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In lugnet.org.us, Shiri Dori writes:
> I'm posting here to explain my opinion(s) about the age limitation in NELUG.
> My parents agreed to release NELUG from any liability issues in a written
> document, if neccessary.
> We all share the same hobby. Once you pass the "5-12" age recommendation on
> the box, most people are scorned or at least misunderstood for their hobby.
> Naturally this increases with age, but believe me at 16 I'm getting as much
> weird looks as I'm sure some of you are at 30.
I expect, without trying to be too presumptuous, that you also get a few
glances because you're in a demographic minority as far as the hobby is
concerned, even insofar as it applies to "adults."
> As for maturity, I don't see how this applies when coming from people who
> repeatedly declare their inner-children to be under 12 and some even younger.
> Personally I'm often told I'm mature for my age but that doesn't/shouldn't
> matter.
I've met some 16-year-olds who could hardly tie their own shoes, to use a
metaphor, and I've met others who have it quite creditably together.
> > 3. The snowball effect - If you make one exception where does it stop. Say
> > we raised the age limit to 16+ well now we will have all of the 13+ people
> > wanting in and so on and so forth. For us 18 is the best cutoff mainly
> > because that is the age where by U.S. law we are all considered Adults and
> > responsible for our own actions. This is a relatively easy age cutoff for us
> > to defend because of that.
Slippery slope reasoning is falacious and in any case potentially unfair to
those who don't fit into such iron-hard classifications of age/maturity. As a
guideline I understand the logic, but even other "fringe" groups as the SCA,
wherein actual injury and liability can occur, allow participation by some
minors provided that due permission is secured. Can participation by minors
not be considered on a case-by-case basis, or perhaps allowing for
"sponsorship" of a minor by an adult member of Nelug? I wouldn't suggest that
Nelug or any one member should babysit such a minor, but in some cases
(Shiri's, for example), if the minor seems to have her head more-or-less
screwed on straight, does it truly benefit the group to exclude her?
> > 4. We are not a babysitting service - OK don't throw stone's here we know
> > you don't need babysitters but once exceptions start being made this is
> > where this can lead. We don't want to end up having parents dropping off
> > their kids for a couple of hours and expect us to monitor them for free.
> > This is not why NELUG started and in my oppinion if this started happening
> > many of the Adults in NELUG would stop comming to meetings and we don't want
> > that.
I agree that a babysitting service would be utterly counterproductive, but
that's not what Shiri's asking. In general, certainly Nelug wouldn't want to
take care of a bunch of toddlers, but someone who's participated in Brickfest
and made numerous creative contributions to Lugnet would seem distinct from
the average rugrat. Again, couldn't participation be considered case-by-case?
> Maybe I'd take the T if that'd make you feel better.
Are you old enough to take the T by yourself? 8^)
> P.S. I've posted about this 8 months ago (and countless times between then and
> now). Feel free to read it here.
> http://www.lugnet.com/loc/us/me/?n=116
If you post every 8 months on the topic, in 3 more postings you won't have
to worry about it anymore!
Dave!
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Age limitations
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| (...) Not sure what you mean by "demographic minority"... my gender? Age? Or perhaps my nationality? I'm in a minority in all those aspects (at least as far as lego is concerned). (...) That's what I'm hoping for... (...) <grin> Yes, thanks. (...) (...) (24 years ago, 3-Jul-00, to lugnet.org.us, lugnet.org.us.nelug)
| | | Re: Age limitations
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| I'm not involved in NELUG, but I want to contribute a comment: When I was 14, I belonged to a computer user group. I think the parallels will be clear. Once a month I cajoled an older person to drive me over to Texas Tech for a few crammed hours of (...) (24 years ago, 3-Jul-00, to lugnet.org.us, lugnet.org.us.nelug)
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