Re: Scout Names on Websites?
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Mon, 21 Oct 1996 09:01:52 -0700
Henry Grabkowitz <hgrabkow@CONCENTRIC.NET> asked:
>We're in the process of creating a presence on the Web (of which I am
>Webmaster of the moment) and I have a question. Given the era of Youth
>Protection, I have adopted the position that no Scout's name should appear
>on the Web pages. We established a single mailbox for the troop so that
>troop email can be screened.
>Bruce Cobern (he's around here somewhere:)) were discussing this and he
>suggested I canvass SCOUTS-L for opinions. Am I being too restrictive on
>this matter?
As I have mentioned previously in both this forum and in rec.scouting.*,
and also in the FAQ#6, I have yet to hear what value is added to a web
page by adding the full names of the Scouts. They don't need their
names there to recognize themselves, so who is it for?
After the last go-around in rec.scouting.* in which I suggested that
the possibility of a Scout being approached by a pedophile on the
internet was probably remote, I received a note from a Scouter saying,
it was not remote at all and had in fact happened in their unit (though
not via a web page). Fortunately, the incident led to the pedophile
being caught before he could do anything serious, but sadly, he was a
member of the sponsoring church. You never know who might be a potential
threat to your Scouts.
Also, in this morning's mail queue, I received a solicitation to
order child pornography, saying my email address [or the context in
which it was found] suggested that I might be interested in receiving
such. Which should remind all of us that not all Scout leaders are
interested in the well-being of the youth we serve.
So, yes, do not include full names of the Scouts on any publicly
accessible web page, and do not under any circumstances provide
email addresses or phone numbers to the Scouts or their families.
YiS,
Alan R. Houser ** Scoutmaster, Berkeley Troop 24 ** troop24@emf.net
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
Scoutmaster, Mt. Diablo Silverado Council Contingent Jamboree Troop #3
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
