Scouts mandate training called Child Protection.
As part of the training you are taught as a scoutmaster or scout leader that under no circumstances are you to ever be alone with a scout or allow any adult to be alone with a scout - not even a situation where you are waiting around for parents to pick up a scout and it you are there with the last scout at the end of the meeting. We are so serious about this that we don't even allow a parent to share a tent with their child during a campout.
I can't speak for any troop other than mine but we are VERY serious about enforcing this rule. No parent or any adult can attend a camp out without completing this training.
When we do go camping , no adult is allowed in a tent. As an adult, I can't even look in a scouts tent unless its a medical emergency.
All scouts must use the buddy system when going to a bathroom (or anywhere for that matter) away from camp or even a troop meeting.
We also have mandated ratios where there are adults /kids on meetings and campouts.
Also, as part of earning the scout badge, parents must discuss the child protection training with their child and sign their name to a booklet that is provided in the scout handbook.
Finally, to earn Tenderfoot, (the second rank that most scouts earn within 3 months of joining) they must have a discussion about child predators and inappropriate behavior.
Finally, as a scoutmaster I have to complete 3 different scout training activities before I earn the "trained" badge I wear. All 3 address appropriate and allowed behavior with scouts. Every 2 years ( I think) I have to retake that training.
All I can say is if your child is in my troop or any troop that adheres to the guidelines set forth by Scouting, there is virtually no chance of abuse.
I also believe that it would be difficult - not impossible but difficult for a homosexual to promote a gay agenda. Tolerance? absolutely but a pro homosexual agenda?
If it did happen, it would be the fault of the parents as much as the scout leadership.
Last edited by KFWA; 06/08/12.
