Guardians at the Ordeal

[CalicoPenn]

OA is not a unit activity, it is an individual activity. Though some units may put together a contingent of Scouts to attend OA work weekend (aka Ordeal Weekends), there is no requirement that units do so. Candidates and members may attend on their own, with no unit support.

 

Back in the 70's, my Lodge used this same type of form - it was used simply to identify an adult who was present at the activity to act as the adult point of contact in case of an emergency in which a legally minor child was involved. Even if the unit was bringing a contingent, the form was still required for minor children - again, because it is not a unit activity.

 

If you know an adult (probably by OA standards - over 21) that is at the activity, and they agree to take on the task of temporary guardian, then you could appoint him/her and not have to stay over.

 

In our lodge, this form was required for all OA members & candidates up until their 18th birthday. Even a 16 year old who might drive themselves to the activity would still need an adult to be responsible in case the lad needed to visit the local hospital.

 

 

 

 

[hingram]

Calico hit the right answer. I received another email saying that I didn't need to stay. They just needed someone to be a contact, I assume for medical reasons.

 

I told my son to keep his mouth shut and his ears open. You only get to do this once. We'll see how it goes.

[John-in-KC]

CP,

 

I hear what you say, and in a perfect world, that should be true.

 

Each SE, in his role as Supreme Chief of the Fire, makes decisions about how things are really going to happen.

 

I will say in the Lodge where my quiver is, if a youth Arrowman shows up, there had best be two adult Arrowmen from his unit or one parent Arrowman showing up too.

[Nike]

John in KC:

 

That sounds more like potential crowd control.

[ScoutNut]

As is the case with Calico's Lodge, our Ordeal's are done at our OA Work Weekends. None of the adults that go EVER just sit around reading books, or helicopter around their son (they never even see him). They are busy working their butts off!

 

I have never heard of parents (OA members or not) that drive their son up to camp and just drop them off. The parents that drive, stay, and work. We also do a car pool of sorts. If you are driving and can bring extra boys, then you mark it on your reservation form. If you are a boy who needs a ride you mark that on your reservation form. The registrar matches up boys with drivers from their area. So, in essence, the driver becomes the temporary guardian for all of the boys he/she is driving.

[hingram]

It turns out that a lot of parents were staying. I'm glad I know that now. Unfortunately, we got a call from the doctor saying that my son's supposed sprained wrist from football was actually a Greenstick buckle fracture so we had to cancel the ordeal.

 

Now that I know, I'll prepare to stay. It looked like a lot of fun camping. My daughter even wants to stay next time. Thanks for the info.

[scoutldr]

"I have never heard of parents (OA members or not) that drive their son up to camp and just drop them off."

 

Well, that's the way I grew up in OA and the way it's still done. IF we find that the Scout won't be able to attend otherwise, we try to find him a ride.

 

And once they turn 16, they can drive themselves...just like I did.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

[Eamonn]

Wagion Lodge 6 does not require Scouts to be accompanied with unit Scouters.

The Lodge is part of the Council.(Not tied with a CO.)

The SE has appointed a Lodge Adviser to the Lodge and a Professional is at every weekend.

Nearly all the Scouts who attend OA weekends don't come as Troop members.

I wonder what happens where there is a Troop in which none of the adults are members?

Ea.

[eaglescout1996]

Every Lodge event I've ever been to, everyone camped as a Chapter, never by individual units. I'm now on my third, and they've all been done this way (Black Eagle, Tipisa, and now Egwa Tawa Dee).

 

Plus, I've never been to any Lodge or Chapter event that didn't have more than enough supervision, niether Advisors or Adult OA members. For instance, I attended my previous Lodge's work day last year, right before I moved. Our Chapter had 8 scouts and 12 scouters...and we have a lot of the 16+ scouts drive themselves, just like I did 15 years ago.

[srisom]

I believe that the original poster is from my Council. We just had an Ordeal weekend. As Membership Advisor for that Lodge, maybe I can offer some more insight.

 

Reference was made to Temporary Guardian on the form. The reason for this is so that there can be an adult to contact, on site, in case of any problem that might arise. While involvement in the OA is an individual thing, when there is a function weekend, it really is more like Summer Camp. At camp, the leaders are the Temporary Guardians. Youth are not dropped at Summer Camp without a Parent/Temporary Guardian. For the youths protection and yes, for the Lodge/Councils protection, someone needs to be designated as a Temporary Guardian if a parent will not be around.

 

Most of the time, the Temporary Guardian is someone from the unit, who will be attending the function as well. However, there may not be any adults from the unit. Then we look to other adults in the Chapter or an adult that the youth and the parents know, that is attending for the weekend. Thats one of the reason we encourage the Chapters to camp together.

 

We also have parents, who are not a member of the OA, who have stayed for the weekend and many of them help with work, although it usually is not with a clan. This past weekend, we had two fathers stay. While we do not encourage this, we do not turn them away.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Note: the original poster was a member of the OA as a youth and had asked what he needed to do to get re-instated. He was told this past Spring, but has not re-established his membership. This would have solved the Parent/Guardian question.

 

To hingram: You know who I am, so if there are any questions about OA, please contact me.

 

[scoutldr]

Thanks for the clarification, srisom. Although I don't agree with some of your assumptions, I understand the context. I don't think the comparison to summer camp is valid...scouts attend Summer camp with their unit, unless they are provisional, in which case they are assigned to another unit. In both cases, 2-deep leadership is required. OA functions are not necessarily attended as a unit...at least in my Lodge. What if the scout has just transferred in and doesn't know anyone, or is attending from out-of-council? The lawyers here can correct me, but I thought the term "guardian" had a legal meaning...like court-ordered custody for a non-parent.

[srisom]

Perhaps the wording could be better. I can explain it, but I inherited the process.

I will say that there was discussion this weekend on a couple of changes to the form for next year. Maybe I should add this concern to the list to explore.

 

I see the point concerning camp, but it was the only reference that I could come up with at the time. We have many units attend with two-deep leaders. We have Chapters that come as a group with adults. Then we have several groups of one or two who attend with no adults. This past weekend there were 7 with no name in the Parent/Guardian line. We were able to find adults in their Chapter or another adult at camp who was willing to take on the responsibility.

 

Never has been a problem, but who knows in the future.

 

I will take the comments made here and make sure the right people have them for re-doing the form.

 

Thanks.