Damn that's sad.
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QUOTE
A safe bet?
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Derek Smith, 1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13863, bboardman@heraldargus.com
Plans for the new Four Winds Casino call for an onsite child-care facility; not everyone thinks that's a good idea.
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. -- Apparently, builders of the Four Winds Casino want to make sure nothing prevents adults from gambling -- not even their children.
Plans for the new casino, to be located just south of downtown New Buffalo near I-94, call for 225,000 square feet of slot machines, gaming tables -- and a children’s play area.
New Horizons Kids Quest, the nation’s largest hourly child-care provider, is teaming with the casino to establish a Kids Quest child-care center and a supervised arcade for children ages 6 weeks to 12 years at the casino.
The facilities will be complete by the time the casino opens Aug. 2, 2007.
While a child-care facility may seem out of place in a casino, it may seem less odd given the number of child-neglect cases reported involving parents leaving young children in locked vehicles while gambling.
In July, for example, a 10-year-old girl was left in a parked vehicle for almost an hour while her grandmother gambled at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City. And in September of 2000, an Atlanta woman left her four children -- one clad only in a diaper -- in a vehicle at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary.
Still, some question the wisdom of offering child care at casinos, even as a preventive measure against child neglect.
Although Kids Quest provides child care at 18 casinos nationwide, there is no Kids Quest, or any other child-care facility, operating at any casino in Indiana, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission.
And for some casino operators, that’s as it should be.
“Our property is for adults and there is no place for kids there,” Robert Stillwell, vice president of communications for Boyd Gaming, the corporation that runs Blue Chip Casino, told The LaPorte County Herald-Argus.
Blue Chip tries to prevent instances of child neglect through the use of security guards who patrol the property, he said.
But Laura Roehl, vice president of marketing for Kids Quest, insists the company is simply filling a need. Kids Quest started in 1991 and coincided with the evolution of casinos into resort areas and “weekend getaways,” she said.
“We are brought on as an amenity (so that) families with children under 12 can enjoy the (casino) facility,” she said.
Still, Susan Tielking, communications director with the Indiana Department of Child Services, said parents need to be cautious of Kids Quest, just as they would be of any other child-care facility.
“(Kids Quest) gives parents the opportunity to ensure the child’s safety while they are at an event (but) having a day care alone is not a 100 percent guarantee that a child is safe,” she said.
Tielking says that even though children may be safe in a controlled environment such as Kids Quest, dangers exist entering and exiting that environment -- especially in a casino setting.
Although Kids Quest policy dictates children may only leave with the person who dropped them off, Roehl said the company does nothing to ensure that parents retrieving children are in good condition to drive.
“We’re not the police,” she said.
In that case, said Roehl, responsibility falls to parents.
“We encourage parents to remember their responsibility to ensure that their child enters safely and has a safe, sober ride home,” she said.
While Roehl admits that Kids Quest’s presence at the casino won’t guarantee that incidents of child neglect won’t occur, she said it doesn’t hurt.
“It’s a bonus to have us there,” she insisted.
Comment on this story
Derek Smith, 1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13863, bboardman@heraldargus.com
Plans for the new Four Winds Casino call for an onsite child-care facility; not everyone thinks that's a good idea.
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. -- Apparently, builders of the Four Winds Casino want to make sure nothing prevents adults from gambling -- not even their children.
Plans for the new casino, to be located just south of downtown New Buffalo near I-94, call for 225,000 square feet of slot machines, gaming tables -- and a children’s play area.
New Horizons Kids Quest, the nation’s largest hourly child-care provider, is teaming with the casino to establish a Kids Quest child-care center and a supervised arcade for children ages 6 weeks to 12 years at the casino.
The facilities will be complete by the time the casino opens Aug. 2, 2007.
While a child-care facility may seem out of place in a casino, it may seem less odd given the number of child-neglect cases reported involving parents leaving young children in locked vehicles while gambling.
In July, for example, a 10-year-old girl was left in a parked vehicle for almost an hour while her grandmother gambled at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City. And in September of 2000, an Atlanta woman left her four children -- one clad only in a diaper -- in a vehicle at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary.
Still, some question the wisdom of offering child care at casinos, even as a preventive measure against child neglect.
Although Kids Quest provides child care at 18 casinos nationwide, there is no Kids Quest, or any other child-care facility, operating at any casino in Indiana, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission.
And for some casino operators, that’s as it should be.
“Our property is for adults and there is no place for kids there,” Robert Stillwell, vice president of communications for Boyd Gaming, the corporation that runs Blue Chip Casino, told The LaPorte County Herald-Argus.
Blue Chip tries to prevent instances of child neglect through the use of security guards who patrol the property, he said.
But Laura Roehl, vice president of marketing for Kids Quest, insists the company is simply filling a need. Kids Quest started in 1991 and coincided with the evolution of casinos into resort areas and “weekend getaways,” she said.
“We are brought on as an amenity (so that) families with children under 12 can enjoy the (casino) facility,” she said.
Still, Susan Tielking, communications director with the Indiana Department of Child Services, said parents need to be cautious of Kids Quest, just as they would be of any other child-care facility.
“(Kids Quest) gives parents the opportunity to ensure the child’s safety while they are at an event (but) having a day care alone is not a 100 percent guarantee that a child is safe,” she said.
Tielking says that even though children may be safe in a controlled environment such as Kids Quest, dangers exist entering and exiting that environment -- especially in a casino setting.
Although Kids Quest policy dictates children may only leave with the person who dropped them off, Roehl said the company does nothing to ensure that parents retrieving children are in good condition to drive.
“We’re not the police,” she said.
In that case, said Roehl, responsibility falls to parents.
“We encourage parents to remember their responsibility to ensure that their child enters safely and has a safe, sober ride home,” she said.
While Roehl admits that Kids Quest’s presence at the casino won’t guarantee that incidents of child neglect won’t occur, she said it doesn’t hurt.
“It’s a bonus to have us there,” she insisted.