Dave,

A sad story to me. I probably read more into it than was there but will try to avoid putting those suppositions into a reply.

<<One thing the father had stressed earlier in the search was that he was sure his son would be found alive, because of the survival skills he had as a Boy Scout.>>

A boy celebrating his 10th birthday in October is not and was not a Boy Scout and therefore had no "Boy Scout" training. He may have been a Webelos and I would be right most of the time to simply say that Webelos have not been trained much and have practiced little or not at all for situations like this.

<<For those involved in scouting, what's your assessment of an average 10-year-old scout's likely preparedness to survive this type of situation - several nights to a week lost in thick woods, in fall temperatures?>>

My answer to that specific question is: None - no preparation. Moving on to something other than average, I'll jump somewhat into a later question you pose... At 10 years old our 4 kids were extremely well prepared and just as important, they were experienced, practiced, and confident of their skills. Our kids had so many adventures by age ten that it even amazes me when I think back on it - far more threatening situations that this tragedy.

Depending on the kid, somewhere between 13 and 15 they got incredibly stupid. Oh, sure, they still had skills, they still had experience to fall back on, but I swear, I could spit fire and it was STILL a battle to get them to simply carry a few essentials with them. Only with superhuman effort in terrain that they were NOT intimately familiar with could I force them to be sensible; to "Be Prepared". Opportunities to experience stressful situations in the wilds declined precipitously about then in the cycle of our family life, which did not help.

There was one occasion deep in that time (not long ago) on a winter elk hunt that two of our boys had an opportunity to refresh their memories. It was no big deal; all turned out great, but for several hours it was tense. Darned near killed me that night trying to find the oldest, and the 2nd oldest boy (#3 kid) was part of the search - tucked in with Grandpa. Everyone but maniac Dad (me) did everything textbook (I should not have worried). I pushed myself way too hard - way, way too hard - but since I survived fine I remember to pray for fools...

Guess what - since that night, the oldest is as serious as me about ALWAYS being prepared - he "got it". I guess that was the first for-real time that he KNEW that it was him or nothing - no Dad or Mom to manage the situation. I am proud of him. He is an Eagle Scout and the 2nd eldest is about to become an Eagle Scout but to be honest, I do not feel that their Scout experiences have contributed to their attitudes and abilities.

We never ever let our young kids wander off on their own - we were always wary of the dangers. We always "walked the talk" about "Be Prepared", even before the kids got into Scouts. Our kids DID these things - sleeping out without artificial shelter in deep cold, driving rain, high winds, sea spray - you name it, they DID those things. But always with us there; always with us ready (and probably able) to accomodate errors and make things OK - a perceived, if not fully accurate, safety net.

Our daughter is too cocky for my tastes - I do not believe that she is as capable as she thinks she is. But she's still not a rookie.

The two younger boys are OK but still not out of that stupidity zone of the teen years. Absent a "life changing experience", I am resigned to waiting out this period - the eldest is forging ahead in other maturity areas and listens/discusses things with me as avidly as a 10 year old, so I know they grow out of it.

At 10 years old, I do not know if one of my kids could have survived in the situation in New Hampshire. And my kids at 10 would have had at least a day pack with more useful things in it than the "Scout Outdoor Essentials" plus at 10 they had a wealth of experience to draw on. But I still do not know if they would have survived. It is so very easy for them to get cold at that age... their surface area to mass ratio is still bad compared to an older youth or adult.

***EDIT: If any TWO of my kids in that age range were in that situation together, I am highly confident that they would have survived very well. I KNOW this in my gut and brain. I'm just not so sure about one by him/her self at that age. END EDIT***

The problem with Scouts is not what COULD be taught; it is WHO teaches WHAT how effectively. Letting nits fall aside, the basics are all there and in theory a 1st Class Scout should be well trained, Be Prepared, etc. Parents/Uncles/"Big Brothers" should not take any of that for granted. The only way to be sure is to "tell-show-do" yourself.

I have had to fight each one of my boys to take the "Wilderness Survival Merit Badge" - and one refuses to this day. They KNOW and HAVE EXPERIENCED far more than the instructors, youth and adult alike, so they simply will not willingly earn that merit badge. If it is done right and fully, it is a good basic course. No one does that. I will be happy to be challenged on this and proven wrong - but good luck, because I'm pretty confident of my statement: no one teaches that badge fully and correctly. It sure as heck cannot be properly done in a week at summer camp.

I am extremely enthusiastic about scouting and devote an enormous amount of time to it. But in my opinion, the average kid is not going to be very well prepared by the average leaders in the average troop. Sad. I work from within to try to change that, but there is a large element of tilting at windmills involved. There are few true all-around "woodsmen" in our society today.

From reading literature and publications, I get the impression that Scouts Canada is probably doing a much better job of this than BSA, but I have no first hand evidence to support my impression. Any Canucks able to elaborate?

Your last question - start very early and keep it ability and maturity appropriate. Plenty of good advice here and linked from here (none bad, I think). Beyond that, I will not be an expert in child rearing until I have grandkids.

HTH,

Tom