All four of the Allegheny County pools opened on Tuesday with a new chaperone policy designed to improve safety and make the experience more pleasurable.
Tuesday morning saw the implementation of the countywide restriction. Going forward, you will require an adult chaperone who is at least 21 years old and has photo identification if you are 17 years old or less.
“We found that a lot of teenagers were coming in the afternoon unsupervised. We feel it will be a safer environment,” Andy Baechle, the director of Allegheny Parks stated.
Following a pattern of other area pools, malls, and amusement parks clamping down on unaccompanied teenagers, Allegheny County has made its announcement.
The chaperone policy initially applied to anyone under the age of 16, but the county extended it by a year on Tuesday afternoon.
Although the county was unable to identify any specific occurrences, two teenagers told KDKA-TV that they periodically encounter some misbehaving children.
“It’s just kids wrestling in the pool, doing flips and just not obeying the lifeguards and stuff and you look around and they’re just by themselves. They don’t have a parent to reprimand them,” one of the teenager stated.Â
The adult chaperone is only allowed to accompany up to four children under the age of 17, and they have to spend the whole time at the pool, per the county’s new rules. This also applies to the pools in North and South Park Pools, Settlers Cabin, and Boyce Wave Pool.
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“A lot of kids do need the extra supervision and it’s good especially for our little ones to be able to enjoy it when we’re here,” pool-goer Cindy Washington stated.Â
“There’s always a possibility of something happening. Now, it’s nice that we can come here and totally be safe,” Steve Duncan stated.Â
Furthermore, the adult escort will also be prohibited from the pool if the escorted teen is.
