EagleInKY

Welcome to the forum. You sound like a lot of the female scouters I know. I hope you continue your love for the movement throughout your adult years.

Standing Room Only

I gave two presentations at last year's pow wow. First, "How to turn around a struggling pack". This one was SRO. I was actually saddened that so many leaders came to find out about this. The second was for Webelos leaders focusing on the transition to Boy Scouting.

Just as I was about to post my message, I saw Bob's response. We're pretty close in agreement. He may have overstepped his boundaries a little on the joke incident, but I would let it go. It obviously bothered him, and as long as it's an isolated incident, then I wouldn't worry about it. Bob's suggestion may work very well. It all depends upon his attitude toward you, and his own ego. He may not look at you as a man yet. Even with an adult patch on your sleeve, he may not view you in that category. Give him time, he eventually will. If this approach doesn't work, here is another. I assume you have a good relationship with your scoutmaster. On your next campout, pour a cup of coffee and take a walk with him. Tell him your concern. He'll value your opinion because you are now an adult leader, but you are much closer to the boys than he is. Use the same logic as in Bob's post regarding setting an example. The SM can then approach this committee member to address the situation.

Many moons ago, between my college days (when I served as a ASM) and my parenting days (when I rejoined scouting), I was asked to serve as an Exploring commisioner. Which I did for one year. They approached local businesses that had been supporting of scouting and found young Eagle Scouts who were not currently involved at a unit level. They recruited us to go out and help these units. I think it worked as an effective recruiting tool. The only problem was that the units weren't too interested in having us around.

You're not going to get much support here skyhook. While these "harmless" gags are fun, and for many boys - like yourself - are fine. We can't predict which boy will "get the joke" and which ones will be hurt by it. I think we've gone overboard with the political correctness in this aspect of scouting, but we are where we are. Best to just leave it alone.

Methinks you may be paying the price of some other problems. Perhaps this guy was somehow related to the pack that died. Maybe the DE doesn't want him involved for some other reason. I've seen similar things happen. Don't blame the council or the BSA. It sounds like you've got some type of personal agenda in the way here. I agree with what the other poster said. Take your time. Don't rush to get things going only to have a negative experience for everyone. Best to let the CO, pack leadership and the district get things straightened out first.

Hello fellow Kentuckian. Welcome to our virtual campfire. It's impossible for me to guess what is going on from your description. I believe we'll all need to have a better understanding of the status of your pack. Do you have any more details? Has the pack formally been chartered? For a pack to exist, a chartering organization must exist(usually a church, but can be a school, civic group or an organized group of parents). This chartering organization has a form to sign and a fee that they have to pay to be recognized. They also have to have the required number of leaders and (I believe) 5 registered boys.

Yeah, but if it weren't for Antelopes, the song would never really end.

I conduct SCs very informally. They are usually at meetings, but often occur on campouts as well. There is no uniform requirement. I don't follow any particular outline. It's meant purely as a way to get the boy to talk to me and feel at ease going into the BOR. Since we're a small troop (15 boys), I talk to each boy regularly. Therefore, there is not a lot of "new" stuff that comes out. Here's my informal outline: - Congratulate him on where he is. Ask him if he's excited to be ready for ____ rank. - How are things going? (just trying to make him feel comfortable) - Explain the BOR process. For younger scouts this is very important. - Ask him about his favorite things to do in scouts. If there are any particular items that I can remember, I'll try to get him to talk about them. - Ask him what he would change about scouts/his troop/his patrol. I sometimes get some interesting answers to this. - If we've had any behavior problems, I'll talk to him about them. - Ask him how school is going. What's his favorite subject? I try to encourage him to then pursue like subjects in scouts. For example, if he says "science", I'll mention some of the science related merit badges. - I also try to get him to ask me a question. That's always hard. - Encourage him again for his BOR and for his next rank advancement. Tell him that I'm confident he'll do great in the BOR. Now, I don't always hit every point. It varies from boy-to-boy. They range from 5 minutes to 20 minutes. They probably average around 10 or so.

