Failure to Pick up scouts after events.

[wdfa89]

12 hours. wow. I got steamed the last time when the parents were 20 min late because they waited until we called we when we returned and then hit traffic. I would probably demand the next activity his parent has to come along or he cant come. But as said before I would hate to hose the kid because his parents are doofuses (understanding stuff happens, but 12 hours?)

[Rick_in_CA]

Unless they had a real good excuse (sudden death' date=' hospitalization, etc) That kid would not go camping with me again. The risk of being accused of something, or ending up in a bad situation is too great. You have to protect yourself. Plus, you are being used as a babysitter.[/quote']

 

I agree. Life happens and emergencies occur. But Basement says this is an "On going problem" which implies (to me at least) that this kind of thing happens more than once. Unless there is a really good story on why this happened, jr56 is right, you shouldn't allow that kid to go camping unless some sort of alternate arrangement can be made if it happens again (like another parent volunteering in advance to take the kid home or a latch-key drop off agreement).

[koolaidman]

BD: I think it would be a nice gesture for the Scoutmaster to pay for a babysitter for 12 hours while the parents are away...

 

#TooSoon?

 

Seriously though BD, it sounds like you get plenty of crap piled on you. I hope you can find a good and decent ASM, or more committee members with shovels to help get it off.

 

If this happened more than once in my troop, the scout would have to miss campouts unless the parent attended as a volunteer.

Assign the parent with the responsibility of med forms and emergency contacts and hopefully the parent would realize the burden he/she placed on you and the troop. (assuming this parent would pass background check and take YPT of course). I think it is sad, because the end game is this scout wouldn't be able to campout anymore because the parent doesn't care enough to pick him up on time.

 

I feel your pain, but I feel much worse for the scout.

[mattman578]

Man do not scare me I am taking my Webelos on a non parent camping trip in a few weeks my god I hope they pick them up on time.

[fred johnson]

My Troop, too, has Scouts whose parents work double shifts or don't have cars. So the way we have avoided experiences like the one described above is to provide home drop-offs. I can't speak for Basement's situation, obviously, but I know that making it known that we want the Scouts to come camping and that we will return the kids to their homes has made a huge difference in attendance.

 

Our drivers agree to taking a few extra minutes to drop the Scouts off at home, many of them being "latch-key kids".

 

 

That's what we do too. Once we leave the camp ground, scouts are dropped off at their house. From my personal experience, it saves alot of time, energy, coordination and it's just alot easier. But we are a suburb troop and we can usually find a driving pattern to drop kids off fairly efficiently. I think parents appreciate it. As a leader now for 10 years, I greatly appreciate it.

 

If we have to do cleanup or unpacking of the trailer, we do it on the following troop meeting. If there is too much gear for cars (rarely ever happens), it gets returned at the troop meeting or can be picked up at the house of the person who has the trailer. If they don't pick it up that day or before the trailer goes back in storage, it can be picked up at the next troop meeting.

[SMMatthew]

12 hours! Did you specify AM or PM when you told them the pick-up time? Maybe they just misunderstood.

 

My troop generally provides home drop-offs after outings. It takes the stress off us on the event to try to be back at a specific time (either we'd be a few minutes late and the parents would be sitting there waiting around for us; or we'd be a few minutes early and we'd be stuck waiting around for the parents) and it takes the stress off the parents having to come pick up their kids after they've spent the weekend in the woods.

 

Given the area that the Scouts in my troop are from, the most "out of the way" drop off would only add an extra 5-10 minutes to any driver's time getting home (which is much better than an added 10-15+ minutes stuck waiting at the pick-up place). One or two cars usually go back to our charter organization to unload any troop gear and then the drivers drop the Scouts off on their way home. We try to coordinate the cars on the way home based on where people live to avoid a single driver having to drive all over town.

[fred johnson]

My troop generally provides home drop-offs after outings. ....

 

A lot less stress. More flexibility.

 

[packsaddle]

SMMathhew, I thought about that. The boy had been left and I had waited with him and my son for about half an hour before I decided to drop him off at home. No response on the phone so off we went. Got there and the place was locked and dark. There's no way I'm going to drop that kid off under those circumstances. Either his single mom had to work late or she had car trouble somewhere or, or....didn't matter. The kid was 'mine' until I could hand him off to the responsible adult. So I took him and my son to a movie (Stargate, good movie by the way), they had a great time and when it was all over I had watched a decent SciFi flic, was out about $20 for everything and a few hours of my time. Mom was home when we got there. Didn't even say thanks. I really felt bad for the boy.

