Hard to recruit adults to work with cadets?

[mikeylikey]

One poster said above that if a SM and Cadet are alone in a car together, the Cadet has to sit in the back.  I have to say, that may seem like good practice, but in reality it does nothing to protect the SM.  The Cadet can always come back and say you "joined him/her in the back", you pulled over, etc. 

I make it a practice that there are two SM's present at SQD meetings after closing until all Cadets are picked up, and that there are two Senior Members present or 2 adults (to include a cadet over the age of eighteen if need be) in the vehicle when transporting cadets.

I also make SQD members "buddy up" when we go camping, or on training exercises.

Slander and rumors are quick to start, but take a lifetime to erase.  It is especially bad, if you could have protected yourself in the beginning to avoid such accusations.

I don't think the CPPT program does enough on "how to protect yourself from impropriety, or the appearance of" type training.  We all understand Cadets need protecting, but what about us Adults.  The world is full of liars, and thieves, and criminals.  We need to protect ourselves from those type of people just as much as we need to protect our Cadets from molestors, abusers and hazing.  At the required staff training for Cadet activities and similar, when I give the presentation, I dismiss the cadets when I have covered what the book wants me to go over, and give a 20 minute presentation on "CYA issues for CAP Officers"  Even then, I see CAP Officers do stupid things that can get them into hot water.  Like going behind closed doors one on one with a Cadet. 

[davedove]

Slander and rumors are quick to start, but take a lifetime to erase.  It is especially bad, if you could have protected yourself in the beginning to avoid such accusations.

I don't think the CPPT program does enough on "how to protect yourself from impropriety, or the appearance of" type training.  We all understand Cadets need protecting, but what about us Adults.  The world is full of liars, and thieves, and criminals.  We need to protect ourselves from those type of people just as much as we need to protect our Cadets from molestors, abusers and hazing. 

That's a very good point.  When I took the CPPT, the instructor made a very good statement:

"As bad as it is for a child to be abused, it is almost a bad for an adult to be falsely accused of abuse."

[SoCalCAPOfficer]

Another area of concern is when a female cadet needs a ride home, or to a meeting or activity.   It is my policy that no female cadet may ride alone in a car with a male senior member unless they are related by blood.   I also try to never have a female cadet alone with only male members.  It is my squadron policy to have a female on the premises until all female cadets have gone home.

[mikeylikey]

I also try to never have a female cadet alone with only male members.  It is my squadron policy to have a female on the premises until all female cadets have gone home.

Very good practice!  NHQ should include this and similar items in the regs!

[NC Hokie]

I also try to never have a female cadet alone with only male members.  It is my squadron policy to have a female on the premises until all female cadets have gone home.

Very good practice!  NHQ should include this and similar items in the regs!

It is a good practice, but making this a requirement would put my squadron (and others, I'm sure) out of the cadet business.

[Ned]

I also try to never have a female cadet alone with only male members.  It is my squadron policy to have a female on the premises until all female cadets have gone home.

Very good practice!  NHQ should include this and similar items in the regs!

And we should make sure that no cadets of color are alone with anglo members, either, lest someone get accused of bias.  You know how those rumors can start.

And we should probably not let male cadets be alone with other males because I heard one time that there was a gay member (well, he sure looked and acted like one, if you know what I mean . . ).

And we should not let members be alone (or even in small groups) with persons of faith, because sometimes people of faith talk about their religion with others, and that could lead to accusations of proselytizing.

And come to think of it, there was a senior at this squadron I heard of who made disparaging remarks about a presidential candidate in front of some cadets; we clearly need a rule that no one can have strong political opinions and work with cadets.

Sigh.


No rule from NHQ will ever take the place of the common sense we expect from leaders in the cadet program.

To start with. allegations of serious misconduct are very rare.  And that's not just good luck; it is the result of adults applying liberal amounts of wisdom and common sense when working with our cadets.

And false allegations are even rarer.  And neither is this an accident.  We have procedures in place to hold people accountable for their actions (for either misconduct or false allegations), and procedures designed to limit the spread of rumor and innuendo.



Cadets need to be led, taught, challenged, and mentored.

Not treated like they are some form of IED, waiting to blow up in someone's face.


Don't concentrate on some sort of hyper-technical rule set that counts the number of seniors of each gender and orientation that are within line of sight of every single one of our 23,000 cadets at any particular instant  That way lies madness.

Just follow our existing common-sense rules and you'll be fine.

And if you are not comfortable working with cadets, we have two other missions that could use your skills and abilities.