First Year at Summer Camp as Scoutmaster....Very Stressful

[evmori]

The sixteen year old was made to apologize to each Scout that was affected by his actions and to the Scoutmaster of that troop. Then had him clean the showers (he liked playing with the water hose, so he did by hosing out and spraying down the showers and picking up the trash/mess left behind by Scouts) and got to clean the latrines.

I wouldn't have sent him home for that - it's not a big safety issue. Sounds like you handled it perfectly!

Plus the COPE stuff! See ya son! Mom is on the way! Pack your bags!

[fritz1255]

A 16-year old is not an adult, and can be expected to exhibit immature behavior at times. If we adopt a "no tolerance" policy on immature behavior, we will lose many if not most scouts. IMHO, you did exactly the right thing on all counts. We had an incident at camp a couple of years ago where a scout vandalized the posessions of two other scouts who had been harassing him all week. Plenty of blame of go around on both sides of that one. We did not send them home, and the scout who did the vandalism just made Eagle.

In terms of seriousness, I think the kid who was dropped off with a known medical condition is the worst. I think we all recall an incident a couple of years ago where a "problem" kid was dropped off on a campout and decided to walk home. That one made the national news. That was a mental conditon rather than a physical one, but I don't doubt for a second that the parents knew there were going to be problems, and ignored it.

[smtroop168]

Mike: In the final analysis, I would rank the issues that need to be dealt with as

3: the Adult and his attitude - this could be a long term issue if not resolved
2: the 12 year old's parents and potentially serious medical issue
1a: the other troop's SM who ran to the Camp director instead of you
1: the 16 year old's COPE and then the wet clothes

I'm thinking about flying you in to deal with my post under Eagle Scout - 1/2 a project.

[scoutaholic]

...In terms of seriousness, I think the kid who was dropped off with a known medical condition is the worst. I think we all recall an incident a couple of years ago where a "problem" kid was dropped off on a campout and decided to walk home. That one made the national news. That was a mental conditon rather than a physical one, but I don't doubt for a second that the parents knew there were going to be problems, and ignored it.

In Brennan's case a few years back, there were plenty of things done wrong:
Brennan was 11 at a Varsity scout event - he shouldn't have been there.
Brennan was a friend of the adult leaders son/nephew/relative (also to young to be there) and was not known by any of the adult leaders.
Brennan wondered away from his buddy when the buddy was on the climbing tower - buddy should have been paying attention, and was too young to be on the tower.
Brennan's parents should have made sure the adults in charge were aware of his condition and his history of wandering off.
The adults should have asked the parents if Brennan had any conditions they needed to be aware of.
Someone (of the hundreds of scouts and scouters who were there) should have paid attention when a young boy was wandering off alone. (I'm sure the climbing tower and the road he started wandering on were not deserted.)
Someone (Parents/Adult Leaders/Youth Leaders/Buddy/All of these/etc) should have made sure Brennan understood his responsability in 'Staying Found'. (Hard to do in his case, but if they had all tried it might have helped.)



In the case of this boy with an ungrown toenail:
It may not have been infected before camp - we can't blame the parents for something they may not have known.
Even if an ingrown toenail was on a boys medical form, I probably wouldn't think anything of it unless/until the boy reported or showed signs of infection.
This boy should have reported the infection to leaders (or gone to first-aid station himself) sooner, but what 12-year-old does that?
When I was 12, I would have removed the offending nail with clippers and/or pocket knife and tried to resolve the problem myself before I would think to ask for help.

[jr56]

Welcome to life as a Scoutmaster. I've been through all kinds of similar things myself.
It sure makes the position interesting. But, the most rewarding job I've ever done.