Share Your Scout Horror Stories

[MorningStar]

My son just went to his first Scout Camp and liked it for the most part, but there are some boys with issues who like to target the well behaved children. My son has been picked on since he became a Deacon. He is sweet, polite, well spoken, not much into sports, loves reading, doesn't like to go along with any dumb ideas, etc. I was grateful he at least ended up in a tent with nice boys, but this is what he dealt with otherwise.

One boy grabbed his crotch, I guess thinking he was funny. My son's friend then punched the boy in the crotch hard enough that he took 5 minutes to recover. He asked, "What did I do?" He said, "You KNOW what you did!"

Two boys mooned people repeatedly. One of them spread his cheeks apart when the leader in the area wasn't looking. The other walked up to two boys who were playing chess, unzipped his pants, and as my friend put it, "laid his junk on the table".

While using a urinal, someone threw a lit match at my son and ran.

A kid he has had trouble with repeatedly decided to stick his pocketknife into the bottle of rootbeer he bought and cut himself pretty badly. I just found out he cut himself where he burned himself previously. Sweet natural consequences. Why the Scouts at the Trading Post let him buy 800 matches is a mystery. He has lost his fire privileges for a year.

One of the mooners bumped up against my son aggressively, telling him he was in his way, punched him randomly, and threw hard candy at him, causing him pain. The older leader told him no more food for him (he was throwing it all over camp) and when he grabbed some behind his back, he grabbed him out of his tent, shoved him the the ground, and yelled at him. That's when the other mooner knocked the leader over. Obviously the parents should have been called to pick up their boys long before this incident.

I think that about covers it. I just talked to the YM president and he heard from many parents today, notified the bishop, they will have meetings with the parents, etc. My son will be going to a different Scout Camp next year if any of those kids are going. I know several of the parents won't really do anything about it. The Scout Committee will have to ban them from going.

Any stories to share?

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

My son just went to his first Scout Camp and liked it for the most part, but there are some boys with issues who like to target the well behaved children. My son has been picked on since he became a Deacon. He is sweet, polite, well spoken, not much into sports, loves reading, doesn't like to go along with any dumb ideas, etc. I was grateful he at least ended up in a tent with nice boys, but this is what he dealt with otherwise.

One boy grabbed his crotch, I guess thinking he was funny. My son's friend then punched the boy in the crotch hard enough that he took 5 minutes to recover. He asked, "What did I do?" He said, "You KNOW what you did!"

Two boys mooned people repeatedly. One of them spread his cheeks apart when the leader in the area wasn't looking. The other walked up to two boys who were playing chess, unzipped his pants, and as my friend put it, "laid his junk on the table".

While using a urinal, someone threw a lit match at my son and ran.

A kid he has had trouble with repeatedly decided to stick his pocketknife into the bottle of rootbeer he bought and cut himself pretty badly. I just found out he cut himself where he burned himself previously. Sweet natural consequences. Why the Scouts at the Trading Post let him buy 800 matches is a mystery. He has lost his fire privileges for a year.

One of the mooners bumped up against my son aggressively, telling him he was in his way, punched him randomly, and threw hard candy at him, causing him pain. The older leader told him no more food for him (he was throwing it all over camp) and when he grabbed some behind his back, he grabbed him out of his tent, shoved him the the ground, and yelled at him. That's when the other mooner knocked the leader over. Obviously the parents should have been called to pick up their boys long before this incident.

I think that about covers it. I just talked to the YM president and he heard from many parents today, notified the bishop, they will have meetings with the parents, etc. My son will be going to a different Scout Camp next year if any of those kids are going. I know several of the parents won't really do anything about it. The Scout Committee will have to ban them from going.

Any stories to share?

Boys can be much worse. never turn back should be scout leader motto...because you will never "be prepared".

[MorningStar]

If there were moms there, they would say, "I heard your pants come down!" They needed at least double the leaders. Sending three kids home sure would lighten their load though.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

If there were moms there, they would say, "I heard your pants come down!" They needed at least double the leaders. Sending three kids home sure would lighten their load though.

it so tough to get more...I did for about two years. Never again!

[mapman]

In my scout troop in California we had three kids who were always up to trouble. They've been known to do streaking and mooning. One time one of them came into my tent and demanded that I do something stupid (I can't recall what it was). When I refused he shot me point blank on my hand with an air soft gun he had smuggled in. They also did things like throwing lighters into fires, urinating onto campfires and things like that. The worst thing that they did was when we were up at Lake Tahoe and they decided it would be a good idea to wander off and climb a cliff without any gear. Luckily nobody was hurt, but it sure pissed people off.

After I moved to Michigan my troop didn't have anyone that was particularly troublesome. But one year at scout camp we had three guys go to the hospital in three separate events, one of which was for rabies shots after one of the kids thought it would be fun to try to catch a raccoon.

Edited July 16, 2012 by mapman

[MorningStar]

My friend's dad says, "The more boys present, the less brains there are." So with one boy, there is a whole brain. Two boys - half a brain, etc.

