It’s been interesting to see the comments around this story and how it has attracted worldwide attention. We know that many families don’t visit museums because they are worried about how they should behave and being judged on their behaviour.
These stories and the culture of blame around them – whether you blame the children, parents or museum staff – only reinforce the fears that prevent family visits. Historic objects do occasionally and very sadly get damaged in public venues by people of all ages, though great efforts are made to prevent this. In this case, “hundreds of families had completed the trail without incident” and the crayon was removed from the statue “without the help of external cleaners or expensive specialist materials”.
Children have a right to access heritage sites and explore them. It’s disappointing to see organisations like the National Trust being criticised for trying to be more family friendly. Engaging children actively with their local heritage can inspire a lifelong interest and research shows that children visiting with their families are more likely to return as adults, than if they visit with a school group.
Over the past decade museums and heritage sites have made huge improvements to their offer for children and families. It’s important that this progress isn’t reversed by incidents like this. We want all museums and heritage sites to continue to strive to give families and children the best possible visitor experience and we want all families to feel comfortable visiting.