Falterturm

Hey All, Thanks for the replies. This is a tough situation, as the boy in question has a "checquered" past- drug use, rehab, counciling, expelled from a couple of schools..but has straightened out in my view. Sure, a little off-beat, listens to different music than most of the kids, has a couple of earrings, but really seems to be making an honest effort to leave his past behind. The drug discussion came up in a campfire discussion, where the kid of the accusing parent discussed in length the drug problems of his older brother. This gave the accused boy an opportunity to reveal in (what he thought) was an open, safe environment. He was not comfortable with hiding his history, and felt safe with these boys in his patrol. Obviously, this past was revealed to a parent that flipped out, maybe because of the negative outcome of their experiences. I know for a fact that the discussion was blown out of proportion, as the school could find no kids with tales as extreme or harrowing as the ones told by the accuser and his parent. Even the kids that were in the fire ring that night say, "uh, thats not what was said, exactly". But the parent in question has the undying loyalty of the Troop- former SM, current committee member, etc. This family has since withdrawn their son from all extra-curricular activities at the school that the two boys attend, and has made ugly, personal attacks in writing on the school adminstrators that did the investigation and came up blank (the accusers parent wanted the boy expelled from the school too!), claiming the school was biased towards the family of the accused boy, simply because they tried to get the facts before acting. They were entirely prepared to take action if the allegations were true, but no evidence bore out the charges. When the school suggested that the families in question meet to work it out, they became belligerent, wanting the boy expelled without even KNOWING WHO HIS ACCUSERS WERE! They lost with the school, who exercised due dilligence before acting, but won with the troop, who IMHO, screwed up royally. I do not know what the real issue is, but a serious attempt was made to get this boy OUT of their sons circle at any cos

Hi, My Troop recently made the decision to expell a Scout from the Troop. The boy had alledgedly made comments about past behavior relating to past drug use and other innapropriate activities. One parent in the Troop heard about these comments and approached the Troop Committee and made a case for removing the boy. Some information appears to be misrepresented, as threats by the boy were implied, and now the scouts that heard the comments cannot first hand provide any accounts that fit the allegations, just second hand gossip. The committee was told the boy had made threats against boys, but no boy has come forward with actual events. Additionally, the events DID NOT occur at any Scouting related events, but at school. The father of the boy was asked in for a discussion about the accusations, but was only offered one date, which conflicted with a prior engagement. When he asked for another date, he was told by the Charter rep that he a was sorry he was not co-operating and his son was OUT. While a discussion was supposed to take place, the adult that brought the allegations forward told several adults that the committee had made the decision to expell the boy DAYS before the meeting was scheduled with the parent. This seems highly innapropriate- the boy had no opportunity to defend himself against the allegations. Also as mentioned, the events were alleged to have occurred OUTSIDE of Scouting. The school was also involved by the same accusing parent, and they did there own independent inquiry into the events and came up blank, no threats, etc. after talking with the boys involved. No inquiry was done by the Troop, just the allegations of one parent and his son. And the allegations by his son ONLY include discussion of past drug use and innapropriate behavior, no threats. The Committee was told that the boy in question told someone he would "beat their ass", but now nobody knows who he said this to, or when. No boys made this allegation. This stinks to me. As an adult leader I am concerned by the way this was handled. This Scout is a little off-beat, peircings etc. so I feel that it is about appearances and prejudice, not real danger to any other boys. Does anyone have any feedback on this? The parent of the accused boy has filed a complaint with the Council, and it looks like our Troop is about to be the subject of an investiqation, maybe even legal action.

Thanks for the good feedback.. We considered multi-age patrols, but decided against it for the reasons one of you listed. These guys are all pretty entrenched, most came up through Cubs together- I think that breaking them up would kill it for them, and the name of the game is to keep them involved and having fun. I 100% agree on the advancement issue- I am totally against "gimmes" on Scout Spirit or any other advancement issue. I am happy to let the problematic Scout go all the way through the BOR/SMC and tell him "sorry, the attitude is not that of a Scout". Unfortunatly, not all the leadership agrees. We do not overly praise any one patrol, or act overly critical of the Vikings, but you know, the squeeky wheel gets oiled- and they need oil A LOT. We let the boys plan ALL outings, and never say NO, but we will, for instance say "and where is that budget coming from?" "are you willing to coordinate and perform the fundraising for that very costly trip?" They are pretty good at recognising the impractical ideas. We recently chartered a Venture Crew, which several of the boys joined, and the attitude has actually gotten worse- maybe they sense a looseness with the Crew that they are bringing back over to the Troop. I recognise the wisdom of breaking this up into smaller pieces, and will get one on one with each member of the patrol. Of course, in every "gang" there is a natural leader, and I think the idea of pinning him down and swinging him over to the "dark side" so to speak, is key. Thanks again for the ideas, any more come to mind, post it. I appreciate you being here, glad I found the forum!!

Hi, I am a asst. SM and patrol advisor for our oldest patrol, the Vikings. We recently had the Eagle patrol age-out/Eagle out last year- an exceptional group of go-getters. Five of the eight made Eagle. They got along, were motivated, took a lot of responsibility, and thus had alot of respect and freedom. The Vikings are rising into the role of senior Scouts, and seem to expect the same treatment as the Eagles..unfortunatly they are immature, rarely show up in uniform, do not get involved in patrol activities (off showing off phones and iPods, which are banned BTW) They sit in patrol meetings and rarely discuss Scout business, slop together menus, and often raise their hands for camp-outs and just not show up. As advisor I go into the meetings and try to guide them, but they largely ignore ANY adult that comes in on the meeting. The younger Scouts really looked up to the Eagles, and they see these guys looking like lazy slobs with no Scout spirit. We are brainstorming to see how we can get them to step up to the plate and lead by example- everything from more freedom/priviledges, etc. But they just keep showing up and schlepping along. No real disrespectful or innapropriate behavior, just total lack of spirit. I do not understand why they even show up. Any ideas on getting them into shape so that everyone can win- young Scouts have good example, older Scouts have respect.