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<snip>
>
> The problem is this: While it's easy to say "only mature people above a
> certain age", in practice this becomes unworkable. Why? It requires looking
> the kid, or worse yet, their parent/guardian in the eye and saying "you aren't
> welcome here". That's a rough spot to be in. And what happens if the
> person's behavior degrades? At what point do you draw the line?
>
> My vote, if we're taking one, is to leave things as they are- 18 being the age
> at which people can join. I know it sucks to be below that age and be mature
> enough to handle hanging with a bunch of adults- I was there once myself- but
> it just seems to be the best solution. It takes care of the really, really
> BIG issue- legality- and makes a bunch of smaller ones less likely to come up.
>
> I'm not saying that I think that NELUG shouldn't hold events for kids,
> publicised in advance as such and kid-friendly, etc. But I don't think that
> <18 folks should be "members", at general meetings, etc.
Eric J,
I agree with everything you have said here. I really want to keep this from
having to be a "judgement call" of any kind. I also agree that to have <18
folks at the types of meetings we have had so far is probably not in the best
interest of everyone. For one I think most <18 year olds would be board stiff
and secondly the real purpose the meetings started were so adults could get
together and talk LEGO.
I do believe however that if we participate in public events like Mindfest in
the future or even sponsor our own events then it might be nice to let <18
participate. I also think that it might be OK to let <18 get on our mailing
list with their parents permission and their understanding that there are rules
for using the mailing list that they have to follow.
The real issue for me in all this, that has been brought up before, is what
about those <18 year olds that are not quite adults but they don't really have
friends that build/play/create with LEGO anymore. This is similar to Ryan's
situation. I would really like to support these "young adults" in some way so
that they don't have to have a 13 year dark age like I did. My problem is I
don't know how to handle this other than to include them on the mailing list
and invite them to our "public" events. Maybe we can do something like have a
cookout once a year that we can invite JrFOLs and their parents to.
I think the more we can try to do to help young adults like Ryan keep their
interest in LEGO until they are 18 the better. Then once they turn 18 they can
become full fledged members and valuable contributors to our meetings as
AFOL's.
Eric K.
The New England LEGO Users Group
http://www.nelug.org/
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