What you suggest is a good idea if the responsible adults are actually responsible. Of course if that were the case...this thread wouldn't exist.

[chrisking0997]

Unless they had a real good excuse (sudden death' date=' hospitalization, etc) That kid would not go camping with me again. The risk of being accused of something, or ending up in a bad situation is too great. You have to protect yourself. Plus, you are being used as a babysitter.[/quote']

 

this. BD, you seem to have some problem parents in your troop, not sure if its the usual suspects for all these issues. Regardless, Id say its time for a come-to-Jesus meeting with those parents, the CC, COR and you.

[Basementdweller]

So drop them off you say?

 

14 boys in the old church van at 15 minutes per drop and unload is how much again.

 

I do not have active and involved parents, and the troop is being used as a babysitting program. The familys involved are not going to participate in the next couple of outings.

 

 

The mom with the dump and run has been asked to take her scout to another unit to continue his scouting career. I have received an email threat of being sued if he is kicked out. Well I didn't kick him out, troop committee did and he tried to steal an activity. His scouting career is over in our troop. Sue away, ya can't get blood from a turnip.

[fred johnson]

... 14 boys in the old church van at 15 minutes per drop and unload is how much again. ...

 

​Only if you drive a bus and everyone lives miles apart. Usually, kids are clumped in neighborhoods.

 

Our troop doesn't have a bus. Most adults drive back their own son plus two or three extra. Some with minivans or suburbans drive more. For myself, the kids live within blocks of our house or we plan driving routes to optimize drop offs. For myself who drops off the most, it adds maybe 10 minutes total. ... Unless one is way out of the way. Then, plans adjust for that.

 

 

 

The mom with the dump and run has been asked to take her scout to another unit to continue his scouting career. I have received an email threat of being sued if he is kicked out. Well I didn't kick him out' date=' troop committee did and he tried to steal an activity. His scouting career is over in our troop. Sue away, ya can't get blood from a turnip. [/quote']

 

If that's the parent's reaction, then the parent doesn't understand the nature of a "volunteer" organization.

[IM_Kathy]

yeah dropping off at homes wouldn't work with us either. 10 boys currently active in the troop. 5 live in town of CO. 3 live in school district 15 mins away but 2 in 1 town and 1 in another. 1 boy lives in big city near us 30 mins from CO and final boy lives in even another town also 30 mins from CO but in different direction. I'm not spending hours driving around dropping off boys when each parent can just drive to the church and pick up their child. And considering I live where the 3 go to school I often drive past my place to get to the church but that's ok others do it when we camp on other side of state.

 

but I would never put up with a 12 hour without it being a medical/death emergency and if that were the case their should be a text or voicemail sitting on my phone telling me what to do with their child.

[resqman]

Parents are expected to retrieve their son from the CO parking lot. All the drivers have cell phones. We have the scouts call their parents when they are 30 minutes from the CO. The SM calls a designated parent who sends an email to all parents with the ETA at the parking lot. Most adults have email forwarded to their smart phones so double notification. No scouts are released until the troop trailer is unpacked, gear stowed in the shed or assigned to patrol members to clean and return at the next troop meeting. Only then does the SPL release scouts. Parents might have to wait a few minutes but that is one more incentive for the scouts to complete their tasks in a timely manner because Mom is standing there watching and waiting. Adults volunteered to drive and chaperone all weekend. We are not a shuttle service. If the driver does not have their son in the car, then it becomes a YP issue when the driver only has 1 scout in the car.

[Twocubdad]

Precisely how we handle things, resqman.

 

It is a rare occasion that anyone is excused from returning to the Scout house.to help with the unloading. The year my younger son was SPL he had the entire troop stand down and stop unloading for about a half-hour until two guys who left early were called and returned to the scout house. The troop then resumed unpacking. The parents who were forced to wait were P***ED OFF until I explained what was going on. Then they got behind the SPL, giving him attaboys and high-fives. They appreciated the lesson. When the two arrived. one's mom was very apologetic. The other's dad was P.O.'d he had to drive back but the other parents got hold of him and handled the situation. It was a good lesson for both the Scouts and parents.