As a displaced Chicagoan, I especially enjoyed David Standish’s reminiscences of the Field Museum (“What was wrong with dull?” Magazine, Dec. 7). My own experiences were much like those of Mr. Standish, and I also lament the dumbing down of many exhibits.
Unfortunately, the museum may have another major problem. My last visit to the museum last October resembled more a scene from “The Relic” than one from “Sesame Street.” At many exhibits children and young adults were completely out of control, bothering other visitors and disrupting guided tours. Accompanying teachers made no effort to quiet their charges, and museum security was nowhere in sight.
Denial in the form of saying “Children will be children” would be an easy excuse for museum officials. But as someone who has observed youthful visitors to the Smithsonian and museums in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Turkey, India and Pakistan, I know that children can enjoy museum exhibits without preventing others from experiencing the same enjoyment. The Field Museum can and should do better.