You gotta be kidding me. Most of these things are a joke. I agree, these guys need to get a life. We have a simple list: The following items are prohibited on campouts and troop activities: - Electronic devices (radios, games, CD players, cell phones, etc.) - Junk food (including soft drinks). - Weapons (including sling shots and sheath knives) - Alcohol or drugs. - Offensive materials. No inspection takes place. If a boy brings his cell phone, as long as it stays off and out of site. Same way with any electronic items. Junk food rule is because we have a couple of kids that tried to live off of candy and soda and made themselves sick. Prescription drugs or OTC are okay, but we have to know about them.

Volunteer - Those people in orange jumpsuits picking up trash on the Interstate. (Sorry Cody, couldn't resist). Go Big Blue!

Summarizing some things that were said: -Den leader can only be the guardian for his/her own son. -Other parents can be guardian for someone else's child with their signed approval. (Personally, we request that no parent be guardian for more than two boys). -No boy can sleep in a tent with an adult other than there own parent (that's parent, not guardian). -Boys are not required to sleep in a tent with their parents. You can put boys in tents together. You can even partner them with some of your younger scouts if you want. I would caution against putting them in tents with older scouts, due to the large age gap.

Another suggestion. If you have Windows XP, download Microsoft Movie Maker. It's free. Other than being a little slow, it's a slick way of doing a slide show. It has some cool transitions, and works better with music. My 12 year old did a 15 minute movie on Summer Camp for our last COH. It played while the families were eating dinner. He did it all with practically no help from me (and he had never used it before).

I wonder if it's hazing (or any other negative term) if you see the failure coming, can prevent it you want to, and let it happen, in order to "teach the Scout a lesson"???? Not at all. In fact, don't we see most failures coming? We have to sit back and let it happen (assuming we're not talking a safety issue here). I've told this story before, so forgive me. But it's a good example of this. Our boys complained that we always had too much to do on campouts, and not enough time for play. They wanted a campout where they just "hung out". The ASMs and I knew this was a bad idea, but we let them do it. What do you think happened? By Saturday afternoon it was "hey Mr. J, what are we going to do next? We're bored!". I told them I had nothing planned. But their patrol leaders could probably come up with a game or two, take them on a hike, etc. They managed to have a good time, but they probably won't do that again. I knew this would happen. They did not have the funnest of campouts. Could I have stopped it? Sure, but what would they have learned. Allowing mistakes to happen in a controlled environment is part of what Scouts is about.

Thanks Eagle69, I was going off of memory.... which fails me more and more these days.

Dan beat me to it. Charitable miles are claimed at $0.15 per mile. That's a good standard for units to use, if they are going to do reimbursements. Of course, the parents cannot claim it if they are reimbursed for it.

Failure is a critical component in the growing process. We learn from our failures. When we teach skills, we often see failure initially, and turn that into success. One of the most difficult concepts for parents in Boy Scouts is to accept failure. Some troop meetings will not be run well, some will go long, some campouts will not don't go according to the agenda, some meals get burned, etc. But we take these experiences, evaluate them, and learn from them. That's the only way they'll learn what works and what does not. "Do your best" is a fundamental concept in scouting. But, it is not the Boy Scout motto. I believe there's a reason for that. Scouts are not only supposed to do their best, but they are to learn how to be successful. They succeed through preparation, training, leadership, and skills.

A couple of other quick comments. I will go directly to the parents before taking it to the troop committee. I believe most parents would like to have a shot of handling the situation from home before it becomes a topic of discussion at next month's committee meeting. I have had to do this, and it's a difficult situation. I had a mom go to tears because she was dealing with the same problems with him at home. There are two positive outcomes that could come from this step. One, the boy - when he learns that the SM is meeting with his parents regarding his behavior - may straighten things out. Second, you may learn some ideas from the parents on how to handle their son. This happened in the case I referenced. Gabe - One of the big carrots for the SM is the "demonstrate Scout Oath and Law" requirement for each rank. I have used this, and will continue to use it, as a great motivator. The boys want to advance. If this is getting in the way, they'll try to straighten up so they can do so. The only down side is that they will sometimes slip back after they've been signed off.

