10yo in Edge

[cruiser21]

As I said...twice already - not everything I said will apply to everyone.
If thats not you or your kid then you don't need to take it personally.

Errr, yeah! 90% of parents of 10 years olds that go to Edge and demand their kids to be in there is still a teeny tiny fraction of parents that were ever invented...
But go ahead, keep twisting what people say!

Someone asked my reasons. I gave my reasons from years of direct experiences. If you don't like them - not my problem!

You don't work for DCL anymore....I'm not sure why you're taking it so personally. You've obviously moved on. If DCL allows 10 year old in the Edge... then how are parents demanding anything. I never had to demand anything. I once had a cm tell me my son should try the lab first. I told her it was our 4th cruise that year and I knew he didn't like it. She got a little pissy and threw the waiver at me... other then that I've had no issues. I've worked in healthcare for 20 years. I would not post on a public message board complaining about families or patients...the only thing I would get would be grief and I would end up being the one looking bad. Just some advice if you plan on continuing in public service. I would also not post negative things about parents on a board that's full of parents and not expect some blow back.

 

[MSPeeler]

My son, who will be 10 on our upcoming cruise would love to goto Edge. I, as the Mom, know his maturity level is not “there” yet. He will stay in the Club/Lab as he should. I don’t want him to be an annoyance to the tweens or CMs!

I do think that 3 years old is FAR to young to mix with kids up to 12 years old though.... even if they are siblings. Could be quite disasterous if kids are as wild/clumsy as my 2 boys.

 

[Kate_45]

You don't work for DCL anymore....I'm not sure why you're taking it so personally. You've obviously moved on. If DCL allows 10 year old in the Edge... then how are parents demanding anything. I never had to demand anything. I once had a cm tell me my son should try the lab first. I told her it was our 4th cruise that year and I knew he didn't like it. She got a little pissy and threw the waiver at me... other then that I've had no issues. I've worked in healthcare for 20 years. I would not post on a public message board complaining about families or patients...the only thing I would get would be grief and I would end up being the one looking bad. Just some advice if you plan on continuing in public service. I would also not post negative things about parents on a board that's full of parents and not expect some blow back.

|I think she's taking it personally because people are attacking her personally for stating that many children that are not aged 11-14 yrs do not have the maturity of an 11-14yr old.

I also think you're missing the nuance between asking and demanding.

The responses on this thread are not making me feel anything but sympathy for the kids club team.

Having one club with a faulty age range is not an excuse to make it two. ​

To me as a professional working in education (as well as a parent) Bbel is not looking bad.

 

[Malibustyle23]

You don't work for DCL anymore....I'm not sure why you're taking it so personally. You've obviously moved on. If DCL allows 10 year old in the Edge... then how are parents demanding anything. I never had to demand anything. I once had a cm tell me my son should try the lab first. I told her it was our 4th cruise that year and I knew he didn't like it. She got a little pissy and threw the waiver at me... other then that I've had no issues. I've worked in healthcare for 20 years. I would not post on a public message board complaining about families or patients...the only thing I would get would be grief and I would end up being the one looking bad. Just some advice if you plan on continuing in public service. I would also not post negative things about parents on a board that's full of parents and not expect some blow back.

Pretty sure there is a reason why her posts offend you so much and why you are so offended it by everything she posts. Notice only one other person has had any issues with everything she has said?

With you being the perfect parent that you are you probably don't realize all the crap that others in her past position has to deal with from parents on DCL.

Let it go and move on.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

As I said...twice already - not everything I said will apply to everyone.
If thats not you or your kid then you don't need to take it personally.

Not taking it personally, at all. You seem intent on portraying everyone whose opinion differs from yours as angry and reactive. We aren't. We are just letting you know that your perspective on things may be colored a bit by some bad experiences you have clearly had with a few entitled parents.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

|I think she's taking it personally because people are attacking her personally for stating that many children that are not aged 11-14 yrs do not have the maturity of an 11-14yr old.

I also think you're missing the nuance between asking and demanding.

The responses on this thread are not making me feel anything but sympathy for the kids club team.

Having one club with a faulty age range is not an excuse to make it two. ​

To me as a professional working in education (as well as a parent) Bbel is not looking bad.

As an education professional, I think she is letting bad experiences with a few parents taint her reactions to parents in general. If I am 100% honest, she comes off as unprofessional, angry, and defensive. None of which you want to be when working with children.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I can see it from both angles.

A lot of parents either overestimate the maturity of their kids, ignore/just don't see behaviors that the rest of us see and hate, or give in to whining in ways that impact others. If there's a 10 year old who isn't all that mature who wants to be in Edge, and Mum and Dad have Mixology and Remy and don't want to deal, they may push very hard to get the kid into Edge even if he/she is not really suited to go. It's just reality.

