Slippery slope: YPT question

[Once_Eagle-Always_Eagle]

So the YPT policy says no boy may share a tent with an adult other than his own parent. Pretty black and white, right? ok, so here goes the slippery slope.

 

 

1) What about sleeping on an aircraft carrier, battleship or submarine? Most scout units do this at some point and they've never given us separate quarters for adults and youth. Is this a violation of policy? Personally, I believe we were fine.

2) What about a lock-in/sleep-over? In the past we put the boys on the floor and adults on cots in front of the doors. We had 15~20 boys in a room with 4 adults. Did we break policy? Something inside me says we were still compliant with the intent of the rule.

 

 

Now we are looking at an outing in January with our Webelos 2. Historical weather for this time of year often has lows in the 20's with daytime highs in the 40s ~ 50s. To ensure the best experience for the boys, we are looking to rent 2 cabins at the state park. (Skip giving me flack over the cabins instead of the tents. If it gets the boys excited about joining Boy Scouts, I'll let them do the winter camping in a tent next year.)

 

So can we put the 2 adults in a cabin with the boys on the floor? I suspect it is fine and I see little distinction between this and what transpired at a lock-in or on the battleship. Second choice is to put the boys in a cabin and the adults in the second. That leaves the boys in a cabin without direct adult supervision. I question if this is more of a risk to the boys than the first option.

 

Thoughts?

 

[ADCinNC]

"Single-room or dormitory-type accommodations for Scouting units: Adults and youths of the same gender may occupy dormitory or single-room accommodations, provided there is a minimum of two adults and four youths. A minimum of one of the adults is required to be Youth Protectiontrained. Adults must establish separation barriers or privacy zones such as a temporary blanket or a sheet wall in order to keep their sleeping area and dressing area separated from the youth area."

 

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/GSS/gss01.aspx

 

See also, http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=289901&p=1

[qwazse]

Don't bang your head against the bulkhead over this. (If you're my height and on a sub, you'll be doing a lot of that for other reasons.) Do your best to arrange separate accommodations. Sometimes that means the adults bunk in the the far corner of the same room. If you have boys who have shown discipline and trustworthiness: no problem giving them their own cabin. You can set up your tent just outside in the snow for lights-out!

 

The cabins/houses in our council camps have separate rooms or sometimes only alcoves for the adult bunks. We adjust accordingly.

 

On the way to these high adventures, some hotels require an adult occupant in every room. We adjust. (Of course the youth are 14+ and there are at least three of them to one of us.) Those 8-man crews on 44' boats at Seabase? Adjust. With co-eds? Really adjust!

 

That is not a slippery slope. What would be a slippery slope? Try this: On the next backpacking trip your contingent arrives in a huge meadow, and you insist on setting up your tent wall-to-wall with a youth's tent. Your excuse: "We were bunked this close last month in the same space ... now it's two separate tents as per G2SS."

 

Now your skiing downhill!

[Once_Eagle-Always_Eagle]

And this is why I love this forum. Thanks ADC! I just didn't read far enough down the policy,but that lays it out really well. As qwazse said, this isn't a slippery slope at all. you guys are great!

[SeattlePioneer]

Any reasonable interpretation of the rules will be fine.

 

Unless, of course, something bad happens.

 

Then plaintiff's lawyers (and the Scout Council's lawyers) will go over every fact with a fine toothed comb to look for any i that wasn'y dotted or t that wasn't crossed, with the aim of blaming the volunteers and finding fault with what was done.

 

The more detailed and specific thye rule, the harder it is to enforce in complicated situations, so the Scout Council and BSA can expect to hold themselves blameless and to find fault with what the volunteers did.

 

And Merry Christmas to YOU!

[qwazse]

When something bad happens, not even narrow interpretation of the rules will be adequate.

 

In fact, when the files are opened by some reporters injunction 30 years hence, that very bad thing will likely be blamed on narrowly interpreting the rules.

 

Comfort and Joy to you SP!