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Is it just me, or is this insane


Morgan
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It's interesting how everyone is so concerned about keeping their kids safe from perverts, yet the Boy Scouts of America is taking all sorts of heat for not allowing perverts.

We don't fingerprint. All we do is a criminal background check.

We have quite a few safegurds in place though such as all functions must have a minimum of two adult leaders present, no boys share tents with adult leaders, no adult leaders allowed when boys are undressing unless it's a medical emergency, then we have to call 911 first, and the minimum two leaders rule applies etc.

We're very well self regulated and self governed and endeavor to instill the highest level of moral and ethical values in order that boys can grow to be strong and self reliant men of integrity.

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Boys and Girls Club

My kids went to B&G after school for a few years.A child can visit a couple of times, but after that the parent has to fill out an application, similar to a daycare application, and pay a small fee. The child checks in and out with their card at ours.

The bus is not free, and again, kids have to be signed up for it, there are always more riders than seats. I paid a neighbor who was retired to drive my kids, because the bus cost me $15 a week.

Where I live the B&G clubs have to follow the same DFS guidelines that regulate all child care centers--training, TB tests, background checks(including criminal), child/adult ratios etc. I think the ratio for grade school (in my state) is 25/1.

Some of the staff was Americore, the rest were local and paid.

The summer program is also by application, and there are fees for it also. They had more than one program, the regular on site program, and a more expensive one that involved lots of field trips( $60/month --childcare would run around $400/month.).

Perhaps some kids got financial aide etc and attended for free--mine didn't. But it was still much cheaper than the YMCA school age child care program, which at one point would have cost $1200 for my family for a month in the summer, and the staff was great.

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After reading y'alls' posts, reading Morgan's initial post, and then my own posts again, I can honestly say that:

A. I don't believe that I missed Morgan's point - I defended what she did, not in so many words, but in being in agreement with her disbelief with the initial situation and then her reaction by calling the Church. I'd have done the same thing - and kudos to her for making the call. Although some posters after me said that Morgan was overlooked - I respectfully disagree, as this thread seems to have stayed on the subject of a "different" outreach approach and how parents dealt with it or would deal with it.

Personally, I'd be pleased, as a parent, if my kids acted just as Morgan's kids did when they were approached by the church groups/strangers - kudos to them for thinking and not acting impulsively! I can't say that my 4 year old would do that - he doesn't have the concept of "strangers" down yet, so I watch him like a hawk!

B. Although some posters have candy-coated what the church would do AFTER the invite was given to Morgan's children - which, ironically, Morgan herself was not aware of until she called the church later on to complain (her words) - that a permission slip would be needed from the parents prior to her children being allowed on the bus to the church. I don't believe I misunderstood this at all. Someone posted something to the effect of, "Oh, her kids wouldn't have been allowed on the bus without her permission, anyhow." - HELL-LO! BUT She didn't know that right? Isn't that why she called to complain and THEN was told about the permission slip! Sorry, but the timing of finding out about the permission slip AFTER the invite and the decline by Morgan's kids simply sucks. If I was in Morgan's situation, that church's integrity would be at a big, fat ZERO! That's lousey outreach because they've turned off a whole family with one little event - that alone should make them t-h-i-n-k about what they're doing!

C. As someone who is involved with The American Cancer Society, a local women's club, a community hospice organization, two churches (one Greek Orthodox, the other one First Christian), The Red Cross, and a local nursery guild, I don't think I'm cynical about service organizations at all. I feel that there is so much need in communities for MORE service organizations. I'd much rather see service organizations or churches meeting the needs of a community than government/welfare. I'm talking about WELL ORGANIZED, WELL TRAINED, and WELL THOUGHT-OUT organizations taking care of the needs of the community - not some half-assed, fly-by-night, hey-we-got-holy-spirit-and-no-brains, group. It's the half-assed groups that scare hell out of me in these situations - it's these groups that I'm talking about when I mention obtaining parental permission, background checks, insurance, etc. If these organizations mean what they say about reaching out and helping others, then they should put their money where their mouth is - Otherwise, their outreach is for them selves - not the community - but to stroke their own egos.

The Spiritual Care Coordinator who was at the hospital where I work, once told me about a group who wanted to come in and pray for patients. When he asked if they would be going to their own parishners who were hospitalized, they responded, "No. ALL patients." When he asked what they thought gave them that right, they responded, "All men are called to the glory of God," or some such drivel. They weren't there to give comfort, but to try to save people via their own belief system. Without even getting into the privacy laws they would be breaking, just on the most basic ethical standpoint, they were there to serve their own needs - not the needs of the patients of a community hospital. They had no respect for the beliefs of the individual patient that they claimed they were there to help. (Needless to say they were NOT allowed in the door to complete their task!)

Perhaps my outspokeness about this 'outreach' situation comes from a cultural difference - I assume that Morgan lives in the South - and although I am fluent in Southernese and lived in AL and TN for 5+ years, I don't remember any churches picking up kids off the street like that - (I wasn't a parent then, so maybe I didn't notice if any did or not.) I am shocked that anyone would try this in this day and age - even a church. It's almost abstract to me - maybe that's because I live in NH, where our state motto is: Live Free Or Die. (If a church or anyone tried that in my community they wouldn't make it past one block!)

I've said it once and I'll say it again - Probably 99.9% are good - heads up on the other 00.01%!

Peace.

Edited by ChasUFarley
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Heck, even my kids school only does a background check on teachers and only in this state. S/he might have a nasty history in another state and it won't show up. Yeah, yeah, they're working on 'doing something about that' uh huh. Only recently have they tried to get the budget money for doing the checks on volunteers and para pros like subs and even janitors. And again only in Michigan.

I said that the other day, ASSsuming that when I was told our schools do background checks, that they were telling me the truth. A reality I should know better about.......to find out in today's local paper that they have NOT been doing them.

http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/2006/...news/news01.txt

They plan to start doing them. Maybe. If they can find a way to pay for them. But there's no hurry.

How will they 'weigh' it when they must tell a parent or a child that's been hurt that it was because of $70.00 that they didn't protect their child as much as they could.

So far this morning I've spoken to 13 parents, two newspapers and three television stations. We've got approximately 300 m/l teachers, aides, janitors and bus drivers. That's not even the volunteers like myself. I have had my background/fingerprints/drug testing done but that was through the group I volunteer through;THEY requires it, the school never asked. That might have been my first clue when I said 'you have done checks on the teachers and everyone right' and they said 'oh yeah, we've taken care of all that'. Lies, more lies.

Amazing, just amazing. Hopefully alot more parents than just this one will get good and ....ed off. This is also going to put a serious crimp in the 43 million they are asking in May 3 vote to build a new school, but won't spend maybe 20 thousand on checking out who's with our kids 6-7 hours a day or coaching them, or leading them or.... or .... or....

:realmad:

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It doesn't even cost $70.00 - I do criminal reports everyday and for $25 I can get results of a credit and criminal check that covers 46 states in the USA. But these reports come back stating that the information contained has been gleaned from public records only. I am assuming any type of pedophile activity would be on a public record.

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