[philmont] Training, Ad Nauseam

Gentlemen,

?

Can we all add a little reason to this conversation. Many of you have valid points and those valid points are not all on the same side of this issue as there are many pros and many cons the WFA requirement.

Let us agree that if we were the injured party or maybe worst if we were the advisor and one of our kids was the injured party we would feel a little better knowing that some one there had the benefit of WFA.

Let us all agree that the men and women who are going as advisors on any trek is making a sacrifice of time and money to make the trek happen. Some will gain the advantage of going with there own son's and thereby getting a lifetime of memories to share with their son but MANY go to without their own son's because they can make Philmont happen for more kids.

Let us all agree that to take the WFA course requires these advisors to give up more of their time and usually their hard earned dollars to complete.

I think the problem comes in when you factor in the competing interests of the advisors time and dollars. There are spouses and other family members who are being left behind to cope with the usual chores and the worry of having the person away from home. Then there is some financial burden that one is taking vacation time "away" from the family and spending large amounts on equipment, transportation, and the trek itself.

So there comes a point where we reach a critical mass of "too much Scouting" on the home front. The WFA course just seems to add an additional two days to the already 12 to 14 days dedicated to Philmont. You know you can take a CPR course in an evening or two. The same with a basic first aid course. But the way WFA is structured I have only seen it offered as a 2 day course over one weekend. Locally I have not seen it offered for less than $200.00. Even if you add that to the "crews" expenses 2 times $200.00 is $400.00 divided by 8 youths and it adds $50 per boy to the trek, and it is not unusual for all 4 adults advisors to go to get the training.

If the local councils were to pick up the baton and engage the local American Red Cross and use the national policy already in place we could start to offer these courses at more affordable rates and maybe even offer them in evening sessions rather than take a whole weekend up. (http://www.scouting.org/HealthandSafety/amredcross.aspx)

I am afraid that Philmont is not going to relax its policy ( I am not even suggesting that it should) but to compound it I don't think the local councils are even aware of the burden that the WFA policy at Philmont has placed on the individual treks and advisors. No professional will spend the time to learn about this as it does not effect his of her membership goal nor their financial goal!? And that I believe is where the rubber meets the road in the world of professional Scouting.

Likewise, the volunteer members of most Council Boards of Directors are unfamiliar with these issues and therefore never inquire as to them. They are helping the Scouting community by raising dollars for the councils. They never even hear about this kind of stuff.

We as the "green shirts" of scouting need to make the BSA/ARC agreement work in our councils and districts.

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Received on Wed May 28 10:07:28 2008