Ladies and Gents, Good Morning!

IMHO, adult or child, scout or not, train them to be able to satisfy the Rule of Threes ( 3hrs. without shelter/fire, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food) to the best of their ability, and equip them with the tools and they need to be successful.

Re. compliance: What ever happened to pre-event inspections?

I was a scout in the 60's and 70's. As a troop, we were lost several times (eventually found our way), had an adult leader have a psychotic episode at summer camp, accidental started a field fire (extinguished it before the FD got there) and spent many cold nights and ate many burnt pancakes, but i think what allowed us to get through it was the relationships and mentoring that was there. It really was a family.
They say a person is in part a product of their environment and what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I wouldn't trade my time in scouting for anything, the good nor the bad.

Regards, Jim