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Re: Rejected Scout
Michael Bowman (mfbowman@USSCOUTS.ORG)
Fri, 4 Dec 1998 00:21:16 -0500
Paul,
Over the last 30 years or so I've heard of several reason why a Scout was
turned down by a Troop for membership (Note 1: when the word committee is
used, the actual decision may have been made by a member of the committee,
the entire committee, the chair or the chair and leader. Note 2: these are
from situations in many different locations across the country in several
Councils over the course of a very long period of time and are not typical.
In fact they are noteworthy because they are the exceptions.):
* Troop set a upper limit to membership due to meeting
hall limits (sometimes the local fire marshall got
grumpy about too many people in the room for safe exit)
* Chartering Organization set a limit on membership
* Committee rejected boy infected with HIV out of fear
* Committee rejected boy with criminal history
* Committee rejected boy known to use drugs
* Committee rejected boy reputed to sell drugs
* Committee rejected boy known to have vandalized
school property - arson (school did not want boy
on property)
* Committee rejected boy who refused to sign application
(boy's parents did not subscribe to membership
qualifications; e.g., religious principle)
* Committee rejected boy who was believed to be a
trouble-maker and school bully - boy in question was
known to beat up others and to have extorted food
and money from younger kids for "protection"
* Committee rejected boy who threatened an adult at
the first meeting attended - boy was wearing camo
outfit with 8 inch knife on utility belt
* Committee rejected boy who cussed at leader during
a roundup event - apparently the language would
have embarassed even an old salt and was abundant
in quantity
* Committee rejected boy who had previously made
threats against another youth member in the unit
to the effect he would join the unit and at some
campout in the woods take out the other boy in
his sleep
Whether or not any of these instances was right or wrong is a topic for
another discussion. It is extraordinarily difficult to make a judgment in
any of these cases without knowing all of the underlying facts, which have
been largely omitted here on purpose. The point is that unit committees on
rare occassions may find a circumstance where they believe it in the best
interest of the unit to decline to offer membership to a particular boy.
This may be from fear, facts, or other reasons and often is hard to tell.
In many of the cases above another Troop accepted the boy who had previously
been turned down and in some of those situations did well in handling a boy
that was "challenging" with the end result that the boy turned out much
better.
I personally find it difficult to think of rejecting a boy unless there are
some very strong and compelling reasons to do so. I keep thinking of Whitey
in Follow Me Boys and wondering whether this is a boy that given a chance
could do great things. At the same time I can understand that there may be
situations that would motivate a committee to decline.
This is one of those areas where we ought to walk a mile in the other
fellow's shoes before being too judgmental.
Mike
Mike Bowman a/k/a Professor Beaver (mfbowman@usscouts.org)
Webmastering in the Scouting Spirit from Alexandria, VA
http://usscouts.org http://members.aol.com/netcommish/
http://members.tripod.com/colonialdistrict
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