Missing Scout in NC - Found!

[LongHaul]

While some are looking for explanations at the troop level, I wonder what the attitude was of the parents. What I have had to deal with is the Im just a phone call away speech from the parents. We had a boy walk out of camp to use a public phone to call home. I happened late in the evening and everyone thought the boy was in his sack. He had in fact walked about a mile to the public phone, called home and Dad had come to pick him up. We became aware of the problem when the boys tent mate went to the tent and found it empty. The boy heard us calling and hid until his Dad arrived about 30 minutes later. No ADD no YP issues just a kid with no regard for rules he does not see as important. Dad never called any of the leaders cell phones to speak with us before hopping in his car and if the boy didnt have gear in his tent Im not sure he would have come to the site to tell us he was taking his son home. This boy was First Class and had been to Summer camp twice. This happened on a week end campout close to home.

LongHaul

 

[Eagledad]

Yes, I was just thinking about this runaway thing. I've had one scout who ran away back home and one who ran away from home to come to summer camp. In both cases, I had a long talk with the parents to get a grip on their family situation. True, we are trained scout leaders, but in these kinds of situations, we are really just parents wanting everyone to come home safe.

 

Barry

[ScoutNut]

There could have been a lot of things going on here, but from the news reports the boy did not want to go camping at all. His father basically bribed him to go, the boy wanted $5 if he did not have fun, his father said he would take him some place "fun" after the camping trip. The boy told his tent mate, & I believe other scouts, he did not want to be there. His father stated that he needed to AGAIN talk to his son about not hitchhiking. It seems he has a history of wandering away & hitchhiking.

 

It appears the boy just up and decided he did not want to be there any more, so he left.

[Ekmiranda]

ScoutNut,

OK now we are starting to hear more and more. I knew about the bribe did not know that he was talking to the other scouts about not wanting to be there.

 

Maybe if this child has a history of just getting up and running away the family as a whole should be looked at.

 

The deep underlying issues could possible be there and not the troop. This sounds like this boys picture is going to find it's way on to a milk carton in the future.

 

How many times has this happened and how many talks has the father had.

 

Or like I said how is the boys home life is he running away for a reason.

 

This could also be a cry for help but no one is hearing it!!!!!

[Beavah]

Yah, but Ekmiranda, the boy was running to home, not away from home, eh?

 

[scoutldr]

What adult in his/her right mind would want to be alone with a kid like this? Impulsive, disregard for rules, selfish, spoiled... what a set-up for a YP catastrophe!

[local1400]

If I had been that Scout, I would have had my hide tanned by my father, whether I was dead or alive, as I am sure most of us adults here would have. Wheres the respect these days? I was taught that on a camping trip Mr. So and So was in CHARGE and his word was followed. I never had any problems. There was no ADD/ADHD when kids got disciplined at home when I was a kid. Most folks are too soft now. I'm glad the Scout is safe. He needs to review his skills. One more thing that bothers me. Thousands of kids go missing each year. Some are found in a few hours, others never. How come a missing kid is in the BSA, on a trip, and it's fodder for CNN?

[GernBlansten]

I believe FOXNEWS also covered this story pretty well.

[CalicoPenn]

Local - I think the answer to your question about why a kid on a BSA campout that goes missing is fodder for national news is simple - The news media responds most often when a story has a "hook". Being a Boy Scout on a camping trip and going missing (or starting a forest fire, etc.) gets news treatment because there is an image of what a Boy Scout is in the US, and anything that deviates from that collective image Americans have of Boy Scouts is the hook. Our image of a Boy Scout is a young person who does a lot of camping and hiking, spends time outdoors, learns how to use map and compass, learns woodcraft skills, etc. In that image, it is inconceivable that a Boy Scout would get lost in the woods - Boy Scouts are masters of the woods, we can walk through any woods anywhere and never get lost. Yes - I know that is not the reality, but it is the image. When it comes to news media, it's not the reality that matters but the image. A 12 year old non-Boy Scout gets lost in the woods and it's a local story, maybe - why? Because he's not expected to be an expert in the woods so its not surprising that he got lost. A 12 year old Boy Scout gets lost in the woods and it becomes a national story because he's expected to be an expert in the woods so should never get lost.

 

It's like the runner Jim Fixx - Well-known long distance runner Jim Fixx dies of a heart attack while on a run and it's national news - any other schlub dies of a heart attack while on a run and it might not even merit a mention in his own obituary. No one expected Jim Fixx to die while running - thats the hook.

 

At the same time, the image of a Boy Scout often works against the BSA when it's good news to be reported. Those two brothers who recently found a lost hiker in the woods a couple of months back? They were Boy Scouts but from the national news media, you wouldn't know it. Even the local media, with one exception, didn't make too big a deal out of them being Boy Scouts at one time - Why? I believe it's because our image of Boy Scouts is that they always do good deeds, find lost people, help guide people through the fog and save lives. It's expected so it's not important to the story. A Boy Scout is supposed to do that so it's not unusual and therefore not newsworthy. Like the firefighter who rushes in to a burning building and hauls out a child or adult - it may get a brief mention (unless its exceptionally heroic) in a story in the newspaper, and that story may not even mention the firefighters name. If some civilian passerby does the same thing, it's front page news, with pictures, and awards by mayors. Why? It's expected of firefighters - it's not expected of Bob the Accountant from down the street.

 

Calico

[Twocubdad]

How come a missing kid is in the BSA, on a trip, and it's fodder for CNN?

 

Visuals. Two parents crying in the lobby of the police station while a detective works the phone won't make the local cable channel. This story had great views of the mountains, 100+ people running around in the woods, scent dogs, helicopters overhead. The only thing that would have made it any better would have been if it were located in a top 5 market.

 

I'll also say that kids like this scare the dickens out of me, too. We're not setup to provide 24/7 direct-eye-contact supervision. This ain't kindergarten -- we don't walk single file with everyone holding hands. Part of the program is for the boys to be given a level of autonomy. If a boy can't be trusted to manage himself as a basic level, he needs to be in another troop. I can't be every where/ see everything even if I wanted to .

 

Last campout we had a new guy who wanted to test the theory that tents are flammable. He sat in his tent lighting matches until his tent mate took them away and threw them out in rain. (Note: Buddy system at work!) As I told his parents, I we're not set up to handle that level of stupid.

 

Of course the problem is that you can't know which Scout is going to try to burn down the tent or hitch-hike home. (I can make a good guess. Probably even rank them in order of likelihood.) But that's where the parents come in. Unfortunately how many of them don't understand the program, or worse yet, are looking for "a weekend off"

[scoutldr]

"we're not set up to handle that level of stupid..."

 

I like that. My favorite bumper sticker is "Stupidity SHOULD be painful!" Now, I'm not perfect and have done my share of stupid. But I have paid what I call the "stupid tax".

 

At least in this case the parents could be located. I've taken scouts to summer camp, and the parents decide to go out of town for the week, without telling anyone. (If the scout knew, he probably would have had objections to going to camp). That's just irresponsible, and I resented it.

[Twocubdad]

Oh, that's nothing. The one that really piXXXXX -- er, makes me very angry, is the dad that brags about all the great places he and his wife are going while I have his kids at summer camp. All but sits in the back of the Scout hut going through Club Med brochures. And this guy was my former ASSISTANT den leader who decided he "had done enough" when his boys crossed over.

 

Grrrrrrr.....

 

I wonder what Club Med brochures taste like?

[local1400]

"I wonder what Club Med brochures taste like?" Chicken.