[Artemisia] Youth activites, fees and so on

[Tenacia Ale]

Greetings unto the Populace,
   
  I have been reading through the posts concerning the NMS for youth, concern about setting fees too high for some families on tight budgets to afford to attend, and lack of activities for youth at events. What I write here is not intended to upset anyone or cause any flare-ups, I just feel as the new Kingdom Minister of Youth I should probably say something on these topics as they concern our youth,lol. 
   
  As for the NMS, Thea this is just my opinion and would like to talk to you further about this offlist, I don't think that a NMS charge should be charged for youth. There are a number of reasons for this, the first being that we need to encourage youth and their parents to attend in order to bring new blood into the SCA and help the dream grow. Some families feel more comfortable attending a few events to see how the kids and parents alike feel about playing before deciding they want to pay membership fees. Secondly, it is important to keep things affordable for parents who have multiple children. For example, I have a family who is very interested in playing but not sure they are ready to get memberships. They have six children so if you were to add the NMS charge, plus site and feast fees as well as the adult charges, they would not be able to afford to attend. As I stated before, this is just my two cents worth on this topic and should be taken for what it is worth and
 nothing more.
   
  As far as not having activities for youth to do that don't involve pulling parental units away from their adult activities, there are improvements on the horizon. It is the goal of both myself and the MOY's throughout the Kingdom to get our youth involved in the Page's College and the Handbook of Courtly Graces which are the books used in our Youth Program. These books will help those planning activities to mold some of the activities to help the youth complete requirements in the books and grow in their SCA experiences. For the most part, youth over the age of 5 can attend most youth activities other than boffer and youth archery without an adult present although again I stress that these activities are not babysitting services, merely places for our youth to learn and grow as well as make lasting friendships. It would also be nice for parents to volunteer time to help the local MOY's when possible. 
   
  Anyone interested in learning more about the improvements planned for the Kingdom Youth Program or with suggestions, questions or concerns you may contact me offlist at artemisiayouth at crystalcrags.org. I am also looking for individuals who may be interested in various local MOY offices as well as Kingdom Deputies for the Southern, Middle and Northern regions. Please contact me if interested in learning more about what these positions entail. If this program is to grow stronger and develop better activities for our youth along with support for the program, please realize we need volunteers whether parents or not,  to fill these positions and build a better overall program. 
   
  Thanks for the bandwidth and I apologize for the long post however, I feel our youth and the parents who introduce them to the SCA are worth the time and space. 
   
  In Service to Artemisia,
  Lady Sorcha inghean Lorccan
  Kingdom Minister of Youth
   

		
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