Re: A question of supervision (WOSM)
Settummanque, ("MAJ)
Mon, 18 Nov 1996 17:18:47 -0600
Chuck Bramlet needed some reassurance....you not only handled it well,
Chuck, but I would have went a little further by taking the handaxe and talking
away from the kids with the "irrate father" before handing it back to him.
>At the committee meeting, I was criticized by the "acting" SM for
>interferring because the boy's father was right there. My point was
>that someone could still have been hurt, dad or no dad watching, and
>the Troop didn't need a trip to the emergency room with a Webelos with
>an axe cut to the foot or head.
The *BSA* and *your local Council* doesn't need another trip to the
emergency room to see about some WEBELOS Cub Scout with a severe
loss of blood, possibly limb or death. We can't handle much more bad press
and that's EXACTLY what it would have been...."Scout is killed at camp
while Fellow Scouts Watch".
Not only that, but I betcha a CSP that someone in that group was there
WITHOUT the proper permissions, permit, etc....it would be THAT KID
but even if it wasn't and some sharp lawyer found out, the local Council and
your unit can be held liable for the "cost of repair" to this silly incident.
>So, the question is, in a Troop/Pack camping situation, should a SM or
>an ASM "interfere" with the Pack kids when a father is "there";
YES. WHEN?
IN ALL MATTERS OF PERSONAL SAFETY OR WHEN THE BSA'S
RULES AND REGULATIONS ARE BEING VIOLATED. There are
plenty of references, starting with the Safe Guide to Scouting and the Youth
Protection Policies which can be used to back up that sentence. Mainly,
though Chuck, it's common sense.
And it doesn't matter if the mother, father, or 60-year old Scouter that has
done
and seen everything is there. If it's WRONG, has the potential for HARM
and it is CORRECTABLE BEFORE the fact, by all means interviene.
I can take the "yelling and cussing" from a parent that refuses to use their
brain
instead of their egos a WHOLE LOT EASIER than I can take the crying and
wailing from a mother or father who has lost their child or a significant
portion
of their child because of something I could have said or done BEFOREHAND.
You did the RIGHT and CORRECT thing.
By the BSA's book. By mine and any other parent that loves their children
and wants to look after others as if they were our own.
By YOURSELF.
Settummanque!!!
-----
(MAJ) Mike L. Walton (Settummanque, the blackeagle)
http://www.vhm.com/~uscardnl/
(Brigade) Signal Officer, TF 21, 21st Theater Army Area Command
Kaiserslautern, Federal Republic of Germany
"everything I say is "on the record"; speaking ONLY for myself unless indicated"
personal inquiries via blkeagle@midwest.net or kyblkeagle@aol.com
professional inquiries via waltonm%po2.hq@taacom.kaiserslautern.army.mil
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