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When Carnegie Science Center was in the process of reviewing these policies, I interviewed the local Children and Youth Services office in the Department of Public Welfare. I was in the process of addressing parent complaints about our policy that children under 12 be supervised by an adult. I don't know if this changes from state to state, but they were adamantly in support of us. They said that CYS guidelines are that "no child under the age of 12 should be left unattended either at home or in public places." It is their belief that if emergencies happen, children may not be equipped to deal with it at younger ages. I have also had CYS take custody of an employee's 11-year-old child who was staying home while the parent worked.
When contacting and talking with such parents, we felt more comfortable referencing CYS guidelines and discussing our concern for attending to them in an emergency without appropriate adult supervision. We would say that every child's safety is our highest priority. We would add that we do have opportunities, such as camps and workshops where kids we could provide supervision - for these programs we have appropriate health forms and emergency contact information on file.
Lynn Parrucci
Director of Education-Group Programs
Philadelphia Zoo
3400 Girard Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19083
Phone: 215-243-5243
Fax: 215-243-5385
Email: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Shane Pickett
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 5:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Policies on young visitors without adults
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
With summer approaching, we are reviewing a situation that occurs sometimes
that always gives us pause, and we'd like to hear how other institutions
handle this.
It's closing time, and we have a 9 and a 10 year old kid still in the
building, frantically calling people for a ride, hoping someone will arrive
sooner or later. We've never had to go this far, but at what point does a
responsible staff person consider this child abandonment, and call the
police? Another situation-if a parent sneaks/runs out the entrance after
getting their young kids in the center, do we shrug our shoulders, and
figure their parent will return?
We have a policy that children must be attended by their adults, but what
does that signify to an adult set on dropping their kids off unchaperoned
for 4 hours?
Thank you for any advice or perspective on this!
Shane Pickett
Science Central
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