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Opinion

Auberry does not deserve his scout status 

Santiago Lopez
Opinion Columnist

Michael Auberry, the 12-year-old Boy Scout who went missing this week, was found Tuesday thanks in large part to a search and rescue duo comprised of a canine and its human counterpart.

While Auberry's family is elated to have their son back home, and with the obligatory book and television movie of the week about the young boy's experience in the wilderness sure to follow, there is a more pressing matter which should be addressed: Michael should be expelled from the Boy Scouts.

His actions were selfish and a drain on the resources of the many groups conducting the search for him and are not those of a Boy Scout.

From the Boy Scouts' own Web site about scout law comes a slew of the principles that the organization holds dear -- principles Auberry violated in his escape from a camping trip.

According to scout law, a scout "keeps his promises … people can depend on him." Auberry agreed to go on the trip, but once out in the woods he decided to walk away from taking part in the experience. 

According to CNN, the boy did not want to remain on the excursion because some of his close friends were not a part of this trip. This goes against another scout principle: "A scout is a friend to all. He is a brother to other scouts." Not so in Auberry's case, as he chose not to become close friends with the other scouts who were on the trip and tried to hitchhike back home.

"A scout follows the rules of his family, school and troop. He obeys the laws of his community and country. If he thinks these rules and laws are unfair, he tries to change them in an orderly manner rather than disobey them." Auberry's family allowed the boy to go on the trip and expected him to follow through with the outing. The scout troop took Auberry under its supervision and agreed to watch over him in order to return him safe to his parents upon the group's return. As a scout, young Auberry should have completed the outing because he was one of the campers and his going in the first place was assurance of his compliance. 

Furthermore, he planned on hitchhiking back home. 

According to a guidebook found on the North Carolina Department of Transportation's Web site, it is "unlawful to hitchhike or solicit rides on an interstate or fully controlled access highway, except in the case of emergency or vehicle failure." 

Missing one's friends is not an emergency, and there was no vehicle failure involved. To get from McGrady, N. C. -- where the boy was found -- to his home in Greensboro, N.C., Auberry would have had to ask for ride on an access highway. He could not have claimed ignorance of this law because his father, an attorney in Greensboro, told CNN that he would have to lecture his son "about hitchhiking again." From his comment it did not sound as if Auberry's father wanted his son to get from place to place by hitching a ride with strangers, so the boy certainly is aware of right and wrong. 

Though during his self-imposed ordeal, Auberry was able to call on his scout's "bravery and cheerfulness" to get him through the situation, he should look closer at law -- "A scout works to pay his way … he carefully uses time and property" -- when thinking of the resources and money spent in the search for him, which should not have been necessary in the first place. 

His gratitude should not be the only thing offered to the search teams who worked tirelessly to find him; monetary restitution should be made by Auberry, and he should volunteer his time in future rescue endeavors.

Most of all, Auberry should turn in his uniform. He no longer represents the Boy Scouts or adheres to the laws the organization expects each of its member to abide by and respect. 

Volunteering to resign is the only way for him to save face and show he has the heart of a scout. Should he not withdraw, the Boy Scouts ought to remove him from their ranks. 

Though it is truly wonderful he is safe and back with his family, Auberry is a disgrace to the Boy Scouts and should no longer be able to call himself one.

Lopez, a creative writing senior, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu