Strollerderby: A trek out to the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada for the annual Burning Man festival (which is happening right now) is not for the faint of heart. It is hot, dusty, wild and there will be sex, drugs, and plenty of booze – not really a Romper Room type of place. Despite the debauchery, each year many a brave family will head to the wild west and bask in the glory of all that Burning Man has to offer. But would you?
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Before going too much farther, I have to say that I appreciate that Kidsville has outlawed public sex acts in front of impressionable young children. That's probably for the best.
As amazing an artistic experience it would be for a child, however, I'm going to come down on the side of banning children from Burning Man. In the theatre and other entertainment venues, we set up ratings and limitations not only to monitor the subject matter that children are exposed to, but also to keep the art space safe for the artists to perform and for the audience to actually relax and take in the piece. If you ask any parent who goes to a movie or theatre, they often cannot pay attention to the piece because they are constantly monitoring their child for adverse reactions to the piece (whether fear responses to loud noises or fire, or listening close for curse words to shield them from). Anyone who has been in the theatre with a crying child can also tell you that the entire audience's experience is weakened by these types of intrusions. Finally, the artists have to be aware and water down their performances if they know kids will be present for all of the above reasons. The resulting piece is weaker than it could have been, not as engaging and nearly everyone in the theatre is on the edge of their seat paying more attention to the hopefully not-crying baby than to the artists in front of them. While Burning Man is far from the traditional performance, the knowledge that it is no longer a safe place for adult themes to be explored without the possibility of a child experiencing it may dampen the artists' expression.
I believe that Burning Man can be a valuable experience for both a child and their parents. I first learned of the Burning Man a few weeks ago, when another article was posted about it. The idea of Burning Man is completely brilliant and intriguing. I do not think that it has to be closed off to only adults and teens, as the point of Burning Man is not simply to promote sexual activities and drugs. Although those two often come along with the experience of Burning Man, the true objective of it is to promote the arts, and what happens when a group of people come together with a common purpose and close themselves off to the rest of society. This can prove to be extremely valuable for children. Also, as someone who grew up with parents who didn't believe in sheltering their children, a little bit of profanity won't hurt for kids, as long as it is extremely mild and controlled by their parents. This is taken care of by the concept of "Kidsville," where a parent can live with their child in a more controlled environment within Burning Man. Camping, getting away from our technology-controlled society, and diving deep into the arts is something that can change a kid's live for the better. As a child, being inspired is so important, and Burning Man will definitely achieve inspiration within the minds of youngsters throughout our country.
Burning Man seems to be a large topic of discussion on these blogs lately. I personally believe that Burning Man is a valuable and inspiring thing to take part in. With that said, people should most likely not be bringing their young children to this. I believe it should be the choice of a parent, but, I do believe that there should be an age restriction on how you one can be. Maybe the solution is an age restriction, maybe they have found it by implimenting "kidsville," and maybe there is no correct way to judge who can and cannot go. I can see how this is an issue because I am having trouble taking sides... I do however think it should be decided by a parent based on the child's ability to comprehend and respond to what is happening around them.
I have a couple friends who are part of "Burn families", and I also know a couple of people who grew up living in hippie festival culture because their parents worked there. From the people I know it can be both a good and bad thing. I know people who have been pretty emotionally scared from being exposed to things too early and people who love burning man now that they are in their twenty's and have grown up with the culture of burning man as their predominate culture. One girl I know dresses like she is going to burning man all the time wearing hair extensions and tie die pants everyday. I think it's just the hippie in me but I really believe that letting your kids grow up in a culture that is so free is pretty amazing. And bad stuff happens, but it also happens to kids who aren't attending burning man. Kids can flip on the tv or go to the wrong website and they will be inundated with sex and drugs. The world is a dangerous adult place and now that we have such easy access to view it anyone really can get their hands on it. I think that burning man should not have limits and it really saddens me that they are enforcing more PC rules. Although I doubt they are really that rigorous, I mean come on, it's burning man. Lastly, I leave you with this, it my favorite depiction of burning man, and really quite childish as I think about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahv_1IS7SiE
I feel that there is no right answer to whether children should be allowed at Burning Man. I feel that if a child is brought up in a home life that aides in the understanding of what might be seen there, then it would be a spectaular expierence. However, if the children are taken by there parents with no context and basis for which to process and respond to Burning Man, the expierence could be quite detrimental. And even with that being said, even the most liberal of households may not prepare children for what may be witnessed at Burning Man. Personally, I would not take my children. I would however teach them to be open minded and introduce them to the concept and ideals of Burning Man. And when they are mature enough mentally to understand and process what happens at Burning Man, then I would encourage them to go for great artistic experience they would encounter.
