Advice wanted

[u/AromaticCap4]

My son is part of the Jamboree contingent for our area. They had a Campout at the beginning of May with the new Jamboree troop. The kids were told there would be comfort stations available for them to utilize. Unbeknownst to them, the volunteer leadership decided against having the comfort stations because the troop would be responsible to clean them. The leaders did not update the boys about this change (it was decided at check in at the Scout reservation - not ahead of time). Several boys in my son's patrol went to the comfort station, found them locked and did the inappropriate thing and unlocked several with a flint and steel or rocks. My son was present and says he didn't participate but didn't stop the others either. The volunteer leader showed up, told the boys they should not have done that and the weekend progressed. On Sunday night we received a message in the Discord channel about the damage to the comfort station locks and there would be further discussion.

A week later, I received an email saying my son and a parent needed to attend a mandatory meeting to talk about the damage and reparations needed to be paid. I emailed back and said I needed pictures, needed to understand what was happening to the leadership (who weren't leading), and I wanted to understand the insurance. I was told this would all happen at the mandatory meeting.

The meeting was last night. Come to find out the Area Council leadership called most of the other parents in the Jamboree troop EXCEPT the accused kids' parents. Seriously. My son and the others was tried and convicted without being able to address his accuser(s) and discuss the situation. Is this normally how things are resolved in the Scouts? I get the boys violated the Oath and the Law and didn't act appropriately but I can imagine how this was all decided without talking to the accused. And leadership was exonerated from responsibility.

[u/SilverTripod]

My son and the others was tried and convicted without being able to address his accuser(s) and discuss the situation.

You all basically agree what happened and who was involved. The only question remaining is exactly what degree of culpability was correct for each person involved. Given they can't know for certain, I can understand their point of view that trying to interrogate the group to determine that might feel like a waste of time.

However, if I had been told there would be flush toilets and thus wasn't packing any toilet paper or a shovel, and I had to poop and the only toilets were locked, then I'd be upset. I can understand why youth, who are not known for making the most rational choices, might have come to the decision that the bathrooms needed to be unlocked, so I feel adults in the troop should also bear some amount of culpability for not sharing their decision to not ask for them to be unlocked.

Anyway, at this time my worry would be if the kids damaged the doors. If they broke padlocks then that's one thing but a metal security door is not cheap.

[u/IfYouCanKeepIt-1776 → u/SilverTripod]

There is not reason short of someone trapped inside and in immediate danger to their life or well being to destroy property.

[u/SilverTripod → u/IfYouCanKeepIt-1776]

I think you have to consider the value of the property being destroyed. For instance, if it's just a padlock, then I might be more than willing to pay the cost of replacing that padlock in order to have toilet paper. Now if it was a lock built into a metal security door, then that would change things because those doors are expensive.

You might say, but what about the Scout oath & law? And that's why, as soon as I saw someone in charge, I would flag them down, self-report, and start the wheels going to figure out exactly how much I needed to pay.

This is also why I always pack toilet paper. Even when I'm assured it's unnecessary, I still pack it. But if I hadn't, and had been told they should be unlocked, then I might do a quick cost/benefit analysis.

[u/IfYouCanKeepIt-1776 → u/SilverTripod]

No you dont. Its not your property, its not yours to destroy. Period. Price is irrelevant. You are trying to equivocate illegal behavior. That is not the behavior of a Scout.

[u/SilverTripod → u/IfYouCanKeepIt-1776]

If the penalty for a "crime" is just a fine then it's essentially a non-standard store. If it was personal property with emotional value like a child's stuffy, then that would be one thing because how do you replace emotional value? We're talking about a padlock, though. Pretty hard to be emotionally attached to that.

The hard part is most people have no real idea what things actually cost to fix/replace. But as long as you're "good for it" and know what you're getting yourself into then I don't see a problem with it.

[u/IfYouCanKeepIt-1776 → u/SilverTripod]

Again, you are attempting to justify illegal behavior, which is not acceptable.