Boy Scouts of America Kick Out Retarded Boy

What is wrong with these people...

Published on October 24, 2004 By philomedy In Current Events

So its 2AM and I'm just reading some random news stories before going to bed and I come across this and I have to vent somewhere.

The Boy Scouts of America have kicked a retarded boy out of his troop, citing that his behavior endangers him and others or some such bull like that.

The great thing is that, as a private organization, the Boy Scouts have the right to exclude whoever they want. And I'm not saying they shouldn't have that right. The right to be stupid is what makes this country great. What bothers me is that the Boy Scouts won't own up to it.

The KKK hates Blacks and Jews and gays and they come out and say it. When the Boy Scouts want someone out, they make up some phony excuse like the kids safety and move on with their supposed righteous and all inclusive agenda.

What if I decided to start a group and decided the Black kids were endangering the safety of the Hispanic kids? Or that the White kids were endangering the Black kids. It would be my right, but my organization would be torn to bits. It's time to do the same to the Boy Scouts.

They should own up their exclusivity. At least then I'd respect them for being honest.

Comments (Page 2)

philomedy

on Oct 25, 2004

The comment about the swiss army knife was an example of unacceptable behavior, and I certainly didn't mean to imply that one should wait for someone to be attacked before taking action.

As for the easing off, we certainly didn't if the kid was anywhere near our goal or in any situation that put our team in danger of losing the game. We just didn't feel that there was any need to rush at him with the intensity we would another player, as it was obvious that he did not posess the skill to avoid intense coverage of that sort, if he was in his defensive zone or by midfield where he was not an imminent scoring threat.

You can bet every other person on that team was covered to the point that you would not have been able to tell them apart from the defender, since we did not want a pass from him to lead to a goal.

lifehappens

on Oct 25, 2004

I think the issue is that people are judging this based off of a lack of information. Obviously violent or dangerours behavior would require the removal of any child until the matter could be resolved. However we don't KNOW exactly what happened. The article was biased and lacked specific information, but it did give some....

The mother of the handicapped child was the pack leader. I would wonder if she was turning the entire pack program into a social setting for her one child. Could she deal withthe needs of the other children as well as her own son? Maybe she was not able to accomplish this and the other children were suffering. I work in a scout troop....I have jsut started, but I realize already that some children need a different pace. We have lots of "geographically single parent" homes (One parent is in Iraq) This is affecting the boys attitudes and behaviors. We do not plan on removing any of the kids....including some who are challenged emotionally and socially. We also have several boys who are working on Eagle scout projects at 14.....They are all ate different levels and we have to work with all of them to achieve thier goals. Parents are a big part of the childs accomplishments, but so is the group setting. To accomplish certain skills, we may have a limited time to complete a project/hands on activity/learning a skill. Children (at the parents/leaders discresion) may not participate in some activities that they cannot complete in the time alloted or the parents are responsible for catching them up durring the week. We do not always have the option of stopping everything to work with ONE child and that's a harsh truth. if we could no longer work woth a child for whatever reason, we would seek as meany other options as possible before removing them from a location/pack/troop. I have to hope that the leaders in this case were willing to do that as well.

Death_By_Beebles

on Oct 25, 2004

This article is irritating to me because of the biased information put forth. The article mentions none of the causes, and when it comes to the child's disruptive behavior, all they have is the child's mother's opinion...

However, I'm suprised that our poster and the supporters have skimmed over this part of the article....

The actions of Cub Scout Pack 765 leaders Huston and Hummert appear to contradict the philosophy of the Boy Scouts of America. Boy Scout literature goes to great lengths in highlighting the organization's commitment to include children with disabilities, maintaining that there are more than 100,000 registered scouts with disabilities.

The BSA (Boy Scouts of America) takes pride in being able to provide leadership and a healthy environment for its participants. The BSA is an organization that helps young men become leaders in their community, and helps them learn skills that they will use the rest of their lives.

As an Eagle Scout, I know what the scouting program is about, and I know how it works. If the scout was excluded, there had to be a good reason, unless the people running the troop are unethical, and if that is the case they shouldn't be scout leaders anyway.

Just my .02 dollars.

Peace,

Beebes

philomedy

on Oct 25, 2004

At this point let me just say that I do not believe that every troop, pack leader or scout practices the exclusive practices which this article brought to my attention for the second time in the last couple of years. It is just my opinion that in this particular case, and in some others, the administrative bodies of the BSA have acted in ways that contradict their mission statement.

As for the part of the article that sites the BSA's attempts at accommodation, certainly that is a good thing. In this case, however, I believe it provides further evidence for my argument that this particular situation was not handled in the most correct manner.

philomedy

on Dec 03, 2004

Because the organization consistently paints itself as beacon of all that is good and shiny and bright, while constantly excluding individuals whose views they disagree with. Don't think that this is an only instance. It is not just about the mentally ill, it is about homosexuals, it is about people with tattoos, people with long hair, people who listen to the wrong kind of music...The BSA kicks out individuals for no reason all the time...this is just the article i happened to catch. Given their track record, I wouldn't be surprised if this child was excluded for no reason other than his being mentally ill.

dharmagrl

on Jan 14, 2005

Isn't the Boy Scouts of America a private institution who has the right to discriminate against anybody they choose

EXACTLY!!!!

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