Eagledad

I tried dealing with these situations as topics in the ASM meetings and not dealing with person directly. If the adult is still a problem after that, then I talked to them directly. But that was rare. Barry

>>The purpose for First Class Emphasis is to focus leaders in the right place.>That is what the New Scout Patrol does and yet some leaders refuse to do that either.

I was just talking to my lovely wife the other day that this will be the first time for me to watch our 4th of July parade from the sidelines. My boys are in college and out of troop, but my daughter is now on the High School Pom Team, Squad? Patrol? Anyway she gets to ride a float in the parade. Now why didn't our troop think of that? Barry

We never stand in the way of a scout's ambitions and goals, in fact we admire those qualities. But at the same time, we also point out that camp is suppose to be a fun experience. We usually have several scouts go again their forth and fifth year. Have a great Scouting Day. Barry

>>I think what national was trying to affect was the retention rate of new scouts that first year because they were experiencing huge membership losses and still are at three pivotal times in the scouting timeline.

>>Rather than lower the program lets raise the leadership.

>>I dont want to come off as the Scouting know-it-all but it looks like I am the only one who has taken the time to read the SM Handbook.

>>Considering only the points I have just shared can anyone tell us what possible negative attributes there are to this program planning method?

Lots of good post guys, well done. My observation is the problem simply came from calling it a "First Class in the First Year" program. One example of a typical attitude was from a friend of mine. The only other Scouting experiences he had prier to becoming a SM was two years as the Committee Chair of our Cub Pack, so he was started almost from no understanding of Boy Scouts. When he read the Scoutmasters Handbook and went to training, he came back with the idea that he must get all his scouts to first class in the first year for himself to be considered successful. Four years later he told me that he missed the point completely. I found this a fairly common approach by many Troops. In the old days, you can go back as far as you want, but in the old days the First Class rank was recognition of the maturity of a scout who mastered the skills required to survive in the woods by himself. In general, if the boy is left to his own, his maturity will dictate the rate at which he learns all the skills to be a First Class Scout. By the time his becomes a first class scout, he also has the maturity for a scout that can survive in the woods on his own. The problem with FCFY is that it suggest all boys are mature enough to be First Class scouts with in the first year of their experience. This same problem is hurting the OA program in our area. I think we all agree that the real intent of the troop program is for the adults to responsibly develop a quality program where all the scouts can learn skills as fast as they want. The program should be as welcome to scouts who want to get first class in six months as it is scouts that are in no hurry. Now I do agree with Eamonn that a SM must recognize and guide those scouts who are taking their own sweet time, but I'm sure Eamonn agrees the concern should be the scouts maturity, not his rank. I can remember a scout who was in no hurry to advance. He blew off all his classes at summer camp and instead went swimming, hiking, running and all those things that eleven year olds love to do. He was independent enough that he didnt want to follow the crowd, but he was also was not mature enough to sit in classes. Today he would tell you that was his best summer camp. I watched and worked with the scout enough to see he was just having a lot of fun being a boy scout. Something I feel a lot of adults completely miss today. He was not looking to leaveg our troop. A year later he decided he wanted to be a first class scout, so he started calling older scouts to help him earn that rank. That scout went to Oklahoma University last year with the help of Eagle Scholarship. If I were to brag about the program this scout grew up in, it is that when he was ready, he knew where and who to go for help. To me, that is a program of maturity. Here is the question. What should we suggest makes a quality program for first year scouts? A few suggestions I have are: 1. Develop a troop where scouts are rewarded for seeking out help to learn skills. 2. Develop a program that doesnt rely on outside programs to advance like summer camps or MB Mills. This is a major problem in our District. 3. Develop a program where the scout has plenty of opportunities to ask for help. 4. Develop the program where the older scouts understand their responsibility to help the younger scouts grow and advance. 5. Develop a program where the adults dont take the scouts advancement personally be it too slow or too fast. Ignore a time line and instead make sure the program provides quality skills instruction. 6. Honor First Class Scouts as an achievement of full independence and responsibility in the Troop. Have a great scouting day. Barry

>>We usually stop on the way home and use it as a day to unwind and reacclimate ourselves to civilization!

