• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Scouter Mom

A resource Scouts and Scouting

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on InstagramFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on E-mail
  • Home
  • Cub Scouts
    • Bobcat
    • Lions
    • Tigers
    • Wolves
    • Bears
    • Webelos and Arrow of Light
    • Other Cub Scout Awards
    • Cub Scout Pack Committee
  • Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts)
    • Scout Rank
    • Tenderfoot
    • Second Class
    • First Class
    • Star
    • Life
    • Eagle Scout
    • Eagle Palms
    • Merit Badges
    • Scouts BSA Nova Awards
    • Other Scouts BSA Awards
    • Youth Leadership
    • Troop Committee
  • Venturers
    • Venturing Award
    • Discovery Award
    • Pathfinder Award
    • Summit Award
    • Venturing Ranger Award
    • Quest Award
    • TRUST Award
    • Venturing Nova Awards
    • Other Venturing Awards
  • Ideas
    • Ceremonies
    • Crafts
    • Games
    • Gathering Activities
    • Team Building Activities
    • Cheers, Run Ons, and Audience Participation
    • Prayers and Graces
    • Projects and Tools
    • Scoutmaster and Cubmaster Minutes
    • Recipes
    • Songs
    • Skits
    • Puzzles and Printables
    • Stories
    • Magic Tricks and Stunts
    • Humor
  • Program Themes
    • Cub Scout Themes
    • Scouts BSA (Boy Scout) Themes
    • Program Ideas by Holidays both Serious and Silly
  • About
    • Contact Scouter Mom
    • Gifts for Scouts and Scouters
    • Questions and Answers from Scouters

Scout Family Threatening Leaders

5 Comments

Megan sent in this question:

Recently my husband who is the Scoutmaster had a father of a scout show up at our door and threaten my husbands safety. The father also went to the Boy Scout meeting looking for my husband who was not there and gave another threat to his safety to another leader. The local bsa council would prefer to remain quiet and not get involved in hopes it will blow over. We did call the police. I would like to understand where Boy Scouts of America stand on threats to their adult leaders.

Megan, I’m sorry to hear you are having this problem. In my experience these sort of problems are normally handled at the unit level. Your unit is not required to keep a Scout whose family is threatening others. In my opinion, your Chartered Organization Rep and Committee Chair should contact his parents and tell them it is time to find another unit.

You are correct to call the police if you feel unsafe. Hopefully a warning from them will be enough to keep this bully of a parent away from you.

I don’t know what the official BSA policy is, but in all of the cases like this that I’ve heard of, the Scout and family have been asked to stay away from the unit.

Readers, what is your experience? Any advice for Megan? Add your comments below.

Filed Under: Scouts BSATagged: Questions



Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Adrienne K says

    November 14, 2015 at 9:27 AM

    How scary!

    I can appreciate the frustration with the BSA’s response but, I agree, I would go first to my Charter Organization Representative and Committee Chair. We are very blessed in our Troop – we meet at our CO (an Elk’s Lodge,) and our representative is there just about every week to open for us so we have lots of contact with him. He has been very helpful with conflicts in the Troop.

    The Key Three of any unit are the Committee Chair, the Charter Org Rep and the Scoutmaster. The Charter Org would be the “enforcer” in this situation. All of the leaders in the unit are approved by the COR. To me, the buck stops there. If you don’t have your Charter Org’s support, I’m not sure what the BSA can or should do.

    If this situation happened beyond the unit – at a District meeting level or a Council level, then I would expect more response from the Council.

    Reply
  2. Darryl Alder says

    November 16, 2015 at 4:19 PM

    Megan
    This is serious. I am the staff advisor to Risk Management in our Council and I would want to know about this.
    I suggest that you contact Richard Bourlon, National BSA Health & Safety Service at [email protected]

    Reply
  3. Mike Walton (settummanque) says

    January 8, 2016 at 5:02 PM

    Hey Megan!! The advice given here is right on target!

    In addition to contacting Richard Bourlon at the BSA’s National Center, I would once again contact your Council’s Scout Executive (not a Field Director, District Executive nor anyone else but your *Council Scout Executive* (sometime he or she is called the CEO or the Council Executive) and place on paper exactly what went on, what was said, and who was present when he said those things.

    If your Council is unwilling to work with local law enforcement on the matter, then I would send a copy of the statement/information to the National Center. I am sure however if you sat down with your Council’s Scout Executive and fully explain the situations, that your Scout Executive will respond in a positive manner and help you, your family and your Troop resolve this situation.

    The official BSA policy is within the Guide to Safe Scouting:

    “Allegations of abuse, violations of BSA policies or guidelines, or inappropriate behavior by a Scout, Scout leader, parent, or other person should be reported on this form. The information on this form is confidential, and the completed form should be forwarded to the council Scout executive as soon as practical.”

    “Within 24 hours, do the following:
    1. Get help for injured parties (e.g., call 911).
    2. Notify the council Scout executive.
    3. Complete an Incident Information Report, No. 680-016.
    4. Forward the incident report to your local council enterprise risk management contact.
    5. Ask the council contact to enter the incident into
    the RiskConsole incident reporting system.”

    Hope this helps out….

    Reply
  4. LZ says

    June 28, 2016 at 9:36 AM

    Definitely a bad situation for sure, however, in fairness, this is only one side of your story. I’m curious as to what your husband did to warrant this level of animosity from this irate parent?

