How expensive is an evaluation? How effective is it? How available are they?
I played MTG for a very long time, and played a lot of serious tournaments, where, not surprisingly, there were not really a lot of kids. Interaction with judges was fairly limited. You'd have a problem, raise your hand, the judge would come over, make a decision, and leave.
I also played a lot of FMNs (Friday Night Magic) in shops, where you'd get a LOT more younger players. I played less and less of those because I'm really competitive and never liked curb stomping little kids who just wanted to have fun. In my experience most of the judges for these things were teenagers or shop owners, I almost never saw a judge at an FNM out of his twenties.
There are a TON of level 1 judges, because they're really in demand and it isn't that hard to get certified. There are far fewer level 2 judges and fewer still as you go up the ranks. The higher ranked judges tend to be older; the tests are incredibly difficult. MTG at the highest level is like solving differential equations.
My incredibly long-winded point is this: If testing is expensive and/or not readily available, obviously a line has to be drawn somewhere. Where could or should it be drawn?
I think perhaps it might be better to have certain guidelines in place instead regarding Judge behaviour. Keep in mind that all judging happens in an incredibly public place where you will almost certainly be around no less than a dozen people. I am curious as to what the perceived risks are here.
I'd also like to point out that as per your last point, there are many, many people who volunteer for jobs that involve children. Perhaps this is an issue best left to the law. I know very little about sex offender laws, but aren't those convicted either required to avoid children, or publish their status?