>>While there sould be an adult to guide them, it should be a youth, not an adult, running all parts the program.

Hi All Portaging is the biggest difference in my mind. Learning how to load, unload, and pick up a canoe to put it on your shoulders would start the trip a little easier. What makes loading and unloading canoes a challenge is doing it with other crews at the same portage. So understanding how to get in and out without clogging up the trails or loading points is an advantage. You need to learn how to lay your gear off the trails to prevent blocking the other crews, or even the folks in your own crew. And it wouldn't hurt to find someone in your area who can teach each person in your crew how to pick up and lay down a canoe. It doesn't requires as much strength as one would imagine if you know the proper technique. Our crews packed about the same for Philmont and Northern Tier. Need more fishing gear for Northern Tier. You need different shoes that can drain water quickly. We used Army Jungle Boots, but they didn't hold up very well our last trip. Not sure what we will use this year. Anybody have advise and boots? Barry

>>Sure to a lot of people he will be the greatest Scoutmaster ever, but to a lot of people he will go down as the guy who left 111 in the lurch.

Hi All What about the parents? Do they care, do they want to care, and do they want to be involved? How would you feel if you just found out your son had this pattern of behavior for some time, but no one told you until after the last straw? Sometimes we scouters forget that we are just one small cog the parents machine of making their son into a man. Sometime we let this program go to our heads because we are leaders in a values program. We think of ourselves as the character experts for each family, but we are really only one piece in the puzzle of their sons life. Now maybe the parents don't care and we do have to make hard choices, but more often then not, they care very much and they have a lot of influence in the matter. My humble suggestions are call the parents and inform them of the problems. Request their help and guidance and see where that goes first. I love this scouting stuff Barry

Hi All Personally I think the Uniform Method is the most misunderstood method, but that is another thread I think we want to dodge for a while. I give credit that BW started a good response on this subject. From the adults point of view, the Advancement Method is a tool for teaching life skills like setting goals and acting on a plan to reach those goals. If adults would focus less on awards and more on behavoir performance, the benefits of the Advancement Methods would stand out like a beam of light in the dark. The problem Ive found while teaching is new Adult Leaders havent got the experience to see the growth and maturity from their son gains from seeking out and learning skills at his pace, not the parents. The adults havent yet experienced for their son, the actions required to advance are just as rewarding to their sons future as the award itself. So they instead focus on what they know works, the resume and stature. This wasnt near the problem 25 years ago because society wasnt in as much a hurry to succeed as we are today. Todays parents want their kids to get it all by the age 16. Not just advancement, but the best grades, the best teams, the best musical instruments. Scouting was a program designed for the adults to follow the scouts waiting to guide their curiosity. Today the parents lead the way plowing away obstacles so their kids cruise to an easy adulthood. We tend to ignore the curiosity and dreams of boys and push them to be men way to early. We dont allow them to stop and smell the roses. What can a unit do to promote the advancement method? Insure the environment encourages the scout to advance at his pace, not the adults. Teach the adults the value of their son setting goals and timelines and then independently acting on those goals. Make the scouts handle all phases of advancement from teaching the skills to presenting the awards at the end of the meeting. Dont really on summer camps and MB colleges for your troop advancement program. Going long, sorry. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

HI All In similar situations, we keep the District and Council fully informed on the situation and how we handled it. That saved us one time when a parent personally called the Council Executive (CE) threatening a law suit against or troop. She changed her mind when the CE explained that he already knew about the situation and supported the actions of our troop. Barry

>>I like the idea of us making dreams come through. But the dreams must be the dreams that come from the Scouts.

