Re: Youth Protection and a National Failure
(no name) ((no email))
Tue, 12 Jan 1999 15:51:36 -0600
Phil of The Hammons family <hhammons@LAUSD.K12.CA.US> wrote:
>Four Scouts from Jamboree Venture Crew 1608 became stuck in
>Houston on Friday, Jan 8, 1999.
>Four under 18 venture scouts were left alone and without adult
>leadership in Houston Intercontinental Airport for almost 24
>hours.
>One scout attempted to contact the 24 hour number given for
>National
The number he was given was to the Operations Division, which is
supposed to man an 24 hour "event watch" anytime a national BSA
event is going on. In the waning day of the World Jamboree, there
were only three or four individuals tasked to man the "watch".
An oversight on National's part, agreed.
>and ended up first with a recorded message that headquarters was
>closed and to call back on Monday.
Which tells me (as an adult) that perhaps someone there has stepped
to the restroom down the hallway or went downstairs to get a
Coke-cola and a candy bar out of the snack machines. I would have
tried to call again...
>Finally he managed to get a person who told him that he
>was just a security guard and that he should call back on Monday.
That security guard should have been aware of anyone in the
building and had the Scout to hold on while he or she went around
the building to find the person "on duty".
If not, then if the Scout stated that this was an emergency, and
that he and those other Scouts are stranded at the Airport, the
guard would have contacted the individuals designated on the BSA's
emergency action plan at home and had them to contact the Scout
Executive in Houston, who would have either personally went out to
the airport or to contact a member of his staff to do so right
away.
Again, I can't disagree with you, Phil...it was a massive breakdown
in what should be "SOP", given the fact that the BSA just
*finished* with a national activity (NOAC) not even six months ago!
>Basically we have a situation where National violated its own
>policy and some one's head needs to be on the block and I don't
>mean the security guard or some poor secretary but some division
>head or Higher.
There's enough "blame" around for everyone, believe me.
First, those Scouts stranded there at the airport did the right
things but they should have done a little bit more. Since they were
at the Airport, they should have went to the airlines' desk, told
them of the situation, and had the airline to contact the BSA as
well. This may have given the "staff person" at National time to
finish their do, get the change and candy and cola out of the
machines, and return upstairs to a very boring and probably
solitary cubicle until the phone call from the airline or the
Scout.
Second, yeah, the security guard really messed up but the Scouts
should have asked him to give them the number of someone to
contact, since this IS an emergency. The Scouts, for their credit,
didn't consider this an "emergency situation" because we train our
Scouts to think and to become leaders. "So, we don't have an adult
here to look over us. What would an adult do if we had one here?
Tell us to stay put until we can get more assistance."
Another possibility is that those Scouts could have called the Sam
Houston Area Council of the BSA (by just looking in the phone book
under "Boy Scouts of America") and leaving word on their answering
machine of their predicament. The delay may not have been in a full
24 hour period of time.
>I know the Ventura County Council SE has had a large flagpole
>inserted by one of the mom's even though she admits its not HIS
>fault. Responsibility belongs at a higher level.
Hummmmm don't know about that. Where WERE the adults that were
supposed to accompany those Scouts?? There's stuff here that's
been left out, Phil; while I can agree with you and others that for
the most part, the BSA's Operations Group people (kinda) "dropped
the glass ball" here, I don't know if we can place the entire
"blame" totally on their shoulders. There were (or should be!!)
adults travelling with those Scouts from the time they left the
Western Region's "gateway city" to the Jamboree site, and from the
Jamboree site all the way back to the Region's "gateway city"
whereby the parents would be responsible for pickup and onward
travel to their homes. At least that's the way *I* understand it
to work from the only World Jamboree I was even "associated with"
more than ten years ago.
The way *I* recall it, there are eight adults (four volunteers,
four professionals) that would travel with each Regional
contingent. They would all meet at the Region's "gateway city's"
airport and travel as a group from that point onward to the
Jamboree site, and on the return trip, they would travel as a group
back to the "gateway city" whereby either parents or responsible
adults appointed by the parents would ensure their onward travel
back "home". At no time should there be less than two adults
present between the time they leave the "gateway city" and the time
they arrive at the Jamboree site; likewise, that same restriction
is supposed to be in effect from the time they leave the Jamboree
and get back to the "gateway city's" airport.
I hope that this doesn't escalate to something I'll be seeing on
the CNN evening news over the next couple of days, Phil. While
like I said, perhaps the national end of things broke down and
there clearly should have been alternative ways for those youth to
contact SOMEONE at the Irving Center, I still say that there were
four adults that weren't around when they should have....and
perhaps up to four others that weren't around and should have been.
Where were they?
Settummanque!
(c) 1998 Mike Walton ("no such thing as strong coffee,...") blkeagle@mninter.net
http://mninter.net/~blkeagle Burnsville, MN 55306-7130 (612) 435-3085
privately at kyblkeagle@aol.com or waltonm@server.kaiserslautern.army.mil
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