On this topic of camping with non-scouts, I've not been able to find a clear BSA policy for it. In particular for me, my kids are with me half time and it is a tough choice when I have to choose between a scout outing where my presence is needed to make the even happen for my son and leaving my daughter behind. If the scout event is not on a weekend when the kids are with me, their mom makes it very difficult for my son to go and if it is on a weekend when the kids are with me, my daughter loses out. My personal feeling is that for an event where we don't have size/space constraints (like a wilderness area with group size limit), have safety issues (an event where you need to be older and stronger and generally more mature), etc. that a well behaved younger sibling with appropriate experience should not be a problem. When she came on cub scout events, she stuck with me and the boys did their own thing. On a local car camping trip, there is actually pretty minimal leader involvement. We go because we need drivers, adults to be able to remind the boys of a few rules now and again, and in case of a problem but by in large the scouts have their camp site, the adults have theirs, etc. However, I do know there are some in our troop who would be very opposed to it and we've had events cancelled because of the troop policy (I'm only going to ditch my daughter so many times before she has to be the priority and then my son and other scouts lose). One parent cited issues with a younger sibling holding the boys back which in this particular case it is way off as my daughter (now 10) has done more backpacking than all but about 1 or 2 of the older scouts and more tent camping than probably all but her brother. She usually goes with me when we do a trial run of a backpacking venue before taking scouts there. Surely there are other parents who are either single parents with no other parent involved or with custody issues that make this an issue. So, can anyone point me to any sort of written BSA policy on the topic?
Camping with Non-Scouts
in Camping & High Adventure
Posted
On this topic of camping with non-scouts, I've not been able to find a clear BSA policy for it. In particular for me, my kids are with me half time and it is a tough choice when I have to choose between a scout outing where my presence is needed to make the even happen for my son and leaving my daughter behind. If the scout event is not on a weekend when the kids are with me, their mom makes it very difficult for my son to go and if it is on a weekend when the kids are with me, my daughter loses out. My personal feeling is that for an event where we don't have size/space constraints (like a wilderness area with group size limit), have safety issues (an event where you need to be older and stronger and generally more mature), etc. that a well behaved younger sibling with appropriate experience should not be a problem. When she came on cub scout events, she stuck with me and the boys did their own thing. On a local car camping trip, there is actually pretty minimal leader involvement. We go because we need drivers, adults to be able to remind the boys of a few rules now and again, and in case of a problem but by in large the scouts have their camp site, the adults have theirs, etc. However, I do know there are some in our troop who would be very opposed to it and we've had events cancelled because of the troop policy (I'm only going to ditch my daughter so many times before she has to be the priority and then my son and other scouts lose). One parent cited issues with a younger sibling holding the boys back which in this particular case it is way off as my daughter (now 10) has done more backpacking than all but about 1 or 2 of the older scouts and more tent camping than probably all but her brother. She usually goes with me when we do a trial run of a backpacking venue before taking scouts there. Surely there are other parents who are either single parents with no other parent involved or with custody issues that make this an issue. So, can anyone point me to any sort of written BSA policy on the topic?