Eagledad

I have designed several of these courses including a boy run version of the JLTC course before NYLT was introduced. First of all I am excited you are attempting this because you are stepping out of the box to improve your program. That is what you have to do to improve a program. It will be fun to watch your ideas go into action. After reading your original post, my first to thoughts were that you are missing two key things to have a successful course: First, you don’t seem to really know what you are looking for. Yes, your patrol leaders aren’t really leading, but why? As your scouts go through your course, how will you know success from failure, or growth from no change? The risk here is when the scouts do something that is good for growth, but makes the adults uncomfortable, they will be tempted to step in and stop the scouts and prevent any gains. I had a lot of resistance with our council JLTC course because scoutmasters who weren’t use to scouts making mistakes from their independent decisions wanted to step in and change the direction of the scout’s decisions. If I didn’t understand that learning comes from evaluation ones own decisions, there course wouldn’t have done anything. Get an idea of basic ideals you want to accomplish from the course. Give yourself something to measure so that you can defend or redirect to improve performance at the next course. Remember that the Vision for the BSA is to build men who make decisions based from the scout law and oath. The key words are make decisions. However, boys don’t join scouts to become decision makers, they join for adventure. There are lot of words that can define adventure, but after many years of doing this scouting stuff, I think adventure is “challengeâ€Â. Boys like games because they like to challenge what they know, they like to hike because they like the physical challenge and they like competition because they like the challenge of bettering the other guy. Make your course FUN and Challenging. Make the syllabus so that when the scout finishes and is going home, they like themselves for what they accomplished and what they mastered. They need a reason to feel good about themselves, help them get that reason through their actions, not your words. Second, you don’t seem to really have an idea of the structure of the course. That’s OK because many of us started that way and learned. Like Twocubdad, I look at what the troop is lacking in skills and develop the syllabus around improving those skills. I have to laugh that we also had a class of how to sign off scout advancement in scout books. Common problem I guess. The trick is keeping each class interesting. There are a thousand ways of doing your course and making it a lot of fun. We used several examples of syllabuses over the years and then modified them to apply more to our needs. The way I started our JLTC boy run course was as soon as all 32 scouts were assembled in a room together with all their gear, the SPL told them to make four patrols, elect a patrol leader and have the patrol leader assign each scout responsibility. That took about 45 mintues. Then they make a copy of their patrol roster and take it to the troop quartermaster for him to type up a troop roster. Once each patrol turned in their roster, the PL’s immediately had a PLC meeting to create a course agenda for the whole week. Yep, these just newly elected PLs who never met each other until an hour ago were creating an agenda for a five day Council JLTC course. There only requirement was to include 16 classes and four troop meetings or campfires, nothing else. They didn’t even have to include meals if they didn’t want to. They could have eight hours of free time a day if that was they wanted just so long as they included 16 hours of classes and four troop meetings were scheduled to be completed by lunch of the fifth day. We were also at our local camp, so they had access to most of the camp equipment and facilities. The patrols had to elect a new patrol leader twice a day followed with a PLC and trust me that the agenda changed from the lessons learned from the previous PLC. Believe it or not, scouts found out that six hours of free time isn’t that much fun when they don’t have any time to sleep OR EAT. LOL! Here is a cue; “time†is the best teacher of management discipline. By the end of the week, I think the scouts were surprised how the syllabus ended up looking basically the same as agendas they saw in their own troops. If I could design a course like that for 32 scouts who came from all over the council, think what you could do with your troop. Our older scouts in our troop once planned and ran a campout where the patrols had to get up and move their campsite. Our troop of 80 scouts is a backpacking troop, so it wasn’t as challenging as it owuld be for plop camping troops, but it was is still a big change in our scouts state of mind. Imagine telling the patrol that they are in a possible fire danger area and have to move to a new location a mile or two away given only by compass coordinates. That kind of unexpected scenario forces out leaders, followers and group control. At first the challenge looks daunting and over bearing, but as the patrol settles down to get the job done, there comes a lot of satisfaction from mastering the challenge. “It was actually a lot of funâ€Â, you hear at the next troop meeting. You can set your three patrols all over camp to where they never see each other but can still be monitored by you and the SPL. You can also set up 30 minute classes or sill sessions along the route so that the scouts get a break and learn a needed skill as well. By the end of our Council JLTC course, all the scouts had written at least a dozen agendas course and activity agendas because each scout was required to write one at least two times a day to redesign the course schedule or for the troop meetings and campfires. The PLC voted on the best and that was the agenda the patrols followed. I say this because 80 percent of troops in the BSA don’t use agendas for some reason of another. Its a pet peeve of mine, but I scratch my head wondering how scouts can run campouts and troop meetings without an agenda? I don' t think they can and that is another reason why patrols aren't as independent as they should be. Remember how six hours of free time turned out not to be much fun? So sit down and write out some clear goals you want the see the scouts gain from your course so that you know where you are going, and so that you can teach and defend the course from skeptical on-lookers. And then be creative and make this a “fun†adventurous course that challenges the scouts. The Green Bar Bill stuff is pretty good. Over the years I started requiring adults attend a few hours of class on the last day of the course to explain boy run, patrol method, Aims, methods and specifically how the course worked to get their scouts to change their thinking about how patrol method works. I concluded scouts don’t really need a week long JLTC course or weekend troop JLT courses because they are really just following a plan laid out by the adults. The adults are the ones who need these courses so they can get a feel for how patrol method really works. Learn why lectures are boring how hiking, boating, biking are better teachers of patrol method. So what I am saying is that just don’t do your course and then go back to things as they were, sit down with the scout and adults together and come up with a few things to change. Call them ticket items if you want, but make sure your program has some reflection of the growth gained from the course. Also, don’t pay too much attention to the nay Sayers here that are telling you to blow up your troop of 80 scouts and start over. Their idealism sounds noble in theory, but rarely does theory reflect reality accept in their own case. 80 scouts requires different ideas. While all of us have some wisdom to pass along, we gain that wisdom under different conditions, so it can’t all be applied. Think of us as a cafeteria of ideas and you get to choose which works best for your particular situation. You are not trying to rewrite your program, you are just smoothing out a few rough edges here and there. If done right, your scouts will go back to their patrols with all kinds of new ideas, and the adults will find themselves having to hustle just to keep up. That is scouting at its best. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

