The original topic in the forum : Scoutbook Messages - BCC Box has been closed, but this is a huge concern for us as well. The BCC box defaults to being checked and no matter how much training we try to implement, there are always a few that slip through where you can’t tell who the e-mail was sent to and we have scouts e-mailing one adult. The adult can’t hit reply all, and you have to pull up a list of e-mail addresses somewhere or try to reply by making a new Scoutbook message thread. Original messages get lost. Impossible to sort through the inbox because there is no inbox, no sent message list that I can see. Parents are getting lost in the e-mails, so the Scouts definitely are getting lost, making troop communication very difficult. More than that, the two-deep policy is being violated constantly. While it is incumbent on the leader to reply and cc the parent, it is an added layer that is difficult to execute. Why are we making Scout safety so difficult?
So, what exactly are you requesting?
Default to have BCC unchecked. Have a functional Inbox and Sent Messages. That would be great.
Esther,
BCC was added by default because many users complained youth e-mail addresses were being easily exposed. The BSA has no plan of changing the default setting at this time.
To support inbox and sent message storage for all users would require significant cloud storage. The BSA does not own the data center making cloud storage expensive. We recommend always copying yourself on any sent message. The Feature Assistant Extension for Chrome and Firefox automatically copies the sender on all messages.
Youth email is exposed but also it is too easy to send emails only to the youth - by accident to be sure - but it is making the policies VERY hard to implement.
Any youth that receives an e-mail from Scoutbook has their parents copied automatically by the system.
Two things to remember:
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While it would be helpful to a bunch of us old folks, youth members of the BSA are not required to follow YPT rules. It’s not their responsibility to make sure adults are complying with two-deep leadership and no one-on-one contact. If a Scout emails you directly, it’s YOUR responsibility, not the Scout’s to copy another leader in your response.
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Scoutbook implements YPT for messaging by always copying the Scout’s parents. That’s not the only way to maintain two-deep leadership in messaging, though. You can always directly include another registered leader in a response to a Scout that did not copy their parents.
This is not consistently working for us. We have tested it. Can you think of a reason why not?
Esther,
Perhaps parent email addresses are incorrect in Scoutbook?
The feature works consistently for us…
The other thing I’ve noticed is that some of our parents/leaders/scouts have accidentally clicked the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of Scoutbook reminder emails, leaving them not getting messages. As long as a second adult is on the message, Scoutbook will send the message. I periodically check the list of names in the Send Message interface for people who are listed as “do not email”, then follow-up with them to verify it is intentional. It generally has been accidental.
Thanks, @CharleyHamilton I will check that. @SteveCagigas while youth are not the responsible party here, it does make it more difficult. Scout sends email only to leader, leader has to see the email, then go into scoutbook to make a reply and click on the appropriate names this time. When the youth sends anything, it should cc his parents automatically, regardless of the state of the BCC checkbox. This seems like an easy implement.
The parent is copied, even if not via a visible CC.
ok thank you for that. Initiating a string of test emails to check our functionality…
Not really. As I said, copying a parent is not the ONLY way to maintain two-deep leadership on emails, it’s just the way that Scoutbook is doing it. It’s also perfectly OK from a YPT standpoint to copy the Scoutmaster or an ASM in an email back to a youth. You don’t need to go back into Scoutbook to handle this.
When a Scout does this to me (i.e. sends me a message via Scoutbook but I can’t see anyone else CC’d), I usually just reply back via my regular email that Scoutbook forwards messages to, but I make sure to CC the scout’s parent and/or another leader on my response.
I don’t see the point in logging back in to Scoutbook just to send a reply.
It would only be necessary if the parents email was not one you had handy or on auto fill such as a new scout.
I actually generated a roster report using Roster Builder that shows scout names, parent names, and parent contact emails that I refresh periodically so that I have ready access to that type of data. I mostly use it for the patrol I advise, but since I also support Scoutbook for the troop, I also have one for the whole troop. I refer to it from time-to-time for these sorts of situations.
I also tend to put a gentle reminder in my emails back to scouts who send me emails without cc’ing a parent or leader that BSA requires us to avoid one-on-one contact both in person and digitally. After getting the same boilerplate note a couple of times, the scout or the parent who I cc’d in my response usually gets the hint. :^)
DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE PARENT
You can copy your Scoutmaster or any other registered, YPT-certified leader.
thanks, I get it. We prefer to cc the parent though. It makes keeping them in the loop easier. We are interested in legalities of course, but mostly in smooth operation of our troop.
As Scoutmaster I communicate to a lot of Scouts, Adult Leaders and Parents. I appreciate the BCC by default. It does not expose the Scout’s email. I sometimes get an email without someone CC’d. If it is through SB, I assume the BCC was on. I still respond adding the parent or other adult and remind them that 2 adult need to be on every conversation.
