Alcohol Policy - Scouts

[Suz 10]

I have learned of in incident where some of the older scouts consumed alcohol during an outing. It was late at night, after lights out for most scouts. The situation was not known at the time, but quite a while later. What is the official policy and how should this have been handled?

[OldGreyEagle 5]

How did you find this out? What are the circumstances of you learning this? Were you on the outing? WHich Adults were? There is a lot to cover before anything can be said

[DeMann 10]

Treat this like a youth protection thing- call your scout executive about this one. He will coach you through it.

[nldscout 18]

WHOA,

Why is this a youth protection issue and why do you have to involve the CE. There is no YP issue here. Firt you need to find out some facts here before you do anything. Define quite a while? How did you find out? Whats your position in the unit also?

[John-in-KC 311]

Having just re-watched the YP video, in-program Scouts OR under 21 Scouters + alcohol = YP issue; call Council.

[nldscout 18]

Having seen this video more times than I care to count, I don't see that in it anywhere. It was older scouts consuming some alchol, not someone feeding it to them. Atleast thats the jist of what I get from message

 

[Bob White 20]

The YP policies and the G2SS state that the use of alcohol at a scout activity is forbidden. The Council Scout Executive must be informed of this situation.

[nldscout 18]

I agree it is banned by G2SS. But not every infraction of the rules at a troop outing has to be elevated to the CE. Some things can be handled at the troop level

 

[evmori 11]

If these are Scouts not only are they in violating the G2SS, they are violating the local laws! Revocation of membership comes to mind.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[ScoutNut 147]

I agree that the G2SS and Youth Protection both state that alcohol has no place in the Scouting program. However, nowhere does it say that the Council Scout Executive should be informed immediately (or at all) when scouts do not live up to the rules of behaviour.

 

Youth Protection on-line training states:

 

"Physical violence, hazing, bullying, theft, verbal insults, and drugs and alcohol have no place in the Scouting program and may result in the revocation of a Scout membership in the unit."

 

"UNITS SHOULD CONSULT WITH THE PARENTS OF MEMBERS WHO FAIL TO MEET BEHAVIOR STANDARDS."

 

And under Unit Responsibilties it states:

 

"Adult leaders of Scouting units are responsible for monitoring the behavior of youth members and interceding when necessary."

 

"PARENTS OF YOUTH MEMBERS WHO MISBEHAVE SHOULD BE INFORMED AND ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE IN DEALING WITH IT."

 

"The unit committee should review repetitive or serious incidents or misbehavior IN CONSULTATION WITH THE PARENTS OF THE CHILD to determine a course of corrective action including possible revocation of the youth's membership in the unit."

 

"IF PROBLEM BEHAVIOUR PERSISTS, units may revoke a Scout's membership in that unit."

 

The caps were mine for emphisis.

 

This clearly says to me that if a boy is caught drinking at a scout function the first thing that is done is to contact his parents. Then the committee and the parents sit down and work something out. If the drinking is an ongoing problem (not a one time thing) then the committee, along with the parents, may decide to revoke a scouts membership in the unit.

 

Per Youth Protection, the only time the Scout Executive is informed about youth behaviour is:

 

"The unit should inform the Scout executive about all incidents that result in a physical injury or involve allegations of sexual misconduct by a youth member with another youth member."

 

Drinking does not fall into that category.

 

The above is the official BSA policy on alcohol and the way a drinking incident should be handled. However Suz states that they did not know what was going on at the time and the incident happened some time ago. If the boys were not caught in the act at the time of the incident then all you have to go on are hearsay and rumors. There does not appear, from the little we were told, to be any overtones of hazing, injury, or abuse. We don't even know if the boys involved are still in the Scouting program. If Suz is SM or CC I would reccomend talking to the boys involved quietly to see if you can find out what really happened. Then a good thing might be to hold an alcohol awareness unit meeting. Consider getting the brochure "Drugs: A Deadly Game" and going over it with the boys. Remind the boys, and the adults, of the BSA policy on drugs, smoking and alcohol.

 

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[packsaddle 753]

Suz, it's not too late to explore this with the boys or their parents. What, if anything, HAS been done? I once invited a sheriff's deputy to explain the legalities of underage drinking. He carried a lot more weight than I do (literally, as well as figuratively.)

[evmori 11]

packsaddle,

Excellent point! And the extra $$$$ you spend for the donuts will be well worth it!

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[BadenP 93]

I agree with most of the posters here, in this instance the situation can be handled on the troop level, since it did not occur on scout property or was the alcohol given to them by adults, so the scout exec. does not have to get involved, unless you feel that would be of some benefit. Just make sure that there are serious consequences for their actions or the behavior may be repeated. Getting someone to talk to the whole group, like packsaddle suggested, is also a good idea. The G2SS are guidelines for leaders and not the Holy Grail, using common sense plays a big part too.

[Balding Eagle 10]

A similar situation happened when I was a youth. The scapegoat boy was kicked out the troop. The other four boys earned their eagles and aged out at 18.

 

 

[Suz 10]

I appreciate all of your feedback.

 

The incident happend in late January and was not on scout property. It was not found out until late April. The SM was informed, and he discussed this with one of his program staff (the former SM) as well as the committee chair. We did not proceed with discussions with the parents, however two involved families were aware of the circumstances and felt it was handled appropriately and discretely.

 

The incident was confirmed, the boys were spoken to and carded - our troop's discipline policy.

 

My concern was regarding if the handling was firm enough. I don't think these individuals will repeat the situation. But in reality a similar problem may occur someday.

 

I wanted to make sure that we pursued the situation according to any BSA guidelines that might pertain to this.

 

I'm sure that these types of activities have happened with other troops and was looking for some guidelines.

 

I appreciate the information about bringing in some presentations to the program.

Thank you to all for the help.