While Maine Maritime Museum, a public institution, welcomes patrons of all ages, parents and caregivers must be responsible for the supervision of their children. Neither museum staff nor volunteers can take the place of a parent or assume responsibility for unsupervised children.

Guidelines for supervision:
Unless enrolled in a museum-sponsored program, children aged 12 and under shall be supervised at all times (“supervised child”) and in the immediate presence of a parent or other responsible caregiver identified by a parent/guardian. Caregivers must be a minimum of 14 years or older.

Children aged 13 and older (“unsupervised children”) may be unsupervised provided that:
They are able to behave appropriately while unsupervised.
The length of time they are left alone does not exceed the child’s comfort level with the situation.
They are, at all times, the legal responsibility of their parent/legal guardian and have an emergency contact available who can come and pick them up at the museum on short notice.

Unsupervised children must be picked up prior to the regularly scheduled closing time of the museum or special event.
If a child is not picked up by the regularly scheduled closing time the museum staff will call the Bath Police to take custody of the child.

During regularly scheduled museum hours of operation, staff will make every attempt to return a lost or unattended supervised child to his/her parent/guardian or caregiver as promptly as possible. Museum staff will confirm the identity of the parent/guardian or caregiver before releasing the supervised child to that person. If the parent/guardian or caregiver cannot be identified or reached, the Bath Police will be called for assistance. Until that time, the supervised child will remain in the presence of at least two museum-affiliated adults until the parent/guardian, caregiver, or the police have arrived. In the event a supervised or unsupervised child is lost or is unaccounted for, the parent/guardian shall immediately notify the nearest museum staff member at which point the museum will implement the Lost Child procedures outlined in the museum’s Emergency Procedures Manual.

Under no circumstances will a museum staff member transport a child, whether supervised or unsupervised, by personal vehicle from the museum to another location.

Museum staff members are not responsible for supervising children in any area of the museum.