This one kid I know - some kids urinated in his pop. He's the nicest kid, but some kids don't like nice. The leaders were furious. Don't ever walk away from your beverage.

[Duncan]

That's awful! I don't like camping at all because of stuff like that and other stuff as well ( I am willing to be rehabilitated though) I have a lot of stories but nothing like that! terribly sorry to hear that

My last time I ever went camping was summer? 1996 when I was almost 18. Camping has been sapping my strength ever since I was a wee tot going on a fathers sons camping out do and some pillock syphoned gas from my dad's van, and what an ordeal... So fast forward through all the camps with my what are we doing exactley??? attitude to this time in 1996. It was decided that us boys bring food for the first two days of 3 and the leaders bring food the last day. You bet your life I brought food for those two days. We went to this place called something like Pidgeon lake or something equally attractive sounding. Third day rolls around and we are waiting to see what food wonders the leaders roll out. Well I asked what's for breakfast and the brother was like, "yeah uh, I didn't bring any food because it's builds character" ....no food builds character? what is this acting school? I don't want to build my character, especially by starving all blooming day. So he agreed it was a terrible idea and he said that we can go fishing in this Pidgeon lake thing, well I am thinking there better be a Mcdonalds at the bottom of that lake because I ain't eating a thing coming out of there.

[rpn]

Banning them would not be anywhere near as good as teaching them to be the young men that the Lord wants them to be in whatever circumstances they find themselves in. Sounds like they also had not enough leadership and not well planned plans for dealing with dumb stuff. (BTW, what you son experienced may have been what kids today call "ball tapping". It is a form of bullying that kids have come to see as a way to play with each other (and I just mean play). You might read up on it and alert the leaders so they can upfront tell the boys that if anyone is doing this to them at home or school it is wrong and potentially medically dangerous, and not just treat it as a random stupid stunt.)

[Tacenda]

My son just went to his first Scout Camp and liked it for the most part, but there are some boys with issues who like to target the well behaved children. My son has been picked on since he became a Deacon. He is sweet, polite, well spoken, not much into sports, loves reading, doesn't like to go along with any dumb ideas, etc. I was grateful he at least ended up in a tent with nice boys, but this is what he dealt with otherwise.

One boy grabbed his crotch, I guess thinking he was funny. My son's friend then punched the boy in the crotch hard enough that he took 5 minutes to recover. He asked, "What did I do?" He said, "You KNOW what you did!"

Two boys mooned people repeatedly. One of them spread his cheeks apart when the leader in the area wasn't looking. The other walked up to two boys who were playing chess, unzipped his pants, and as my friend put it, "laid his junk on the table".

While using a urinal, someone threw a lit match at my son and ran.

A kid he has had trouble with repeatedly decided to stick his pocketknife into the bottle of rootbeer he bought and cut himself pretty badly. I just found out he cut himself where he burned himself previously. Sweet natural consequences. Why the Scouts at the Trading Post let him buy 800 matches is a mystery. He has lost his fire privileges for a year.

One of the mooners bumped up against my son aggressively, telling him he was in his way, punched him randomly, and threw hard candy at him, causing him pain. The older leader told him no more food for him (he was throwing it all over camp) and when he grabbed some behind his back, he grabbed him out of his tent, shoved him the the ground, and yelled at him. That's when the other mooner knocked the leader over. Obviously the parents should have been called to pick up their boys long before this incident.

I think that about covers it. I just talked to the YM president and he heard from many parents today, notified the bishop, they will have meetings with the parents, etc. My son will be going to a different Scout Camp next year if any of those kids are going. I know several of the parents won't really do anything about it. The Scout Committee will have to ban them from going.

Any stories to share?

Not to bad mouth all scout leaders out there, my husband having been one for many years, but sometimes I think it's a disservice to the scouts when it's a calling to be a scout leader. I don't know that some leaders take it as seriously. I've heard all the stories and then some. I'm so lucky my boys had their dad in there. I suggest more fathers get involved and go on those scout trips! Scout leaders need lots of support. Edited July 16, 2012 by Tacenda

[MorningStar]

They have tried and tried to teach these boys, but it's not working because the parents don't want to hear that their kids are acting this way. They were disrespectful all week. I think sending them home would have given them a better chance of going next year, but things just escalated with them staying. It is very hard to find anyone willing to come to Scout Camp. My husband wanted to go, but he had already committed to working at Cub Camp all week. They keep scheduling it at the same time.

Thanks for the ball tapping info! Can't believe I just said "ball tapping".

[MorningStar]

OK, read up on ball tapping and in this case, the boy just grabbed my son's crotch. He was trying to make him feel embarrassed, not hurt him. But then he got a punch to the crotch for doing so. Hopefully he'll learn from that.

[mapman]

I just remembered something else. For some reason people often forget that tents do not block sound at all. It is just about the same as being outside. I have overheard some really strange (and sometimes disturbing) conversations when camping.

