dec-19-2010-general

Hey,
Could we discuss the kid’s policy? Could we set it up so kids can go through stages in order to be allowed in the shop?

Hey Brian,

Since you seem really vocal and passionate about the idea of modifying the youth policy, but you will not be able to attend the Dec. 19 meeting, I suggest that you write up a detailed proposal of how you would like to see the policy changed. At the last meeting when it was on the agenda, we felt we did not have enough information to discuss a new youth policy. A clear proposal and explanation of why it would be an improvement over our current one would be so useful!

I do want to also mention, however, that many members in our collective expressed concern that we’re not even doing the best we could with meeting our own needs at this time, and that nobody in the meeting felt strongly like they wanted to bottom-line a new approach to youth in the shop.

Thanks Brian! I am looking forward to hearing your ideas about improving our youth policy.

Caroline

Last year was pretty tough working with youth at the shop and I have some concerns.

1. When a kid comes with a parent then all the rules about permission slip and requiring 3 hours to use the shop don’t really make that much sense. There is no way to distinguish that a parent is buying a part versus a kid buying a part, for example.
2. There must be 1 on 1 attention when working with kids in the shop and any volunteer working with a kid needs to know that working with the kid is the only thing they can be doing at all. They can not help other adults, can not work on their own bike, etc.
3. Forcing parents/uncles/grandparents to spend time with kids in a shop may be inconvenient to them but that is not a legitimate reason for us to say it is OK for kids to be there alone. If a kid really wants to or needs to use the shop then he or she can persuade a parent to spend time. This is a pretty harsh thing to say to a kid whose parents are not alive any more or whose parents would rather buy drugs than spend time with kids, but in these cases no volunteer at Free Ride can be a substitute for parental guidance.
4. When kids (anybody really, but especially kids) want a bike from Free Ride, for Free!!, they see that there are hundreds of bikes laying around and they don’t understand why we can not just give them away. Something to consider in the future is that although FR has a lot of bikes, the amount is not truly endless but it is easy for a kid to get the wrong impression. Then the kid thinks we are being super mean and unfair because they think it would be super easy for us to give them a bike. Any way to remove that impression kids have would make it easier for us to work with them.
5. Kids are like magnifications of things that general shop users cause problems with (we need to address these issues with everybody and not just with kids):
   1. Wanting instant satisfaction, not understanding what makes a certain bike good versus bad and not understanding that being patient at a place like FR can pay off big time compared to taking the first thing you see
   2. Not respecting tools or other people’s space
   3. Difficulty understanding rules or constantly trying to test them to see what they can get away with
6. Kids don’t always have good reading and writing skills, or math either. This adds complication to things like following signs in the shop, being able to do paperwork, or simply being able to understand the numerical values we place on bikes, parts, etc.
7. Our classes are geared towards parents and it is unclear if kids can be at a class with parents (or be at a class at all). I have explained to kids that going to a class is like sitting in church instead of going to Sunday School. The classes are going to be too boring for kids and that is why it does not make sense for them to take the classes. Last summer some kids showed up to take the classes, which I thought was super cool but I didn’t let them for that very reason.

Now for some suggestions when working with kids

1. We should have a big cable lock to lock all kid bikes to. Maybe all bikes in general, but I am specifically thinking of kids. I am talking about when a kid comes in on a bike (not the bikes already in the shop). If a kid is going to be at the shop, then his or her bike is locked. If a kid leaves the shop (on a bike) then the staff unlocks the bike for the kid. If a kid tries to switch out bikes we will know because he will be riding away on a bike that we did not unlock.
2. We can use helmets as a way to give kids passes to use the shop. So if a kid has fulfilled the youth membership requirement, then he gets a helmet with a free ride sticker on it. If the kid does not have the helmet then he does not use the shop. We can keep adding stickers every quarter that the membership is earned or we can get stickers with dates or something if we want the membership to be something that they need to renew.
3. Even when a kid comes to the shop with an emergency like a tube that is totally blown out, they should not get help unless they meet the youth rules. If they could walk the bike to the shop then they can walk the bike back home. Also, I would not be surprised if kids mess up their bikes just to get us to allow them in the shop. There are times when a kid wheels a bike in with a tube and tire hanging off the wheel and it looks terrible so you get a volunteer to help in this emergency situation. Then before you realize it, the kid is taking entire wheels off of other bikes and trying to switch them out with his wheels and the only thing they care about is that the new wheels look cooler, so definitely not an emergency.

I see potential issues with pairing up kids and adult volunteers. Since anyone can come into the shop, would we need to deal with clearances?

Would the adult that comes in to the shop with kids need to be a parent/relative or could it be a neighbor?

We should keep the one parent one child rule. But I would like to establish levels of trust w older kids. There is a difference between a 6 year old and a 13 yr.old. If a kid shows a certain level of maturity, they should have full access to Free Ride.