Frankly, Hal, I think you miss much of the point. Our society has
become so risk-averse that -- even in the few decades since I was a kid
-- we have begun to avoid too much that is normal and healthy and safe.
All of these contributions that you dismiss as irrelevant only appear
irrelevant to you because they likely conflict with your preconceived
(and arguably paternalistic and outdated) notions.
I have experience as a hiker and researcher with LOTS of mountains, in
the east and west -- and north, and even some in the tropics. I am
inclined to trust Simone to make rational judgments about when and where
to take the infant (which I suspect will be older than 3 months before
she goes) in the the field. I suspect she knows that "Child safety
trumps all else" as do the rest of us whose opinions you so readily
disregard. It is her child, and I suspect she takes his or her safety a
hell of a lot more seriously than you can begin to appreciate.
Later,
Dave
On 4/9/2012 2:19 PM, Hal Caswell wrote:
Dear People,
This discussion is all very inspiring, but much of it misses the
point[s]. While Simone didn't say exactly what mountains she is
working in, I assumed from her location that she was speaking of the
White Mountains in New Hampshire. I have some experience with those
mountains, and they are notorious for difficult terrain, uncertain
footing, and unpredictable weather in every month of the year.
Especially in the alpine zone (or to get to the alpine zone), where
Simone says she works. Hence my advice (nothing I have heard here has
changed that) that a 3-month old infant is too young. The happy
stories of taking young children "for a hike" may or may not be
relevant to Simone's question, depending on what kind of a hike you
are speaking of.
Also not relevant are the discussions of the [very great] rewards of
sharing one's scientific activities with one's children and the
responses they can give.
Also very much not relevant are the invocations of how our ancestors
lived, and gave birth, and raised children in the wild, unless you
want to also bring into the discussion the changes over time in infant
mortality rates.
Child's safety trumps all else.
I would be very much interested in hearing from other faculty about
how they deal with the safety and liability issues arising from taking
children in the field, in the care of students under their
supervision. I suspect that safety concerns in places like chemistry
labs, would immediately rule out the presence of small children there,
but field work may (sometimes) invoke different images.
(Parenthetically, I don't usually supervise students doing field work,
so the issue hasn't come up for me. Most of the students I know who
do field work do so on oceanographic research vessels, where children
are definitely not going to be taken along.)
So, to faculty, how do you deal with student safety while working in
the field?
Hal Caswell
Senior Scientist
Biology Department MS-34
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole MA 02543
USA
--
------------------------------------------------------
David M. Lawrence | Home: (804) 559-9786
7471 Brook Way Court | Fax: (804) 559-9787
Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: [email protected]
USA | http: http://fuzzo.com
------------------------------------------------------
"All drains lead to the ocean." -- Gill, Finding Nemo
"We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo
"No trespassing
4/17 of a haiku" -- Richard Brautigan
