Considering the immense
attraction that youth
camping can have to predators, the Boy Scouts of America should be
commended
for its initial efforts to protect boys from abuse. Over the last
two decades the organization has significantly strengthened policies
and
procedures to help ensure that boys are safe at camp. Still, more
can be done and the controversy over youth camping continues.
This
section provides links to blogs, web sites and documents that will help
interested parents, institutional sponsors, and child advocates explore
various aspects of the issue. This section will also provide
resources
by and for boy scouts related to safety.
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Parents deciding whether or not
a son should
be allowed to go to a scout camp may wish to consider the following
questions
(some may not have definitive answers):
-
What policies has the Boy
Scouts of America instituted
to protect boys from abuse?
-
Would those policies be
effective in instances
where two or more predators (adults and/or teens) are colluding to
access
boy victims (see Predators'
Networks)?
-
Could adherence to abuse
prevention policies actually
leave younger scouts more vulnerable to abuse from older scouts on
overnight
camps (where adults must sleep in separate tents)?
-
How effective are scout leader
screening practices?
-
To what extent can predators
be profiled so they
can be identified prior to being reported by a victim?
-
To what extent have the
safeguards now in place
reduced abuse allegations? abuse?
-
How much abuse goes unreported?
-
How common are social pressure
and threats used
to prevent disclosure of abuse?
-
Statistically, how frequently
does abuse occur?
-
To what extent are Boy Scout
Camps that are one
or more weeks long vulnerable to the kinds of abuses recently reported
for wilderness
camps?
-
How attractive to predators is
the opportunity
to build relationships of trust with young boys? To what extent
could
predators exploit close man/boy relationships after a scout camp has
ended?
-
How valid is Charles
Bonner's assertion that the scouting organization is a pedophile magnet?
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