Child Protection Training Glitches

[Beavah]

Yah, boy, we've got some weird threads this week, eh?

 

TAHAWK, you're actually expectin' BSA materials to be consistent, are yeh? What, are you a newbie or somethin'? Da BSA has never done any sort of job of continuity editing its various materials. Besides, yeh missed a few.

 

I agree with yeh, there are a number of things in both da G2SS and the most recent YPT that are flawed and a bit over the top. If someone really takes 'em literally instead of inserting their brain into da process they might get yeh in trouble in some (or many) jurisdictions if da stars align poorly. Or at least give yeh a bad headache for a while.

 

But I believe the way to think about this stuff is that da BSA expects us to use our brains a little, rather than behave like computers and just crash when they mess up a line of code.

 

Right now, cell phone cameras are all the panic among policymakers and school officials because of "sexting" and whatnot. Yah, the adults always come late to the party. If you've seen policymakers in a panic as often as I have, you know it happens when they don't know anything but want to be seen as "doing something". Hopefully they just bounce off walls entertainingly for a while rather than actually pass some policy or regulation that we're all saddled with. Otherwise we get "zero tolerance" and NCLB and that gawd-awful mess of "financial reform" legislation.

 

So when one of these panics hits (like da G2SS prohibition on water drinking right next to exploring abandoned mines...), best to just laugh about it. Some poor Irving staffer like RichardB got jumped by someone further up da chain who got jumped by some exec board member who read da expose on teen sexting in the West Texas Chronicle and wants 'em to "do something". And so rather than havin' time to let it cool down and be thoughtful and wait to see what best practices emerge, now there's a deadline to "get something out."

 

And so we have no water drinking contests, only adults handle "discipline", and immediately confiscate the kid's cell phone if he left it in his pants when he went to da shower house.

 

Don't let some lines of bad code put together in a deadline panic crash your system. Just treat 'em with a bit of wisdom and humor. If yeh need some inspiration, I suggest yeh take a look at the documentary.

 

That would be "Dilbert."

 

Beavah

(This message has been edited by Beavah)

[TAHAWK]

No Beav, unless 42 years in makes me "new." ^___^ However, every day is new.

 

I think if we cannot rely on BSA to produce rational and consistent policy, it's up to us to deconstruct what it publishes and try to come up with something that makes sense. It cannot be both A and not A. And discussing the Delphic utterings is one tool.

 

We can't discuss it with BSA. It does not discuss things with volunteers. If you somehow manage to communicate with someone in Irving, all you get is the brushoff, even if you have the Red Cross, Mayo Clinic, U.S.C.D.C, Wilderness Medical Society, and U.S.E.P.A. on your side. (No. You cannot accurately claim that chlorine or iodine make wild water "safe to drink." BSHB 12th ed. at p. 267)

 

If we can't "talk" to each other . . .

[evmori]

When the PL tells Little Johnny he either clean the pot or spends the night in his tent sure is a form of punishment. Spending the night in his tent will not let Little Johnny play Capture the Flag with the rest of his unit!

[perdidochas]

When the PL says a Scout can't play Capture the Flag until he washes the pots, it is not a punishment if the Scout is on the duty roster to clean the dishes. Now saying that the Scout can't play Capture the Flag until he washes the pots, because he was assigned pot cleaning due to mouthing off to the PL is punishment. Now, the bit about staying in the tent is punishment. Mandating that necessary tasks be done before a fun activity is not punishment.

[TAHAWK]

"When the PL says a Scout can't play Capture the Flag until he washes the pots, it is not a punishment if the Scout is on the duty roster to clean the dishes. Now saying that the Scout can't play Capture the Flag until he washes the pots, because he was assigned pot cleaning due to mouthing off to the PL is punishment. Now, the bit about staying in the tent is punishment. Mandating that necessary tasks be done before a fun activity is not punishment."

 

Even assuming the kid -- and the majority of the world -- agrees this "mandating" is not punishment, it certainly is "handling a discipline issue" --- keeping order and maintaining compliance with rules.

 

Can we not agree that it makes no sense to say a Scout leader is barred from such behavior?

Is it not contrary to the officially-described role of a Patrol Leader to say only adults handle discipline issues?

What should the training AV say?

[evmori]

Let's see - not doing your assigned duty roster assignment = not being able to do something else = punishment.

[perdidochas]

evmori

 

I totally disagree. It's not punishment to have to do your assigned duties before doing something else. It's a natural consequence.

 

The definition of punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group. Not being allowed to play until you've done your chores is not a punishment. Being forced to do additional work for misbehavior is punishment. Being confined to your tent for misbehavior is punishment.

[evmori]

Not doing your assigned duty roster assignment is behavior deemed wrong