Behavior That Warrents Expulsion from Troop?

[hereajo]

A scout went out of his way to bully another scout. All sorts of profanity was used against the victim and a verbal threat was made to shoot the scout. An hour later the bully was observed by an adult and several youth to point an airsoft pellet pistol at the victim. The troop leaders want to treat this as a first offense with a written warning only according to the troops written policy.

What should the chartering organization do?

Can the charter organization override the troop policy?

How does the chartering organization guarantee the saftey of all scouts in the program?

[Kaji]

From what I understand from having read around here, the Chartered Organization can make any call it wants about membership requirements, as long as they're no more liberal than the BSA standards (e.g. if a church decided all members of its units had to be Catholic, they'd all have to be Catholic).

 

Personally, I would have sided with the adult leadership up until the weapon came on the scene. Whether or not to expel from the troop over it is subject for debate, but I would definitely say that he deserves far more than the standard first-offense treatment, he needs to be taught that pulling a weapon on his companion is WRONG, regardless of the circumstances. Being a case of bullying, it's not very likely that his life was being threatened, after all...

[Crew21_Adv]

Hereajo,

 

Greetings!

 

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) The Guide to Safe Scouting Chapter I Youth Protection has a paragraph (I won't cut and paste because of size) but it allows the committees to decide if violations warrant unit membership revocation.

 

This past weekend my Troop experienced some severe disappointments involving illegally purchased alcohol by one of our youth and shared with about four of our youth leadership (two are Eagle Scout candidates right now awaiting EBOR, one is awaiting his Eagle COH)

 

The offending youth were driven home between 2-5 o'clock Sunday morning. After a little rest, (since it was a longer night for the adults). The adults leadership began phoning and investigating yesterday afternoon.

 

Our committee meets monthly, but usually doesn't have full attendance of the parents. However, these youth and their parents are being requested to attend.

 

The Committee is slowly becoming aware of this, discussing liabilities, COR review, what paperwork we need to send thru council (since it wasn't a medical injury, illness, or anything physical but a case of bad judgment on the youth). One youth has been in front of the committee before, and is on his second chance to improve his Scout spirit. The Committee Chairs first thought was automatic expulsion, like you asked.

 

Back to the BLUF.... I referred the Committee Chair to the GSS, and stated that the Troop Committee does have that authority. Just have to decide if a youth may be redeemed. Or (on rare occasion) maybe best to let the youth go and find other youth recreation programs which they may develop character.

 

p.s. While my unit is investigating our misfortune.. I may formulate an advice question myself. But for now I wanted you to know, there is a paragraph on memberhip revocation in Chapt I, G2SS.

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21_Adv

 

[evmori]

60 day suspension from all Troop activities! Nothing less. And he would only be able to return after the adult leadership meets with this boy & his parents to determine if he is still a threat to the other Scouts in the Troop. If he is, he's gone.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[scoutldr]

Hmmmm...possession and brandishing a handgun by a minor, threatening bodily harm, verbal assault using profanity.

 

OK, let's give him a second chance. Sounds like Eagle material to me.

 

You don't mention if the above acts were committed in a Scouting environment (meeting, trip, campout). If I were the victim's parent, you and the Scout Executive would be hearing from my lawyer and/or the police.

 

Sorry...you need to draw the line somewhere.

[OldGreyEagle]

In the words of Johnny Five, I need more input...

[EagleInKY]

Unless someone could convince me that there was an overriding factor (eg. went off of medication, etc.), I would ask for this scout to be expelled from our troop. Secondly, I would notify the Scout Executive of the action and cause. Third, if the youth joined another troop I would make sure their leaders knew the background.

 

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not one of these nuts who believes in expelling a 1st grader for bringing a toy gun to school or flipping up a girls skirt. I believe in fair treatment for those that behave improperly.

 

But, it's as simple as this. We're volunteers. We're not psychiatrists, police officers or wardens. We are out there to have fun and help kids grow and succeed. Doing so while worrying if this kid is going to go off the deep end and pull a real gun the next time is not how I want to spend my one hour a week.

[GernBlansten]

This scout needs to learn there are consequences for his actions. I think expulsion from the troop is warranted. Let him find another troop or youth activity. No reason to sour the whole bushel from one bad apple.

