Re: Camping without adult supervision

>I would like to ask for help from the list.
>
>I got into a bit of a discussion regarding the need for adult leadership on
>camping trips sanctioned by the troop. The scoutmaster was saying that he
>leaned from his recent trip to his Scoutmaster foundementals course that
>patrols can plan and go on camping trips without ANY adult leadership, and
>still consider the trip a scout sanctioned trip, thereby being protected
>under the troop liability insurance.
>
>Now I personally would never , as a committee member, authorize this type of
>camping trip for a patrol. However, the scoutmaster said that this applies
>to ALL patrols, not just the venture patrol.
>
This is a little off topic, maybe. My father, who was SPL of his Troop in
1917, told me that when he was SPL his troop owned a log cabin in the woods
northwest of town, and that he and his friends in the Troop built it by
themselves, that they went everywhere and did everything with no adult
supervision at all except at the meeting place for evening weeklies. He
felt that by the 1950's things had deteriorated ("It has changed a lot"),
and he was not too unhappy when this First Class Scout dropped out.

I do not have the rules and regulations of BSA in this regard in hand, if
there are any. My own thought on adult supervision is that there should be
two adults, or no adults, and if the boys are equipped for the experience,
the patrol should be able to go places without adults. There can be a
debriefing afterwards to facilitate learning. A few questions here and
there will tell you lots. The fear I sense in some circles that without us
all hell will break loose, indicates a lack of trust in the cornerstone
principle of Scout learning: learn through doing.

Ted

who is netAddressed for, personal use, as: tedbrtn@cyberhighway.net
and for business use as: ciatty@cyberhighway.net

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