can a den leader remove a Cub Scout?

[mds3d]

I don't mind being on the news. I have held public office, so I have been in the newspapers plenty of times. It doesn't scare me. I do, however, mind being misquoted or having my position mischaracterized by a politically biased or sensationalistic press.

 

I would never throw an employee or volunteer under the bus just to avoid the glare of the press. Never.

It's not about throwing someone under the bus.  Assuming none of the information we have is false, one of the theories is the Den Leader gave a "them or me" ultimatum regarding this particular family.  We could run under the assumption that this was not a long running issue but that the Den Leader had an issue with the one particular family.  That give the Pack Leader (CC) a choice, remove the boy or remove leader.  I was saying that I would have remove the leader in this circumstance. 

[MattR]

This is likely a personality issue that blew up. The scout was not thrown out of the pack, as previously reported. He ended up in a different den within the same pack. We hear the mom's side but not the den leader's or pack's side because they can't talk about it. Mom immediately posts a video to get attention rather than talk to the CC. I have no doubt the mom and den leader butt heads over politics. So what's new here? Pushy mom, tired DL, hot potato questions with a loon politician. Surprise! Scout Changes Den Because of Personality Conflicts Related to Politics, news at 10.

[NJCubScouter]

The scout was not thrown out of the pack, as previously reported. He ended up in a different den within the same pack. 

 

Well, I think the articles left it unclear whether he was removed from the pack.  Where did you see that he ended up in a different den in the same pack?  If that is the case it isn't worthy of much attention.

[mds3d]

Well, I think the articles left it unclear whether he was removed from the pack.  Where did you see that he ended up in a different den in the same pack?  If that is the case it isn't worthy of much attention.

 

My impression from reading a combination of articles is that he was originally told that he could not be in that den anymore, and Mom decided that she would rather him complete his Webelos year in another pack.

 

This is likely a personality issue that blew up. The scout was not thrown out of the pack, as previously reported. He ended up in a different den within the same pack. We hear the mom's side but not the den leader's or pack's side because they can't talk about it. Mom immediately posts a video to get attention rather than talk to the CC. I have no doubt the mom and den leader butt heads over politics. So what's new here? Pushy mom, tired DL, hot potato questions with a loon politician. Surprise! Scout Changes Den Because of Personality Conflicts Related to Politics, news at 10.

 

 

I feel like others have asked this.  Where do you get that the pack "can't" talk about it.  I will grant that they won't or that they think they shouldn't, or that they are likely to gain nothing from speaking out so late, but I can't find any reason that they couldn't give their side of the story. 

 

I think many involved in this discussion are projecting their personal experiences with difficult parents onto the situation in order to easily come up with justification for the unit's action.  In the same way, others outside the scouting community are using their preconceived views about the nature of the BSA to blame this action on the organization as a whole.

[qwazse]

... I feel like others have asked this.  Where do you get that the pack "can't" talk about it.  I will grant that they won't or that they think they shouldn't, or that they are likely to gain nothing from speaking out so late, but I can't find any reason that they couldn't give their side of the story. ...

@@mds3d, just as a rule of thumb: keep the press outside the gate! When we had an event (a death) that drew public attention we agreed that the Charter Organization could choose the person to whom all inquiry's would be directed. That person, answered very few questions of the press, and would not allow recording devices on the property ... nor would that person give a reporter my name (even though the affected family allowed me to speak for them). This made sure that the only people contacting me were vetted by the family. I had a prepared statement -- a profound disappointment to the one reporter who did call. But it covered how we all felt without allowing one person to be a "special source" leading to some non-existent "other side of the story."

 

A reporter was on our committee, involved intimately with the tragedy, and he could have run with this. We would have trusted him to do right by us. He refused.

Edited October 24, 2017 by qwazse

[mds3d]

@@mds3d, just as a rule of thumb: keep the press outside the gate! 

 

I still feels like this falls under "shouldn't" instead of "can't." Being involved in both heathcare and education, if I say that I "can't" talk about it, I mean that if I do, I could be sued, be fired, loose my professional license, or go to jail if I talk about something. There aren't regulations that prevent the pack from discussing this, and as far as I can find there aren't any BSA rules that prevent it.  They have already been identified (and targeted apparently since their website is now gone), so anonymity isn't the motivation. The only reason I can come up with for not talking about it was that whatever they had to say would have made it worse (or opened them up for lawsuit).

[numbersnerd]

Maybe the CO has said, do NOT talk about this. For whatever reason, if the CO doesn't want this discussed, it won't be discussed. At least not without the potential for consequences.

Also, privacy issues are not about the public figure, but rather for the citizen attendees. Personally, if I went to something like this and them my kid or I was on the news because she wanted to "get this out there", I'd be PO'ed.

The fact that the mother purposely posted the video and made a big stink about it says more about her and her family than it does about the unit.