Library Safety for Teen

[rockon391]

Do you or do you not trust your teen to be alone? I feel more unsafe that you are a parent and even asking such a question. 

[skittl1321]

On 10/21/2023 at 2:11 PM, ohshin said:

Just trying to get a sense of how safe the library (Voyager class ship) is for a young but mature teenager to be alone (needs to work on a project for school).  I assume it is perfectly OK during a sea day, especially with the teen and family both having access to the internet.  However, on a port day, is it safe or unsafe to leave a teen alone in the library while the family goes on an excursion?

 

Thank you!

My kids are a bit younger than this, but I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a minor alone on the ship without anyone in the group still there. If you have "family", does that mean 2 parents? Could one stay on the ship?  (I did this with my family at one port, where my son was just not having the kind of day where we could let him go into port, so my husband and daughter went without me. I was sad to miss it, but that's part of parenting to me.)  

If you trust your child to be alone on the ship, you wouldn't even have to be with them the whole day; just there, so if the people on the excursion don't come back; someone is on the ship with the kid!  Take it as a nice day to hang out by the pool, go to the spa, relax, or do all the activities that are usually too full.

As for the library- if your family is on an excursion, I second- why not just use the cabin?  

[lenquixote66]

On 10/21/2023 at 3:54 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Very similar to the gym. 😂

When cruising on sea days 99% of the time I am in the library or the gym unless of course the casino is open.

[cruiselvr04]

I hope you don’t feel jumped on….cruise critic can do that.

 

After coaching a teen what not to do, like going into someone else room, even another teen’s, I’d feel comfortable letting them do their own thing on seas days and just checking in with them once in a while.  Most ships have what they call a quiet zone for a few hours each day.  It will be on the app or compass. DH works from the ship sometimes and he uses those areas.  They don’t always have power access so be sure your computer batteries are charged. 
 

Personally I’d never leave someone under 18 on board alone on a port day.  Something could prevent your getting back to port like an accident no matter how careful you are. They would come with us or one would stay on board with them.  Nothing is more important than spending time with family.  Would a half day excursion together still give him a chance to do what he needs to do? 

[realaud]

I don't understand why the teen can't go on the excursion and work on his project in the evening? Why would you take your child on a cruise and exclude them from an activity?

[mjkacmom]

56 minutes ago, realaud said:

I don't understand why the teen can't go on the excursion and work on his project in the evening? Why would you take your child on a cruise and exclude them from an activity?

Why do you think it’s the parents’ decision? Once my kids were teens they were 100% responsible for their assignments. If my child said he or she wanted to stay behind to get an assignment done, that’s what would happen. If they said they wanted to come, that’s what would happen. It’s their assignment and their consequences.

[vjmatty]

On 10/23/2023 at 3:12 PM, rockon391 said:

Do you or do you not trust your teen to be alone? I feel more unsafe that you are a parent and even asking such a question. 

 

I think the OP is talking about safety FOR the teenager, not FROM the teenager.  It would be a bizarre question indeed to ask a group of total strangers whether or not their own kid is too much of an assh0le to leave behind during an excursion.

[realaud]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

 

I think the OP is talking about safety FOR the teenager, not FROM the teenager.  It would be a bizarre question indeed to ask a group of total strangers whether or not their own kid is too much of an assh0le to leave behind during an excursion.

I understood what was being asked. My question was why go on a family cruise and snd exclude said teen from an activity when there is plenty of time to work on the project after the tour. Unless the teen didnt want to go on that particular tour and wanted to do their project.

[mil76]

Best bet may be to just leave them to work in the stateroom.  That would be more secure, and when in port, the crew will probably be doing drills and making announcements over the PA, which will be heard in the library, but not in the stateroom.  I have worked in both the library and the conference center on port days, and the crew drill announcements are very annoying when you are trying to concentrate.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

1 hour ago, realaud said:

I understood what was being asked. My question was why go on a family cruise and snd exclude said teen from an activity when there is plenty of time to work on the project after the tour. Unless the teen didnt want to go on that particular tour and wanted to do their project.

If it's "ok" to you that the teen doesn't want to go on the tour and would rather work on the project, how about you just assume that?  Does the reason the OP asked the question make a difference on the answer?

[GreenFamily]

One issue being overlooked here is all cruise lines have policies that do not allow minor children to be left alone on cruise ships unsupervised. A child cannot consent to medical care in the case of an emergency and the cruise line does not want to be held liable for injuries or crime. 

[vjmatty]

2 hours ago, realaud said:

I understood what was being asked. My question was why go on a family cruise and snd exclude said teen from an activity when there is plenty of time to work on the project after the tour. Unless the teen didnt want to go on that particular tour and wanted to do their project.

I wasn’t responding to you, I was responding to the poster who said they feel unsafe because the parent didn’t trust their teen child. 

[boltnut55]

I don't know about your particular ship, but most libraries are in an area where there are large glass windows.  On the Serenade, it was actually an open space so not enclosed, so it would hopefully discourage any bad activity. The library is also used to play games so not sure whether he needs the quiet or not.  

 

My suggestion would be for you guys to look around the ship the first couple of days and locate several places he can work from while you're out.  On another ship (another brand), the specialty restaurants were open because sometimes there would be activities there but otherwise quiet but available.  You can also check w/Guest Services.  I probably wouldn't use conference rooms because that might be in a more isolated area.  Sometimes, it can be a table outside like near the pool but to one side where most people don't use or at the back of the ship where people would sit if they can't find a table in the buffet.  One thought would be if he needed the bathroom, could he leave his stuff out?

 

I know this is a stereotype, but I'd say it's safe especially for a teen boy.  My daughter was quiet, wouldn't speak up or talk to strangers, and very compliant, so I probably wouldn't have done it.