Teachers in schools get a lot of pushback ("my kid is gifted!" "you just don't understand him, he's not a bully!"). But kids have 150+ instructional days, there are evaluations, etc.

In a cruise kids club, such pushback has new and different twists because of the timeframes, costs involved, the plans of the parents, and just general "it's vacation, what can it hurt!" approaches.

See also the number of times pools on board get closed on Code Brown, because swim diapers aren't allowed and there's a request your kid be PT to use the pools... that everyone just stone-cold ignores. It's the same thing, in many respects, different age and venue.

Almost every age group limiter is arbitrary in some way, from school cut-off dates, 17 + 300 days vs. 18, etc. etc. Because kids will be on DCL from 3-14 days, generally, there is not a lot of ability to do evaluations around "should this individual be allowed X," and the parents are unreliable due to the vacation issues.

 

[kandt]

Our family cruised in October on the Magic. We took our 12 year old up to the Edge to get her sticker for her card. While we were there, one of the Edge staff members askes my 10 year old how old she was. When she said 10, we were told we could fill out a paper and my 10 year old would be allowed in the Edge as well. We never asked, it was just offered.

 

[scgustafson]

Honestly?
I have a few reasons gathered over the years. It's nothing personal and not aimed at anyone in particular but my observations from working in the club/lab and edge and vibe.
Im speaking as a former CM; apparently every 10 year old is mature...they're often hard work and don't have the social skills for edge, they often don't have a filter and can be inappropriate without meaning to be and it's just draining. As an edge CM your just sorting out petty issues between kids, much more so than the club and lab. Is it all kids? No of course not, some were amazing and you'd think they were way older. And Of course there's 11,12,13 year olds who act a lot younger. I just wish there was something like a one strike rule, you mess up your back down to deck 5, but that would never happen at Disney...

And to be honest, it was the entitlement (90% of the time) that would come across when some parents would ask/demand 'so, my kid is 10 but they're really mature and hang out with 13 year olds every day of they're life and the lab is really babyish, even thought they've not set foot in it, and I paid a lot for this cruise so.....' when that happens multiple times every few days, it's just makes you bored of hearing it.

Is used to really upset me that older edge kids felt they had to age up to vibe when sometimes they didn't really want to but needed a break from kids (at 10, the majority, not all, are still kids, not tweens).
And then there was the older vibe kids that are now over run with younger kids, are you going to allow them to age up into adult areas? Of course not, we've all seen the angry posts if someone even suggests that their 17.5 year old can sit quietly by the adult pool a read a book...

What's the point in having age groups of your not going to stick to it. Just make edge from 10 years and solve the issue....of course then all the 9 year olds would want to come.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything again 10 year olds, I know it's sounding that way. My issue is with Disney lol.
I truely feel disney need to sort their age groups out, it's one of the reasons I left, but in my opinion 10 year olds in the teen areas isn't the answer.

However, PC and TA cruises would be the ones that I wouldn't mind bump ups, the whole ship has a completely different atmosphere, and the clubs are quieter and nicer having some kids around than none, but if you get ones that are hard work, you have time to mould/break them lol. Just don't expect them to be constantly entertained on the longer cruises in edge like they might be in the club/lab, there's a lot of down time on longer cruises, but the kid/Counselor relationship is completely different in a much nicer way.



Ok, flame away

I completely support you and your opinion about the rush to age up watering down the intended demographic of Edge and its programming, which in turn pushes for a rush to age up to Vibe, watering down that demographic and programming. I feel it all goes back to the DCL capitulation to the parents that wanted their kids together in the Oceaneers Lab and Club, back when the sides and programming were divided by age. By opening all programming and side in Oceaneers to all ages, they watered it down and made everything skew younger, which causes the desire of the 10 years olds, and even the 11 and 12 year olds who have a choice, to want to flee the little kids and head to Edge. If DCL would just go back to divided programming in Oceaneers, they would be able to keep more of the 10-12 years olds wanting to stay in those clubs and not flood Edge, which then causes Vibe to flood with younger kids. Granted, the more mature 11-12 years olds will still seek out Edge, but not in the mass number seen now (and the same is true of the 14 year olds in Vibe). While an 8 year old can more easily coexist with a 5 year old in Oceaneers, it is ridiculous for and 11 year old to have to deal with 4 year olds. Redivide the Oceaneers Club and Lab by ages again, If mom and dad truly want the older sibling in the same club with the younger, then allow for the older sibling to go do the programming in the younger club (still keeping to a maximum of 12 years old), and not vice versa.

 

[CamColt]

Let's remember to keep this post on topic and not make it personal. Thanks!