[hackerspaces] Children in hackerspaces.

[Nick Farr (hackerspaces.org)]

On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 07:30, Stefan Arentz <stefan at arentz.ca> wrote:
>
> On 2010-01-27, at 5:51 AM, Koen Martens wrote:
>
>> On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 03:22:47PM -0500, Nick Farr (hackerspaces.org) wrote:
>>> That this conversation ended this way signals to me that Hackerspaces
>>> have peaked, and that it's all downhill from here.
>>
>> Hah, don't overgeneralise.. So there's two or three spaces that are
>> scared of the legalities
>
> It really does not have much to do with being 'scared'. More with common sense.

Common sense is being incorporated and having insurance, as I've been
saying for the past three years.

Blanketly being scared of what kids (or their parents or plaintiff's
attorneys) might do is not "common sense".

For example, is alcohol banned in each of our spaces?  What happens
when someone gets intoxicated and does something patently
stupid--these cases are "slam dunks" compared to those involving kids,
not to mention an almost universal rider in most insurance policies.

Interestingly, the actual Laywer on this list (jur1st) welcomes kids
w/ their parents into his space.  Apparently, his insurance carrier
didn't have a problem with kids being around.

Again, are we working on solutions, or are we scaring people off?  I
hate to say it, but "We can't have kids around" today sounds a lot
like "We can't have Hackerspaces" did two years ago.