A Standard Without A Standard

Pretty much every facet of our lives is regulated.  From our jobs to our personal lives we live by a set of rules which are either mandated or implied.  One would say that we could not have a civilized society if we did not live by a set of common "laws" which are nothing more than rules that can be argued depending on how you view them.  Without this you would simply have anarchy.....though I don't believe that anarchy truly exists outside of a theoretical realm as almost all the people who have proclaimed themselves anarchist seem to work together as a group.....with a set of rules.

What has this to do with scouting and summer camp in particular?  Well, it is no surprise that camp (and scouting) operates under specific rules and regulations in order to provide a safe environment while allowing us to achieve our goal of providing a great program and furthering the aims and methods of the scouting program.  These regulations go outside of just scout imposed ones; we live with local, county, state and federal regulations as well.  How we construct a building, how we cook our food, how we provide drinking water are all regulated by government agencies.  However within the realm of scouting we operate on guidelines set forth in the "Guide for Safe Scouting" and in the case of summer camp operations we operate under a set of National Standards.  For anyone who has worked at a BSA camp, they have heard the words "National Standards" numerous times but their only contact with this individually really is our annual "visitation" which is (and will be called from here on out) an inspection to assure that we adhere to those standards.  It has been my personal opinion that the standards have been and continue to be a joke.  Not for the content of what is in the standards (though there are some that do not make sense), but more for the adherence and policing of the standards.

Some of the content within the standards are sound; adherence with local, county and state laws; adequate inventories and budget controls; staff selection and training; adherence to principles within the Guide to Safe Scouting (where appropriate).  However there are nonsensical items such as "challenging programs", "scout spirit is evident" and so on.  Things that have you aksing; how do you inspect to a subjective rule?  Either you have it or you don't have it.  This leads to the real issue.....who are the people inspecting you?  Now in deference to those of you who read my blog and are part of inspection teams, please understand I don't mean to paint all these individuals with a single brush.....just the vast majority of them (and you know it).  Every year we have groups of people who are volunteers from different councils whose sole training is going to a day long meeting talking about the standards come and inspect our camp.  These are not folks actively running camps or training people to run camps.  Many of these visitors have their own little personal expertise which may or may not have anything to do with scouting (shooting, aquatics, crafts, etc.) and get focused on items that are not even covered within the standards.  In other words, they think you should be doing something that is not within the standards because they "feel" that is important.  I am tired of the guy who can build things but thinks he has the insight of a structural engineer, the volunteer firefighter who doesn't think our firefighting equipment is good because they wouldn't meet his standards (though they do of the professional firefighters who inspect and use our equipment) or the guy who thinks if a scout is seen alone, then we should fail in the fact that we are not encouraging the buddy method.  I appreciate their time and I appreciate their love for scouting.......but they can go away when it comes time for "inspection."

I for one think that all BSA camps should be held to specific standards and that they are inspected to that standard by individuals who are well versed in the specifics within the standards......not just someone who raises their hand when volunteers are asked for to go on camp inspections.  Along with this comes the need for the BSA to focus their efforts on making standards that are not exercises in wordsmithing but making regulations that truly do promote safety as well as taking the into consideration the environment in which we operate a seasonal BSA camp and the resources available for that seasonal operation.  Lately, they have been heading the wrong way.....classic example are the yearly physicals.  Talk about a waste of time, effort and money for something that all your medical experts will tell you is not adding anything more to safety.  Focus the standard to the important things and enforce it. 

After all the recent lawsuits you would think the BSA would understand that if their camps are not truly abiding by the standards then all is lost.  If someone is injured, all it is going to take is for the plaintiff's lawyer to show non-compliance in one standard to infer non-compliance with all.  Just like we have a youth protection policy.....it is only good if the policy is enforced across the nation and we all know what non-enforcement brings.

In my next post we will talk about some of the items being discussed as the BSA is looking to revamp the standards.  Some are good....very good actually but some will (in my mind) be the demise of small council camps.  Stay tuned.