Background Checks

[Joe Mabel]

Seems to me that while there may be particular roles in SCN that require 
background checks (our treasurer probably should be bonded, for example), 
there's something being proposed here that's not too far from the attitude 
that runs random drug tests, one I would not expect to encounter in SCN.

I believe I have nothing to hide about my life, but I don't invite the 
police to come investigate me.  I turned down a job once because it 
required a security clearance that I would almost certainly have passed.  I 
won't work for companies that drug-test their employees, even though I 
myself haven't done an illegal drug in a damned long time.

Maybe anyone who might routinely work with children should get about the 
same degree of background check normally given by a daycare, but I think it 
is absurd to think in liability terms about the fact that someone might 
happen to be alone with a child on some brief occasion.  I think it's a 
legitimate concern to be worried about molesters seeking positions that 
give them many opportunities to molest, but it's ridiculous to screen 
everyone who ever might accidentally be alone with a minor.  Do you people 
think there should be a screening like this to work in a 7-11 or to attend 
a gas station or small store?  How about living alone in a house?  These 
things leave far more chance of being alone with a minor than any SCN 
volunteering I know of.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Mabel
206-284-7511
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." L. Frank Baum

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