Youth
Protection
Introduction
The Boy Scouts of America is an organization dedicated to
building character, citizenship, and improving personal fitness.
But the Boy Scouts of America is not immune to problems, one of
which is child abuse, a problem that affects children of all
ethnic and economic backgrounds. Studies show that one in three
women and one in seven men are sexually molested or raped before
the age of 21. By increasing society’s awareness of the
sexual abuse of children, we hope to prevent this from continuing
to happen.
Kenneth Lanning, a behavioral expert with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, writes, "In all the many years that I’ve
talked to different groups about child abuse, if someone were to
say to me, ‘What is the most common response you get from an
audience?’ I would have to say in all honesty the most
common response is denial: the refusal to accept it, the refusal
to perceive it, the refusal to process it. This is true of police
officers; this is true of mental health professionals; this is
true of citizens, parent groups, and everybody else. People
refuse to accept this."
Because ours is a movement that impacts the lives of so many, we
have both an opportunity and a responsibility: an opportunity to
enhance the lives of our members and a responsibility to protect
our young people from those who would endanger them.
Child abuse constitutes a challenge we must confront. We must be
able to identify the leadership in our Scouting roles that will
ensure that no child becomes the victim of abuse through
negligence or a willful act while participating in the program of
the Boy Scouts of America.
Kinds Of Child Abuse
In general, child abuse is defined as "any act toward a
child that impairs physical and/or mental health immediately or
over time." There are four kinds of child abuse:
Child neglect is defined as omission of the child’s basic
needs-physical, environmental, emotional, nutritional-that are
necessary for a child’s physical and emotional well-being.
Emotional abuse involves verbal or nonverbal violence toward a
child that gives the child the message that he is "no good"
and never will be. The caretaker is under stress, has little
impulse control, and lashes out at the child.
Physical abuse involves physical violence toward a child where
the parent or caretaker is not in control, in under stress, or
has little control over impulses. Such maltreatment may be due to
excessive corporal punishment. It could also occur in situations
such as initiations or hazings. Often it is the transference of
adult anger into physical aggression against the child.
Sexual abuse or sexual molestation involves any sexual act
between a child and an adult or a young child and a significantly
older child. Such acts may range from fondling to sexual
intercourse. The child is powerless and not in a position to
responsibly consent to sexual interactions.
Child Abusers – Who Are They?
Research has shown that child abusers come from all walks of
life, from all ethnic and economic groups. Based upon the case
studies that have been made, many who abuse children do so out of
ignorance of proper disciplinary techniques, thereby inflicting
emotional or physical abuse. Sometimes a single event can trigger
abuse, especially if it is the last in a series of frustrations.
There are some simple measures that we can take to guard against
this type of abuse in the Scouting program.
First, unit leaders must exercise caution in administering
discipline. Make sure disciplinary measures are constructive and
encourage development of positive values and behavior. Corporal
punishment, demeaning discipline, or verbal abuse are not
permitted in the Scouting program.
Second, properly supervise youth leaders such as patrol leaders
and denners. Having such responsibilities can develop important
leadership skills, but guidance concerning appropriate discipline
should be clearly given and at no time should any form of
physical punishment be permitted to be used by youth leaders.
Third, Scouting programs should provide the opportunity for
physical development on the part of the Scout. Physical abuse may
also occur when demands are made that exceed the physical
capability of the member. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts,
and Explorers should have the opportunity to build their bodies
and skills in preparation for undertaking physically demanding
tasks and should never be encouraged to undertake a potentially
hazardous task without appropriate safety measures and
supervision.
Finally, remember that initiation rites and hazing are prohibited
in Scouting. There is always the potential for abuse in this type
of activity.
Avoiding Child Sexual Abuse in the Scouting Program
Unlike physical abuse of a child, which may be accidental and is
nearly always situational, the sexual abuse of a child is usually
a premeditated act. The term for a person who prefers children as
sexual objects is "pedophile." Often the terms "child
molester" and "pedophile" are used interchangeably.
