<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Change to the A&S Policy for Minors, from the Pennsic Mayor, cross-posted per his request. Apologies to those who receive duplicate copies.</DIV>
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<DIV>Arianna<BR><BR><BR>---------- Forwarded message ----------<BR><BR>From: John Spiegel <<A href="http://us.mc1117.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=vondervelde@gmail.com" ymailto="mailto:vondervelde@gmail.com">vondervelde@gmail.com</A>><BR>To: <A href="http://us.mc1117.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=webpage@pennsicwar.org" ymailto="mailto:webpage@pennsicwar.org">webpage@pennsicwar.org</A>; <A href="http://us.mc1117.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=publicinfo@pennsicwar.org" ymailto="mailto:publicinfo@pennsicwar.org">publicinfo@pennsicwar.org</A>;<BR><A href="http://us.mc1117.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=culturalaffairs@pennsicwar.org" ymailto="mailto:culturalaffairs@pennsicwar.org">culturalaffairs@pennsicwar.org</A>; <A href="http://us.mc1117.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=eventresources@pennsicwar.org" ymailto="mailto:eventresources@pennsicwar.org">eventresources@pennsicwar.org</A>;<BR><A
href="http://us.mc1117.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=university@pennsicwar.org" ymailto="mailto:university@pennsicwar.org">university@pennsicwar.org</A>; <A href="http://us.mc1117.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=aspoint@pennsicwar.org" ymailto="mailto:aspoint@pennsicwar.org">aspoint@pennsicwar.org</A><BR>Sent: Mon, Jul 12, 2010 2:23 pm<BR>Subject: Please Post to the Web and cross-post everywhere- From Pennsic Mayor<BR><BR><BR>From the Mayor of Pennsic 39 Concerning Minors in A&S Classes<BR><BR><BR><BR>Greetings to all from the Mayor of Pennsic 39!<BR><BR>Let me first say that the war is coming together very well and we are<BR>looking forward to many great activities and wonderful memories.<BR><BR>I am writing to clear some air and to take direct charge of the minor<BR>policies at the University. Please note as I continue this letter that<BR>all relevant youth policies dealing with young children are still in<BR>full effect. (See Rule 11 of the
Pennsic Site Rules) I do want to<BR>review with everyone the current policy in the University dealing with<BR>the teens (and twelves J ). Where do we stand today? As of the last<BR>update, Minors (12-17) were allowed to attend Adult A&S Classes if<BR>they were escorted by a responsible adult appointed by their parent or<BR>legal guardian. Each escort was allowed to be responsible for more<BR>than one child, but the escort did have to remain in the class while<BR>the minor was there.<BR><BR>The question has come up many times demanding to know why this change<BR>is being made. Well, there are many reasons a few of which I will<BR>share here (mostly to try and keep this letter under the length of my<BR>dissertation J).<BR><BR>On March 25, 2010, a post went out from the SCA Board of Directors as follows:<BR>Announcement from the Board of Directors, SCA, Inc.<BR>The directors and corporate staff have the unfortunate obligation to<BR>inform the
membership that the SCA, Inc. has been named in a civil<BR>suit seeking damages as a result of sexual misconduct of an adult<BR>toward minors.<BR>Unfortunately, at the time the activities occurred, the individual was<BR>a member and officer of the SCA. The SCA clearly did not sanction the<BR>alleged misconduct, had no prior knowledge of the misconduct, and had<BR>never received any complaints concerning the adult involved prior to<BR>his arrest.<BR><BR>This suit originated in Pennsylvania, USA, and was filed in January of<BR>2010. Complete information regarding this suit is not yet known, as it<BR>is still in the preliminary stages.<BR><BR>The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. intends to take all<BR>appropriate actions available to defend itself against the allegations<BR>in these suits. As we are able, we will continue to update our<BR>membership.<BR>Board of Directors<BR>SCA, Inc<BR>As any responsible autocrat of Pennsic might do, I went to
my senior<BR>staff and requested that they review all of their policies and<BR>procedures to make sure that we were in complete compliance with ALL<BR>youth policies. They did an amazing job to review ALL Pennsic policy,<BR>rules, procedures and activities in two months in a herculean effort.<BR>They could not have made me any more humble to know how hard they were<BR>willing to work. At the May Staff Meeting held during Aethelmearc War<BR>Practice (a GREAT event, FYI), we put our pieces on the table and<BR>created solutions to any problems or grey areas found. The Division of<BR>Cultural Affairs’ policies were found to be grossly out of compliance,<BR>and the staff began working on a fix for them.<BR><BR>As we began to overhaul these youth procedures and policies, we began<BR>to get feedback from a wide variety of sources: Society, teachers,<BR>students, past staff. We discovered that we had grabbed the proverbial<BR>tiger by the tail. We had much
