Your Child's Safety
The safety and protection of your child while involved in any Scouting activity
is the unit leader’s number one priority. For this reason, we work closely
with our chartered organizations to help recruit the best possible leaders for
their units.
The BSA also has created extensive safety and youth protection
policies and procedures in two publications: The Guide to Safe Scouting,
which establishes age-appropriate guidelines for all Scouting activities, and
How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide, an educational
exercise and requirement for all Scouts and parents included the
youth handbooks.
The Boy Scouts of America takes great pride in the quality of our adult leadership
and in our applicant review process. The adult application requests
background information that is checked by the unit committee or the chartered
organization before accepting an applicant for unit leadership. While
screening techniques cannot identify every potential ‘red flag,’ we can reduce
the risk of accepting an undesirable candidate by learning all we can about
the applicant for a leadership position—his or her experience with children,
why he or she wants to be a Scout leader, and what discipline techniques he
or she might use.