Good question Mark. IMHO, the committee only comes in when a serious issue has arisen and it is to the point of potentially asking a boy to leave the troop. The committee should have a good understanding of discipline rules and/or a policy to keep them straight. I do not believe this is a decision a SM makes on his own. In fact, I believe any such issue should go to the CO. But it should flow through the committee first. Committee members who may be attending a meeting or activity as an adult leader, however, may intervene as any adult may, if situations warrant it.

Doesn't change my mind. The SPL is supporting a uniform that is not endorsed by the BSA. For support, go to this link: http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/faststart/uniform/index.html This is Boy Scout fast start training. What is listed as optional? Neckerchief & slide. That's it. Everything else is part of the uniform. The SPL needs some training. Do your adult leaders wear the uniform? I've found that most troops that have poor uniforming have it from the top down.

Welcome to the campfire. Pull up a log and tell us a story or two. Discussions here range from fun to frightful, so be careful about getting too close to the fire.

Welcome to the forums. Your username scared me for a second, because I added/changed a few letters. It had a whole "Revelation" feel to it. Glad you're not that. ;-) Wow, good problem to have. Our small troop doubled this year and is expected to double again next year. But even at that, we'll only be in the 30s. Some here will tell you to "live with it". It's the boys program, and if boys want to join it, great. More power to them. However, I know that changing scale this dramatically has a big impact on the program. It's very difficult for the adult and boy leaders to adjust on this large a scale. It does have an impact on how the program is delivered. But, the good news is, the program can be delivered on almost any scale. I've also heard that the ideal size of a troop is in the 30-40 range. I'm not sure if that is based on scientific research or not. Perhaps one of the very knowledgeable folks on this forum will know the answer. If the other troops in the area are not successful, they'll have to either "change or die". Hopefully, they'll change their programs to attract more scouts. Perhaps you can work through your DE and unit commissioners to see how those programs can be strengthened. You also need to make sure you're being taken advantage of. Are there adult leaders coming along with these new boys? If not, then some folks may be seeing a good program that they can go "dump and run". Requiring, or even strongly encouraging, greater adult participation in the running of the troop may discourage some and cause them to go to another unit. Anyway, welcome to the forum. I look forward to seeing what kind of responses you get.

Absolutely not!!! The SPL has no right to ask the Troop Guide to do such a thing. Especially since the Troop Guide is doing the RIGHT thing and setting a good example. If I were the SM, I would probably have a polite talk to the SPL about how he would be better off setting an example himself, than critizing those that are doing so. Now, if the Troop Guide is being condescending in any way, then there is room for some criticism regarding his behavior. But, not with his wearing the uniform.

This is another one that hits close to home. We had a great boy-run meeting last night. Things fell pretty close to plan. The ASPL had put together a gathering game. The SPL took care of getting the meeting going while I was dealing with another issue. He handled opening announcements and getting them where they were supposed to go. Instruction was handled by the SPL, w/help from Troop Guide & ASPL. PLs then took patrols for a patrol meeting. Wrapped things up with some awards and a SM Minute. I was pretty pumped. There was an issue with one little trouble maker. He mouthed off a few times in the meeting. I saw the SPL and the ASPL each take turns at trying to quiet him down. At one point, I walked over and asked him to hold it down. I found out later that he said some ugly things to the SPL & ASPL. He also smarted off to me right at the end of the meeting. I believe the SPL went about as far as he could go, given my understanding of the events. It's now time for me to have a talk with this boy. We'll have a fireside SM Conference this weekend on our campout.