A National Youth Protection Failure (The "REST of the Story..")
Bob Amick (amick@SPOT.COLORADO.EDU)
Tue, 26 Jan 1999 13:48:29 -0500
This statement is submitted to members of the lists by the five Venturing
Crew 1608 advisors from Western and Northeast Region contingent to the
World Scout Jamboree in Chile. It is felt that the statement is essential
to clarify information which has previously been posted to the lists:
It is unfortunate that members of this list have chosen to post
comments concerning the travel situation of World Jamboree
Venturing Crew 1608, apparently and in our opinion, without knowing or
accurately presenting all the facts, or
without inquiring as to the veracity of the information presented. The
initial
postings were, in our opinion, in poor taste and contained misinformation
which imputes blame where it is not warranted. It is respectfully
suggested that inquiries should have been made into the whole story and
facts verified
by talking to those who have the most accurate information
before making such assertions in a public venue.
One of our WSJ youth who saw the posting on Scouts-L was appalled at the
negativity and the fact that it completely ignored the tremendous
experiences they enjoyed.
It has been suggested that some of our youth were
"...left alone and without adult leadership in Houston Intercontinental
Airport
for almost 24 hours..." (on their home trip).
This is simply not true as will be shown in supporting documentation below.
Unlike regular World Jamboree Troops which originate from areas that
are geographically proximal to "home" cities, the Venturing Crew was
comprised of youth from all over the 12 state Western Region as well
as youth from the Northeast Region. Additionally, the median age of the
crew was substantially older with most being high school juniors and
seniors as well as college freshmen, sophomores and juniors up through age
20. Many had attended a previous World and National Jamboree and served on
staff at National Jamborees. Thus the maturity level and experience of
virtually all the Venturing Crew youth was considerably higher than that of
the
Scout Troops.
Moreover, the Crew was further sub-divided by virtue of the
post-jamboree tours. Since the three day tours cost more than the one day
tours, and some youth had to return right after the jamboree for school and
other commitments, the tour options were offered and selected by those who
had time conflicts or cost concerns. It would have been untenable for some
to take the time for the added tour option during the school year.
The portion of the crew that returned on the 8th was part of a one day tour
group where the rest of the crew had taken the three-day Villarica Tour.
Scout troops were handled similarly and some troops merged with others on the
three-day and one-day tours to accomodate the changes. To have handled this
any other way would have resulted in excluding Scouts and leaders from the
wonderful opportunities for the post-jamboree tours. If the Jamboree had been
during the summer months, such scheduling might not have been necessary since
schools would not have been in session for the most part.
While it is not known whether or why the 24-hour emergency number that
was provided to contact the National Office during or after the jamboree did
not respond appropriately, there is some question as to whether it was
necessary to even make a contact with the number in light of the fact
that representatives of BSA's authorized travel agency, Maritz Travel were
present
at Houston airport all during the time that the youth were arranging and
waiting
for alternate flights to their home cities.
For those familiar with Venturing and Exploring, it is and has been common
practice to allow Venturing Crews to merge leadership with other Crews or
Scout units to meet the "two-deep" leadership requirement which certainly
was met in this case since all Scout and Venturing youth and leaders were
traveling on the same flight to Houston, and many were on the same
flights from Houston to their home cities. Some parents specifically
requested that exceptions be made to not returning their youth via the
"gateway" city of Los Angeles since such travel would have created
unnecessary and more expensive "dog-leg" trips to Los Angeles, and the
the youth would still have had to travel independently from
Los Angeles, rather than returning directly from Houston or Dallas to their
home airports.
Parents were fully aware of this situation and gave their consent in light
of the
logistics involved. BSA made special efforts to accomodate and approve those
requests and should be commended for their cooperative and helpful approach.
The following is a chronology of what actually happened as provided
by the Venturing Crew Advisor who was in fact present with the
youth in question up until just a few hours before their respective
departures from Houston to their home destinations (names are omitted
for obvious reasons):
"The flight from Santiago to Houston was delayed due to a refueling problem
in Peru. Thus connections with scheduled flights from Houston to Los Angeles
and other west coast areas were missed.
After clearing Customs, we checked in with Maritz Travel who assisted with
rebooking flights.
When one youth got through customs, they came
back to report to me that they had a flight. This was sometime between 12:30
and 1:30. I didn't see them for a while because I was going through customs
myself with another venturer and one other boy from our home Troop, plus we
were trying to get flights back to Southern California. When we finished
squaring that
away, which took probably an hour or so, we headed for the gate to see where
it was. I remember seeing the first youth mentioned above, off and on
for the next hour or so.
In the meantime, we went to Taco Bell in the airport to get a bite to eat.
After that, we went to the gate and sat. The two Venturers (who are both 17)
and one other scout (who I didn't know) were there - not with us, but about
2 aisles in
front of us. This was at the gate from which we all were going leave. That
probably was
sometime around 4 or 5 and we were at that gate until almost 8 P.M. I was up
and down trying to rearrange my flight and helping a Scout from another
Troop as well as
the flights of our Venturers and the young man from our home Troop. However
the members
of our Venturer Crew referred to in the postings were present in our
immediate area.
We were there until, as I said, almost 8 when we had to dash to make our
respective flights. One male Venturer from our Crew (who is 19) took
a different plane than we did as he went to a different destination than all
of us.
That means that the two youth in question were without me around
until their plane took off at 10:30, except they probably started loading
at around
9:45. They were in a controlled environment with many other BSA Scouts,
Leaders and Maritz
Travel representatives for about 2 hours.
Both Venturers knew their flight number(s) and the gate number for
quite a while and they knew where the gate was. There also were two people
from Maritz Travel who were walking all around the airport checking on all the
kids all day long. It should again be noted that both youth are 17 hence
quite
self-sufficient when compared to younger Scouts who might need more
supervision.
We have nothing but the utmost praise and respect for BSA and Maritz Travel
for
making the best efforts to resolve a difficult situation over which there
was no
opportunity for control. Those who travel internationally know all to well
that such
events can occur and result in delays and complications and need to be
prepared to deal
with them when they arise. No one was adversely affected, or suffered any
loss, nor were they in any potential danger or threat, so all we are really
talking
about is some loss of sleep and some "sitting time" in the airport."
What they did experience and will remember long after this inconvenience is
forgotten is the most remarkable experience of their young lives, the
fellowship and
life-long friendships gained at a spectacular and wonderful meeting of 35,000
young men and women from over 160 countries. That's what this is all about,
not about some petty episode at an airport....
Bob Amick, 1st Associate Advisor, Venturing Crew 1608
Western Region/Northeast Region
