http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070320/...QRm3WZvL2s0NUE


i am thinking something is up on this one.

he is 12 years old, lost for four days, but yet found a mile from the campsite?

you telling me that a 12 year old wouldn't be able to hear peoplle yelling all over the place?

and i read not in this article but another that his mess kit was found half a mile from the camp site.

plus the whole they yelled at him but he didn't respond thing, and his favorite book being about a boy lost in the woods, i am thinking this kid did this on purpose, for some excitment, attention or what ever.

 

That article mentions the mess kit near the end. I don't believe he was really lost.

 

Knowing twelve-year olds as I do, I think it is just as likely that this is an accident as it is a stunt.

 

A butt kicking is in order, heck he needs one of those ankle tracking bracelets
like those released sex offenders wear. Give the parents the search bill.

 

It may have started as a poorly planned survival quest, but I think he was glad to be found. Regardless, he is OK.

As for charging for the search, I hate to see any dollars wasted, but in this case I think it could be forgiven.

I'd feel different if it were a bunch of ill-prepared, middle aged men, getting lost trying to climb Mt. Rainier. They should know better.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/...IOTTnJWOHMWM0F

I think he needs the paddling badge.

 

Sounds premeditated to me! When I was twelve, I would have been taken to the wood shed!

 

I'm glad he's ok but he needs to give back some of that time in community service.

 

There are lots of places in the woods and mountains where you cannot hear or see someone just a few hundred yards away. If there are ravines and lots of trees it is easy to get lost and not see or hear.

Not many kids would stay out as long as this one did in cold conditions like this for fun or attention. Maybe a nce summer day they might but not as cold as he got.

I have done a fair amount of hiking with scouts and it is easy to lose a boy. It is also very hard to see or hear someone in the woods, that is why we carry whistles. And of course there are a few boys who like to play "hide and seek", those get thrown out if they violate the rules bad enough. This particular scout violated one prime rule, always have a buddy with you. Sounds like he didn't, that deserves some a' chewing.

Just my opinion,

Jim Henderson

 

What would one call a Boy Scout that deserts his troop ?

 

Well I heard that he missed his family and decided to find a road and hitch hike back home. That was actualy what he said. Shoot I thought about doing the same thing at camp but was afraid if I made it home I would get a big ole whippin and some would be in some major trouble. I do think he needs some sort of something but I got to give it to him for staying out there by himself and the cold for them days and being alright.

 

the last poster is correct...he was homesick & it was an ill-conceived plan to somehow get home. He also has ADD & ran out of meds.

 

pre teen boys will do the STUPIDEST THINGS. During scout summer camps there is always an orientation talk where the camp leaders tell the boys what not to do. Almost IMMDEIATELY some clever fellow will do just that and discover the talk was accurate, "yes wasps are waiting off the marked trail", "don't stand on the guardails, you will fall off".

The one time I did summer camp with a group of boys, we spent an awful lot of time keeping an eye on them and preventing themselves from doing dumb things like falling off cliffs. It is incredibly distracting to keep a bunch of eager puppies from running off in all directions trying to kill themselves.

I think this boy just did what a lot of boys are thinking about doing and got lost. It can be a real PITA but I bet this one learns a couple lessons and is far more observant of rules. Just like one of our scouts who fell out of a 50 foot tree and broke both elbows. He never did that again and last I heard was becoming a more responsible level headed young man.

It really is hard to keep the boys all together and safe. Volunteer sometime and you will see what I mean, and learn some lessons yourself.

Jim Henderson

 

I agree with Jim's two posts. I just think the kid thought it would be easy to leave and found it wasn't. I have gotten lost at night using a compass and ended up exiting 100s of feet from where I thought I was. If this kid decided to move at night without a compass, I can see him getting over his head even though he was only a mile away.

You can be in the woods and not hear screams only a few hundred feet away. Which is the reason we all carry whilstles, even the 2 year olds :-)

Just a stupid mistake and thankfully the kid is okay. Just one of things you have to expect from kids, especially boys of that age. I think it was a good use of search and rescue, it is not like it was an adult that decided to climb a summit in the middle of a blizzard.

I bet that scout master is starting on his case of beer right about now.

 

I would imagine the parents are average, neurotic and have a neurotic child.
The kid is not stable, at age 12 you know right from wrong.