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2019 GUIDE TO SAFE SCOUTING


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On 3/7/2019 at 8:37 PM, HashTagScouts said:

I often reflect on what Mike Row had to say when asked about the decision to admit girls- he highlighted the more pressing issue that the BSA, and all of those in it, should be focused on - is the BSA even relevant? If you never read this, or haven't re-read it since last May, give it a look: http://mikerowe.com/2018/05/otw-death-of-the-boy-scouts/

"If I were calling the shots, I’d take a stand against the safe space movement and everything it embodies. And I’d do it in the most public way possible. But of course, that might also require a level of risk completely inconsistent with current orthodoxy."

I agree 100% of this with Mike Rowe.  I've found myself guilty of some of the safe space stuff back when I was an ASM (primarily on backpacking trips, where I knew medical help was hours away), but tried my best to let the boys take risks and govern themselves.

 

I had problems with a fellow ASM in our troop--an ASM who wasn't with the boys nearly as often as I was (I'm not sure I ever saw him on a campout with us), but his son was about to age out (and had completed all but his Eagle Scout project and one or two merit badges years earlier), and he had work circumstances that didn't allow him to be with us every week/campout.  He criticized me and the other leaders for allowing the boys to play some field game (not sure which one) without direct adult supervision.  My thoughts were at first, ok, if you're worried about them I'll go out there with you. Something felt wrong about doing it, but I didn't want to confront him.  Over the next week, I thought about it, and realized his trouble with it. He didn't know and trust the older boys in the Troop as well as I did.  I had no doubts that if there were some kind of accident (and there was more than once), that the older boys in the Troop would take care of it.  They would do what they had been taught, and assess any injury as well as get help if it was beyond their abilities.  I felt bad for caving into mistrust of them.  

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Scouters, for your reading and compliance.  Here’s the online version. Here’s the link to the downloadable version.

@John-in-KC Please note that the 2019 version Animal and Insect Hazards https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss13/  contains a link to the following reference, please review before working

In #14, it mentions activities where participants shoot/ throw objects AT each other.  In frisbee, baseball, etc, you're not throwing the object AT another player.  You are throwing the object TO them

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1 hour ago, Oldscout448 said:

But as I read the rules, in the case of a 10pm thunderstorm, we are required to get the scouts up,dressed,  then march them 400 yards to the mess hall (that was the distance at last years camp) in the pouring rain.  Then back to camp in an hour or two.  Then quite probably repeat the process in another hour.

Been there too. After two trips about the distance you mention  to the dining hall/camp HQ through pouring rain, thunder and lightning with 45 Scouts and a couple of AsMs, it was about 1:30 am. The camp director called all of the SMs together and said the storm cells were moving so fast and it was taking so long for all of the troops to reach shelter that trying to reach shelter was too risky. He told us that next time we heard the lightning siren we were to stay in our campsites and shelter in place....at least that way everybody wouldn’t be bunched up on the trail

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19 minutes ago, an_old_DC said:

Been there too. After two trips about the distance you mention  to the dining hall/camp HQ through pouring rain, thunder and lightning with 45 Scouts and a couple of AsMs, it was about 1:30 am. The camp director called all of the SMs together and said the storm cells were moving so fast and it was taking so long for all of the troops to reach shelter that trying to reach shelter was too risky. He told us that next time we heard the lightning siren we were to stay in our campsites and shelter in place....at least that way everybody wouldn’t be bunched up on the trail

I bet a lot of scouts look back on that camp with fond memories and good stories to tell the younger scouts.  A challenge makes the event worthwhile...

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22 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

I bet a lot of scouts look back on that camp with fond memories and good stories to tell the younger scouts.  A challenge makes the event worthwhile...

My bet would be that the scouts look back on those night hikes and say      " That's gotta be the stupidest thing we have ever done at any summer camp "

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  • 2 months later...

https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/toc/ has been updated.

August

  • Activity Planning and Risk Assessment Added Prohibited Activities section to replace Unauthorized and Restricted Activities section.

https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss07/#b is the direct link to the revised section.   Please note the hosted pdf will be updated on or about 10/1.  

RichardB

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10 minutes ago, RichardB said:

And the FAQ's that go with the above - suggest you review as well.   

Thanks @RichardB, but the FAQ is disingenuous at best.

Quote

Dodgeball has never been an authorized activity in Scouting. ...

dodgeball has never been an authorized BSA activity, and it cannot be done anywhere in conjunction with Scouting

It would have been more honest to say that, as recently as 2012, BSA publications presented dodgeball as an activity to look upon with admiration. (See https://headsup.boyslife.org/epic-dodgeball-game/ "Check Out This Epic Dodgeball Game" where Boy's Life writers proclaim, "Students at the University of California, Irvine recently participated in the world-record “Largest Dodgeball Game,” as 6,084 students launched little red balls at one another. Sounds like a blast!".)

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6 minutes ago, TMSM said:

Didn't know dodgeball was prohibited. I'll add this to my list of things we thumb our nose at.

The goal of this game is to have the fewest balls on your side of the court by the end of five minutes. Or knock over your opponent’s cones or whatever. 

1 minute ago, qwazse said:

Thanks @RichardB, but the FAQ is disingenuous at best.

It would have been more honest to say that, as recently as 2012, BSA publications presented dodgeball as an activity to look upon with admiration. (See https://headsup.boyslife.org/epic-dodgeball-game/ "Check Out This Epic Dodgeball Game" where Boy's Life writers proclaim, "Students at the University of California, Irvine recently participated in the world-record “Largest Dodgeball Game,” as 6,084 students launched little red balls at one another. Sounds like a blast!".)

Yeah, I’ve got some stuff in still current Cub Scout how to books that likely violates some of this. 

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RichardB  I saw someone post this on facebook

Please explain incident #4  https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/incident-report/incident-reviews/gaga-ball/     It says the mulch or sand much be 2 FEET in depth in the pit.  Pits are almost always made with 3 2x10" boards so you would only have 6 inches inside the pit????

Also another person posted a book on Scout Games written by a Scout Exec in Hartford in the 1920s listing Dodge Ball as one of the allowed games...any record on when this was changed?

 

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5 hours ago, TMSM said:

Didn't know dodgeball was prohibited. I'll add this to my list of things we thumb our nose at.

As will we, and post photos of us doing so.  We clearly state that Scouts are not to target the other scouts, they are to aim for the area beside the scout and if said scout elects to move into that area, then so be it.

There's always British Bulldogs.....

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6 hours ago, RichardB said:

And the FAQ's that go with the above - suggest you review as well.    

https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/prohibited-activities-faqs/

 

Could you remove the inaccurate statement that " Dodgeball has never been an authorized activity in Scouting." from the FAQ please? After all  it was an approved game in 1989's Woods Wisdom book as shown here 

http://www.magnificentsevens.org/docs/Resources/Planning/WoodsWisdom.pdf

as well as the Troop Program Resources found here

 https://troop577wichita.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/2/11225514/woods_wisdom_troop_program.pdf

AND is currencly listed as an approved game on BSA's own website

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/Games.pdf

image.thumb.png.55a1e8609c3cb4373904f3c08cc57b00.png

 

A Scout is Trustworthy after all.

 

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