The minority do have the right to their opinions and the right to decide what is appropriate for their children, and perhaps they did have reason to be a little disgruntled afterall- let me explain… For several summers I was the director of dance at a summer camp in Mass. I often took groups of children (aged anywhere from 8 to 15) to view Inside/Out performances at the Pillow. Most of these kids ARE old enough to understand (or at least know enough to talk about it later) “adult” symbolism and innuendo. If I wanted to save myself the headache of having parents on MY back, I needed to make sure that what they were going to see was relatively clear of anything that would make the kids focus on the “naughty” thing they saw instead of the dance itself (not always an easy task). Since many of the companies on the Inside/Out stage are not widely known it is more difficult to know what their content might be like. So, on a couple of occasions I called the Pillow offices to find out details about the content and was told that if it was on the “for the family” menu it should be appropriate. They didn’t seem to know any more than I did, which kind of defeats the purpose of that CYA statement don’t you think? And, it is no help for parents or teachers who really are just trying to be responsible and do right by the kids in their care. I guess my point is, if the festival is going to offer family events and then try to shift blame in the case they make a mistake, they should at least be prepared to answer questions about the material they are presenting.

Anyway, your statement about divulging inappropriate content in order to shield children from the content is spot on (perhaps this is why so many young kids seem quite savvy these days). I hope that with my own child (he’s only 1) I will be a discerning but not overly protective parent. Already I have learned that often ignoring an unwanted behavior works more effectively than drawing attention to it by saying “No!” It’s a lesson I think many parents forget.

I was at a Star Trek Convention this weekend (totally analagous event, I know) and a lot of the actors mentioned sex at one point or another. None of the kids or parents looked shocked or scandalized. Maybe in the 24th century…;)