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Undoubtedly this is a requirement to protect the parent FIRST organization as well as the kids. But frankly it is going to be a royal pain in the neck and ultimately a turnoff for would be volunteers. It also is an invasion of privacy for all involved.
I know that when my school sanctions events like FIRST trips they assume responsibility for the school based function. They don't require all the chaperones to go through security checks. Our staff is required however, as are all teachers in my state.
I guess what this leads to is the definition of volunteers. Is a college kid who directs crowds at a venue required to go though all this? Are my engineers? How about the workers at the event sites? Or is this limited to those who are directly responsible for the health and well being of the kids?
I can see trip chaperones being screened since they have off hours, potentially private contact with the kids. But that should be the school's and parent's business, not FIRST's. But for EVERY person working at a venue to need to security check in with FIRST- thats a bit too severe and probably unenforcible. What's next- security checks for the public attending? They have equal access to the kids if they wanted.
Perhaps a better strategy might be a disclaimer to be signed by students and their parents with a permission to participate form (much as the forms for attending Nats) where FIRST is cleared of liability. Nobody wants to see kids harmed but neither do we want to live in a police state.
WC
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