I love The Strong! A fantastic museum.
At our museum, we only have guides for groups of ten or more. The rest of the time individuals and families tour alone.
We have an interactive science center that seems to stimulate kids a bit too much sometimes -- of course this doesn't apply to all of our visitors, but the ones who are acting up create memorable experiences for staff.
We do tell visitors they must stay with their children, but we're seeing more parents letting their kids run wild out of their supervision. And we've gotten some pretty hostile responses when staff has tried to speak to them about staying with their children, or when the children are spoken to directly within earshot of parents.
No one is being rude on staff, just attempting to explain the proper way to behave. But in this Age of Entitlement, it is becoming more difficult to correct bad behavior. The last thing we want in this economy is angry visitors bad-mouthing us in the community! We've worked too hard for too long to increase our profile and our visitor numbers! (Which actually increases the frequency of these kinds of incidents, unfortunately)
We're hoping someone out in Museum Land has a fool proof way to "talk down" people who are offended because we dare expect certain behavior from our visitors.
I love your "watch the adults" approach! That might work well here.
We certainly don't strive to be a "stuffy, hands-off" place -- in fact we encourage kids to explore and experiment with the science exhibits. We're just struggling with where the line is and how to keep people from crossing it.
Thanks for your input!!
Kim
--- On Wed, 12/2/09, Cindy Boyer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: Cindy Boyer <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: "a museum is not a playground" language
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 2:08 PM
> "A museum is not a playground"
>
> Unless you are the Strong National Museum of Play here in
> Rochester!
>
> And actually - how to behave in a museum is really varied
> these days. It's not surprising that people need specific
> guidelines - the rules can be so different from one site to
> the next
>
> Kim - all of our tours are escorted by staff, so don't know
> if I can give you any specific advice. We announce
> general rules for ALL visitors at the beginning of each
> tour ie Please stay on the runners, only handle
> objects that the guide hands to you, tour group must stay
> together.
>
> We have a few events in the year that take place on our
> grounds, where families are not escorted. When a
> family group arrives, we offer them the guidelines. If
> there are young children in the 4 to 7 year old range, we
> sometimes find it effective to ask the child to "monitor"
> the adults. For example - we have wildlife on the property,
> and we don't want them approached, we'll say "remember that
> this is the country side here, and you might see some wild
> animals, like raccoons or deer. Could you please make sure
> that your grownups don't go near them? We don't want anybody
> to upset the animals."
>
> The humorous request makes it memorable in the child's
> mind.
>
> What kinds of behaviors are giving you trouble?
>
> Cindy Boyer
> Director of Museums and Education
> The Landmark Society of Western New York
> 133 S. Fitzhugh St.
> Rochester NY 14608
> (585) 546-7029 ext. 12
> [log in to unmask]
>
> The Landmark Society: Revitalizing Yesterday, Protecting
> Today, and Planning for Tomorrow
>
> www.landmarksociety.org
> Confessions of a Preservationist: The Landmark Society blog
>
> Facebook / MySpace
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Kimberly Kenney, Curator
> Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 1:55 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] "a museum is not a playground"
> language
>
> Would anyone like to share the language you use in tour
> maps or on signs to help educate your visitors about how to
> behave in a museum?
>
> Also, how do staff and volunteers at your museum address
> inappropriate behavior? Do you have a phrase that
> seems to work well? What are the consequences of bad
> behavior?
>
> Thanks!
> Kim
>
> Kimberly A. Kenney, Curator
> Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum
> 800 McKinley Monument Dr. NW
> Canton OH 44708 * 330-455-7043 * Visit our
> NEW WEBSITE at http://www.mckinleymuseum.org
> "Let us ever remember that our
> interests are in concord, not conflict; and that our
> real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those
> of war." -- 25th United States President William McKinley
>
>
>
>
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