Married couple as adult leaders on a campout

[Illini]

Whether this question will be answered or not will remain to be seen. This complaining parent must have had valid grounds for a matter of this nature to be brought before the committee. Was the family in question present at the particular meeting? Was the complaining parent allowed to speak candidly to the committee? Again I feel that the entire situation is not being represented here, that it is rather one sided.

 

I understand that the exec. has responded but, does e-mail by a CC allow the exec. to assess the situation from both points of view?

[jark]

One member of the husband/wife team was at the committee meeting.

The scout executive was asked a simple question regarding policy of a husband and wife being the only two leaders and responded accordingly.

The complaining parent spoke quite candidly.

Again, the original question is simply - is there a BSA policy that forbids a husband and wife team from being the only leaders at a BSA summer camp. Answer: No.

[FScouter]

"I understand that the exec. has responded but, does e-mail by a CC allow the exec. to assess the situation from both points of view?"

 

Different points of view shouldn't make any difference. There no G2SS rules or any other rules that would not allow husband/wife leadership. The rules don't change because someone has a different point of view.

 

 

[Prairie_Scouter]

FScouter,

Marge's comment may not have been about an expectation of changing the rules, but simply wanting the exec to hear the complaining parent, in person, in order to assess the best way to address the problem in the way of "approach", not "content".

[Lynda J]

Question. Is the parent complaining one of the parents that "doesn't have time to go"?

I have worked with scouting for close to 40 years and have found that most of the time the parent doing the most complaining is the parent that wants to do the least.

[Illini]

In reading all of our entries, I realized we are focusing our discussion on the husband\wife issue and is there any substantial evidence, rule, guidelines, etc. that supports a married couple being the only leadership in camp with the boys and the answer gained was NO. There is nothing to support or deny this privilege.

 

Has anyone considered that whiner, as so named, may have had the greater interest of the boys in the troop in mind as opposed to trying to undermine the husband\wife intentions to attend camp with their family?

 

[Baggy]

My husband and I went to camp together with 7 boys.

I had such a good time! I felt like those other parents had NO IDEA what they were missing. One of the other units there thought it was just terrible that I 'horned-in' on the 'boys time'for my own amusement.

If any of the other 'Dads' had wanted to go, I would have missed out. No other parents had the time to take off so they were all VERY grateful. The boys were polled about having me along next year. Unanamously, they agreed that I MUST go with them again.

I'm with Wingnut, you think it's bad, then You STEP-UP!

[t487scouter]

Marge, I have been in the same situation this past year. I feel that by having my wife (a registered adult leader) go to camp was in the best interest of the troop.

My options were:

1. Have another parent go .....After asking, begging, bribing (I cook, clean dishes, etc) I could not talk another parent into going

 

2. Take my wife, a registered adult leader and second adult according to "the guide"

 

3. Not go camping.

 

So, if she did not go, then the troop did not go. This worked for me on weekend outings because I could find someone to watch my younger son (1st year WEBELO.) For summer camp I had to find 2 friends, submit applications for them and they split the 7 days between them. I would have preferred that my wife attend summer camp but we could not leave my youngest son with a friend for 7 days. The reason I would rather have her along is because she is familiar with scouting and the associated rules, my friends were not. As for the legal issues that were posted. I don't worry about being sued, in fact I think it is sad we live in a world that we need two adults to watch each other. I know that the rules have been developed to protect me as well as the youth and there has been a need for it in the past. I also know (and I am sure most parents would agree) that if I were to do something negligent to harm a child my wife would not protect me from the courts any more than a friend or another scout leader.

[Illini]

I am sure there is much to this discussion we will never know because the whiner as so named has not had a chance to represent himself here. Was whiner ever asked to attend camp? and what was the response? I doubt we will ever know.

[LodgeChief]

My local district has deemed that married couples only constitute one adult. They do this so that if anything does happen, they will not protect one another.

[OldGreyEagle]

I may have to expnad my concept of a BSA Accedited Troop to include Accedited Districts, then of course would it would follow Districts and then, Dang, what a cycle!

 

What ever happened to just following the rules of the group you joined ?

 

[FScouter]

Ya gotta knoe, them pipples that wrote them rules don't know the business end of a stick. We gotta fix that and we done did that with our own wrules that work in these here parts. We don't need no stinkin national rules! Locals only!

[Illini]

I have asked this question several times of Jark with no response " were all leaders, adults and parents approached before the conclusion was made that no other parents were available to attend camp?"

Many responding to this discussion have assumed the fact to be true... no adults would attend... Personally I can not and will not judge a person "whiner" or other parents of the troop until this question is left unanswered because the entire forcus could change.

 

Jark why is this such a difficult question to answer?

[Illini]

quad post (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[tortdog]

Seems to me that a married couple should only count as one, for the reason mentioned by others that they have spousal immunity.