VentureMom

Well, everyone made it back safely and no worse for wear, although we also found out that the boys and male chaperone had ridden up in the chaperone's car instead of the church van, which my husband and I assumed they had taken since it is taken on the other scout (not Venturing, now I know the difference!) outings. We believe there was just a LOT of mis and non communication and we are planning to address this with the appropriate scout leaders both at the church and otherwise. We also misunderstood that the female chaperone DID stay that Saturday night at the male chaperone's house, though my son did not see her after a certain time, and I never did. And once at the destination the boys and male chaperone had one cabin and the girls and female chaperone another. Anyway, all is safe for now, many lessons are learned and we are planning to get many questions answered. My son had a good time and is safe.

This is ABSOLUTELY NOT the work of a troll or April Fool's Day joke. I am a REAL mother of a new Venture scout with a REAL problem. I am sorry I posted on that particular day or if my original question seemed insincere or funny. I do appreciate those responses that were helpful; THANK YOU for not ignoring me or thinking this was written in jest.

Thank you all for your responses. We have decided to wait until he returns and then address this with the appropriate scouting management/leaders. One issue is that this "leader" does a lot for the scouts and donates a lot of time and money (he has no kids of his own and is not married) and is in a higher-up volunteer leadership position. I do not think my son is in immediate danger or I would go get him, and I do not think he would not know what to do if an uncomfortable situation arose (we discussed the Sandusky case at length as it was unfolding). He will not, however, go on another trip with this leader until and unless there are specific concerns addressed and changes made, or if I go with him, which I really don't want to do as he is ready to be independent of mama and daddy tagging along. Again, thanks for your responses. You all have been very helpful.

Thank you. The first night was spent at the male leader's home with just him as chaperone of the boys and girls. Not sure what was going on there; no one let us know that was going to be the case. The trip they had planned was changed because two members were injured; the money we paid is not nearly enough to cover what they are now doing. We are not sure what is going on. When my husband called the leader to ask questions, he immediately handed the phone to my son. We did not want to talk to my son, we wanted to talk to the leader about what was going on. They will be gone for 3 more days and are 4 hours away. I can only hope they were telling the truth about the other chaperone being there.

Hello, my 14-year-old son is on a venturing trip with his troop. There are 4 boys, 2 girls, 1 male chaperone and 1 female chaperone. The first night there was only the one male chaperone and they all stayed in the same room with him. Is this a usual occurence? The leader was not clear that there would only be the one chaperone that night. The female chaperone met them at the town where they are staying; she did not travel with them. They are also doing a lot of activities that parents were not asked to pay for like going to an amusement park, etc. Thank you.