fondling/licking their feet. He has been arrested.
Cindy Boyer
Director of Public Programs
The Landmark Society of Western New York
133 S. Fitzhugh St.
Rochester NY 14608
(585) 546-7029 ext. 12
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-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Deb Fuller
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 11:26 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Children without adults in museums
On Fri, Aug 10, 2012 at 11:09 AM, Nora Müeller <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Further, as a teacher, I cringe at the notion that a museum staff member would attempt to keep kids out! It seems my days are spent convincing kids that museums are in fact, wonderful spaces, and available to them!
Museums are great but they aren't day care or drop-off facilities. Nor are museum staff expected to act in loco parentis. Unaccompanied children can be a huge liability to the museum. What if the kid gets hurt, needs medication, or gets abducted? Who do you call? If you don't see who dropped off the kid, how do you know who can pick the kid up? What if the kid causes trouble? If there is no parent or parent to contact, how do you deal with the kid? If you only have a few staff, an unaccompanied child can pull staff away from other visitors. That's not fair to other visitors nor good for business.
Deb Fuller
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