So, what is our response to the List?

[raisinemright]

OK Guys,

 

As Scout Leaders, representatives and parents, what should our response be?

 

Do we get out in front of it, meet with committee and COR to reinforce the values of the scouting system and the importance of YP?

 

Do we make it the topic of the Scoutmaster Minute (or Minutes)?

 

Do we ignore it?

 

The whole thing is bad press for Scouts. Not to sound callous, but statistically, the numbers involved are low for such a large and influential organization. I haven't read the files but the bit I've heard sounds like there's lots of cherrypicking going on and a true analysis is overdue.

 

What are the thoughts of the Forum?

 

 

[Brewmeister]

I have told our leaders to tell people they don't know what happened in the past because they weren't around, but that the BSA's current youth protection practices are recognized as state of the art. If people still have legitimate questions I have told them to refer them to me, and I will refer them to people who get paid to deal with things that do not involve our pack.

[Tampa Turtle]

I think "State of the Art" is a bit of a stretch.

[BadenP]

 

The reality is if the BSA had handled these cases quickly and tranparently instead of keeping secret files and not involving the proper authorities this would never had become an issue in the firstplace. Now it shows the BSA was inconsistent and violated the law by not reporting and turning these cases over to the proper authorities. The result is the BSA has lost the TRUST of many people, including parents of potential scouts. Only the passage of time is going to heal this mess, until then expect to see numbers continue to drop and the BSA lose even more support financially and from CO's.

[SeattlePioneer]

>

 

 

BSA and local councils had no obligation to report such cases, and usually mostly has gossip to go on as evidence.

 

There were what, an average of thirty such cases per year? Pretty trivial for an organization with millions of youth, employees and volunteers.

 

And remember, the cases reported were the cases where BSA DID take action by aiming to prevent people from being BSA volunteers again, perhaps with little real evidence and no hearings for those accused.

 

BSA isn't the cops.

 

Frankly, I'm not interested in reading the accounts of the details, so I'm going on comments made in the press and on this board.

 

Based on what I've seen, BSA appears to have been acting reasonably by the standards of the times.

 

 

[perdidochas]

I think Seattle Pioneer hit it right on the head:

 

"Based on what I've seen, BSA appears to have been acting reasonably by the standards of the times. "

 

 

We can't judge these people on 2012 standards and be fair to them.

[OldGreyEagle]

The first reponse is to remind people the files are from 1959 to 1991 and not all files are people who did indeed molest youth. Some were convicted, some were not some were just alleged

 

and then talk about what we do now, today, to stop abuse

 

I wish this had not happened

 

Then again, I have similar feelings about the Treatment of Native Americans, Slaves, and Women in American Society

 

 

[BadenP]

SP

 

Since there were many cases where the BSA council execs knew the person was a suspect or guilty of committing a violent criminal act on a minor or minors and did not turn it over to the authorities to investigate then they were violating the law, reporting rules become irrelevant. Instead they chose to keep these secret files which now they have been forced to make public and you just watch the fallout as a result.

 

The Roman Catholic Church also thought they were above the law with priest pedophiles trying to deal with all the cases internally and we have all seen what a worldwide fiasco that has become.

Their clergy has lost all credibility in regards to their preaching on moral issues.

[Oak Tree]

Getting back to the original question...

 

I don't know whether I'm going to do anything yet. I'd be curious to hear what others are doing. For a long time my attitude has been not to initiate any discussion on the topic, because it has no bearing on our day-to-day operations and I presume that most everyone recognizes this.

 

However, given the prominence of the current stories, I do get some sense that getting out in front of it at the unit level might be useful. Communication with the unit could be easy enough. Communication with the CO would require a little more thought and finesse.

 

I don't see much point to a Scoutmaster minute. I don't know how many of the Scouts are aware of the whole issue and I don't need to make a big deal with them. Something to reassure the parents might be good, and some communication with the CO could be important. But it's hard to judge.

[fred8033]

BadedP wrote: "... then they were violating the law ..."

 

You don't know that. It's just a reactionary statement to an ugly situation. From what I understand, mandatory reporting laws did not start applying to scouts leaders until recently, if even now, and the current laws vary state to state. In most cases I've read, parents knew the details. Did the parents violate the law? Did the police violate the law when they did not prosecute?

 

 

[eisely]

The decision to prosecute is, or should be, largely based on the quality and amount of evidence available. To the extent that some clear cut provable cases that were reported to the authorities were not prosecuted because of the standing in the community of the alleged abuser, then that is much more than just a BSA problem. Look how many years it took to catch up with Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky was convicted in large part by the sheer volume of vitim testimony. I don't think any physical evidence or third party eyewitness testimony, except fo one witness, was introduced at trial.

 

BSA leaders should be reporting apparent criminal acts to the authorities in addition to conducting their own investigations and making their own judgments about suitability for membership in BSA. Even then, I doubt that many actual prosecutions will result.

[NJCubScouter]

As a troop committee member, there is nothing for me to do about it except to continue to emphasize the importance of youth protection training and adherence to the guidelines. If someone from the CO starts asking about it, I would refer them to council.

[suzisk8]

I have a Den meeting tonight, so I am going to go over the the Youth Protection guidelines with the parents and Bears present.

 

I wish the media would see that because of the past BSA has done something with Youth Protection to make everyone safer in the present and future. This is so frustrating with the stupid media.

[SeattlePioneer]

>

 

 

Hello Baden P,

 

 

That's quite a claim. "Many cases" where BSA executive "knew" was a suspect or guilty of a crime? Really?

 

If they were guilty of a crime, that implies they were CONVICTED of a crime. Not really an issue in that case.

 

Being a "suspect" implies that the person was the subject of a police investigation. If it's already being investigated by the police, further action by BSA really isn't necessary.

 

Perhaps you can give me one example where a Council Executive "knew" that someone was guilty of a violent crime against a minor. Is this something that the Council Executive observed themself?

 

Frankly, I don't think you can say anyone "knew" what happened unless at a minimum they had a hearing of some kind in which both sides had an opportunity to state their case.

 

Was this done?

 

VIOLENT abuse implies injuries which a doctor can chart and report. BSA involvement should not be necessary.

 

 

 

[Brewmeister]

FWIW, this is what I had sent our pack leaders:

 

By now youve probably seen the front page article in the XXXXXXX about the court ordered release of the BSAs Ineligible Volunteer files (what the media is calling the perversion files.)

 

In case you havent been following this, here is the BSAs official release on this: http://www.scouting.org/Media/PressReleases/2012/20121018.aspx

 

Thats a lot to digest so let me give you my take on this because it is a situation I have been following. The files in question span the years 1965 to 1985, and mistakes were made in the handling of some cases. As you know, things were much different 50 years ago also. We have made many positive changes as a society as we have come to recognize, report, and protect children against abuse. Those changes have not only been reflected in the BSA, but the BSA has been ahead of the curve in our Youth Protection Program, as you all know by going through it. This does not excuse the behavior and mistakes that were made in the past, but it does provide context.

 

What is important today is that lessons were learned from past mistakes. The BSAs two-deep leadership and no one-on-one contact protocols are in place to protect both youth and adults. And YPT reporting protocols ensure that authorities are involved if boys do report abuse.

 

So the short answer that I would give, if anyone were to ask, is that scoutings current youth protection policies are recognized by child protection experts as state of the art. If anybody does have serious questions beyond that, please refer them to me, and I will either talk to them or get them in touch with someone at the council who can.