[SCA-AE] ANNOUNCE: Background checks for youth.

[Carnaby Auction]

So - the way I am reading this is that our officers (in our Barony, our Chilldren's minister and our youth marshall) would need the clearances, but that would be it. However, they would then be required to be at every event personally running the youth activities (or whomever they had deputized would have to be background checked).
  But that kids could work in the kitchen, ride in equestrian events that are not youth specific (remember that participants can be much younger in equestrian than in regular fighting), and in general participate in other facets of sca life that were mixed with adults WITHOUT requiring background checked supervision as long as these activities are mixed age and not just for youth alone.
  I personally think that having two adults supervising at all times (and perhaps even requiring that they not be related, as we do with the exchequer's signatures on checks in our Barony) should be more than adequate to protect our children. I think that requiring background checks will place an undue financial burden on the kingdoms if they are required to pay for this (remember, you are talking about a minimum of two people per Barony, if not more - and what if everyone decided they would like to be checked - will there be a limit and would people have to stand in line to be able to run children's activities? Or will the Kingdom have to limit the pool to say, three people per Barony upon whom then falls the burden of running all youth activities? Or four, if the rule of two people per activity stands?) (hmm, that does beg the question of what would happen if everyone in our Barony wanted to be checked so that we could function as normal without a problem - sixty odd
 clearances?) What is most likely to happen would be that children's activities will pretty much disappear - and that is if the kingdom is paying, never mind what would happen if our populace was asked to pay for their own clearances.
  I think that there should also be much more information posted about what exactly is on the background checks - are they simply checking court records for child molestation charges?
  Or are they checking credit and other records? It is far too easy in today's world for records to get messed up. 
  I'm sure I would pass with flying colors, having also had a government top secret clearance level (and I'm sure these guys aren't going to go back to our hometowns and interview people like those clearance people did, LOL) - but I might never volunteer for a youth position just on principle under this new system (not to mention one more electronic place for my SSN to be distributed to). That's just not the SCA I joined 20 years ago. I realize that times (or in reality maybe just detection and prosecution methods - I'm not sure child molestation has risen, just that now we're doing more about it, thank heavens) have changed - so change the rules to require three people to be running a youth event at all times during said event - no cost, no hassle and maybe people will still volunteer for things. I am not saying that this is not a problem that needs to be addressed, just that I personally don't think this is the way to do it. So if anyone is keeping track of populace
 response for the Board, that's one vote against.
  Or at least inform the populace much more clearly about what is involved, and how many people each kingdom can afford to check so that we truly can plan the consequences.
  Anyhow, that's my two cents for the day...
  Tiercelin
   
  
Jennifer Bastian <goodscagirl at verizon.net> wrote:
  

As for who is paying for this, why don't we let the Kingdom Seneschal
verify this for us, and get back to us. 
Jumping to conclusions will only cause more issues to arise that could
better be handled by a verification of the stipulation from the BoD or
Seneschal of the Society.

YIS, 
--Eirik



The payment part is undecided at this point. In other organizations the Boy
Scouts and the AAU the volunteer pays for it. I am not saying that that's
what would happen here.

As to the other questions I am sure that more details will be brought about
as this is hashed out further.

Marguerite


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