This type of abuser is of particular concern to youth-serving
programs such as the Boy Scouts of America because child
molesters seek out such programs to gain legitimate access to
children.
Child molesters look like everybody else-they fit the general
description of a large segment of the population. But they desire
for illicit association with children sets them apart. Therefore,
it is dangerous to assume that someone is not a threat just
because he’s a "nice guy" who is active in church,
has a family, has a respectable job, and so on.
According to a report titled Child Molesters: A Behavioral
Analysis published in 1986 by the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, "Pedophiles are frequently the ’nice guy’
in the neighborhood who likes to entertain the children after
school or take them on day or weekend trips." A pedophile
knows how to talk to children, and how to listen to them. If
fact, he can relate to children better than to adults. He seduces
his victims by being attentive, giving them gifts, and sometimes
treating them better than their own parents do. Sadly, he often
targets children who are already victims of emotional or physical
neglect. He uses his status as an adult and an authority figure
to seduce and later to control his victim.
There are no simple solutions and pat answers to the complicated
problem of child abuse. We can take some preventative measures to
make the Scouting environment safer and to minimize the
possibility of abuse.
The key to conducting a safe Scouting program is in the quality
of the adult leadership. In our quest to provide the environment
for the development of character, citizenship, and personal
fitness, we must examine the aspects of the Scouting program that
may provide an opportunity for children to be abused and minimize
those opportunities.
David Finkelhor, noted researcher on child abuse, stat4s that
there are four preconditions that must take place for child
sexual abuse to occur:
There must be an offender with the motivation to sexually abuse.
The offender must overcome internal inhibitions against abusing
The offender must overcome external inhibitions against abusing.
The offender must overcome resistance by the child.
Three of the four preconditions refer to the adult offender. This
is why we should make out best effort to obtain quality
leadership. Your awareness is the first step toward saving some
children from further emotional and physical pain. Don’t be
afraid to call attention to a questionable situation. You may
make a mistake. But if you do, you’ve made an honest mistake
in the interest of protecting a child or adolescent. You’ve
acted as an advocate for young people. We can go a long way
toward eliminating the first precondition through careful
leadership selection.
Obtaining Quality Leadership
For more than three-quarters of a century of existence of the Boy
Scouts of America, our adult, volunteer leadership has been, and
continues to be, perhaps the greatest asset of our movement.
There have been many instances in which our high standards for
adult registration have been challenged and withstood the
challenge. Being a registered leader in the Boy Scouts of America
is a privilege, not a right. We have a responsibility to help our
chartered organizations fulfill their obligations to their units
to recruit the quality of adult leadership in keeping with the
best tradition of the Scouting program.
There is no sure way to detect a person who will be a child
molester. Because these individuals seek legitimate contact with
children, the Scouting program constitutes an attractive target
to obtain access. It is important that the task of recruiting
leadership be taken seriously and be done carefully. The more
that is known about the person-his or her experience with
children, and motivation for wanting to be a registered leader in
the Scouting program-the better the decision will be. Often,
there is a temptation to shortcut the established procedures for
selecting leaders. Consider the risk and ask if our young people
don’t deserve a better effort.
The Boy Scouts of America provides excellent guidelines for
chartered organizations to use in securing unit leaders. By
following these steps and by checking references on past
leadership experience our membership standards can be maintained.
It is also important to know the registration status of every
participant in a Scouting event in order for the membership
standards to be enforced effectively.
Establishing External Obstacles to Abuse
The Boy Scouts of America has established program policies that
serve the dual purposes of protecting the youth members as well
as providing leaders protection from unfounded allegations of
abuse. Some of these are summarized below:
Two adults (two-deep leadership) are required for all trips and
outings for Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, Varsity Scout
teams, and Venturing Crews. Additional leadership may be required
based upon the size of the group, its skill level, anticipated
environmental conditions, and overall degree of challenge.
One-on-one activities between adults and youth members are not
permitted.
"Secret" organizations are not recognized by the Boy
Scouts of America and are not permitted as part of our program.
Activities of organizations such as Order of the Arrow must meet
the same standards of membership as Scout units.
