Advice for traveling with another player

[eddieq]

I hear you, although the background checks are a different issue. That's to protect children. Gotta do that. Too many real cases of abuse. What I think is overblown (but not to the point that you ignore all risks) is the chances of being falsely accused. But as I said, everyone has to take precautions for their own peace of mind. I'm probably just less worried about that than most.

Yeah, I don't disagree on that, but nothing wrong with taking precautions. It's certainly a different animal with a kid or group of kids that you already know and have history with but it's always a good policy to err on the side of caution.

And agreed that the background checks are to protect the kids, but false accusations even when proven false likely still appear as a flag on those checks.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Hmmm. I understand your concerns. It is an awful lot of responsibility to take a teen out of state, with you. Can your wife go along? I think since you are uncomfortable with the situation, you should find her a large family to ride with.

Or rent a van and take everyone.

 

[klamath632]

And if people feel paranoid about it, I don't blame them for taking precautions. Do what you need for your own peace of mind. I just think the risks are very small, yet it's one of the first things that people warn you about.

Actual instances of abuse are indeed too common and are not to be taken lightly. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the chances of being falsely accused by someone who already thinks you're a decent enough guy that she's fine to come on a trip with you and her daughter. For me, I'm more worried about getting a sunburn than being the subject of a witch hunt.

Seriously? Not to make too big a deal out of it, but:

a. If you get a sunburn, your skin hurts for a few days.

b. If you get falsely accused of pedophilia or child abuse, you may as well just shoot yourself right then and there. Everything you hold dear will be taken from you.

Sure, the chances of it happening are slim. But the loss to you if that does happen is far too much not to take precautions.

 

[onkyo]

My DD is playing out of state this weekend, I was planning on taking her, we have another girl from a different team joining us going to the same tournament. We have had her company on multiple different occasions. When we found out she was going I asked my wife if she could take them.

I just thought it would be more comfortable for her, though I think my DD is frustrated by that decision, my wife likes to speak loudly at games.

 

[SB23]

thanks all for the advice !!

 

[quandofloo]

It may sound like paranoia but it is a precaution you should take. I took video of all 12 of the girls on my DD's team swinging to analyze and help them get ready to face tournament pitching. At the next practice, I called in their parents before I started going over what I saw with each of them and explained that I needed the parents there because I needed to talk about hips and legs and these are 10 and 11 year old girls. I am a 38 year old man. It is better to be overly cautious and avoid the appearance of impropriety than to be flippant and have something silly end up getting overblown.