I personally think that banning kids from Burning Man is ridiculous and unnecessary, parents should be able to expose their children to what they think is appropriate. That being said, it is entirely unfair to impose rules to make the festival more PC for the sake of children. If you don’t want to expose your children to the somewhat X-rated material that Burning Man has to offer, then great, they will probably be better for it. But don’t expect the festival to change at all solely so you can bring your kids. It’s an all or nothing kind of deal. There is a festival in Seattle that I have gone to almost every year of my life called the Fremont Fair. The festival opens with a big parade that is traditionally accompanied by hundreds naked bicyclists covered in body paint. My parents took me to see this parade from a very young age and it was only ever a positive experience for me. That being said, I remember seeing plenty of prudish mothers covering their kid’s eyes or getting up to leave at the nakedness. Poor kids.
Burning man could be a wonderful experience for a young mind but i have to say that taking anyone under the age of twelve could be a huge mistake. Burning man is a wonderful artistic journey and a life changing experience that i do plan on tasting someday. the unfortunate truth though is that there is a lot of questionable substance that is openly passed around and a lot of dangerous activities that roll by people on a regular basis. all in all burning man is not a safe place for a young child, be it the heat, the alcohol, the drugs, the smoke, or the hazardous moving art pieces. Burning man is about the experience of unrestricted expression which yes could be great for young minds but i still feel that children under 12 should not be allowed at burning man
THE POINT OF BURNING MAN IS TO DROP ACID IN THE DESERT. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THIS?
I would definitely take my kids to Burning Man. I understand both perspectives very equally, but I think that it is wrong for the administration of Burning Man (? that almost seems a little oxymoronic) to ban children from attending so long as they are accompanied by their parents and so long as their parents accept full responsibility for their behavior and what they might see while they are there. Knowing this, the performers/other attendees of Burning Man should not attempt to censor their behavior at all, because they are totally not to be held responsible for what someone else's kids may see them doing. Personally, I believe that shielding kids from that wildness and creativity is not going to do them or the development of their brains and thoughts any good. Zoe is very right in saying that your kids can find slices of what they'd see in Burning Man in everyday life if they choose or even if they don't choose. Covering their eyes to these sorts of things will only make them want to fight against the censorship even more later. Or it will make them boring which is perhaps worse.
I think that, while profanity, if it's low key, won't hurt children, it''s not a good idea to bring kids to burning man. Yes, it's true, there are incredible art pieces there and it would be an incredible educational experience if the kid is ready to handle it. However many kids, due to our lovely new form of sMothering, aren't ready to see things like what goes on at burning man. the people who go to burning man might not want to be around kids or act the way they should around kids, and the festival will eventually have to start catering to children and become "family friendly" because of law suits that will no doubt be filed because of some small accident. That's not what Burning Man is about and it's completely possible that the best way to keep it this way to to keep kids away.
I think Burning Man would be great for kids. The problem isn't the kids, it's the parents. It's not kids that are demanding censorship or PG rated things. I disagree with the whole, fairly 'American' idea of sheltering your kids from the world, obsessing over them every second, and declaring swingsets to be 'too dangerous' and living in a safe little bubble.
I think parents should bring their kids to Burning Man ONLY IF the parents can accept that their kids are going to encounter a lot of things, some good, some 'bad', and can be okay with not being in control of that. If a parent makes the decision to bring kids, that parent has no right to be pissed about nude dancers also being there. (But honestly, imagine how the world would be better if we had all been exposed to casual nude dancers as children like it wasn't a big deal).
I don't think Burning Man should add a 'family tone', but that parents should want to bring their kids because of, not in spite of, the (controversionally educational, life-enriching) content.
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