Unauthorized activities – don’t be tempted!

BSA‘s Guide to Safe Scouting  states the following with regard to BSA‘s liability insurance coverage and activities conducted on behalf of youth:

“The Boy Scouts of America’s general liability policy provides coverage for a bodily injury or property damage claim that is made and arises out of an official Scouting activity. The Guide to Safe Scouting contains a listing of unauthorized and restricted activities. Unauthorized activities are not considered official Scouting activities.  Volunteers (registered and unregistered), units, chartered organizations, and local councils are jeopardizing insurance coverage for themselves and their organization by engaging in unauthorized activities.” (page 57, 2019 edition)

At present, the following are strictly prohibited or restricted BSA  activities (source: 2024 edition  Guide to Safe Scouting), with this being updated periodically based on the experience of participants in activities:

1. Activities where participants strike at each other, such as boxing, combat games, gladiator games, and role playing reenactment activities, and related martial arts—except Tai Chi—are not authorized activities.
2. Power tools such as chainsaws and mechanical log splitters, wood chippers, and power saws and mills may not be used by youth.
3. Exploration of abandoned mines is an unauthorized activity.
4. Intramural, interscholastic or club sport competitions or activities are unauthorized.
5. Fireworks secured, used, or displayed in conjunction with program and activities is unauthorized except where the fireworks display is conducted under the auspices of a certified or licensed fireworks control expert.
6. The selling of fireworks is unauthorized.
7. Flying in hang gliders, ultralights, experimental aircraft, or hot-air balloons (non-tethered); parachuting; and flying in aircraft as part of a search and rescue mission are unauthorized activities. Tethered hot-air balloon flights are authorized upon completion of the Flying Plan Checklist.
8. Motorized vehicles used as program activities, including all-terrain and off-road vehicles, and motorized speed events are unauthorized. Go-carting conducted at a commercial facility that provides equipment and supervision of cart operation is authorized.  Council-approved ATV programs are authorized.
9. Participation in amateur or professional rodeo events and council or district sponsorship of rodeos, and use of mechanized bulls or similar devices, are not authorized.
10. Activities where participants shoot at each other such as  paintball, laser tag, or archery tag are unauthorized.  [The author once saw one of his Scouts after a non-Scouting paintball event, and his body was covered in welts due to being hit at close range by paintballs]
11. Hunting is not an authorized activity.
12. Motorized personal watercraft (PWC) are unauthorized. The exception is council-approved PWC programs.
13. Open or concealed carry or use of firearms at any Scouting activity is unauthorized, with the exceptions of law enforcement officers required to carry firearms within their jurisdiction, an official BSA shooting sports program, or appropriate hunting in Venturing.
14. Parasailing, or any activity in which a person is carried aloft by a parachute, parasail, kite, or other device towed by a motorboat, including a tube, or by any other means, is unauthorized.
15. All activities related to bungee cord jumping (sometimes called shock cord jumping) are unauthorized.
16. Tree-climbing is not authorized as an activity.
17. Water chugging or eating or drinking competitions (“chubby bunny” or hot dog eating contests) and related activities are not authorized for any program level.
18. Bubbleball, Knockerball™, zorbing, Battle Ball™, bubble soccer or football, and similar orb activities where participants run into one another or roll around on land or water are unauthorized.
19. The use of privately installed, maintained, or operated zip lines  is prohibited. Examples include self-built, backyard, temporary (uninspected), or non-BSA-owned zip lines.  Commercial standards must be in place. 
    
20. Canyoneering in ACA-rated Class 4 canyons is prohibited. Lesser-rated canyons have age limitations.
21. Boating on whitewater in excess of Class 4 is prohibited.
    
22. Boating on Class 4 whitewater in anything other than a raft with a professional guide is prohibited.
    
23. Shooting or throwing sports outside of BSA program literature are prohibited (anvil shooting, flintlocks, exploding targets, devices regulated by the National Firearms Act, blow guns, boomerangs, ballistae; homemade firearms and air cannons, potato cannons, tennis ball cannons; throwing of shovels, torpedoes, spikes, stars, shotput, logs, hammers and cabers; ammunition such as pumpkins, hard slingshot ammo, tracers; cannons; crossbows (except at Summit); reloading and reloaded ammunition (except at Philmont); spears, including atlatls, pole spears, and spear guns (except at Philmont)).
24. Extreme or action sports with high degree of risk (parkour; cliff diving or jumping; free or solo climbing; aerobatics while snowboarding, skiing, wakeboarding, or mountain biking; parachuting, BASE jumping, or wingsuiting; flyboarding/jet boarding; highlining; XPOGO; trampoline and trampoline parks (except commercial facilities meeting specified standards).
25. Activities where participants throw objects at each other, such as dodgeball, rock throwing, or sock fights.
26. Use of accelerants, chemicals or pyrotechnics to start fires or in ceremonies (exception, solid fuel starters for this purpose).
27. Using homemade or modified equipment that fails to comply with the BSA Chemical Fuels and Equipment policy.
28. Burning any solid, liquid, gel or gas fuel in a tent.
29. Excavations or entry into fox holes, makeshift caves, tunnels, trenches, or ditches, includes digging in sand dunes (exception: snow quinzees and caves at Okpik).
30. Service projects that fail to comply with federal, state, or local laws regarding the safety of youth.
31. The use of full-face snorkel masks is prohibited.

The above activities are presumably prohibited or restricted as they constitute increased risk to participating Scouts in relation to any program benefit and, accordingly, are not consistent with the mission of Scouting – as such, they do not constitute an insurable risk.

Consistent with the above, non-adherence to the Scouter’s Code of Conduct is also prohibited.

Activities must also be aligned with the current Age-appropriate Guidelines in the Guide to Safe Scouting.

Aquatic activities must comply with Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat guidelines.

Activities related to COPE or climbing must comply with Climb on Safely and/or Belay On guidelines, and the courses must comply with applicable ACCT standards, and be inspected annually.

Of course, the Guide to Safe Scouting undergoes revisions and updates from time to time, and any decision as to whether to undertake a specific activity should only be made upon review of the most recent version of the Guide, and not rely on the above listing.  Further guidance as to prohibited activities may also be provided. The above listing is believed current as of September 2024. 

Any injury resulting from engaging in such prohibited activities constitutes needless suffering on behalf of the participant, and potential liability on the part of the supervising adult(s).

Avoiding unauthorized or prohibited activities is one aspect of a leader’s duty of care toward Scouts.

Review the Guide to Safe Scouting, and follow its policies, procedures, and guidelines . . . !