[SCA-AE] RE: Background checks for youth

[Aoife]

Brion en Kazi wrote:
> This discussion is really about the following question: "What is the problem, and will this new rule solve it in the cleanest way?"  We don't know _why_ SCA corporate is proposing this rule,..... Can anyone get clarification from the BOD?  I realize that's a whole new can of worms, but it's really the only way to confirm whether the rule is reasonable or not."

With respect, the two original letters from Baron Master Aaron were perfectly clear: There have been 24 cases of child abuse happening in relation to SCA activities in the last 2 years. THIS is the reason this change is being proposed. I can only imagine the continued heartbreak this has caused our organization at it's highest levels and across the known world.

In my opinion ONE case is one too many. However, there are only limited actions the larger corporation can take to effect a solution.

In looking for a way to ease the problem, the Society Seneschal Baron Master Aaron, formerly of Aethelmearc, the Society Chancellor of Youth Mistress Ardenia from the East, and various other members of the Board and other Kingdom's Children's Officers, looked to an organization that closely resembles the SCA's children's programs AND has a fairly good track record--the Boy Scouts of America. This kingdom was somewhat taken by surprise because we did not have a Kingdom Children's Officer until a couple weeks ago, and we are undergoing a change of Seneschal AND crown simultaneous to this news breaking. 

The current proposed solution is similar to how the Boy Scouts and other youth-oriented organizations handle the issue. It makes sense to look to those organizations, since they have already handled and repeatedly do handle the legal and moral issues we will also face. By and large, their system works. The Board is looking to see if their system will work perfectly for us, or if it will need to be tweaked. That is why your comments (the collective you--not just Brion) are important, and should go to seneschal at sca.org. You may not get an answer due to the volume of opinions expressed, but that does not negate the importance of expressing them.

However, it has been recognized and aknowledged at all levels that the best protection for all of our children will come at a local level. 

If we provide activities the kids want to take part in, if we surround the kids with interested, caring and honorable adults in multiples so that no one is alone with the kids during scheduled activities (and as parents assure this is true of them), if the kids know whom they may trust, how and when to speak out, and how to protect themselves, then their own risk of danger is significantly reduced, and NO ONE'S civil rights are violated. In fact, the result will be a much more rewarding relationship between the SCA and the kids, and a lot of fun activites will be the result.

Except for the discussion of exactly how the nuts and bolts of this is going to work, it seems to me to be a fairly elegant and elementary first step towards protecting our collective kids. And it has the full support of This Kingdom's children's officers.

In direct oposition to the expectations voiced on this list that children's activities will peter out and die off, as the Kingdom's brand new Children's Officer, I am seeing a surge of interested parties who are absolutely determined that this will not happen--who recognize that if activities for kids die out, there will be greater opportunity for predators to harm our children, undetected. My e-list has nearly doubled in size this past week, and officers we haven't heard from in a long time--even retired ones and those who've moved away--are coming out of the woodwork to lend a hand. 

There are some extremely cool activities being planned around the kingdom this year for our kids. Like the kid's event in Region 5 this summer, the "Born on the Bayeax" tapestry craft idea one of my list people is planning in Region 3, and the wonderful things planned for Blackstone Raids and Year End event, both at the end of this month. If cool activities aren't happening in your group, perhaps it's time for your local people to look amongst themselves for some volunteers who wouldn't mind a one or two hour commitment at events now and then, to help run kids activities. Parents, this is your chance to take part in your kids SCA lives AND have fun doing it.  

Thanks for your ear

Aoife, newly minted AE Chancellor of Youth who promises to be more concise in future