Families on starhips: Great Idea or grossly irresponsible?

[Pavonis]

Makes sense, T'Girl. Keiko was unattached and serving aboard a Starfleet vessel without being a member of Starfleet. So it seems that Starfleet does employ civilians as consultants or experts in some fashion.

Afterall, while Starfleet science officers have shown quite a depth of knowledge in a variety of subjects, they can't be experts in all of them. An in-depth expert on say, botany, would be of value to a ship that will encounter strange new plants on a regular basis, while at the same time needing an arboretum tended to, both for it's recreational possibilities as well as its educational and research purposes.

So, perhaps the Saratoga employed Jennifer Sisko as a consultant, too. Her mirror counterpart was a scientist, so perhaps our prime universe Jennifer was, too.

 

[CoveTom]

Also, we know that starships need civilian bartenders.

 

[The Castellan]

Grossly irresponsible, peacetime or not. There's the fate of the USS Yamato to consider...

Well, Varley could be considered grossly irresponsible for taking families into the neutral zone to begin with.

So he'd be better not going and trying to stop the Romulans from getting the Iconian teleporters? Personally, I think the guy had more balls than most of Starfleet. Like he said, might as well dock all the ships and defend themselves with sticks.

 

[BillJ]

Grossly irresponsible, peacetime or not. There's the fate of the USS Yamato to consider...

Well, Varley could be considered grossly irresponsible for taking families into the neutral zone to begin with.

So he'd be better not going and trying to stop the Romulans from getting the Iconian teleporters? Personally, I think the guy had more balls than most of Starfleet. Like he said, might as well dock all the ships and defend themselves with sticks.

He could've separated the Yamato before heading into the Neutral Zone, leaving the families safely in Federation space.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Point being, life is dangerous.

Unless you're proposing we wrap our children in bubble wrap and store them in a closet until adulthood, they are going to face danger. Picard's own nephew died in a house fire.

Space is dangerous, but so is Earth and living on colony worlds.

Very much this. IMO, civilians who travel aboard starships--especially Starfleet ones--must know the inherent dangers involved and accept them. That must be especially true for those who bring spouses and children with them like the pioneering families of old did.

While Benjamin Sisko was devastated at the loss of his wife at Wolf 359 for several years, I very much doubt he didn't know the risks involved in bringing his family with him on the Saratoga.

 

[DonIago]

Indeed, there's nothing precluding the possibility that the Saratoga did evacuate all civilians who wished to leave prior to their Borg confrontation.