‘Don’t punish the children now because of something that happened in the past’

SCOUT leaders and families involved with the organisation have said scrapping camping trips would “ruin children’s rite of passage” to gain freedom and grow away from home.

Kim Cahill, a mother of three from Newcastle, Co Dublin, is a scout leader and she and her 12-year-old son have benefited hugely by being part of the scouting community.

“The State is looking at issues of overweight children and scouts give our children the opportunity to take part in the outdoors, hiking in nature, learning how to build a fire, build a tent, it teaches children freedom and resilience, and now it’s ‘No, you can’t do that’,” Ms Cahill said.

“If scout leaders can’t take children on camping trips, there’s no point having scouts at all because you can’t teach outdoor skills without going camping.

“This is just devastating for children and I do understand from a parent’s point of view, we just want our children to be safe, but as a leader I’ve gone through child protection training.

“Extra training can be put in place but don’t punish children because of something that happened in the past, and don’t punish leaders trying their best for kids in their groups.

“The ones who suffer in this are the children.”

Ms Cahill, who spoke on the issue on Joe Duffy’s ‘Liveline’ on RTÉ Radio One yesterday, told how children come out of their shell when participating in camping activities.

She felt it was unfair of Tusla to suggest Scouting Ireland reconsider taking children on trips, as so many other organisations take children away, including youth groups and schools.

“The Government should be asking all organisations to not take kids away, if they are going to ask one to reconsider trips.

“Just where do you draw the line?

“But if Scouting Ireland needs more help, they should ask for it and I know we need more scout leaders – more parents to volunteer.

“We have a waiting list of hundreds of children but we need more leaders. That is a change we could make for the positive, not stop all camping trips.”