Staying safe in Scouting

The short version

Scouting should be fun, and you should feel safe at every meeting, campout, and event. To make sure of that, Scouting America has rules called Safeguarding Youth (you may also hear Youth Protection). Every adult leader learns them and has to follow them.

• You have the right to feel safe, and your body belongs to you.
• You can always say no to anything that feels wrong, even to an adult, even to someone you like.
• You can always tell a trusted adult, and keep telling until someone helps.
• If something bad happens, it is never your fault.

Rules the adults follow

These rules aren't because adults in Scouting are scary. Most of them are great people who volunteer because they care about you. The rules keep everyone safe and make it easy to notice when something isn't right.

• No one-on-one time. An adult is never alone with a Scout who isn't their own child. That means in person, and also online, on the phone, and by text.
• Messages copy a parent. When an adult leader texts or emails you, a parent or guardian is included. Group chats for your troop should have more than one adult in them.
• Two adults on outings. At least two registered adults go on every trip and activity.
• Separate tents and changing times. Adults don't share a tent with a Scout unless it's their own parent or guardian, and adults and youth use showers and changing areas at different times.
• The buddy system. You always have a buddy with you, whether you're going to the bathroom at camp, swimming, or meeting with a merit badge counselor.

Recognize, resist, report

Scouts learn three R's of personal safety. They work anywhere: at Scouts, at school, online, or at home.

1. 1

   Recognize

   Notice when something feels wrong. Your stomach feels funny, or you feel confused, scared, or embarrassed. Warning signs include someone touching you in a way you don't like, showing you pictures that aren't okay, giving you gifts and then wanting something back, or telling you to keep a secret.

2. 2

   Resist

   Say no in a strong voice. Get away and go to your buddy, your patrol, or a group. You don't have to be polite to someone who is making you feel unsafe.

3. 3

   Report

   Tell a trusted adult as soon as you can. If the first adult doesn't help, tell another one. Telling is not tattling. It's how you keep yourself and other kids safe.

Here's a good way to tell secrets from surprises. A surprise is something fun that everyone finds out about soon, like a birthday present. A secret that you're told to keep from your parents forever is not okay, no matter who asks.

Online, and when other kids are unkind

Online, keep your private information private: your address, your school, your schedule, and photos of yourself. Don't chat with people you only know online, and never agree to meet one. If someone sends you something that upsets you or asks for pictures, stop replying, don't forward it, and show a trusted adult right away. Telling is the right thing to do, even if you're worried you broke a rule.

Bullying and hazing have no place in Scouting. That includes teasing someone until they're upset, leaving someone out on purpose, "initiations" for new Scouts, and mean messages in a group chat. If it happens to you or you see it happen to someone else, tell your patrol leader, your Scoutmaster, or a parent. Standing next to the person being picked on, and asking them to come with you, helps more than you might think.

Who you can always call

Most of the time, the best person to tell is a trusted adult you know: a parent or guardian, a relative, a teacher, a school counselor, a coach, or a Scout leader. These numbers are free and are there when you need someone else, or when you aren't sure who to tell.

For families

Several ranks include safety lessons you do together at home. Every Cub Scout Bobcat adventure includes the Parent's Guide activities, and several ranks' safety adventures include a Protect Yourself Rules video to watch together. In Scouts BSA, Scout and Star ask you to do the Parent's Guide exercises and watch the Personal Safety Awareness videos, and Second Class covers the three R's and bullying. Venturers take Personal Safety Awareness training for the Venturing rank. These are good moments to start a conversation that keeps going.

• Talk about safety often and calmly, in the car or at dinner, not just once.
• Name trusted adults together, and make sure your child knows they can come to you about anything, including things that happened online.
• Notice who contacts your child. Leader messages to youth should always include you.
• If your child tells you something, stay calm, listen, thank them for telling you, and don't press for every detail. Then report it: call 911 if a child is in danger, and the Scouts First Helpline (1-844-726-8871) for anything involving Scouting.
• Consider taking Scouting America's free Safeguarding Youth training yourself. It explains the rules leaders follow and what warning signs look like.

• Scouting America: Safeguarding Youth (opens in a new tab) — The training and rules every adult in Scouting follows, open to parents too.
• Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline (opens in a new tab) — Help and advice about child abuse, for kids and adults, by call or text.
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (opens in a new tab) — Free, confidential support by call, text, or chat.
• NetSmartz (opens in a new tab) — Online safety lessons and videos for kids and families from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.