Volunteer Screening - High School Students

[Gabriel]

My team's situation might provide some insight into FIRST's mindset here.

Our team is from Simon's Rock College of Bard. Basically, Simon's Rock is the only college in the country designed for high school age students who want to go to college a couple years early. As a result, our team is mostly made up of kids under-18 who are officially enrolled in their high-schools but attend Simon's Rock. FIRST said that when determining who was to be considered a student (and could legally handle the robot in competition, etc) and who was to be considered a mentor age didn't matter. The determining factor was high school enrollment. We were allowed to count anyone duel-enrolled as a student, but anyone not enrolled in a high-school was to be considered a mentor. If FIRST is consistent in their definitions I think it is safe to extrapolate that 18 year old high school kids are students, not mentors and do not need to be screened, but 18 year old college students are mentors and need to be screened.

[rbayer]

While I don't know what FIRST's views on the matter would be, Boy Scouts of America requires everyone over 18 (including HS seniors) to go through a similar process. What's so magical about the number 18? I honestly don't know, except that it means you're a legally independant entity.

Just my 2c.

[Greg Ross]

Originally Posted by rbayer

While I don't know what FIRST's views on the matter would be, Boy Scouts of America requires everyone over 18 (including HS seniors) to go through a similar process. What's so magical about the number 18? I honestly don't know, except that it means you're a legally independant entity.

Just my 2c.

Just to clarify, the Boy Scouts of America program is for boys aged 11 to 17. At age 18, a "boy" is no longer eligible to be a scout. If he continues with a troop, it is as an adult leader, and he undergoes the same checks as other adult leaders. It's not as if scouts fall into under/over age 18 categories, and only the ones over age 18 are required to have checks done.

[srjjs]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

If FIRST is consistent in their definitions I think it is safe to extrapolate that 18 year old high school kids are students, not mentors and do not need to be screened, but 18 year old college students are mentors and need to be screened.

So then 17-year-old college students still need to be screened?

[Gabriel]

No, because FIRST specifically says only those over 18 need to be screened. At least thats my interpretation. We'll ask FIRST for clarification.