Thank you for volunteering to chaperone. It’s important to keep in mind that you are volunteering to help support the troop, not to accompany your child. Unlike Cub Scouts, in which overnight trips are family campouts, our outdoor program is the testing ground for a variety of skills. This places us in the sometimes awkward position of asking for both your help and restraint.
The Role of Adults
All activities and campouts are run by the Scouts for the benefit of the Scouts, under the broad oversight of trained adult leaders. Scouting is designed to enable Scouts to learn lifelong outdoor skills, but especially to experience leadership, self-reliance, and personal growth.
An adult’s job on a campout is to ensure that the Scouts have the opportunity to teach each other those skills. This is not always an easy thing to do. Often, it’s downright difficult. When a patrol of younger Scouts is struggling to build a campfire in wet weather, it’s tough not to step in and help. They may be cold, wet, hungry, and grumpy—and your Scout may be one of them! Intervening may solve an immediate problem, but does not help in the long run. It deprives the youth leaders of an opportunity to demonstrate and develop their leadership skills, and undermines their leadership status with other Scouts.
Adults are there to provide transportation to and from the event, to make sure that no one gets hurt, and in general to ensure that everyone has a good time. Leadership, direction, and decision making should be handled by the youth. .
General Conduct
Drive safe. Obey the speed limit and traffic laws. If you’re tired, take a break. If for any reason you feel like it is unsafe for you to drive, don’t. We’ll figure something out.
Absolutely alcohol or drugs. Alcohol and drugs are completely forbidden at all Scouts BSA activities. If you use gummies or other medicinal sleep aids, leave them at home.
Don’t smoke. Scouts BSA permits adults to smoke in designated areas away from youth. We don’t.
Scout-appropriate language. Please keep discussions, humor, etc. “Scout-appropriate” even if you think no Scouts are around. Political opinions and clothing with messages or images that represent inappropriate themes should be left at home.
Be an example. The Scouts see what you do and imitate it, for better or worse. The uncomfortable exception is when we ask adults to refrain from “pitching in” yet expect Scouts to.
Limit device use. Device use by adults should be limited to trip-related tasks like checking weather, routes, etc. We don’t allow Scouts to use devices on campouts; adults should set an example by not using them in front of the youth. Scouts who bring phones to use as cameras must keep them in airplane mode and are required to turn them in to the Scoutmaster after dinner.
Pre-Trip
Health forms are required for all adults and youth. We carry health forms for all participants on all outings. We do not read health forms. They are there in case of emergency. If you have any medical conditions or concerns about you or your Scout, please inform the trip leader in advance.
Pre-trip requirements apply to adults as well as youth. If we are doing a pack check before a High Adventure Trip or a swim test is required for water activity, adults must meet the same prerequisites.
Pack separate bags. You have your bag, your Scout has theirs. Scouts shouldn’t be coming into the adult’s camping area asking “Dad, I need my mess kit from your bag,” or “Mom, where did you pack my rain jacket?” Everything they need should be carried by them in a bag packed by them.
Assume your Scout will not be riding with you. While this might happen, you should assume it will not, The Senior Patrol Leader will assign Scouts to vehicles before the trip. The SPL will focus on keeping patrols together, rather than keeping Scouts with their parents.
A Parent’s Guide to
Chaperoning with Troop 333
Help & Discipline
Avoid disciplining your own Scout. This is the hardest one for parents. We all want our kids to exhibit good behavior all the time. If you see your child being uncooperative it’s your instinct to step in and say something. Leave that to the youth leaders. Remember that most Scouts on the trip will not have a parent there. They’re free to participate, learn, and grow as Scouts. Intervening places your Scout outside of that dynamic. Suddenly they become mom or dad’s little boy instead of part of the team. We know this is hard, and we know it can be embarrassing when your child is misbehaving, but it works out.
Please do not discipline other Scouts. Scouts BSA is supposed to be youth run, even the hard parts. If you see or hear something happening that shouldn’t be, please report it to a youth leader, such as the SPL. Tell them what you notice, not how to fix it. If that fails, please report it to one of the adult leaders. They will work with the youth leaders to address the issue.
Our Scouts are generally polite and respectful, especially toward adults. If a Scout is ever rude or disrespectful toward you, we expect and encourage you to address them directly. Ask them to join you and an adult leader, and explain to the Scout their offensive behavior and the standard of respect you expect to be treated with. Besides asserting your right to be treated with dignity, it models self-advocacy, conflict resolution, constructive dialogue, and forgiveness to the Scout. The adult leader is there as an observer.
Avoid helping your Scout. Some Scouts—especially when they are new to camping or the troop—will look to their parent for help. They expect their parent to help them put up their tent, prepare food, wash dishes, etc. Even more often, parents offer their help or just step in. One of the main goals of Scouting is for youth to experience personal growth and group accountability. Having a parent helping or hovering discourages that.
If there is imminent danger of a Scout being injured, please put a stop to the activity at once, then inform an adult leader.
Around Camp
Troop rules apply, not home rules. Just as you expect people to comply with your rules when they are in your house, your Scout will be expected to comply with ours, even if they differ from yours, when on a campout. If your younger Scout’s bedtime is normally 8:30pm, on a campout they will likely stay up later than that. If your older Scout’s bedtime is normally 1am on a Saturday night, they will likely be asked to quiet down and go to sleep long before that on a campout.
Embrace the dirt. Scouts will not be washing their hands or brushing their teeth as often as you would like, even though we encourage them to. Their tents will be messy. Their dishes won’t be as clean as they should be. Please do not remind or single your child out because of this.
Do not take your Scout to go somewhere else. Scouts only leave the Troop's area with the permission of the SPL and the Scoutmaster.
Let us know where you’re going. If an adult or Scout is unaccounted for, our planned program ends immediately and we go into search and rescue mode. Don’t let that happen because you ran into town to get coffee, or took an early morning walk by yourself.
The Old Goat Patrol
Scouts camp as patrols. They plan their own menu, buy their own food, cook their own meals, and clean their own dishes. They tent together by age (no more than 24 months difference in age, per Scouts BSA rules). This is their chance to bond with and learn from one another.
Likewise, adult leaders and parents camp as their own “patrol” separate from the Scouts. We cook, clean, etc. together. This means we generally eat better (though we stick to the same food budget as the Scouts) camp tidier, and sleep earlier. More importantly, it gives the Scouts the opportunity to truly test both their hard and soft skills.
Scouts with Special Needs
We recognize that some Scouts have special needs. If your Scout requires specific accommodations or exceptions to these policies due to a medical, developmental, or behavioral condition, we will do our best to make them. Please talk to your Scoutmaster.