I'm trying figure out how the den of wolves lead themselves while adults mentor and resource.

I’m not defending the program TAHAWK, but I do find myself correcting misconceptions. The current program is purposely amiable for inexperienced scouters because it is designed more to develop team management skills. The idea is that if the adults can first manage a stable program, learning to work with scouts will come easier. As someone who has some experience helping broken units become functional, I agree with that theory. In fact that is exactly how I worked with the adults even before the new WB was introduced. The main problem I see with the new WB program is that many staffs confused the course objective of team management development with leadership development. It’s a huge difference and causes a lot of disappointment with both the staff and participants because they have wrong expectations for the course objective, which results in being disappointed. Barry

Done correctly, troop level responsibility provides additional decision making growth that patrol leaders rarely experience even in the best boy-led programs. It’s not a replacement for the patrol leader experience, its opportunity for continued growth. However, there is a risk of corrupting the growth of the patrol level experience if the troop responsibility isn’t guided correctly. But for those of us who have experience the rewards, it’s worth learning how to provide that style of program. Barry

We have the same experience mozortbrau, I concluded over the years that it is a maturity thing. We have the same experiences with Troop Guides when we use them. We have never had a good TG who was 14 or younger, and never had one less than great who was 16 or older. I think watching older scouts in action is the reward for the hard work of building a program where older scouts like to come. Barry

This is interesting: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/04/16/psychologist-social-media-causing-a-distancing-phenomena-to-take-place/ >> Batcho explained that what a person does in cyberspace is quite different than what someone can do face-to-face in an actual conversation. “Cyber-bullying is a great example of how social media communication differs from face-to-face,†Batcho, who has been a licensed psychologist in New York state for over 30 years, stated. “Studies suggest that it takes place in a more extreme way over social media because the authors feel no responsibility.†Hmm

This happens a lot, although I've not seen it for a whole summer. I don't think there is anything you have to do because the scout is already registered with the BSA, but call council to make sure. Barry

We've done it a few times. Basically we have monthly theme of cooking where each week is a different theme like: "one pot", "Dutch oven", "over a fire" and so on. At the end of the month we do the Iron Chef, sometimes on a campout, sometimes at a Troop meeting. The scouts seem to have fun and the ideas are pretty good. I kind of suggest a month of different themes only to give scouts a little time to come up with good ideas. If you were to just announce it now for next week, you might be disapointed. Barry

(The de facto/default "troop method," may take a big hit in the new Scoutmaster Specific syllabus due out this year.) Interesting!

