We love being Scout Leaders and sometimes the darlings send us spinning and we have to figure out an appropriate way to deal with it.
Recently on a camp one of our lads decided to put butane in a fire pit to 'assist' the lighting of the fire which resulted in a the whoosh of flames leaping out and almost burning 6 Scouts.
What to do??... we pondered as Leaders. I suggested we go in with a shock and awe approach.
SHOCK AND AWE IT WAS - we decided we wanted them to see the consequences. Talking about fire safety, having the Rural Fire Brigade come and visit obviously had not worked. We wanted to scare the living daylights out of them...
I grabbed some photos to put into a small slideshow of 2nd and 3rd degree burns and we sat the unsuspecting Scouts down after they had finished the evenings activities. I checked with the Group Leader and shaking in my boots I let them see the realities of what
I talked about Butane gas and the way it works, I talked about the operations a burns victim would experience throughout their life, I talked about airways being compromised by hot air and I showed them the photos.. Of people burnt by a campfire.. and they went quiet. I talked about how to put a fire out, of the importance of having buckets of water near a campfire and then I hit them with the big one.. told them they would only be allowed to eat salads on camp if they were caught being unsafe around a fire again... (hit them where it hurts.. the stomach...lol)
I told them how important they are to me.. told them that I don't see them as just Scouts.. I see them as MY kids and that their safety is the most important thing to me.
I hope they got the message
As the parents came to pick them up I warned them if there were any nightmares it was my doing ..... but explained the rationale behind the decision and they were all very happy with what we did except one Mum who asked me if it was a good thing to do psychologically?
Was it?
As I told her - I would rather them have a sleepless night or two thinking about how close six of them came to being burnt and knowing the consequences compared to not saying anything and having 6 Scouts in hospital because 1 of them was stupid around a fire and the rest didn't do anything to stop them.
I've waited a couple of days since writing this to publish.. I'm still working on my chicken side...lol BUT I was talking to the Scouts at another event when we had a debrief. They brought it up and I asked if they think the message was taken... what did you learn on Thursday night? ... I was told with the straightest of faces 'not to eat before going to Scouts.." LMAO.. then with a smile the same young man told me he thought it was good we showed the photos so he can make sure he never has to see it in real life with his friends or family.... I feel better about it now.
