Chief Scout says some good stuff then misses safeguarding

[RedToothBrush]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyn1wp0dl4o

He also rejected the idea that Scouts has "gone woke". Some have criticised the organisation for offering an activity that can be used by groups to teach children about preferred pronouns. Scouts say their groups are welcome to all youngsters.

"Scouting reflects society," said Dwayne. "If there's a young person who says, 'I don't know if I am comfortable calling myself a boy or a girl' - what does it matter?

Well it matters quite a lot you bloody dimwit.

I mean these kids matter in terms of being potential victims of massive medical malpractice.

I mean these kids matter in terms of raging modern day sexism.

I mean these kids matter in terms of being human shields and victims of adults who have sexual fetishes.

But he'll yes, reduce this to a simple question about being kind and glaring fucking ignorance for an organisation which has previously has massive safeguarding fails.

I can't face palm hard enough.

The rest of what he says is bloody brilliant. And then he just fall flat on his face in terms of his blind spot - particularly when it comes to girls who are most affected by this at scout age.

Disappointed.

Its not, we are supposed to be all inclusive, though in reality that is not always possible.

I would put that down to your daughter being in a group that has missed the point of scouting and in reality needs to read the scout promise.

I found it really difficult to comprehend the differences between groups when i first joined. Think of it as individual clubs that buy into a national body that publishes a general rule book an helps with insurance etc.

Each group has a lot of autonomy, so long as we follow the major rules. for example my group is very outdoor orientated, but I know others that spend a lot of time building electronics.

If you are interested in our safeguarding policies, and to they are better than a few I have seen, then google UK Scouts Yellow Card.

@K9medic2 I am not blaming the leaders of this group, they didn't know. This was down to older teens "solving" things themselves.

However, I would welcome an acknowledgment from the Scouts' leadership of the existing problems, along with meaningful safeguarding and inclusivity measures that are truly inclusive.

Your best bet is contact your district lead volunteer, if you have had no joy with the group lead volunteer.

Not sure what you mean by "the existing problems, along with meaningful safeguarding and inclusivity measures that are truly inclusive" do you mean the group or Scouting at a national level?

I have had a couple of YP that brought challenges with them, to the extent one of my volunteers left Scouting as he believed the parents where intentionally with holding information from us (they were).

The major problem is I have 7 adult volunteers (who all work full time) spread across 3 sections, over 2 nights, with an average of 10 to 15 YP in each section. There is also the minimum 2 adults at any meeting rule.

When we have one YP who becomes aggressive as his meds wear off (and realistically needs 1 to 1 supervision) I just don't have enough warm bodies.

The chief scout needs to be aware of just how much Scouts has paid out - so far - for abuse cases. According to the BBC, they’ve paid out more than £6 million to abuse victims. More claims are coming through given how long these things take to go through the motions. I’m surprised their insurers don’t take a firmer line on their policies where safeguarding risks still exist.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65881603.amp

That's why it's unbelievable that the scouts haven't joined up the dots. Yes, they need policies relating to mentally vulnerable children thinking their sex is wrong. But uncritically promoting transgenderism and encouraging volunteers to dabble in social transitioning, discussing sexual identity, pronoun nonsense etc gives those adults who do seek out working with children for the wrong reasons, opportunities to discuss issues that cross boundaries.

There's a wealth of life enhancing issues the scouts work on with children. Sexual identity and changing sex shouldn't be on that list.

I can not speak for other Groups, but I never discussed social transitioning, sexual identity or pronouns with any of my adult volunteers, let alone the YP (and to be honest I don't know of any group that has).

As for the safe guarding training, as I said above its really not that bad. I already have my L3 safe guarding, but still completed the scout one last night (we have a new system for recording our training) and to be honest for volunteers it covers everything we need.

Every adult gets a copy of the Yellow Card and a poster is displayed in our meeting hall for the YP and their parents to see. If you want to see it, its on the UK Scout webb site, just google "Yellow Card".

Absolutely. Just as there are countless schools refusing to get caught up in all this, the majority of adults centre children and their needs & understand their safeguarding responsibilities. The issue is at the top of all these organisations (also see Girl Guides) who produce guidance and materials from Stonewall etc that bear no relation to children's needs. You then get inexperienced or gullible adults who use them.