You could do a LNT sumping demonstration for the Webelos. Mmmm maybe not, we need the crossovers. Never mind. Barry

If more committees ran the pack like your pack Woodward, the Cub program would be in much better shape. I know at first it seems restrictivily departmental, but I'm sure you will be able to assist the other adults in those areas that are of interest to you. Trust and old scouter who has had to help fix some broken packs, yours is way way ahead in running a consistently strong program. Barry

I agree completely with Fred. Many folks don't realize that on average only about 10% of cub families have done any camping. Make it simple and easy for everyone. Also, packs tend to collect a lot of junk over the years, just go borrow what you need from a troop. Barry

It’s hard to know how troops might encourage their scouts to hold off on Eagle, but our program just didn't put a high priority on advancement. We probably do put some emphasis on leadership development, but not so much on the leadership experience. There is a big difference. I do know that scouts who transfer in to our troop from other troops say our program is kind of intimidating because our PLC takes on a lot more responsibility than their troops. They really enjoy our program, but tend to stay away from the big responsibilities. The Eagle process does get in the way sometimes because our focus is on leadership development and patrol method, while families get anxious for advancement. They fear if their son doesn’t get it by 14, they won’t get it at all. We just tell them its all up to their son. We have plenty of Eagles, so I think we are doing OK. Barry

That is interesting. Average age in the 1940s was 14? I will have to ask my dad about that. I will admit the average age of our Eagles while I was SM was 16, but our guys were just busy with scouting stuff. A 14 year old Eagle in our troop is typically a nerd type of personality. Seems Ok to me because they still hang around until 18. Barry

Who likes to hold back scouts from Eagle until they are 18? Strange!

I tend to try and assume the OP is giving the most accurate account of the situations the bring here to the forum, but I am having trouble with this one. Not saying it didn't happen, but typically SM Conferences have some degree of privacy even when they are done near groups of people. And there are so many ways the phrase Paper Eagle could be used and taken out of context. This thread has so many broad implications that I don't even know where to start. Hmm.

Maybe you right, so how do you interpret what he is telling the OP on how to handle his scouts?

>>Like these guys Stosh<< We had one in my troop. Nothing became of it because he had far bigger issues with his family. Stosh, I don't recall ever seeing a SM try so hard to protect his scouts from the BSA religious aspect of the program. Why? Barry

>>For example a diest believe their religious duties amount to living you life governed by reason , well it's a little more complicated than that but you get the idea. They are also distinctly NOT atheist.<< While I have known leaders who put a lot of focus on being reverent (as opposed to zero focus) I’ve never know one to discount a family who teaches deism to their children. I’m not so sure that deism isn’t one of God’s way of creating a path to him directly, who knows. But what little deism I have witnessed certainly has application teaching that can be quantified with the law and oath. You can’t ask for more than that. Barry

I don't know, I would play by ear. I have had several scouts with atheist parents and this was never an issue. In fact they allowed or encourage their son to work for the religious award to learn. I think we adults make way to big a thing out of it. Boys go through a lot of self-searching between ages 10 to 17. I just want to give them the chance to do some of that searching in a scouting environment with godly role models. Barry

>> Eagledad, I might have misunderstood your above post. You would pass a scout along in SMC's and allow him to gain ranks as an atheist, but stop him at eagle? That does not seem right.<< Sorry, I didn’t see this until now. I would suggest the family be open to allowing their son to the possibility through discovery of the scout experience. They would know up front that likely the EBOR would not allow him to get the award if he still believes in no god. But seven years is a long time to experience life and to cut boy from scouting just because he doesn’t have a clue during parts of that life experience seems to me, well ungodly. Of course the parents have to agree and the scout has to be at least open to an idea of god or spirit or whatever. Who knows what the wonders of the Boundary Waters might inspire in a scout. Barry

That is a pretty good explanation of reverent I guess, but we members of the BSA still have to contend with the Scout Handbook "A Scout is Reverent. A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others." And there is that "duty to god" thing in the oath. I like your suggestion Matt. Barry

Good post qwazse. In my experience, it’s not so much the families have no belief in god, they just aren’t active in how they believe in god. I typically approach the parents and tell them that the troop does a religious service on campouts. It’s not regimented or specific, it is very generic. We like to ask for volunteers to plan and lead the service. Then I ask them how they feel about that structure. Even if they are atheist (and we have a few), I ask them how they want us to work with their son with the reverent part of the law. In my case the parents have encourage their son to explore that part of the program so they can determine their own belief. I also point out that the reverence question will likely be asked several times during Scoutmaster conferences and boards of reviews because it is part of living the scout oath and law, especially at the Eagle BOR. I point out that no belief at the EBOR will likely disqualify him of the Eagle award. I make a point that we are not trying to sway their son one way or the other and welcome his interest and discovery on the subject. The unit will not judge him and he is always be welcome to troop, but the BSA does require some reverence, however that is accomplished. I have never had a family that had any issues and most of the time they find me over concerned on the matter. But I just want everyone to understand everything up front. Now if I ever had a young scout tell me he had no belief or reverence toward god or any kind of spirit, I would only ask him to keep an open mind as he experiences the scouting activities. I would likely ask him about it during his SM conferences so that by the time we get to Eagle, there would be an expectation and no surprises. I would also be talking to the parents at the same time about everything we have talked about so that nobody is surprised and we can work as a team if ever needed. But I have never had any of the several hundred scouts I've worked with tell me that. I hope that helps. Barry