This page lays out our rules for children at Arisia. Please make sure you're familiar with them if you're an adult with a child, a free-range child, or a teen. If you have any questions or concerns about Arisia's Youth Rules, please email Click here to show mail address.
COVID Policies: All Teen Lounge attendees are required to wear masks in convention spaces at all times, including Teen Lounge Spaces. While we recommend that children in Babysitting make their best effort to wear masks and follow our convention-wide COVID policies, we recognize that this is sometimes difficult with younger children. Any child displaying COVID or Flu-like symptoms will need to be picked up by their authorized grown-up immediately. Help us keep everyone safe and healthy! You can see our convention-wide COVID policies here.
Children as Fans
Arisia makes every effort to protect fans of all ages and provide a healthy environment with many opportunities for fun and learning. Children are a valued part of our community, and we welcome their appropriate participation.
- All children aged 8 and under must be accompanied by an adult, unless in Babysitting con areas as appropriate to their membership type.
- Parents of children aged 9-12 who believe their children are mature enough (and who have their own paid membership) may choose to allow their children to freely roam the convention on their own. Such children will be given a green ribbon to wear with their membership badge . Children whose parents do not allow their child to freely roam the convention, and any child under the age of 9, will be given a red ribbon.
- Youth aged 13-19 are welcome in the Teen Lounge. It is available to them as a safe place to meet, play, or chill with other teens. They may attend any function of the convention, with exceptions for panels or events labeled as containing adult themes. These panels are limited to attendees 18 years of age or older and will have a member of The Safety Team checking IDs at the door. Although youth under 18 years of age may register as ‘adults', membership in the convention in no way supersedes any local, state, or federal laws.
For more information on activities for children at Arisia, see the 19 & Under page.
The Safety Team
Any unattended children including: children not picked up at the close of Babysitting, as well as children who do not have free-roaming ribbons found roaming on their own will be brought to The Safety Team's office, who will follow procedure to ensure the safety of the child.
At Babysitting, when children are checked in for the first time, parents/guardians will provide the name and contact information for any adult that is authorized to pick up their child. They will also be asked to provide a password (like "melon" or "pigfoot") that allows the caregiver to send someone for pickup who might not be on the initial authorized pickup person list (in case of emergency or convenience).
The location of Babysitting is not broadcast to ensure the safety of our youngest attendees. When the parents of any Babysitting kids pick up their badges, they will be directed to the Ops Desk (in Hale on the Mezzanine) to be informed of the location - the Ops Desk staff has a list of all the adults linked to a Babysitting registration and will only provide the location to those persons.
Discipline
If a child engages in inappropriate, disruptive, or dangerous behavior, they will be taken aside and spoken to by a Youth Services staff member with the intent of defusing the situation and reinforcing the need for respect of people and property. If the child cannot be calmed down, the parents/guardians will be notified and asked to come pick up the child. If the child engages in repeated inappropriate or disruptive behavior, or has behaved in a manner that could seriously harm others, they are subject to having their free-roaming privileges (if applicable) or their entire membership revoked.
Special Needs
If a child has special needs, we encourage an authorized adult to stay and participate with them in any activities that may prove difficult. Youth Services staff strive to be as helpful as possible, but they are not trained in the specific needs of any one child.
Volunteers & Staff
All volunteers and paid providers for Youth Services must receive approval by the area’s senior level staff as well as Team Arisia Services.
- Babysitting is run exclusively by a paid professional childcare provider. or Teen Lounge
- Division Head(s) for Youth Services
- Asst. Con Chair governing Youth Services
- Con Chair
Anyone is also welcome to submit an official incident report to the convention. The incident report policy and instructions can be found here.