When a Scout sends an email to an adult using Scoutbook, the adult is able to reply directly to the scout without copying a parent. It should be very easy to make each Scout’s account email ReplyTo address include the parent(s) email address automatically.
Emails go to Email Clients like Outlook or iOS Mail - there is no way to control that or force Reply to all.
Doesn’t make complete sense, does it?
If you email message the Scout from within Scoutbook, then Scoutbook automatically copies the parent.
But one could use the email generated by a Scout through Scoutbook to do exactly as you have described.
I still question the efficacy (and therefore necessity) of including a parent on emails. Email records are extremely difficult to erase. Copies are everywhere…
A perpetrator isn’t going to follow the rules anyway…
Locks don’t keep robbers from stealing. Locks keep honest men from making mistakes.
It’s more of an issue of convenience for me. I always copy a parent on any email correspondence.
But that requires, if I don’t have the parents’ email address already in my own email client, to log into Scoutbook and access the profile to get it. It’s an extra step, but easy enough to do. The catch is when a parent has not registered a proper email address or the dreaded “changeyouremail@scoutbook.com”, it just means email reply to that scout is not going to happen.
Within Scoutbook, the scouts’ email address is not accessible. Once the Scout sends an email to an adult, the reply-to address in the mail header is the scout’s actual email address; no longer hidden. So, a simple click on the reply button and you’ve initiated a one-on-one communication between a youth and adult. I agree that it is my responsibility as a leader to follow YPT and ensure that I am including a parent on any response.
And… it works (or doesn’t) both ways. This is where the problem presents itself most often. I am the Scoutmaster, so I send out email blasts to the entire Troop, including Scouts, Leaders, and parents.
A scout will click the reply and send his message, no parent is included. I understand it’s not possible to manage this in another email client, but it does become tedious replying to Scouts [with a parent on copy] just to remind them to copy their parent. Oh well.
Seems like a good argument for eliminating the message feature or making it 2-way emailing within Scoutbook only and not revealing the Scouts’ or Adults’ email address when a message is initiated through Scoutbook.
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