Further clarification for you all:
http://www.eaa.org/~/media/files/eaa...%20rallies.pdf
This PDF is a great guide for you on how YE is and is not impacted by the policy.
No additional paperwork for chapters beyond what you already do for Young Eagles -- the policy clearly calls this out. Additional paperwork is only for chapters who do additional youth programming (youth builds for example) and that paperwork is definitely there to protect the chapter.
If Zoomer told me I was on fire, I would require an independent, disinterested observer to verify it. Should one not be available, any nearby alien lifeform would suffice.Originally Posted by Byron J. Covey
Friends, you know where my opinion falls, and normally I don't object to thread drift, but I'm willing to bet that EAA would MUCH rather we not discuss this subject here....
Ron Wanttaja
Thanks, Bret, that's a great help.
I'd like to throw a out a suggestion: While the point of closest contact between a YE and an EAA member is during the flight, the abuse itself is NOT like to occur at that time. The plane's return is usually met by parents and YE ground personnel; an upset child will be immediately noticed. It'd take an extremely stupid predator to try something during that 20 minutes.
So background checks on the pilots aren't going to help much. The pilots are the heart-and-soul of YE; they're shelling out a batch o'bucks to fly kids; if there's no direct risk, why antagonize them?
On the other hand, the ground crew are the folks most likely to detect a problem. I think the *training* (not the background checks) should be required for them as well. I'm presuming the training covers how to detect potential predation, and is not just a summary of EAA policy.
There should be a pre-event briefing for the ground crew and pilots that re-caps the key points to watch out for.
Just a few thoughts. Appreciate you providing the additional information.
Ron Wanttaja
Bret, I did see the notices, however no where did it spell out any of the proposals, certainly not the need or thought of a background check. Many of us do not attend Oshkosh so we were not privy to what happened there.
If the EAA wants to produce a video and make it available for all the chapters to review with their volunteers, that would be great, maybe we could use some education. Give us best practice information. But keep in mind each event is different from others and doesn't even address non rally YE rides. The way the policy and it's implementation is written is ambiguous, confusing and unnecessarily restrictive to the Chapters, the pilots, and volunteers and could even lead to even further problems.
For the Chapters that do builds or have minor members the policy makes it almost unworkable.
This whole roll out has been a disaster, and is unworkable.
Bret since you work for EAA how about please explaining in detail why the need for this policy, why so restrictive and where the EAA got this policy? Please don't put the blame back on the Chapter coordinators for not seeing the earlier notices, which by the way were neither mailed nor e-mailed but were part on an online notification if we looked at the "newsletter".
Bret, you guys have told us this:
EAA staff is creating a Youth Protection Program for our members and volunteers actively engaged in youth programs. The main goal is to provide a consistent organization-wide program that creates awareness and provides education to volunteers on the best practices of working with youth. As an organization that actively engages in youth activities, EAA feels it is important to ensure our volunteers have the appropriate training and knowledge to effectively work with this audience.
How does "providing program that creates awareness and provides education to volunteers" match to "we'll background check you and make sure you pick correct 1-out-of-3 answers after showing you a paragraph of our policy N times"?
I've seen policies; trainings; etc. We have a very exhaustive "ladder training" @ NVIDIA (10K+ people, multinational company). Some dude managed to hurt himself on a ladder and everyone now is supposed to have it: while silly; it's actually very well done (that is, assuming you need to be taught ladder safety and basic physics :) ).
I've done the EAA's training: it's literally done to just claim it exists, nothing else. It does not *educate* you on abuse detection, proper behavior, etc: instead, it shows you one paragraph of the policy, and then asks a question of it. It's kinda like showing you a 2-by multiplication table, asking "what's 2*2" and then declaring that you know math.
I can almost see some lawyer making a claim that EAA did this not to Truly Protect Kids; but to CYA: and winning that argument.
EAA official responses on the forum, Jack's email, etc are insubstantial. The whole reaction to backlash and a decision to *silently* drop SSNs doesn't add confidence (ie, "oh shit.. oh well, some folks are pissed, but most of them haven't done it yet: so we'll sweep SSN requirement under the rug and hope no one pulls that rug to look under it").
The early notices were very vague. There were no indications of the depth and breadth of the proposed Youth Protection Plan. It was created by EAA staff with no input from those most able to provide information about how any of the activities actually operated. It was a knee jerk reaction to a virtually non-existent problem.
The one incident that I am somewhat familiar with involved an EAA member who had not been charged or even investigated before the events became public. It was not disclosed whether any victims were contacted through the Young Eagles program. No amount of background checking would have disclosed his past activities. The media tried to implicate everyone in sight. Lets's see how many people we can cast a dark shadow over.
I want to hear an in depth explanation of what "best practices" are and who determines what they are. Who in this world is qualified to determine what will ultimately be a best practice or THE best practice.
I suspect the staff at EAA spent a lot of time looking at every other organization's alleged best practices and took from them what sounded good. Have there been any real studies to determine the effectivness of those programs. After picking and choosing from a number of programs and throwing them in the pot the stew may not turn out to be as good as expected.
Can anyone on EAA staff explain how each rule or guidance proposed will be effective?
Did anyone look at the George Carlin Youtube video titled, "Qestion Everything."
There was some grafitti on a wall somewhere that said, "question everything." Someone added, "Why?" It should go on and on from there with many pertinent questions asked.
Lyle
I will just speak for myself: The nuts and bolts of the policy and its implementation are not the problem. What crawls up my nose is the very premise itself - the premise that such a program is needed.
These sorts of "good ideas" are anything but. They are, in reality, a subtle form of bullying - like that of liberal colleges that want to force all freshmen men to take "rape-awareness" training - the unspoken message being that there is a Darned Important Problem, and that it is called, "men," and that Each And Every One Of Them needs to be schooled - and in the process, warned - to not rape, because, well, you know - they ARE men, after all.
Show me that there is a problem, and then we can talk. Otherwise, fly the kids yourself; I need a good break from all my community-mindedness, and perhaps some time to pick up a new rating or even wax my plane. I have plenty else to do.
Au revoir, Young Eagles. See you on the other side of insanity.
That bothers me a bit, too. Mr. Pelton's letter says this was circulated to some extent prior to the letter being released last month...but there's a lot of people here who were apparently blindsided by the whole thing. Obviously the information hadn't got out to the rank and file.
If only there was an EAA-wide publication that could be used to inform members about pending actions like this, something that's mailed to the members every month.
Oh, wait. There is. It's called "Sport Aviation," and it's the official magazine of EAA. Odd that a draft wasn't published a month or two ago, and the members invited to comment prior to the formal implementation of the program.
Ron Wanttaja
This forum needs a like button. I would click it for Ron's last post.
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