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In this week’s podcast I’ll answer email questions about anxious Scouts, liability insurance, cell phones and whether we should be using merit badge books or unofficial work sheets and workbooks.
The Big Three Resources every Scouter should read
BSA statement on liability insurance
Article on merit badge workbooks and worksheets.
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Listen to this episode (00:31:25)
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Another great podcast, but one email about liability caught my ear. I am sorry to hear the story from James about a Scoutmaster who was also a SCUBA diving instructor, having lost a scout during diving instruction. Although the BSA does have insurance, they also have several requirements that we have to meet in planning activities like SCUBA Diving. One is that with SCUBA, you must have a BSA approved agency (like PADI & SSI) certified instructor. All the BSA approved Diving Instruction agencies require their instructors to have liability insurance for unfortunate situations like this. The instructor’s insurance is the primary insurance and the BSA insurance is only a secondary insurance, which allows the BSA to keep insurance costs down.
As I listened to this podcast I was thinking, “I could have written that parent’s letter two years ago.” My son complained about the language being used in his troop but it was a symptom of a problem. He was looking for a way to express his discomfort and that was his first attempt. As things went on the complaints changed, “the scout games were too rough”, “they tease me about my hair”. What was really a struggle through this whole experience is that he loved scouting activities, he just became very anxious about attending scouting events.
Eventually, and not solely because of his feelings, we changed troops. It seemed to help for a while but the problems returned. It was at this point that I began to stress that he didn’t have to participate in scouting but that he needed to take part in some activity with similar elements (character development, community service). Unfortunately the problem continued to worsen culminating in a fairly poor summer camp experience. Although he continued to enjoy the scouting activities he continued to be very negative about the scouting events. Eventually I relented and pulled him from the troop because his anxiety was affecting other areas of his life and was negatively impacting the troop.
This parent is already seeking professional help, we didn’t do so until later. Were I to find myself in the situation as a scouting leader I would ask the parents to request the counselor prepare a plan to help the leaders respond constructively to the scout’s anxiety. As a parent I would be much more willing now to allow a break from scouting without a replacement activity to offer the scout time to get their feet back under them and feel in control of their life, again after consultation with the counselor.
I hope my son returns to scouting, my best childhood memories came from being a scout. However, as strongly as I believe in the program it’s only a way of developing a strong young man and not the only way.
Thanks so much for sharing that story, and for the important advice. It’s very difficult when a parent is in the middle of this sort of situation and some perspective is always helpful.