Right now, consensus indicates putting a lower age cap of 12 years old (if deemed to be exceptionally responsible by the 3 interviewing board members) /quote]
I don’t agree with this. What will be the criteria to determine “exceptionally responsible”? Sounds to me like individual opinion, rather than evaluation of facts. Someone can say they were discriminated against…you allowed him but not me because someone doesn’t like me.
Better to have a hard and fast rule. (don’t ask me how I know this)
Well, as I indicated, that is how the survey is leaning but actually implmenting it will take a bit of tact. But still, most clubs likely have a process in place by which new members are reviewed before being accepted - it would certainly be foolish not to. Not everyone who applies will be a good fit for a club (and vice versa) and that type of call has to be made by senior club members. As long as it is not being decided by just one member, but a group, it should end up being relatively fair.
We have already had to cut loose one potential youth member (age 14) who came in and displayed a great deal of disrespect for the other members, the layout, and the rules of behavior the club has in place.
We will simply use the same vetting and approval perameters for our youth members as we do with adults.
I am a member of a very large club (10,000 sq. ft., 60+ members) that was est. in 1938.
In 1990, I became a youth group member of the club when I was 15, the same year my dad joined the club. Over the next couple years, we had a total of about 10 kids in the group. Dues were cheap, I think $5 a month, and was used to build and maintain our own 4x8’ HO pike. Youth meetings were once a month on an “off” night, so we had the club to ourselves (plus the one adult member who ran the group). We would run trains, talk, or work on our 4x8. We were allowed to run trains during train shows and would help out during operation sessions.
Our youth group ended when the one person dedicated to running it left the club for a better job elsewhere.
I think you had to be of High School age to join our youth group.
Today, we have no youth group (and haven’t since 1992). You must be 18 years old to apply to be a member. We have done so to protect the club legally. Remember that if someone sues the club, the directors can be held personally liable. We tried to re-start a youth group about 15 years ago, but no members wanted to be in charge of it. The most active members we have are too busy building the club layout to watch kids, and the other members can’t be bothered.
If you are under 18 and want to participate at our club, you can get a parent or guardian to join and you can be their guest. The adult is responsible for the kid and must be present at all times when the kid is at the club. We currently have one father-son duo, and few grandfather/grandson pairs.
To join the club as a regular member, an adult must pay the application fee and then has at least 3 months and a maximum of 9 months to show up 18 times and do something from a list of tasks (they pay no dues during this time). These include building a freight car kit, making a number of trees or make a buildi
As a follow up: the board met and voted to set the minimum age for youth membership at 12 years old. It was felt that by then a more serious appreciation of the hobby may exist compared to much younger kids who just may want to “play with trains”. Setting it at a higher age, such as 16 was viewed as counter productive since at that age, many kids who have been interested in trains may likely be drawn away from the hobby by other interests. This limit will apply to both youth who wish to join but whose parents do not have an interest, as well as the kids of adult members who want to bring in their kids. Those members will be allowed to bring in their kids, regardless of age, as a guest at our once a month Wednesday night run session - but they will be expected to monitor their kids’ behavior at all times. The other Wednesdays are taken up by workshops, work nights, OPs sessions, and meetings.
The board also voted to cap the number of youth members at eight.
These decisions will be open to board review at anytime, but a review will be required at a date no later than six months from now where a decision may be made at that time to modify them - or to leave them as is.