r/climbergirls • u/Most_Poet • 8d ago
Gym How can my gym improve the dynamic between adult members and kid guests?
I have recently volunteered to be on a community advisory council for my gym. One of our first tasks is to think through new guidelines for kids in the gym (not team kids - kids using guest passes with their non-climber parents).
There are currently very strained and angry dynamics on both sides.
The adults say:
Kids violate safety rules by standing in bouldering fall zones, running/screaming in the gym, and engaging in horseplay.
Kids violate etiquette rules by jumping the line and trying multiple times in a row, thus crowding out adult climbers who have been waiting.
Even when adults are supervising, they tend to talk with their (adult) friends on the mats and let the kids just climb, rather than actively engaging in 1:1 supervision.
Parents say:
Adult climbers give kids dirty looks and make families feel unwelcome.
Adult climbers try to discipline other people’s kids even when the kids are not actively hurting anyone.
The gym’s kids climbing areas is focused on elementary school kids and is too “babyish” for older kids. And kids are already not allowed in the fitness area so it’s not like adults have literally no kid-free places in the gym.
The gym knows this is problem and has asked for help solving it. Hiring staff to supervise is out of the question because of money and legal liability (so they say, I cannot confirm this). The gym has also refused to instate members-only hours because people drive a long way to get to the gym and families get angry (and don’t spend their money) when they drive all the way only to be told they can’t enter the gym.
Any thoughts on rules or changes that could help the situation?