larger issues that we had thought at<BR>first. Many issues began to be brought forth. Minors received<BR>materials through teachers at the University that they legally were<BR>not allowed to posses. Minors were attending classes that were not<BR>appropriate for their age, and teachers were unsure of the mundane<BR>laws dealing with their topics and Minors (brewing for an example).<BR>Issues were raised about the uncomfortable situation of going up to a<BR>minor and requesting their age (think man in 40’s and girl in teens…<BR>creepy much?). Many, many discipline issues were raised dealing with<BR>the behavior of some teens during classes in the past (I will not<BR>innumerate these to protect the children from embarrassment). With all<BR>of these issues raised and many discussions held, the staff created<BR>the only policy they felt they could legitimately execute with the<BR>resources they had. There were many potential policies put forth,
but<BR>time and time again the staff ran into the wall of resources,<BR>background checks, and volunteers.<BR><BR>The great thing about SCA people is that when there is a dire need to<BR>help children, people are eager to step forward. We are not a Society<BR>of Complainers, but a Society of Doers. Since our most recent postings<BR>we have had many wonderful people step forward and offer their time to<BR>help. These people (many of whom have SCA background checks) are<BR>willing to give up parts of their vacations to help try to give our<BR>University more resources. So with these new resources, we are able to<BR>set a new policy and add a new service to facilitate our solutions.<BR><BR>New Pennsic University Teen Minor Policy (12-17): (Established 7/12/2010)<BR>Minors are welcome to attend Pennsic University classes. Individual<BR>teachers and classes may have restrictions due to topic, materials,<BR>request of instructor and such. Unruly or disruptive
youth will be<BR>asked to leave the class as per Society Seneschal Handbook Policy.<BR>Classes specifically geared for minors are handled through Youth Point<BR>and will adhere to all relevant policies for youth activities. No<BR>classes through the University and Youth Point specifically for minors<BR>will be permitted in private camps or merchant booths. Further, any<BR>minor who wishes to attend regular University class in a private<BR>encampment or in a merchant booth must be escorted by a responsible<BR>adult appointed by their parent or legal guardian.<BR><BR>New Pennsic University Service:<BR>The Pennsic University Ambassadors are a group of volunteers organized<BR>through A&S Point to aid teachers and students. They will roam through<BR>the University areas prepared to help teachers if the “Two Deep<BR>Leadership Model” is necessary, aid with basic classroom discipline if<BR>required, and assist all members of the populous to find class
times<BR>and locations as desired. Our Ambassadors are there to help with quick<BR>easy questions. For more in depth questions and normal University<BR>business, please visit A&S Point in the middle of the University.<BR><BR>Again, please let me thank all of the staff and volunteers who are<BR>making this new addition possible. If you would like to volunteer to<BR>help with the ambassadors, please come past A&S Point and sign up!<BR>Further, if you are SCA background checked and would like to lend a<BR>hand we are in desperate need of you. Please come past A&S Point and<BR>speak to us.<BR><BR>Please note that the Pennsic Book went to press almost a month ago and<BR>the material dealing with this issue will be incorrect. We will make<BR>available at Troll an insert updating this policy, but please know<BR>that on this issue the original published text will be incorrect J.<BR><BR>Sincerely,<BR>Master John von der Velde<BR>Mayor, Pennsic
39<BR><BR>--- end forwarded message ---<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>SCA-Laurels mailing list<BR><A href="http://us.mc1117.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=SCA-Laurels@lists.ansteorra.org" ymailto="mailto:SCA-Laurels@lists.ansteorra.org">SCA-Laurels@lists.ansteorra.org</A><BR><A href="http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-laurels-ansteorra.org" target=_blank>http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-laurels-ansteorra.org</A><BR></DIV></td></tr></table><br>