Hi all Without getting into who plans what and what boy run means or what adult run means, I think your troop is in a rut and has become stale and it can happens to us all. A couple things to understand about a boy run program is that it must always be changing to be challenging. I remember once when an ASM and I watched our Troop break camp, load the trailer and standing formation ready to load the cars all in 45 minutes. It was then we started planning a new kink to throw in the works. The scouts had advanced and grown up to that challenge. Each scout is different and needs constant challenges thrown at him to maintain growth and FUN from the struggles. A lot of adults are afraid of struggles, but how many times have you heard scouts brag most about they times they were challenged the most. Like forgetting food or dealing with rain. The other part of your problem is we adults MUST keep the troop a program of the boys Dreams. The remarkable thing about boys is their dreams. The most difficult challenge for me as a SM was trying to make our Troop a place where dreams can come true. You want a boy to come to meetings, allow him to, No make him give ideas for activities from his dreams. One example was a few of our guys heard about Night Camporees. So the planned a campout where the patrols competed in a dozen scout skills all night under the Star Wars theme. The enjoyed that so much that they did it again next year and invited three other troops. That was about eight years ago and one of those troops now runs their District Camporee. Dreams of a night program and dreams of Star Wars resulted in to hundreds of scouts wanting to be part of their program. A program of dreams. I hope this joggles something to help you guys. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

>>The SPL told them "hey you slept through breakfast we're getting ready to break camp."

>>If someone wants to dispute that, I'd be glad to be corrected.

Whoops

It is an Excellent topic. I usually do it in either my home or theirs. I ask basically the same questions as others hvae mentioned. I to like to tell stories about them in the troop so they see why I think they are Eagles. And they are usually surprised that I watched them that close. We discuss a little about the BOR just so I can ease any tension and I end with a question to mull over. "In the future when you accidently pump into someone who doesn't know you, how do you think they would expect an eagle to respond? Why?". I have done Eagle Conferences in some unusual places. Once we participated in a 12 hour walk-a-thon at a track to raise money for the American Heart Asso. I did one there for about 30 laps. I did another on a backpacking trip. I have also invited parents of a couple of scouts with the scout's permission when I saw how important it was for them or I felt that it would ease the stress of passing the BOR. Our scouts always did well at BORs, but some parents worry anyways. I love this scouting stuff, a lot. Barry

Hi All What a mess. You have a son who wants to be treated like a man in a troop that doesn't know how. The problem is if the SM doesn't know how to use your son, he's trapped. I find adults like this will not give him a job that challenges his maturity and experience. I'm betting this SM is pretty hands on and doesn't trust the scouts to get the job done. Vernture is OK for the moment, but it is a weak program that most troops use as a black hole to push away the problem of not having a good program for older scouts. I can see your son needs and wants more development. But it sounds like the adults don't have the skills to work with boys his age. Not sure what he can do because what he needs and wants isn't within your Troop. I can only suggests that he try and challenge the Venture Patrol to do some really cool outtings and community service projects. At first that sounds kind of boring, but usually the scouts find the challenge of planning such things and serving other people very rewarding. Also if you can get him to the Philmont JLT training. It use to be NJLIC, but I'm not sure what it is now. That is a great great program for guys like your son who are a Type A wanting to learn more. I've yet to meet a scout who didn't think that was one of the best experiences of their life. And boy do they learn some really good stuff. Call your Council office and ask more about it. Good luck. Barry

>>The Webelos to Scout transition has always been a problem. I think it has to do with the leveling effect brought on by age and additional quality programs.

Hi Dug Hey, I enjoy the conversation, but I dont want to appear piling on. If this has kind of gone crazy and we need to move on, I understand. Its just Im trying to figure out if what you write are your words, or if your troop is really like you describe. One thing is for sure, your style of my way is the only way dialogue is consistent with all your post. >It seems to me that you may feel that our expectations are too harsh, but i dont feel they are unrealistic at all>These things are not a part of the Scout Law or a merit badge but these are what set these 3% apart from the rest of the scouts and non scouts of their generations.