Youth Protection Policy

[Mayhemxpc]

Bret called me. He explained that the information is found at the sign off for the background check. I will continue the process and see. I informed him that this needs to be made clear on the EAA YPP page, and it should be noted as a change. I also send him a little information about the BSA's program, and how that restriction (limited to the NCI check) is clearly stated on their YPT information page.

It really seems like the EAA program was developed based on what someone told them the BSA program was like, rather than doing any serious research into that program.

[Hstaton]

Young Eagles Day today at Haller Field, Green Cove Springs, FL Chapter 1379 - we flew more than 70 Young Eagles today. I am not terribly happy with the protection policy myself, but I won't give up the joy I see in their eyes. They are the future of GA. The wrinkles need to be worked out, but let's not lose the kids!

[Mayhemxpc]

Based on what has been done to begin to respond to important issues, and in particular the limitations and restrictions on the background check, I completed the process. I am not happy with the way it is right now. I am especially unhappy with the lack of information about the process, what information will be collected, how, and what will be done with it. This includes the back door method of informing us about the change. That language still needs to be tightened. It also need to be published up front in sections describing the screening and training requirements on the YE volunteers webpage. Whether or not AmericanChecked agrees to language changes proposed in the best interest of EAAs members is irrelevant. If American Checked does not like the restrictions, limitations, and restrictions required by the EAA then EAA HQ should find another provider. The language used for other programs, such as the BSA's, provides an excellent example of what a good program can look like. (Or use. The BSA allows other organizations to use their program.)

Nonetheless, I told Bret that I would complete the process if the proposed changes were made to the language describing what information was authorized to be accessed. It changed, so I did my part. Not for EAA HQ but for my chapter's YE program and the kids we fly.

But I don't feel good about it.

[Mark van Wyk]

Young Eagles Day today at Haller Field, Green Cove Springs, FL Chapter 1379 - we flew more than 70 Young Eagles today. I am not terribly happy with the protection policy myself, but I won't give up the joy I see in their eyes. They are the future of GA. The wrinkles need to be worked out, but let's not lose the kids!

Fantastic. Great to hear your Young Eagles event was a success.
Let's hear some more positive reports.

[TomBush]

Let's hear some more positive reports.

Here's one: I am POSITIVE that I and hundreds of others won't be flying YE's anymore due to this abomination of a program!

[combahee]

We held our first event under the new rules. We have lost 50% of the pilots. We also had to cut short the program as we didn't have enough vetted personnel for the two deep on the ground. This sucks. We are cancelling the June 11 event.

[Aviatrexx]

I know this is a stale thread but EAA HQ needs to know that this issue is not dead. Perhaps it will generate a more thoughtful approach when some other pearl-clutcher identifies a problem that simply must be fixed.

Our chapter was an early YE sponsor and I was one of the first pilots. We held rallies all over the state on behalf of other chapters who lacked the resources or expertise. Most summers, we held a YE rally nearly every weekend, somewhere. Few rallies were for less than a hundred kids; many were multiples of that. We pioneered the computerization of rally registration, big-grin photos, instant printing of certificates, and many other organization standards and tools. Our chapter bought tables, chairs, tents, stanchions, and an enclosed trailer to haul them. We have a "Rally in a Box" that can be set up at any airport and be ready to fly kids in an hour.

Our YE Chapter Coordinator became the State Coordinator and has been given every Young Eagle award possible. For over a decade, until this year, he presented the YE Forum at Airventure. I set up a state-wide discussion listserver for pilot coordination and scheduling. You couldn't find a more committed group of YE pilots; one of our members has over 3000, many flown one at a time in his Cub.

The YE program took a gut-punch when he-who-shan't-be-named sat in his high tower and fired Steve Buss, among many other valuable staffers. But our YE pilots soldiered on because it was good for kids, good for EAA, and good for general aviation. We were sad for Steve but, other than losing a tireless advocate and friend at HQ, it didn't affect our operations.

