Dangerous parent/leader

[jmstock]

This past weekend our Troop participated in an all day event in our community. We've done it for many years (run a hamburger booth during our local town's October Festival). And we've done it to be more visible in the community so everyone can see our Scouts in action. Well we certainly gave our community a good show. A couple of our Scouts had these blow up "thunder sticks" (small inflated bat-like) and they were bopping each other with them and then they bopped one of our adult leaders with them. It started out as horseplay, but the adult went over the line. He picked up one Scout by the chest a held him tight enough so he couldn't breath. When the Scout commented on it, he put him down... but then picked him up by his throat and choked him, then threw him to the ground. The next Scout he was rough housing with he put into a choke hold and then kind of roughed him up and tried to put him in a garbage can... anyway there was more, but you get the idea. This past Monday night he had the audacity to show up at our Court of Honor meeting like nothing ever happened. I spoke to the Dad of one of the boys and he took his son to the doctor and he had several strained and pulled muscles in his neck, shoulder and arm. Several discussions ensued between the adult and various other leaders, parents and former scouts. One of the former Scouts was my son (an Eagle Scout) who was appalled by what he had witnessed on Saturday.

 

We all certainally thought the adult would be banished from the Troop.,.instead, nothing is happening...they're sweeping it under the rug. I'm on the Committee and a registered leader myself. I feel like I'm not only liable for what any of the leaders may do, but I also have a reason to speak up. The father of the one injured boy is pressing charges with the police.

 

Our next committee meeting is October 19 and the adult in question would probably be there. I think we should hold a special meeting and decide what to do as a committee. I'm also considering contacting the Council if still nothing is done.

 

Is there anything in the Adult Leader's Handbook that would cover this. Help me plese... thank you.

[Cubmaster Jerry]

WHAT!!?!?!?!

 

I...don't even know what to say.

 

Do the logical thing. Go with your instincts. There is absolutely NOTHING that is right about any of what happened.

 

Good luck.

[kags61]

It seems to me, most of this is covered under YP guidelines.

In the GTSS (orange cover, pg. 6, in bold it says "All members of the Boy Scouts of America are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the principles set forth in the Scout Oath and Law. Physical violence, hazing, bullying, theft, verbal insults, and drugs and alcohol have no place in the Scouting program and may result in the revocation of a Scout's membership in the unit."

The Troop Committee Guidebook, 2004 publication date, does address physical abuse on pg. 40 in reference to YP and further states, "If at any time you suspect an instance of child abuse within the Scouting movement, you must contact your local council Scouting Executive immediately."

I'm amazed that it appears yor Troop Committee has not acted on this. It's one thing for a couple of boys to be fooling around but for an adult to get involved like that, yikes! my skin is crawling! This certainly wouldn't excuse it but had he also been drinking? That would be yet another issue.

[Eagle1973]

Don't know how this would play out, but the parent of the assaulted Scout should talk to the police and possibly sign out a warrant with the DA.

[bbng]

"I'm on the Committee and a registered leader myself. I feel like I'm not only liable for what any of the leaders may do, but I also have a reason to speak up."

 

Call your SE immediately and report this.

[CA_Scouter]

Its unclear if this parent acted in anger, or was roughhousing and being a jerk about it. I had a scout who did some roughhousing where he grabbed another scout by the throat, and I suspended him from troop activites for a month ( along with the requisite SM conference both before the suspension and upon his return ). Looks like this parent is at least eligible for that, if not much, much more.

 

I worry that your committee wants to silently let this go by. Bad example to set for your scouts - even if the guy was just roughhousing, he should be called to the carpet for it and made to promise it wouldn't happen again. However, if the parent is pressing charges, then it doesn't really look like roughhousing.

 

The safety of your scouts should be your primary concern, and to heck with whose feelings get hurt on the committee. Something must be done, and it must be done promptly, courteusly and decisively ( it should also be well documented ).

 

Good Luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ScoutNut]

What ever happened to 2-Deep Leadership at this event? This should have been stopped by the 2nd adult leader, at the event, when it happened.

 

Your CC & COR have the ability (& the obligation) to drop this leader from the unit's roster. Your council's SE should also be contacted under Youth Protection guidelines.

 

Good Luck.

