axe yard questions

[Lisabob]

Who supervises your axe yard - scout, adult, both? How lenient are you with younger scouts (finishing 1st year) when it comes to safety and judgment errors? We've been talking about scouts with ADHD and other disorders in some other threads - in this context with tools that demand respect, how do you deal with a scout who has impulse control issues or difficulty with understanding consequences (medically diagnosed problems, not "typical kid" stuff)? Bearing in mind that banning a kid from an axe yard indefinitely means he'll never advance to 2nd Class, what is a reasonable approach here?

 

[OldGreyEagle]

The Troop I serve treats the axe yard the same as it would any hazardous area. You follow the rules or you don't come in. It would be the same at a Troop shoot, you follow the rules or you dont participate. None of the volunteers I work with want to explain to a parent in the Emergency Department how its not Jimmy's fault that Johnny got hurt because ADD is involved.

 

NB My son, earned Eagle and is dyslexic and ADD, but he followed the troop rules and never took a medication holiday on a campout, heck he was having so much fun he wanted to enjoy it and learn stuff, stuff he knew he wouldnt if he didnt take his meds

[LongHaul]

>>Who supervises your axe yard - scout, adult, both?

[Lisabob]

How lenient:

A young man fails to request permission to enter the yard. While in the yard he fails to assure clear distance around him (other people/objects) prior to using an axe. No one was hurt but someone else was in his way and could have been hurt. He repeatedly embeds his axe in the ground. He jokes about "going after" another scout with the axe.

 

This is a scout with diagnosed, serious, emotional and behavioral impairments. He is prone to impulsiveness, he is unpredictable, and he can sometimes be oblivious to consequences or to how his actions are perceived by others. He has a temper sometimes. I am trying to imagine how a scout like this can be anything other than a safety problem waiting to happen in an axe yard. Does that mean he will never make it beyond tenderfoot? Are the alternate requirements for scouts with permanent disabilities something to consider in a case like this?

[evmori]

Both supervise the ax yard. This is a very dangerous area, but that doesn't mean adults hover over the area. Everyone is responsible to following the rules in the ax yard.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[LongHaul]

>>A young man fails to request permission to enter the yard. While in the yard he fails to assure clear distance around him (other people/objects) prior to using an axe. No one was hurt but someone else was in his way and could have been hurt. He repeatedly embeds his axe in the ground. He jokes about "going after" another scout with the axe.

[Eagledad]

>> Are the alternate requirements for scouts with permanent disabilities something to consider in a case like this?

[LongHaul]

Sorry for the delay in responding this thread got lost on my list and the latest activity option doesn't work for me.

 

Why permission for those under 1st. Class. Several close calls by boys that had passed the rules test and gotten their tote 'n' Chip but need to work on the skills part. Once before it was discussed that Tote'n'Chip does not have any skill requirements associated with it. A boy simply asks his SM or designated individual for a card. It's like a drivers permit to learn to drive except we don't have a Tote'n'Chip license in BSA. We want someone with experience to keep an eye on the inexperienced while wood tools are in use. Again like with a permit instead of a license.

LongHaul