[CA_Scouter]

I'm with ED on this one. 60 days suspension, loss of any leadership position, parent conference, written apology, etc.

 

I'm a three strikes kinda guy, but in this case, I'd count one strike with the bullying and a second strike with the airsoft gun. Next time he's gone.

 

Not sure if you'll see him back anyway after 60 days, though I suspended a scout last year for 90 days and he came back ( a little more humble, btw ).

 

That's my $0.02

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vmpost]

We've had to suspend a Scout, and sometimes we put a Scout on probation with the stipulation that the Scout may attend WITH A PARENT IN ATTENDANCE for 6 months worth of meetings and 6 months worth of outings. They may not attend if the parent is not there. At the end of this time, a re-assessment will be made. (Note that 6 months of meetings & 6 months of outings means attended...so if it takes 10 months for that Scout to attend 6 outings, that is the 6 months. If it takes 1 1/2 years to get in the 6 months of meetings, so be it.)

[John-in-KC]

Not enough information, but having investigated my share of things and activities in a few days in the Army, I counsel ...

 

DELIBERATENESS. Take the time to do this right. Get all the facts before making a decision.

 

PROTECT ALL INTERESTS. The unit, the Chartered Partner, the other boys in the unit, and the accused offender all matter.

 

DO YOUR BEST. The Cub motto actually applies here, and it's all hereajo and his committee can do at the end of the day.

[scoutingagain]

I believe we have established that the unit has the authority to revoke the membership of a scout.

 

When should that authority be exercised? My threshold is a scout repeatedly engages in behavior that disrupts the program for others scouts. If there has been no previous problems with this scout, I would be inclined to go with a suspension similar to that suggested by Ed or vmpost. Reinstatement only after a meeting with the scout and his parents. He may choose to not come back. If this scout has had previous discipline problems within the unit I'd recommend he be asked to leave the unit. Don't worry about written discipline warnings or not. Does he exhibit a pattern of behaviour that threatens others? If the committee comes to the conclusion the answer is yes, he should be asked to leave.

 

Again, don't worry about written warnings, etc. Contrary to the belief of some, a scout troop is not a democracy and scouts do not have an inherent right to membership.

 

As EagleinKY said, we are volunteers and are there to serve those scouts that want to partipate in a scouting program in accordance with the scout oath and law. I am not a social worker responsible for rehabilitating troubled youth that don't seem to understand what basic acceptable behavior is.

 

Our unit did have a small number of scouts that had a general history of continuing minor problems. One summer camp they were caught by the Camp Director after lights out wondering the campground. They were told, in front of their parents, they were basically on probation. Any other problem and they would be asked to leave the unit. They were pretty good until summer camp the next year when they were caught doing the same thing again, this time with items that apparently did not belong to them. Their parents were asked to come pick them up that night and we havn't seen them since. The unit has since run much smoother and frankly has been more fun.

 

 

 

SA

 

[Beavah]

Yah, da time you catch them is never really the first time, eh?

 

The point when the adults see the bullying or find the alcohol is when they've been doing it so often they've become careless.

 

Ya gotta treat it that way. The consequence has to get their attention, as well as the attention of all da other kids in the troop or crew.

 

 

[Lisabob]

Once you decide on a course of action, make sure that the boy (and his parents) who was on the receiving end of the threats and bullying knows what you are doing about it. Depending on what you decide to do, how big your troop is, and how public the incident was to start with, it might not be obvious to observers (victim included) how you are handling the situation. From experience dealing with this sort of thing in school settings, all too often the victim gets the impression that "nothing" was done because adults want to deal with the offender privately. The (often erroneous) lesson the victim learns from that is that the adults aren't going to take him seriously and actually do anything about the problem.

 

Lisa'bob

 

 

[srisom]

Had a youth in the troop that picked fights with anyone. He even would hit adults from behind. We understood that he had a bad homelife and the adults and youth tried to give him a chance. We knew he was looking for attention in the only way he knew. Adults and youth leaders had talks with him and he would improve for a short time, then back to his old ways. The other youth finally said it was him or them. A couple of adult leaders visited his house and talked with him and his mother. Basically he was given a choice: improve or leave. He never came back. We lost track of him and don't know where he is now.