[mmhardy]

This is more serious then you can imagine. To protect you and your other committee members.

 

1) Follow the YP guidelines to the letter. If you don't have a copy get one. Contact your council SE TODAY. Follow their advice/instructions.

 

2) Contact your committee and registered leaders and arrange a meeting. Get it on the record what happened and what steps youre taking to correct the situation. Review the YP guidelines AGAIN!

 

3) Document what training this individual had. Is he registered? Did he have YP training? Is it current?

 

3) If charges are filed. (You may or may not be aware if they are.) Notify your SE.

 

4) Cooperate fully with local law enforcement. But don't go looking for trouble. If the local police want to interview you or anyone on the committee, have an attorney present. Dont fool around. There is nothing logical about the law. It is what it is.

 

5) Defer any press inquiries to the SE.

 

6) Document, document, document. If you and other committee members are named in a future civil suit contact an attorney.

 

[packsaddle]

I agree with mmhardy that this is REALLY serious. I would expect to see charges for something like this if it happened around here...assuming the description accurately depicts the events.

 

Every time we physically contact one of the boys we must ask ourselves why we are doing this? Is it good for the boy? Is it necessary? Would I do this in front of his mother? If contact is necessary to teach a knot, to pull him back from stepping on the snake , or to help with swimming or first aid, that is one thing. Otherwise, I limit my physical contact to handshakes and pats on the back. No arm wrestling, no horseplay (most of them can beat me anyway )

 

Decades ago when I was still working on my ranks, I saw something like this at a camporee involving a leader from one troop and a boy from another. Really bad. Back then the adults settled it in the parking lot. Also bad. Today we usually settle in other ways. Totally avoidable.

[Mike F]

JM,

This is very serious. You cannot handle cases of potential abuse silently within the troop -- you MUST contact your District Executive or Council Office immediately. Any registered leader has the responsibility to take this action if he/she knows about an incident. (But I'd give the SM a call to let him/her know your plans and to offer to let SM make the call. Then follow up to make sure the report was actually filed.)

 

Copy of Guide to Safe Scouting on line: http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/toc.html

 

Here's praying for the best possible outcome,

-mike

[Trevorum]

CALL THE SCOUT EXECUTIVE TODAY

[jmstock]

Thank you so much for all of your advice. I will be contacting the Scoutmaster (again) to let him know what his obligations are and if he has not filed a report with Council by Monday, then I will do so. I'll keep you posted.

[EagleInKY]

This must be reported ASAP. Ideally it should be reported by the SM or the CC. Preferably, it would be reported by someone who witnessed it, so if the SM or CC didn't witness it, I'd try to have someone who did with me on the phone.

 

I wouldn't wait until Monday. I'd call him now. I believe all councils have a number published to report abuse.

[bbng]

jmstock,

 

It is very important that you make the call, and that the call is made to the Scout Executive of your council. You may, and should, make the report directly to the SE, and there is no reason for anyone elso to know you have done this. It is also possible that the state you are in had additional requirements for reporting. To put off this call, or to call the wrong person (which would be any person other than the SE) puts you and the unit at risk. This is important, and you have the ability as well as the responsibility to begin the corrective process. You may not ever know the outcome; don't worry about that. You will know you have done right in this case.

 

EagleinKY, we posted at the same time. Does your council prefer reporting through the CM or CC? This is not what I have been taught in training, and in this state all leaders, regardless of position held, are considered mandated reporters. Even suspicions are to be reported, but always to the SE.(This message has been edited by bbng)

[ScoutNut]

It is NOT ONLY your SM who is under obligation to report any YP violation. It is the obligation of ANY registered BSA volunteer.

 

This means you, the parents of the boys involved, any Scouters who witnessed the event & anyone with ANY knowledge of the situation. It is not up to any of these people to investigate the incident, but to report it to the SCOUT EXECUTIVE. Not the UC, DE, or the council secretary who answers the phone. It should be reported to the SCOUT EXECUTIVE today.

 

The only people in your unit who have any special obligation in this are your CC & COR, NOT your SM. The obligation your CC & COR has is to determine, irregardless of what your Council & the SE find, if they want this individual to continue to be a member of their unit. There is no "banishing" involved, he is a parent of a youth member after all. However, he can have his membership in the unit revoked by the CC/COR.