Gone

We do as well. We note the program runs on parental involvement. In fact we flat out say if you don't want to get involved then scouts may not be for you.

The reason I'm interested is because I think the adult awards are linked to the decline in scouter enrollment and participation. I'm curious if there were started as a means of adult retention.

@@blw2, BSA put this guide together. Seems an awful lot is left with district. I can honestly say I've never, ever seen anyone put this much effort for any unit. Pie in the sky thinking. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/membership/pdf/522-025_wb.pdf

I suspect you mean that by "there's nothing anyone can do" you mean that the role of solving this issue falls to the DE and the UC. They are the ones charged with monitoring and fixing broken units. Looking at the membership decline over the last 15 years this is where I, as a businessman, would concentrate my efforts.

I feel leader identification and transition is one of the THE MOST fundamental problems facing the scouting movement. I'd suspect if BSA really did the digging they'd find that unit death and decay is tied directly to this issue; a completely solvable problem. We did like many here suggest: 1) We identify back up leaders and have them shadow the incumbent. 2) We developed a "how to" guide with an annual "role map" which showed the major functions of each position, what was due, where it was submitted and how the process was executed. In techie terms, we created a "run book" for each role; its a book that outlines every step a role must take to complete important tasks. 3) The out going person, for the most part, was available for questions and help the 3-6 months after rolling off. 4) When recruiting adult leaders was difficult we'd have a get together and politely strong arm the parents. We'd use the "toilet paper" demo where we'd note how much time was left for parents to significantly influence their kids by tearing a length of toilet paper by sections until just a few squares were left. Good visual. 5) The BIGGEST issue was finding a good recruiter. Good events and good ideas was key. This has worked well for my old unit. It has shrunk some from the 75+ kids we used to have, but that was largely to demographics in our area. The pendulum is swinging back and more young families are moving in, but a new issue is arising: the apathetic late 20- and 30-something parent. Most CMs I talk to find that their biggest challenge. In the end, though, Packs are something you need to walk away from guilt-free. You did your best! Even the best planning can fail if those who take over fail to execute. BSA can make all the "tool boxes" they want. If you give a tool box to someone without fix-it skills you might as well give a dog a computer, same end result. You've given someone something they don't know how to use to solve a problem they are not equipped to solve. THAT'S where DEs should be spending their time, not meddling in working Boy Scout units.

I'm curious, anyone have the history of adult awards in scouting? I doubt there's a definitive guide, but the creation and evolution (see what I did there?) of adult awards in scouting would be an interesting read. Frankly, I'd like to see awards given and or voted on by the boys for the adults. THAT would mean more than anything given by adding adults. Boy-led should mean in all aspects of the program, no?

Why expect the scouts do somethin the adults don't?

Not how I read his post. Means that in addition to caring about the boys they like bit of ego-stroking too -- to which he thought the focus should be on the boys at their COH. Save the adult recognition for adult events like RT. Pretty clear what he meant.

My cousin's troop does pumpkin carving as an activity for Webelos night. They use those kits and have adults supervise but the boys lead. SPL ushers the parents in to a room and he does the parent presentation. They usually get comments like, "Did we just leave 50 kids in a room with knives and cutting tools?" The SPL usually replies, "At least there aren't bears like at Philmont!" The parents quickly get what their troop is about. Those who don't like that approach don't join. Weeds out the naysayers early

Does not work well in large (50+) troops IMHO. The boys are more than adept at texting and other forms of electronic comms. Our PLC and patrols do quite well getting the word out via various electronic methods. We won't hold the scouts to a standard adults themselves could it manage.

^^^^^^^ THIS a thousand times! I'll add, our unit has the PLs and SPL talking to the Webelos. The JASMs talk to the adults and then the SPL comes in. All is run by the boys. The adults are around but observing. We do have the odd parent who doesn't get scouts think we adults are lazy. When that happens we are glad we don't attract them.

@@skeptic, I have an uncle who runs a brewery. Besides beer they brew root beer, as well as other things. He does host youth groups intestested in the science of breeding. How much more STEM can you get? I suspect district or council would have a heart attack at the thought of scouts Ina brewery though.

Exactly. Worse was that the tool box discussed what needed to be done to be successful, not HOW you to those things to become successful.

Go in a thread you started. Look at the buttons at the lower right of any post. You should see "mark solved" as an option. Click that and the system marks that as the best answer.

The strategic plan and its "analysis" is further proof BSA has people playing at being executives rather than real executives at work. Spend 20 years in the private sector, 10 in non-profits and 8 in the military and this can be clearly seen. They don't know their customer and are merely reacting to problems and issues....many not even the issues or problems they should be addressing.

@@Eagledad, when we change the guard our out-going SM does the same thing. It's hard to be the figure head when the last figure head is still around....even in a boy-led troop. Our out-going SPLs usually become JASMs. Interestingly enough, the SPL does not have the same problem as the SM.

I was a DL. I made a matrix of all the nearby troops and their attributes; cost, activities, size, leaders, distance from us, demographics, etc. I asked parents for issues of interest to them. I spoke to current scouters as to what they looked for. I went over the data and asked my sons what was most important to them. I put ALL of that on a matrix and shared with my Den. We planned visits and took notes to validate our data. We compared notes and then discussed our findings. In the end I left the decision to my kids. It's their adventure, not mine.

SPL handles troop comms. PLs handle patrol comms. There's a troop list and each patrol has a list. Boys are required to have an email, parents too. They all get the emails. The historian and scribe manage the website.

It think it is helpful. Rather than wading through all of the threads to see what the right answer is, users can see the "answer" at the top of the thread, then read the rest of they want.

The person who opens the thread has the capability of designating the "best answer" to the original post. The person who opened the thread has the control, though I suspect mods do too.

If it's any help, in our unit we have communicated to the parents that it is THEIR responsibility if they want their scout to ride with another scout. State law does not allow certain youth drivers to drive more than one minor in a car after dark anyway. We make sure parents know this and remind them during the first year. Also, it is in the troop bylaws as a recommendation.

Was the strategic plan a success? This "tool" was for CS. Did not see one for Boy Scouts. As with many things BSA does, it is more a collection of ideas that a set of implementation processes, policies, procedures and measurable objectives which a volunteer can use. I don't know how BSA can measure retention. All they ever ask is how many Scouts did you have in the previous year and how many do you have now. To measure retention you need to track if "Bobby" is still a scout one year from another, otherwise you are just tracking net growth or decline, not retention. Retention is specific to the individual. If Bobby leaves but Tommy takes his place you haven't retained Bobby, you've replaced him with Tommy. ROFL...I just have to chuckle at this. We had a parent cross over from a pack, filled out an application and became a Committee Member. Two months later wanted to become an ASM, filled out another application. Wanted to become a MBC, had to fill out another application. They got the MB wrong at council, person had to fill out ANOTHER application. The biggest failure is around membership. There's way to much to quote to discuss how BSA has failed in that mission.

I think this is it.

Other unit leaders I talk to in both CS and BS say that the 20- and 30-something parents are simply looking for a place to drop their kids; can't be bothered to step in to any role that would conflict with their girls night out or golf game. It would be interesting to see a survey of those parental age groups to see what they want. Might explain the decline in both CB/BS rolls as well as leader decline.

I think this article covers it.