Guidelines for Common House Game Room Use

Posted to TVC-Members 10 Jan 2009 by Kathryn Johnson, Message #19517, and received no objections.
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Developed by parents of tweens/teens at TVC including: Sue Jashinsky, Paul Schwartz, Bruce Jones, Robbin Phelps, Nancy Black, Don Zuckerman, Alicia George, Tom Carrico, Janet Braun and Kathryn Johnson.

Introduction

Until the community decides otherwise, the Game Room is currently configured to give older children (specifically tweens and teens in the 11-18 year-old age group**) a place in the Common House where they can feel at home. The children currently in this age group include, Rory, Ariel, Matthew, Dzhoy, Asif, Roger, Katie and Lily.
Our understanding is that other members of the community may use the Game Room but the function of the room should not be changed by bringing in (to stay) additional equipment or games that would change the nature of the room.

For several reasons, the Game Room will not be designated solely for the use of teens/tweens. These include the fact that Common House space is limited, the tweens/teens will not always want or need the space at any given time and we want to encourage inter-generational use of space at times. We have tried to balance these considerations with the developmental need of kids in the tween/teen age group to have a space to call their own.

The equipment now in the Game Room (approved by the membership meeting on 12/7/08) includes the television, a Wii video game system (with additional controllers and games), and a clock radio with iPod docking stations. A new DVD/VHS player will be purchased soon, the current one being broken. There are also a number of board games for older children (currently on floor shelves but soon to be located on shelves up on the wall). Other than the television, this equipment is not suitable for use by young children without close adult supervision.

Guidelines:

1. Teens/tweens will be given priority use of the Game Room.

2. For the present, we will not designate particular hours when teens/tweens will have exclusive use. ***

3. Instead we ask any anyone using the rooms (adults and/or younger children) to leave promptly when teens/tweens arrive and indicate a desire to use the room. In the same way that we often ask the children to vacate the living room or other spaces when adult activities are planned, we would ask others to give the teens/tweens the same consideration in use of the Game Room. Please note that communication by teens/tweens is not always particularly articulate so we ask that adults pick up on cues such as a teen/tween hanging around outside the door.

4. Since young children are never playing in the Common House without adult supervision, we would ask that adults monitor their children’s use of the room in this same way. If, for example, young children ask to watch a video in the Game Room after a community meal, the responsible adult should check to see if any teens/tweens are using the room at that time (or appear about to use the room). If younger children find the games of the older children intriguing, which they inevitably will, and ask to join in playing with the older kids, we would ask that parents explain that the games are designed for older kids and that at times the older kids get to use the rooms by themselves.

Please note that we (the tween/teen parents) will be working with the tweens/teens to develop rules for care and use of the room and its equipment, which will be posted on the bulletin board in the Game Room.

Point Person: As designated at the December 7, 2008 Membership Meeting, Alicia George is the point person for the parents’ group which is coordinating the transformation of the room.

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Notes:
* We understand these guidelines as temporary for two reasons: one, the ages and needs of people in the community are constantly changing and thus the use of all rooms in the Common House needs to be reviewed on a regular basis and two, there is currently a process underway to assess use of all of the space in the Common House and to propose changes. Changes adopted during that process will supercede decisions and guidelines made regarding the Game Room at this time.
** The definition of “tween/teen” varies. We are suggesting that this group include children who are 11-18 years of age and/or have entered 6th grade/Middle School.
***We may need to revisit the question of whether it is better to actually reserve particular times for exclusive use but at present we are hoping that community members can be open to negotiating the use of the space, with particular sensitivity to the fact that teens/tweens are not always the most articulate communicators/negotiators.