Adult leadership needs to respect the privacy of youth members in
situations such as changing into swimming suits or taking showers
at camp and intrude only to the extent that health and safety
requires. They also need to protect their own privacy in similar
situations.
Encourage parental participation in unit activities-on the
committee, as assistant leaders and accompanying the unit on
trips and outings.
The district may need to develop creative methods to help units
provide adequate supervision of activities-for example,
development of a "buddy system" for merit badge
counseling so that two or more Scouts may work together in
earning the same merit badge, thereby avoiding one-on-one
exposure. Units may need to coordinate joint camping trips to
share leadership and meet the leadership requirements. There is
no reason to believe that protecting our members-both youth and
adult-will hamper the delivery of a quality Scouting program.
Creating Resistance to Abuse by the Child
After we do everything we can to ensure that the youth who are
involved in Scouting have the best leadership possible, we need
to provide them with information that helps them resist the
advances of a molester. Interviews with molesters indicate that
any show of resistance by a child is generally enough to
discourage any further attempts with that child. The Boy Scouts
of America continue to develop materials for members and their
parents that accurately provides information enabling children
and their families to protect themselves. In order for sexual
abuse to be successful, secrecy must be maintained. For this
reason, children need to be told that if anyone asks them to keep
a secret or touches them in private areas of their bodies, they
should "yell and tell."
How to Deal with Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse
With educational programs and the growing awareness by children
of sexual molestation, you may have a member of the Scouting
program tell you that someone has molested him or her. If this
happens, we want you to be prepared to help the child. Follow the
guidelines below if a child indicates that he or she may have
been the victim of abuse or exploitation:
Don’t panic or overreact to the information disclosed by the
child.
Don’t criticize the child.
Do
Respect the child’s privacy. Take the child to a private
place, away from other children but visible to another adult.
Reassure the child that you are concerned about what happened to
him and that you would like to get him some help. Do not promise
to keep his secret, as it will be necessary to make a report to
the Scout executive. The Scout executive will advise you of your
responsibility to report to child protective services or to a law
enforcement agency. You may want to ask the child if he has
talked with his parents about it-if a parent is not the alleged
abuser.
Encourage the Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, Venturing
Scout, or Explorer to tell the appropriate authorities. You may
do this by making sure that the child feels that he or she is not
to blame about what happened. Tell the child that no one should
ask him or her to keep a special secret and that it is okay to
talk about what happened with appropriate adults-that the child
will not be blamed.
Reporting Requirements
Anytime that you suspect child abuse in the Scouting program, you
are required to inform the Scout executive immediately.
Each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S.
territories has different reporting requirements. Many of these
jurisdictions require child care professionals to report
suspected child abuse, an, in some states, reporting laws have
been interpreted to require reporting by adults in volunteer
child care positions. You should be aware of your
responsibilities for reporting suspected child abuse. This
information is available from your local council.
No state requires the person making the report to have proof that
abuse has occurred prior to making the report, only that it is
suspected. The intent of most state laws is clear-they expect
suspected child abuse to be reported as soon as it is suspected.
Failure to do so may result in civil or criminal penalties.
Concern is often expressed over the potential for criminal or
civil liability if a report of abuse is made that subsequently is
found to be unsubstantiated. All states provide immunity from
liability to those who report suspected child abuse. The only
requirement that states make is that a report be made in "good
faith". Some states make the presumption that a reporter is
making the report in good faith.
As a volunteer in the Scouting program, you are cautioned that
you are not an investigator, and that the investigation of
allegations of abuse is best left to the trained investigator.
Action on reports of suspected child abuse will be facilitated by
working through the Scout executive, who has established a
working relationship with the administrators of the child
protective services program and law enforcement agencies in the
council.
The Boy Scouts of America will not tolerate any form of child
abuse in our program and will take all necessary steps to remove
any offenders from membership in the BSA.
More complete and comprehensive training in Youth Protection is
available through your district. This two-hour course, Youth
Protection Guidelines-BSA Volunteer Training, is designed for
members of the district committee and commissioner staff and for
Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, Venturing, and Explorer
leaders.