I don't quite get what you're saying. "HURRAY!!!!! A voice with a little compassion. I hope that I never get to a point where worrying over a possible, maybe, could happen lawsuit, would surpass the compassion felt for the family and the girl herself." What makes you think that it is impossible to view the situation clearly, and yet still feel compassion for the family? I can't even conceive of the pain and heartache this is causing the family and friends, but I didn't read anyone saying directly or indirectly that their grief is unimportant. "What has happened to make so many of you so bitter and cynical? As a parent, I would hope that you would not look upon every child that enters your museum as a little dummy who may end up causing you problems." Well, worrying about whether or not every child is a little dummy is what legal counsel requests that we do. Therefore, when we're in the process of building exhibits and thinking about programs, yes, we do need to say, "Would little Susie take this paint and eat it, or this sharp object and poke herself, or ..." As a parent, I would hope you *would* do that. "Why should we not be expected to make our museums as safe as possible for those we invite there. They're our guests, aren't they??? They put bread on our tables, don't they???" We should make our museums safe. I don't see anyone saying we shouldn't. The issue at hand here is that when tragedies like this occur, lawsuits often follow. And therefore anyone who's got a similar set-up will have to take precautionary measures. I've visited the MSI so many times over the years, and yet I don't think I've once looked at that staircase and thought someone would try to slide down the bannister. It's an obviously dangerous idea, especially to a teenager, whose frontal lobes should have grown together by that point. (And yes, I can still see why a teenager would think it's a fun idea.) Does that mean that we shouldn't have stairways like this in public places, or that totally preventable accidents like this one should then be fodder for legal action? Finally, this forum is one of the few in which this discussion can take place, and taking a group of people to task for asking difficult questions seems counterproductive to me. Perhaps a little sarcasm breaks the tension around the tragedy, but it's not necessarily inappropriate. It's not meant for the girl's family and friends. It's meant for the professionals who will probably have to implement new procedures if there is fallout. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).