    Reply
  5. E A Schmidt says

    March 6, 2018 at 11:44 PM

    wow,what folks do not say here is be care full BSA will not back you up period., They are stand off I have been scouting over thirty years but i ran into a situation here that i could not overcome. I was and my wife the committee chair, his wife were not only threaten by a family but were taken to court, This family had already sued another troop in an other council. Dad stood in my living room of my house to yelled at me and my 100% disabled wife he was going to make money on the BSA, the Charter organization, a church, and more i had just stepped down as Scoutmaster because i was attending a school and would be gone for 12 weeks, They were having a committee meeting at a restaurant downtown when two family members got into a dragout fight Police were called. One of the parents had a gun he had a permit, I was not there neither was my wife. I was the eagle advisor for their son. anyway the boy scout is home schooled and needed a lot of mentorship to get his project done, Mom and Dad got mad because we caught them doing this boys project. and Mom said i was stalking her son, by the way i was in the Police Academy at the time. They even filed a police report on me and my wife, The Mom attempted to run my wife down in a parking lot screaming at us at the same time. I was told by my DE to let it go. I contacted everyone at my council , They would not even return my calls. As a scout leader i asked for legal help. i had to go to BSA Legal in Texas National HQs, They refused to do anything to help me my wife , and my committee chair. It cost me $1500.00 in court costs to beat this total lie of a case .MY DE as well as the District folks were ordered not to talk to me or my wife. The Committee Chair was fired just after the court house meeting,but the folks that started it all were not thrown out of BSA. One of them was caught stealing money from the Cub Scout Pack, The other one always carried a Gun no matter where he was and he had screws loose. When i was scoutmaster i documented theses things but the DE nor Council would do anything. Never less because they threaten the council in a Lawsuit they gave this Kid his Eagle almost nothing was done on his so called project. To this day i do not know what we did to piss theses folks off. We went way out of our way to call his 4 previous Troops to get information on his Blue cards and ranks. One of the former scoutmasters told me good luck no one ever told us they were a bad family. When we needed help from BSA they ran, my family , my sons suffered because BSA and My council would not help us out. The Troop ( 60 Year old) folded 6 months later because all the good parents pulled there boys out and went to other Troops. All that was left was the 3 parents that gang up on the rest. I am still in scouting but my wife hates the words BSA.. since then i have had several folks ask me to start up another Troop but i have not done that because of the lack of any kind of support from our DE or Council. Trail Life has been also asking me to set up a troop for them and i am considering that program.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Ask Scouter Mom a question or share your ideas with others

Recent comments

  • David on Disposing of Dishwater at Camp: “Missed something very important! What kind of soap to use that is eco-friendly. Most dish soaps should not be used.” Jan 9, 10:54
  • Scouter Mom on Running with the Pack Wolf Adventure: Cub Scout Helps and Ideas: “Try it now. I fixed it up. Thanks for letting me know.” Jan 9, 07:53
  • Mary on Running with the Pack Wolf Adventure: Cub Scout Helps and Ideas: “I was trying to print Running with the Pack adventure requirements check off sheet, and it keeps coming up as…” Jan 8, 18:52
  • Dustin Tarditi on Senior Patrol Leader Description and Self Evaluation: “Even though you said that this is a sample, it’s misleading to assert rank requirements for positions of responsibility -…” Jan 6, 14:06
  • Dustin Tarditi on Patrol Leader Description and Self Evaluation: “Even though you said that this is a sample, it’s misleading to assert rank requirements for positions of responsibility -…” Jan 6, 14:05
Scouting’s Teaching EDGE (BSA Edge Method)
The latest Scouts BSA requirements for Tenderfoot and Life ranks require the Scout to use the EDGE method. This is a four step method for teaching a skill. It is sometimes called Scouting’s Teaching EDGE.
Scouts BSA Second Class Rank Helps and Documents
Second Class is the rank a Scout can earn after Tenderfoot. The requirements for Second Class continue to teach the youth to the skills needed to advance in Scouts BSA.
Scouts BSA First Class Rank Helps and Documents
First Class is the rank a Scout can earn after Second Class The requirements for First Class continue to teach the youth to the skills needed to advance in Scouts BSA.
Fur, Feathers, and Ferns Adventure: Cub Scout Helps and Ideas
Bear Cub Scouts observe wildlife and plants when they work on the Fur, Feathers, and Ferns adventure. They find out about endangered species and gardening.
Book Review: Getting Started in Pinewood Derby
I recently received a copy of Getting Started in Pinewood Derby by Troy Thorne. This colorful workbook goes through all of the steps involved in building a car. My favorite thing about the book is that it is directed at Cub Scouts - who should be doing most of the work on their cars.
Webelos First Responder Adventure: Cub Scout Helps and Ideas
First Responder is one of the Webelos Adventure Requirements. For this adventure, Webelos learn some basic first aid and emergency preparedness skills. They learn to respond to situations like choking, shock, bites and stings, cuts, cuts, burns, and more.
Black Forest Dump Cake Recipe
There are lots of different dump cake combinations out there. Chocolate and cherries is one of my favorites.
Scouts BSA Tenderfoot Rank Helps and Documents
Tenderfoot is the first rank a Scout can earn. The requirements for Tenderfoot introduce the youth to the skills he or she needs to get started in Scouts BSA.
Make a Fake Pocket Knife for Safety Demonstrations
When discussing pocket knife safety with Cub Scouts, they demonstrated their safety knowledge with a fake pocket knife made from cardboard.
Baloo the Builder Adventure: Cub Scout Helps and Ideas
Bear Cub Scouts make simple wooden projects while doing the Baloo the Builder adventure. They also learn about choosing the appropriate tool and tool safety.

Footer




 

Reliable Web Hosting

  • Popular
  • Discovery

This site is not sponsored or endorsed by the Boy Scouts of America. All opinions expressed belong to Scouter Mom and her readers.

© A2ZWare LLC and Scouter Mom, 2021 . Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from the site author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scouter Mom with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Your purchase of items through this website helps pay the bills to keep this site running. Thank you!