What to do ???

[ASM59]

Here's something that happened at last week's Scout meeting that is related to the thread this is spun from.

 

Our Troop meets at a city provided cabin in the city park. The cabin is known as the "Scout Shelter" because the Scouts have exclusive use of it. On our meeting nights during baseball season, the park is so full that there is no parking available. Because of this, we meet at a pavillion in another park across town during baseball season. This past meeting night, I was at the shelter picking up some paperwork and doing some organizing of medical forms. As I was getting ready to leave to go across town to the meeting, one of our first year Scouts walked into the shelter. Dad had just dropped him off down the street because the city blocks off the street during baseball games. He had no clue that the meetings have been moved.

 

I was alone at the Shelter with a Scout. We went outside and tried calling Dad on his cell phone but could not reach him. We called his house phone, and no one answered there either. I had to decide whether to stay with him at the shelter or to give him a ride to the correct meeting place. We waited just about as long as we could, when Dad finally called back. He was 15 minutes out of town, running some errands. He asked me to take his son on to the correct meeting place and that he'd pick him up there. I did take this Scout on to the correct meeting place with me (about a 5 minute car ride).

 

I certainly couldn't leave him alone at the Shelter.

 

What would you have done?

 

Was it OK with Dad's permission to take this Scout on to the correct meeting place?

 

ASM59

[Scoutfish]

You did fine! You had dad's permission. That trumps any reasonable suspicion of a YP violation policy.

 

Dad specifically granted you the right to take Jr in your vehicle, gave you permission to be with Jr for the duration to get to the meeting and made arrangements to pick Jr up afterward.

 

Now, wether you call this temporay custody, verbal contract, or temporary guardian is beyond me.....but you only acted with permission and full knowledge of the parent.

 

 

[CalicoPenn]

I think the first thing I would do is try to understand how the process to let the Scouts and their parents know the change of meeting places failed so it can be fixed.

 

Then, I would have given the Scout a ride to the new meeting place and made sure Dad was called to know you were giving his son a ride, and that Dad knew where to pick his son up.

 

Then I'd be thanking the fates that you were at the Scout Shelter when the Scout was dropped off - otherwise, the Scout would have been dropped off with no one he knew around, potentially no way to get home for a while, among a bunch of probable strangers in the park - and you might be facing an angry father who would fault the Troop for not letting them know of the meeting place change (whether you did let them know or not).

 

Sure, it is a violation of the no one-on-one contact YP policy but that was inadvertently violated the moment that Scout walked through those doors while you were alone in the Scout Shelter. All of us will, at some point, have to face a situation like this - and then question ourselves afterwards - that happens when policies are absolutes. In this case, common sense had to prevail. Otherwise, we become as stupid as a school board expelling an 8-year old boy for having a plastic army man holding a rifle under a school board's "no tolerance" policies (which I consider "no thinking required" policies).

[ASM59]

The Patrol Leaders were to have called their Patrol members to let them know the meeting location had moved. When I spoke to Mom, who is actually the one who picked Jr up from the meeting, she is the one who received the phone call from the Patrol Leader. The Patrol Leader explained that we are changing locations to Mom, who forgot to tell Jr and Dad. Mom was late getting home that evening, so Dad had to take Jr to the meeting. Not knowing of the change, Dad took Jr to the Scout Shelter. The other thing causing a problem was the fact that I was in the Scout Shelter with the door open. Dad could see that the Shelter door was open from down the street, so he figured it was OK to let Jr walk to the Shelter.

So we have the circumstances leading up to this Scout being dropped of in the wrong location.

 

ASM59

[Beavah]

Yah, what Calico said.

 

Da Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. I mean, the YP stuff was made to serve scouts and scouters, not the other way around.

 

Yeh do what's right to help and keep the kid safe, and to demonstrate to him what a genuinely kind and caring adult should do.

 

Beavah

 

[evmori]

I don't think there was another person who would have done anything different. Good job!

[eghiglie]

You did the right thing. Congrats

[Basementdweller]

Scoutfish,

 

It is still a violation of YP policy. You are never to transport a scout not your own solo. There is no trumping policy. Even with permission, what if the young man said something happened. Youth protection has absolutely nothing to do with permission, custody or anything else.

 

Asm as stated you made the best choice possible in a sticky situation.

[Eamonn]

"There is no trumping policy."

Poppycock!

Whenever I think that the policy is going to place a child in a situation that is dangerous, I for one have no problem trumping it.

Ea.

[evmori]

Common Sense should ALWAYS prevail!