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Children Gain Casino's Attention

"Those two incidents opened the nation's eyes to the prevalence of unattended children at casinos and forced the industry to take action to reduce the problem. In 1998, the American Gaming Association responded by partnering with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to educate its members about how to deal with the issue of unattended children.

"While the problem hasn't been eliminated since then, casino officials say new education and enforcement efforts are reducing the number of unattended children wandering casino hotels.

"…During the past four years, the AGA and the children's center have set guidelines for casinos to follow, held training seminars and produced posters and brochures that inform both employees and parents of the dangers faced by unattended children.

"…As the nation's casinos expanded in the 1990s to add more entertainment options, the gaming halls began to attract more and more families. However, children were still barred from the casino floor and that left them waiting alone in lobbies, arcades and hallways while their parents gambled.

"…`Ultimately, the role of the casino is not to be a glorified babysitter,' [Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children] said. `Parents have to be reminded that they don't check their responsibility for their children at the door when they enter a casino.'

"…`Security must be proactive,' he said. `It's not enough to respond to problems, you have to look for people who need help.'

"The proactive approach has helped the officials at the Trump properties reduce the number of children left alone at its casinos, said Richard Santoro, senior vice president of corporate security and community relations for Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. He said the company's staff issues warnings immediately to parents who have left their children unattended and asks repeat and `egregious' offenders to leave the property.

"…`It's a mixed reaction from parents,' [Santoro] said. `It's not necessarily a warm and fuzzy exchange. In some cases they are very defensive about it. We're not really thanked for this. The parents are usually embarrassed and they're not really inclined to accept what they think is criticism of their parenting.'…"

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