Poll: Boy Scouts - I would appreciate your input

[redhen]

Quote:
Based upon htese concerns, you should probably speak to your district office. It sounds like having him as a scoutmaster will be a huge liability.

Ditto!! Wow... that guy sounds very scary to have in charge of childrens safety! I would be LIVID(and probably sue the crap out of folks..) if i was a parent there and my child was exposed to those kinds of risks. That KID is a libility AND a risk to his troops safety..... i hope your other members see reason and step up to protect these children better..


If not, i would file a BIG complaint somewhere... even if you have to call CPS.. There has to be someone bigger you get involved in this..

But i would NOT resign your position on the committe either.. sounds like they NEED your sensible input there...

Also..think of it this way.. would YOU trust your childs safety with this guy?? If not....
Then you know what you NEED to do...

 

[DTRM30]

THanks guys - I've found this forum to be a great place to get opinions and help and support !

I have spoken to great length with the committee members whom agree with me. We are going to try one more time at the next meeting to get them to see that he is a liability - and even though he has a lot of skills that we would hate to lose - he cannot be allowed to become scoutmaster. This candidate's former scoutmaster is one of the committee members who is voting agains him b/c he feels he's not ready yet - as well as the current scoutmaster saying the same thing - but it hasn't mattered to the 4 that voted for him. They are turning a deaf ear to all of this. I think part of the problem is that it's my husband who has been recommended by the current scoutmaster to take his place - so my voice on the matter is being viewed as biased.

But - as a parent - and having witnessed these actions with my own eyes - I cannot in good fath place this individual as a scoutmaster since I do not trust him with my own kids.

I've got a few contingencies -

As it stands right now - one of the committee that voted for him wants to speak to the assistant scoutmasters that have voiced their opinion that they would not be able to work with him. Hopefully this will change his vote. We (the 4 that voted against him) were waiting to play that card, hoping that we wouldn't need to. I know the assistants will tell the committee what they feel of this young man, but I'm afraid they won't take their opinions as seriously as they should- and I fear they will have the frame of mind that "the assistants are in our pocket" ... and are saying what we want them to say - which is not the case at all.

If that does not work - and this individual does become scoutmaster - I plan to do one or both of these :

We've been talking to the scoutmaster of another troop - so have that we can fall back on - it seems to be a good group of people and the troop is very active. My husband knows the current scoutmaster - they are business contacts - and it's only one town over. If we leave our current Troop - we are well respected by many in our current troop (we have been part of the scouting community here for about 9 years - I was Cubmaster then chairperson for the cub scouts, a den leader, and my husband was a den leader prior to our current roles in the troop) and I KNOW for a fact that several will follow with us. Our current troop stands to lose several scouts and possibly 3 leaders and two or three committee members. That I'm sure would send up red flags with the parents.

I also would likely, providing I have the two other committee members to back me up, speak to our district and let them know of the liability our current Troop is placing on the BSA by having him a scoutmaster and request that district remove him from his position. I'll have to get dirty and list all of the safety concerns - and it may mean that he will be banned from having any involvement at the Troop level. This did happen only a few years ago with another scoutmaster in our district - so I know that district and council take these things seriously.

The third option I have, and I'm not sure I want to play this card or not - I know I should - but it's gets sticky - is to somehow find a way to tactifully inform the parents of the things he's done. The problem with that is we are a small town - and everyone somehow or another knows everyone else - and tossing people under the bus may not go over well.

For some reason - everyone tiptoes around this family - and I haven't figured it out yet. Perhaps because she was on the board of ed., or it's just that she's good at manipulation.

I do know most of the scouts themselves have expressed that while they don't mind him, it's more of a tolerance of him than a liking, and they do not want him to be scoutmaster. I would love to bring this fact up as well, and I might just have to do that - even though I know some of the members of this committee don't consder the opinions of the scouts to be valid. Which I don't think is fair. They need to like and respect their scoutmaster for him to be effective.

It's actually sad the attitude that has come into this troop since this family got involved.

They were welcomed - becaue as some have pointed out - it is very difficult to find volunteers. But - sometimes you're better left short handed.
Working with this woman all through cub scouts - we did warn that having her on the committee would not be a good idea. But - our COR acceped her application. Unfortnately, one of the other committee members has just recently admitted to us that he didn't believe she was all as bad as we had indicated, but now he believes us after "seeing her in action" as he said it.

SIgh - Boy scouts should not be this political and stressful. It used to be fun - which is what it's supposed to be. I am considering moving my boys to another troop at this point regardless, and stay on the committee of the current troop - as then Id be able to fully voice my opinions without fear of backlash against my kids. I think this whole debacle has caused a a rift that won't be easily mended. It's a hard decision since both my kids go to school with these boys and they are friends.

Thanks for the support !! It gives me strength to keep up the battle