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Jambo 2012 rejected - Now What?


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Never say can't or won't. Program is up to the boys and what they are willing to. If adults say they can't afford it then they can't afford it. How about boys we need to raise money for this if you want to go. I did a camp promotion in a small town on the outskirts of chicago. (they went to Owasippe this summer) The troop took advantage of the poor economy since there were plenty of open slots on the council contingent. They raised enough money with car washes, popcorn and candy that 22 boys ans 3 adults went for free. Also there is money availble if the council jamboree committee does their job I was able to get money from region and our excutive board. Don't puch the boys to go but they they need to be empowered to raise the money if they want to go.

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Never say can't or won't. Program is up to the boys and what they are willing to. If adults say they can't afford it then they can't afford it. How about boys we need to raise money for this if you want to go. I did a camp promotion in a small town on the outskirts of chicago. (they went to Owasippe this summer) The troop took advantage of the poor economy since there were plenty of open slots on the council contingent. They raised enough money with car washes, popcorn and candy that 22 boys ans 3 adults went for free. Also there is money availble if the council jamboree committee does their job I was able to get money from region and our excutive board. Don't puch the boys to go but they they need to be empowered to raise the money if they want to go.

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With 2013 being a jamboree year you may be able to join a council contingent to philmont.

 

If you think about both experiences they have a controlled diet. You know exactly what you will be eating every day and should be able to controll it. However the variable here is dehydration. My last trip to PS we had a scout and his dad. the son was diabetic and lied to me about it being under control. The issue was he had glucose tabs and is blood sugar would bounce all over the place. One day he crashed. His dad said they should leave. I made him sit down and drink a liter of water and he was fine. Turns out he was not drinking water. Think about it you have a controlled diet and exercise both good things.

My 2 cents i've been to both twice the only thing i want to go to a third time is Philmont.

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A few thoughts as a parent & scouter whose son went to the last jambo.

 

1. The jambo SM & ASMs were well-known in the area as guys who can work with kids & who kids like and respect. When I heard that they would be the SM and ASMs, I had no worries about my son's well being. Having a reputation as someone who works well with lots of different types of boys, and having experience, matters.

 

2. While he was at jambo, someone in our family suffered a serious heart attack and the doctors initially said he would not pull through. We had to figure out whether to bring our boy home from jambo early (and how to get him home), or have him stay put (we ended up doing the latter and it worked out ok). I was very thankful that the jambo SM & ASMs were folks who had a lot of experience because they were the ones on the ground who helped my son through that difficult time.

 

3. For many parents, jambo will be the first time their child goes far away from home, and it is an intense experience. Just as you are concerned about the health and safety of your boy, so are other parents. It matters to OTHER parents of OTHER boys who might sign up, that the SM & ASMs are there for ALL the boys, and that those adults have solid reputations and experience in a wide range of situations. Without that, it gets to be harder to convince OTHER parents to allow their children to attend. I'm sure you can see that, given your concerns about your own son. From what you've written, it doesn't sound as though you have been around long enough for people to get to know you well. Perhaps you might consider applying again for the next jambo? In the meantime, no need to be bitter about it, and that won't help you next time around, anyway.

 

Just some thoughts.

 

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Shouldn't a caregiver slot be for a Scout with a profound medical or developmental need? Especially since the caregiver will occupy either a youth or adult slot.

 

Just because a parent doesn't trust his child not to screw up or the adults not to notice symptoms does not mean that boy needs a caregiver. Give the kid a break and let him grow up to be responsible for himself.

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I'd be curious as to the opinion of the boys doctor. Does the doctor believe the boy can manage his medications on a lengthy trip with a wide variety of new experiences?

 

If not, what assistance or supervision does the boy need to keep him SAFE? Is that compatible with the assistance and supervision provided by the troop leadership?

 

Recommending that a boy take charge of his own care might be reasonable --- or might not be reasonable. Whether a lengthy trip with a widely varying schedule is the right place to start experimenting with that is an interesting issue.

 

I can easily imagine the plans of a troop being substantially disrupted by an emergency trip to a hospital. As a troop leader, I would prefer to avoid having such potential problems unloaded on me unless the family doctor thought it was a reasonable and safe thing to do.

 

My very limited understanding of Type I diabetes suggests that regularity of daily schedules is important to avoiding problems. A jamboree trip over a period of two weeks suggests itself as being the opposite of that regularity.

 

Off the cuff, having a parent along as a care giver sounds like excellent back up to me.

 

 

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SeattlePioneer is proably right that Jambo isn't the best place for the boy to start managing his own care. However, he is going to have to start being responsible for his own care at some point. There's over a year until Jamboree. If he's mature enough - something I of course can't tell from the other end of the Internet - that's enough time for him to become proficient. If he's not, well, that's a differnt story.

 

But ultimately it seems to me the more important question isn't who's going to Jambo with him, but rather what the strategy is to get him to the point where he can manage his care himself. Is there a role Jambo, and the attraction it probably has for him, can play in helping him get to that point?

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Hello JMHawkins,

 

 

Excellent points.

 

 

I think we've provided some useful ideas to consider in this thread, but the real world answers require too much fine judgment to give a reliable answer here, I would say.

 

The idea of working on the issue over the next year sounds like a good one to me. If the Scout has problems doing that on weekend trips and summer camp, that makes a decision on Jamboree an easy one.

 

If he can do that reliably, that provides at least some indication of his ability to manage at Jamboree.

 

Frankly, I've never done a Jamboree. My limited understanding is that it is a demanding trip with a huge variety of experiences. I would suppose that would place a maximum of stress on a person with a diabetic condition. Perhaps difficult even for anyone with an issue that needs careful management.

 

Personally, I'd want to err on the side of caution if I were a troop leader.

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I'm an insulin dependent diabetic that uses a pump and I did the 2005 and 2010 Jamborees with no issue. Of course, I was 48 and 53 at the time. It really depends on the boy and how well he understands his condition and actually takes responsibility for it. Jamboree as opposed to say Philmont or Northern Tier isn't as demanding physically and medical care is literally minutes away anywhere you are at.

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