I have no idea why EAA has insulted its members with this unnecessary program. Now, I am being told I can no longer be an officer of my Chapter if I don't comply!
I have no idea why EAA has insulted its members with this unnecessary program. Now, I am being told I can no longer be an officer of my Chapter if I don't comply!
I was mistaken when I went to Beenverified to check my record. Apparently the site doing the checks is, BackChecked. Go to their site and take the tour. Take a look at the screen that shows the invoice. $420.00! What is the depth of a $5.00 background check?
The incidents mentioned in previous posts would not have been uncovered by a background check. There was no record of the perpetrators action since they had not been charged or convicted.
Aside from the background checks, the onerous and overbearing requirements of the operational rules will require far too much paper work and record retention to make the plan work.
Question1: What is the status of non-chapter members who want to participate in a chapter Young Eagles Rally?
Question 2: What is the status of a chapter and EAA member who participates in an airport activity held by EAA members and that involves a number of youth?
Lyle
I did not like the requirement to enter my social security number for a background check and I think many of the provisions of the program will be awkward to implement at best. I've been involved with developing programs like this, though, and know how difficult it it is. You're usually dealing with a committee whose opinions vary from "protect the kids at all costs" to "why do we need to do anything" and everything in between. Programs like this seem to be a sign of the times, though, and I can sympathize with the problems of putting one together.
Anyway, be that as it may, it seems to me that, once the requirement for SSN was dropped, what we're faced with are simply issues of inconvenience. In my view, while those are certainly not insignificant, I'm personally not willing to tank the entire YE program just because we don't have the latitude we once did.
It's not a matter of whether we're trusted, or trust worthy, it's simply a reflection of the times. Programs like this are not going away but implementation should make sense and be as painless as possible. This program has not increased our risk nor has it exposed us to liability issues that didn't previously exist in YE.
There are no longer issues of privacy, identity theft or anything of that sort so I don't really understand penalizing the kids because we don't want the additional inconvenience. I like taking anyone, kids or adults, into the air and will participate in YE if I chapters continue to offer it. I hope chapters who are pulling out of YE will reconsider.
I do think that whoever is responsible for the program needs to look at it again, though. There are way too many holes, contradictory provisions, things that are just too hard to implement, etc. as pointed out by many of the posts here.
EAA #51411
RV-12; First flight 06/10/2015
I believe it is a good thing to introduce young people to aviation, but I'm free to do so without the YE program. As bad as the rollout of this onerous requirement has been, where the heck is a response from EAA to the firestorm of negative opinion? Is anyone monitoring this thread? Damage control is required ASAP, or close the YE office Monday.
Numerous Young Eagles Coordinators and Chapter Presidents have resigned and are stepping down. Those decisions are not likely to be undone. Many chapters are cancelling or suspending their Young Eagles programs and a significant number of members are cancelling or planning to allow their memberships to lapse. If the EAA leadership chooses to act aggressively, some of this damage can be headed off. The EAA leadership response to the crisis they created is to stonewall the membership and watch the damage happen. Wow.
For smaller chapters, the sheer number of people required to carry out an event under this policy makes it unworkable. For an event with 30 kids, you will have to have at least 12-14 cleared volunteers, even before you start counting pilots. For us, that's half the active chapter. You might have some chapters that get together to hold an event, but thin it becomes a logistical nightmare and a paperwork monster.
Very true Ron. More and more avenues of opportunity we enjoyed as kids and teenagers are going down this route. It's looking more like some kind of sci-fi world every year....have a kid and put them into a padded cocoon isolation chamber until they are 18 and then turn them loose and wonder why they are so screwed up....
Yeah, I agree. But that's a not a reason to withdraw from the program but rather one to try to work out the kinks. I've seen a lot of good suggestions here and a lot angry ones. I wish EAA would indicate some willingness to listen and work out the problems to make this workable. Their silence is resounding ...
EAA #51411
RV-12; First flight 06/10/2015