Reply #19: I was involved with BSA for over ten years...

[JuniperLea]

Committee member, to den leader, to cub master... there's just no way in hell this was condoned or approved. Parents are given the rules point blank. No one is blaming the boys... but don't you think the parents have some responsibility in this? They allowed their kids to attend a sleepover that was outside the rules. Isn't it a parent's responsibility to make sure their child is properly cared for? My boys never went anywhere, with scout leaders or otherwise, unless I knew who was going to be there and more importantly, who the adults were that were in charge. Again, even if it was a scout event, who is going and who is in charge... with such regularity that my boys would have already gathered that information before asking me if they could attend. And when I was the scout leader or cub master in charge of the event, I told the parents who was going and which of the adults would be there, and made sure every parent had contact information. Those are the rules.

Much like the current meme about parents needing to take more responsibility for the education of their children and stop blaming everything on teachers... parents do have responsibilities.