Edited July 16, 2012 by mapman

[MorningStar]

My kids still haven't figured out that I can hear them in their bedroom. Yeah, our Scout master said some boys were taken aside for inappropriate conversations.

[Freedom]

We avoid Area scout camps. We have had problems with regional jamborees so the church no longer supports them here. I prefer smaller camps with our own group where we know the boys and we know what to expect. I have not had such behavioral problems for years - my son has had challenges with some boys, but it was more the regular immaturity. And exposing him to a bit of bulling, if I can call it that, is a good lesson in self control and in self awareness. If I do not know the boys who are going, I always plan a back door so that we can separate ourselves without causing a commotion should problems arise.

[rpn]

Cub scouts aren't supposed to be overnight camping except three separate days.

[bryan11]

When my dad was in scouts the kids would always take his things and even burned his tent with him in it.

[blackstrap]

A 20 mile hike on the first day,....and the second... and the third.... makes for a very quiet rest of the week!

[Buzzard]

Well, not to be contrary, but other than the church and my family, my great passion in life is hiking. And I have scouts to blame for it. The Saturday after my 12th birthday, we all met at the scoutmasters house to transform a sheet of Visqueen and some tape into tube tents for our upcoming 50 mile hike. A few weeks later, with very improvised gear, off we went into the Uinta mountains. I didn't know what to pack and was singularly ill prepared. I remembered they said no tennis shoes, so i wore the only other pair I owned-my Sunday shoes. Mom wasn't very happy when I got home about that. I shivered in the cold, got wet in the rain, broke my fishing pole, and burned most of my food. I had a great time! Spending a week in the high country awakened senses and gave me experiences that still are memorable today, over forty years later.

As a result, I have been places and seen things a few days walk from the road that most people don't even imagine.

And while I took some good natured teasing as the ward nerd, I never experienced some of what has been described in this thread. Some of my fellow scouts are buddies of mine to this day. Some of them had similar experiences to mine in scouts and are not just buddies, but hiking buddies.

[BCSpace]

When my Dad was Scout Master, his rule was "You kill it, you eat it." A very necessary rule though it did not apply to insects. I remember one scout being forced to retrieve a fish which he had caught and scaled but then decided he didn't want to eat it so he threw it back into the river.

Also anyone caught swearing or cussing had to go through a swat line made up of his fellow scouts. We really relished that though there were some boys who could juke and slide well enough to avoid most of the swats.

My own Dad and some friends lifted his Scout Master's VW Bug into a tree with some rope.

My son has been picked on since he became a Deacon.

This is actually the precise point where we start to lose boys, especially from families struggling to be active (not saying your family is inactive). It is important that we bring back corporal punishment to help the adults resolve these issues. Not one and a half decades ago, I was teaching in the deacon's quorum and the YM 2nd counselor had to physically force a boy, whose parent's had been called in numerous times before and whose reaction was always "boys will be boys", to sit in another seat away from the boy he was picking on.

Of course his parents made a big stink about it and we were called in to see the Bishop. I stuck up for the 2nd counselor but it remained a bad situation all the way around because the Bishop only half-way stuck up for the 2nd counselor.

Edited July 17, 2012 by BCSpace

[altersteve]

I stopped going to Scouts when I was about 14, and now I regret it.

That's my horror story.

[Robert F. Smith]

Amazing and horrific stuff!!

The worst thing that happened to me was a phony snipe hunt in the middle of the night, with us newbies holding bags to catch the snipe. They left us out there until we realized that no snipe were going to be herded our way.

[ERayR]

I suggest that where possible the ex-marine drill sgts be called as scout masters. If non are available policemen do OK.

[KevinG]

I have been an LDS Scout leader for almost 25 years. Most of my horror stories end up with happy endings because Scouts are Prepared!

I had one campout where the temperature dropped from 40 to -14 overnight (thats Fahrenheit not wimpy centigrade Duncan) and I found the boys all in one tent and wearing all their clothing by morning. On another we got a boy 18 miles up the Appalachian Trail on the top of Blood Mountain and he threw up all night long. But the boys rallied and carried him down the mountain.

When my oldest left for his mission I asked what his favorite memories were of growing up. "Scout camp with you Dad" was the response from the kids who broke two bones on two separate campouts.

I don't put up with bullying or sexual harassment and we do have a retired Police Officer as an ASM. But the other horseplay and the occasional injury (aka first aid practice) is part of the territory. I love this program and what it has done for me, my boys and the ward boys.

For those who have nerdy Scouts who are really into the program check into an Order of the Arrow election. Here in Atlanta Georgia the organization is very good and my boys have found kindred Scouts to hang with. A few are even LDS!

[mapman]

I've heard statistics that LDS scouts are like 3 times more likely to be injured. I don't know how accurate that is, but it makes sense as LDS scout troops often have inexperienced leaders.

[MorningStar]

Our best friend has been a Scout leader for 5 years and he says their troup is great. They don't tolerate any of that stuff. He said our son can join them next year if he wants. That's what we'll do if any of those boys still get to go.