Then the word came out about the YPP. To say that its design and promulgation was stupendously mishandled is a thesaurus exercise. This forum alone is evidence that there are only so many synonyms for "brain-dead", "insulting", and "unnecessary".

All the nibbling around the edges of exactly what would be included in the background check, the platitudes, and all the other ways that HQ has attempted to pat us on the head and hand us a sucker, all miss a fundamental point:

It is not perfectly safe to go up in an airplane.
In fact, we've already killed at least one Young Eagle (probably more, but you know how hard it is to get numbers on that sort of thing from HQ).

So EAA HQ has mandated an intrusive vetting of volunteer pilots, who are giving out of altruism, not to fix a known problem but one that has yet to be in evidence. One could make a better case (but only barely) that requiring pilots to display proof that they are current and that their aircraft is airworthy might have a greater effect on the safety of the children than a background check. But EAA HQ doesn't require that, despite at least one YE fatality.

So the real problem is the attitude at EAA HQ, as eloquently stated by Dennis Jenders back in March, "The back and forth here in the forum isn't going to change the very important decision to keep youth safe. Even one incident is one too many."

Allow me to parse that for you:

1. There was a decision to keep youth safe.

Therefore, before this "very important decision" was made, no one (besides the YE pilots of course) had made any decision to keep youth safe. One has to wonder why we had absolutely no issues with child molestation despite such an obvious abrogation of corporate responsibility.

2. Nothing said in this forum will change the "decision to keep youth safe".

Well, fair enough. I don't recall anyone suggesting that such a decision by EAA HQ was wrong, if surely twenty years late. Who doesn't think we should keep them safe? What sticks in the craw is the presumption that we YE pilots, who have been keeping the youth safe all along, should be subjected to invasive scrutiny in order to continue to keep them safe for another generation or two.

3. "Even one incident is one too many."

And there it is.

In a futile attempt to achieve the unattainable perfect safety, all YE pilots will be sacrificed on the altar of "Do SOMETHING, even if it's wrong, won't work, and alienates the very core you depend on." Can we anticipate an equivalent approach to safety at Airventure? Lord knows, "even one accident is one too many" there!

You know what else will achieve the not "even-one-incident" goal? Stop flying Young Eagles. Problem solved.

At least it has been for our chapter. We have not held a rally since the rule went into effect. Our YE State Coordinator (ex-mil, lifetime FAA) called HQ to discuss it and was told "my way or highway". He decided the highway looked better. We now have no YE Chapter Coordinator, our state has no State Coordinator, no pilots willing to submit to the YPP requirements, and no rallies scheduled. The loss of experience holding a safe YE rally is staggering.

Anyone want to put in a bid on a "YE Rally-in-a-Box"?

-Chip-

[cub builder]

Hmm. I'm guessing you haven't been reading the positive YE press releases. "Nothing to see here. Everything is business as usual."

Our chapter has cancelled three of the four annual events. The fourth was postponed due to lack of pilots, but they plan to try again. I expect I'll be dropped from the list here as my membership expires in a couple of months and I won't be renewing. Sorry to see what was once such a solid promotional program and great association go under due to corporate mismanagement. I already miss the EAA, but it's no longer what it once was, and I miss what it once was. The current abomination of corporate managers won't be missed.

-Cub Builder

[rwanttaja]

I know this is a stale thread but EAA HQ needs to know that this issue is not dead. Perhaps it will generate a more thoughtful approach when some other pearl-clutcher identifies a problem that simply must be fixed.

It's kind like politicians, Chip...if you don't CONTINUALLY remind them, they'll naturally slip back into Omnipotent Mode and do the same damn thing again.

In this age, something like the YPP was inevitable. But EAA's refusal to involve the membership in its development (except for one or two tame chapters) was inexcusable, and their failure to wait to announce it until after the symbolic two-millionth YE is inexplicable.

Ron Wanttaja

[Mark van Wyk]

I think the EAA YE Youth Protection policy is just fine. Don't change a thing, EAA.