Am I Bothered? Teenagers and Museums
Are you a teenager who visits museums? Or do you have a teenager in your family who likes to go? Or refuses to go? What makes museums appealing to teenagers? Let us know.
Are you a teenager who visits museums? Or do you have a teenager in your family who likes to go? Or refuses to go? What makes museums appealing to teenagers? Let us know.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:05 am
Hi from Canberra, Australia’s capital.
Bravo parents braving museums with roaring rugrats. It pays off in the end. My 3 visited museums till sports won out. Our eldest knew histories of military conflict from the Australian War Memorial http://www.awm.gov.au/ Aged 10, during Iraq Invasion, he stunned his teacher with, “Miss, whether they find weapons or not it’s about oil. Why depose Hussein over Robert Mugabe or another dictator? Because Saddam’s sitting on oil. George Bush is just like Winston Churchill. He wants to secure oil in the Middle East for his forces.”
My daughter, at 7, gazed at tiny black booties & dress at the new National Museum of Australia. “How come people were so nasty to the mummy even though a dingo killed baby Azaria? If people make a mistake like that they should try and put things right”. Her sense of social justice grew from then on. Now 14 she’s doing community development work in Vietnam this September.
It’s hard getting teens through museum doors. However Canberra teens have warm memories of NMA and other institutions where their Year 10 or 12 Formals are held. They also engage with politicians in podcast debates. My sports fiend son, now 16, and I recently enjoyed the ‘Clash of the Codes; Rugby Union v League Debate’ and ‘100 years of League’ Exhibition at NMA. Tomorrow we’ll be giggling at ‘the Bald Archies’, (the comic alternative to the Archibald, our national portrait prize).
If tiny tots experience museums before play station prevails, they’ll keep coming back.
Cheers,
Joan
September 25th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
the fact that few teens go to museums is to often blamed on young people not wanting to go . in fact some museums state in the back of there guide booklets that unacompanied under 16 or 18s are not permited.yet others seem to suddenly “remember “thay have this policy when young people approch the door. thay may not desplay a no entry notice but thay are playing the policy equivalent of the youth noise,and young people can read the unwelcoming subtext and know when there not wanted. sadly such places are very comfortable with the status quo.the best in the sector,such as young tate, are a glimps of what all could and should be.(or have there public funds revued!)
please note, age descrimination is illegal,and that includes teens !
January 7th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I’ve seen some front of house staff in my local museum (Bristol) be very welcoming to teens by offering to take care of their skateboards behind the reception counter while they visit the museum. Obviously they don’t want people skateboarding around the galleries and the skateboards don’t easily fit the public lockers (these need a £1 coin which they might not have) but by approaching the teens in a friendly and relaxed manner everyone is happy. The best staff are the ones who are friendly to everyone and the ones who have teenage children. This kind of customer service needs to be encouraged.
August 8th, 2009 at 11:37 am
As an education assistant at the Royal Mews, I had a very friendly group of 6 - 16 years olds visit this week, they were all members of a Pony Club, especially interested in the horses. The older members were great with the younger ones, letting them go in front so they could see more.
I was able to learn from the older members, not being an expert on horses, so they were able to contribute to the discussion and the tour.
I think the teenagers enjoyed being able to volunteer information and teach me, they were really interested in the horses and their routines.
January 25th, 2010 at 8:34 am
Where I live near Marton Middlesbrough is the birth place of Captain James Cook. My children were always encouraged to go to museums. In this generation i’ve found that the staff try to portray the information across by using computers and the “trendy” way. There is no other way in which to do it!! As children’s concentration switches off straight away if they think it is boring.
I am now proud to tell you all that now my son is in the Royal Navy , and this week my family will be in Portsmouth going on H.M.S Victory (which I’m led to beleive is Lord Nelson’s ship turned into a museum and I will be visiting all of the maritime museums down there too wit my family and younger son.
A fantastic museum worth a visit with children is Eden Camp in North Yorkshire . I went as a teachers help taking 2 classes of children to veiw everything on offer. It was FANTASTIC.
Our children should be proud of our fore fathers and what went on in the past…..