I was asked to put the body of a blast that is being issued at this moment on the forum because FIRST is having web problems at the moment.
This is quite important and they need the word out as soon as possible:
Here it is:
Subject: Withdrawal of the Youth Protection and Adult Leadership Policy
December 22, 2003
In light of the concerns that have arisen regarding the Youth Protection and
Adult Leadership Policy introduced this year, the Steering Committee of the
Board of Directors decided to withdraw it. This withdrawal will allow time
for FIRST to resolve the issues and to come up with an approach that best
fits FIRSTÂąs values and situation.
FIRST continues to take the safety and security of participants seriously.
We must always make a top priority the safety and security of everyone
involved in FIRST and we ask everyone to take all necessary measures.
One of the key challenges facing FIRST as it grows, is to develop policies
that help manage the risks involved with providing an extraordinary learning
experience for a large number of kids (and adults) without destroying the
individual initiatives and entrepreneurial thinking that create that
experience. Unfortunately, the larger you grow, the more complicated that
becomes. Because the issue of balancing between the risk of too few rules
with the risk of too many is a very complex one, affecting the many
constituencies of FIRST in different ways, we have elected to take the time
necessary to get it right.
We recognize that the policy was the result of a great deal of work by many
individuals, and we wish to thank them for this effort. We also thank those
who raised their concerns. We realize that everyone, no matter what their
view on the issue, has been motivated by concern for our participants and
success of FIRST.
We realize that the policy was based on policies used by other
organizations, that it was reviewed by legal counsel, and that the intent of
the policy was supported by many. We now know that the policy in its current
form created serious difficulties for a number of individuals, teams and
organizations, and we apologize for those difficulties.
We know that the vast majority of FIRST volunteers, whatever their role, are
dedicated to the highest level of ethical behavior and to the well being of
our participants. The policy was never intended to question that dedication.
We must determine the most appropriate measures for offering the caring and
safe environment that characterizes FIRST. We are confident that with
dialogue and healthy debate, in the spirit of the Ĺ’gracious
professionalismÂą, we will find the measures with the most benefit and the
least drawbacks. In the meantime, we ask everyone to continue to offer a
safe and secure environment for FIRST activities. To use the example of
another safety measure, many find the safety goggles are inconvenient, but
we have concluded that the benefits of wearing safety goggles at
competitions outweigh the inconvenience.
As we move forward, we plan to view the specific issues that the policy
addressed from the broader perspective of overall risk management. This is
an increasingly challenging field, but with your suggestions, support and
vigilance, we are sure that FIRST will continue to offer exciting and unique
learning experiences that are also safe and secure.
Thanks for your support,
John Abele Paul Shay
Chairman of the Board of Trustees Incoming Executive Director
I think a large part of their decision on this was all the valid opposition to it here on CD.