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In lugnet.general, William R. Ward writes:
> I think it depends on what kinds of activities the club participates
> in. I understand that some clubs have meetings in the private homes
> of their members. I can totally see how you might want to exclude
> minors in such a situation (or at least, minors without their parents
> or other parentally-designated guardian present).
>
> But my club (BauLUG / BayLTC) meets only in public spaces, such as a
> meeting room at the library, or the back room of a pizza parlor, etc.
> I think in that context, there is a far lower risk of such allegations
> being made.
Any organization that allows both adults and minors to participate in
the same capacity has to be _very_ careful about this sort of thing. It's
not enough to simply know that nothing's going on. You need to make sure
that noone has any reason to even suspect that anything _could_ be
happening. The larger the organization gets the more strict you have to be
about situations that could be perceived as improper. I was a member of the
Boy Scouts of America when I was young, and they have some very clearly
defined rules about how the Scoutmasters and Scouts can interact. For
instance, even if one of the Scoutmasters is the father of one of the
Scouts, they are not allowed to sleep in the same tent while participating
in a BSA event. I doubt camping trips happen very often in the LUG/LTC
environment, but the simplest way to cover yourself is to require any
members who are under 18 to bring an adult to any official events.
Otherwise, the club officers technically must assume direct responsibility
for ensuring the safety of any unaccompanied minors, and they're open to all
kinds of legal trouble if anything does happen.
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