The BSA wants the best adult leaders out there, those who have the highest quality leadership skills and personal values. Leading our Scouts is not a right. It’s a privilege, and those who take their roles seriously are the men and women we want. A few of the things they will respect and observe:
- Separate accommodations between leaders and Scouts
- Avoidance of one-on-one contact between adults and Scouts
- Constructive discipline techniques
- The monitoring of youth leadership by an adult
Also, in an effort to bring the elements of abuse to light, we’ve included documentation in our Scouting Handbooks of the kind of negative behavior to recognize. This should be discussed between Scouts and their parents, as well as with trustworthy leaders. One of the concepts discussed in this document is the “3 r’s”—recognize, resist and report—a solution for stopping abuse of any kind in its tracks. A few of the other areas that are covered in this document are:
- Maintaining digital privacy
- The importance of disallowing secret organizations
- Inappropriate use of cameras and digital devices
- Hazing/Bullying