Unsupervised Youth Rescued

[Beavah]

Maybe so, but here in the 'States, we can't even let our boys camp overnight unattended at a 10 acre county park.

 

Of course yeh can!  And yeh should!  Just not as a BSA activity.     

 

Beavah

[MrBob]

Of course yeh can!  And yeh should!  Just not as a BSA activity.     

 

Beavah

 

Probably varies from state to state...  in Wisconsin, no unsupervised juveniles can be on state property (e.g. none of the state parks) overnight and there isn't a single county park or campground in southeastern Wisconsin that allows minors to camp overnight without at least one adult per 10 juveniles present.  The Chequamegon National Forest (federal land) may or may not allow unsupervised minors to camp overnight, but the closest campground is a three hour drive away.

 

Doesn't matter whether its a BSA activity or not - city/county curfew ordinances and state/federal regulations trump BSA program guidelines.

Edited July 4, 2016 by MrBob

[vumbi]

No one has poisonous snakes. They're venomous.

Correct, they're all edible.

 

Cambridgeskip, what is required in order to be part of the Commonwealth? Just curious.

Edited July 4, 2016 by vumbi

[Beavah]

Yah, our laws and regulations aren't always that coherent, eh?  Fourteen year old lads in Wisconsin can hunt with a firearm by themselves with no adult (or buddy), but they can't camp out with their scouting buddies in a county park? 

 

When this stuff is regulatory as it often is, the local land manager generally has discretion.   It's often possible to work things out.  I also reckon there are all kinds of private campgrounds around, eh?  In Wisconsin there's also da MFL and FCL private lands that are open to the public, eh?  Those landowners are usually quite friendly.  

 

It's a shame, though, when our public lands don't allow the youth.  One wonders if they expect these future voters and taxpayers to support da public lands as they get older?  This is where I sometimes feel we in da BSA fail our membership.  Almost every other state and national association in da outdoor industry is actively engaged in lobbying efforts to maintain access to public lands.  Sierra, AW, ACA, AMC, IMBA, Access Fund, NRA, etc.  They work on behalf of their members.   What do we do?  We work to impose squirtgun regulation on our members!     

 

We should do better.

 

Beavah

[Cambridgeskip]

Correct, they're all edible.

 

Cambridgeskip, what is required in order to be part of the Commonwealth? Just curious.

Broadly it's countries that used to be part of the British Empire eg Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa plus all the random islands around the world that are still British overseas territories, bailiwicks and other strange sorts. Eg Jersey, Falkland Islands, Ascension Island. Some former colonies chose not to be, most noteably your good selves! There is also The Repubic of Ireland although Ireland was a constituent nation of the U.K. rather than a colony*.

 

There's also at least one country (I forget which) that chose to join the commonwealth despite not having been a British colony. Many of the commonwealth countries also still have the British monarch as their head of state. Canada and Australia still do, Pakistan doesn't.

 

I hope that explains it.

 

*the position of Ireland in relation to the Uk in different times in history has the potential for almost endless debate and arises great passions among lots of people. Let's just leave it as being a long, complex and at times tragic history.

[SSScout]

If my Scoutson has a schmart phone, and I have a schmart phone, how close to each other do we have to be for me to be "supervising" him?

 

I will posit the news items about "free range children"..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/free-range-parents-cleared-in-second-neglect-case-after-children-walked-alone/2015/06/22/82283c24-188c-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html

 

and   http://www.freerangekids.com/

 

"Make sure you're back in time for dinner".

 

"Okay, mom."

[Stosh]

  When I was a kid my mom said the same thing.... except added the caveat, "otherwise it's a long wait for breakfast."  As a kid I ate a lot of PBJ before bedtime.

[MrBob]

If my Scoutson has a schmart phone, and I have a schmart phone, how close to each other do we have to be for me to be "supervising" him?

 

 

 

Depends on the curfew ordinance of whatever municipality you and he happen to be in at the time.

[Beavah]

Depends on the curfew ordinance of whatever municipality you and he happen to be in at the time.

 

Yah, curfew ordinances are funny things, eh?  They're a law that treads on the line of Constitutionally protected liberties.  We tolerate 'em as a society when they're used as a sort of response to loitering and mischief.   Otherwise not so much.  Kids who are asleep in tents at an approved campsite that they paid for (and where da park accepted their payment givin' 'em a contractual right) aren't likely to run afoul of curfew ordinances.  If they do, they should assert their right to peaceably assemble...   

 

Besides, by and large curfew ordinances are a feature of urban areas, not da rural areas with outdoors around that yeh actually want to camp in.  Most of 'em have exceptions for errands and other activities done under the parent's direction, and many have exceptions for activity as part of a youth program of some sort.

 

Beavah

Edited July 5, 2016 by Beavah

[Stosh]

We had a curfew of 10:00 pm for minors in the town I grew up in.  One could be out doing whatever one wanted to do after curfew, but it was reserved as another fine when doing something one wasn't supposed to be doing in the first place.  If one caught caught speeding after curfew, one got two tickets, one for speeding and one for being out after curfew.  If the police saw someone out driving around and they knew they were under 18, they would ignore it as long as one was driving appropriately.  Being out after curfew was as much a parental issue as it was the child's.  If your kid was out playing in the park with his buddies, no big deal.  If they were in the park after curfew shooting off fireworks, then it's a whole different story.  Then Mom and Dad got yelled at too.