A Trust Issue

Last week, I was able to spend a few days at Flaming Gorge with both of my sons.  It was the only "high adventure" camp that I was able to attend with both of my sons.  We had a really good time.  We floated a bit of the Green River on rubber rafts.  We toured the Flaming Gorge dam.  I was able to cook some amazingly awesome dutch oven food for the group.  It was generally a really good time.

It was also a learning experience for me.  I don't really like what I learned.

Since I had volunteered to help with the food for this campout, I accompanied my son's (only one son is a scout now--the other is an adult) leaders to the grocery store to pick up some food.  The Varsity Coach (whom I shall refer to as B.B.) said that the had a confession--that he had not completed the required BSA medical form.  The Venturing Advisor (whom I shall refer to as C.B.) said that he hadn't done it either.  There was no reason given, but it was made pretty clear by their comments that they didn't feel as if it were important enough.  C.B. said that he might be leaving early, and that he wouldn't be on the activity for 72 hours.  I reminded him of BSA policy that it doesn't matter how long any individual attendee would be at the activity.  If the activity itself is longer than 72 hours, then all participants, youth and adult, would be required to have a completed BSA medical form.

This "do as I say, not as I do" attitude displayed to me by my son's current and future scout leaders upset me a little bit.  It made me feel as if, for them, convenience trumped obedience to BSA guidelines designed for the safety and protection of both youth and adults participating in a high adventure camp.

The evening that we arrived at camp, the leaders mentioned some of the activities that we would be doing at this camp.  One of the activities mentioned was cliff jumping.  I mentioned that I didn't believe that cliff jumping was an approved BSA activity.  My comment was completely ignored.  After we returned home, I read the following in the Guide to Safe Scouting:

Diving and Elevated Entry: Diving is permitted only into clear, unobstructed water from heights no greater than 40 inches. Water depth must be at least 7 feet. Bottom depth contours below diving boards and elevated surfaces require greater water depths and must conform to state regulations. Persons should not jump into water from heights greater than they are tall, and should jump only into water chest deep or greater with minimal risk from contact with the bottom. No elevated entry is permitted where the person must clear any obstacle, including land.

Scouts were jumping into the water from heights much greater than they are tall.  One leader jumped from a cliff estimated to be about 90 feet above the water.  This is obviously contrary to the guide to safe scouting.  This point is also emphasized in the safe swim training that B.B. said he completed just before we left on this trip.

I don't expect that leaders to completely know every regulation and guideline in the Guide to Safe Scouting.  However, I doubt that either B.B. or C.B. has read the Guide to Safe Scouting or they would have questioned the wisdom of cliff jumping.  Additionally, the scouting unit is required to file a Tour Plan with the district BSA office before a campout like the one at Flaming Gorge.  The Tour Plan application says the following:

We certify that appropriate planning has been conducted using the Sweet 16 of BSA Safety, qualified and trained supervision is in place, permissions are secured, health records have been reviewed, and adult leaders have read and are in possession of a current copy of  Guide to Safe Scouting and other appropriate resources.

If these leaders had read the Guide to Safe Scouting and if they had a copy of the Guide to Safe Scouting in their possession (which I am 100% sure they did not), we could have consulted the guide about the wisdom of cliff jumping during this activity.  In this case, even with someone (me) questioning the appropriateness of this activity, fun seemed to me to trump safety.

As we floated the Green River, the leaders emphasized the importance of wearing life jackets (thank heavens) during the entire float trip.  However, at one point on this float trip, I was sitting on the back of my raft next to another gentleman.  C.B. and one of the other adult leaders (J.L.) came up with the idea that it would be funny to have one of the youth jump from their raft, grab the back of the life jackets of the two of us on the back of the raft, and pull us into the river.  This is obviously not something anyone would consider safe--think of a horse collar tackle in Football.  It's a penalty because of a safety issue of being dragged down from behind.  C.B. offered the young man $20 if he would do it, and both C.B. and J.L. continued to egg him on until he did so.  It tweaked my left shoulder (which has been hurting for a couple of weeks now) pretty badly, and now when I move it, there's a sickening clicking inside my shoulder that I hope won't require surgery.  But the leaders again showed me that fun (or funny) trumps safety.

Incidentally, J.L. apologized profusely when he heard that this had tweaked my shoulder.  The young man apologized profusely.  The young man's father apologized.  C.B., who had egged the young man on--even offering him $20--never said a word.  I know it's petty of me to expect something, and I'm still pretty ticked off at C.B.  I'm working on learning to forgive right now.  I'm not learning that lesson very quickly.

So what did I learn from this?  I can't trust my son to go on activities with his scout leaders.  Even when I go along, I can't let my sons out of my sight.  My older son jumped from a 12-ish foot cliff since I wasn't there at the moment to yet again question the wisdom of cliff jumping.  I learned that convenience trumps obedience; that fun trumps safety.  I learned that these leaders have a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude about rules or guidelines that seem inconvenient.

Fortunately, my younger son now has enough camping nights to earn his camping merit badge, because I can't send him camping with these leaders ever again, and I certainly don't want to go along on campouts with these leaders any more.

In the end, there really is no excuse.  The rules that were broken, regardless of importance, are spelled out in black and white.  There is nothing ambiguous about these rules.  This is why the scouting leaders in my unit have lost my trust and will no longer have my support (or my son) on outdoor activities.

They have lost my trust and I don't know how or if they can gain it back again.