Philmont0406

Black Mountain staffers still have to burro in their supplies. At least they did back in 04 when I went through there. I don't see why it would change. They probably do have solar powered radios to contact base camp if they have to. Philmont is a special place.

Our troop only changes leadership positions once a year. We do it in October. We found using the six month cycle we spent a lot of effort teaching the boys what was involved just in time for them to move to another position. It''s like your own child, just when you get them to be useful around the house they move out.

I''ve gone twice, hence the avatar. I''m going again with both of my sons next year. I went with them individually the previous times. I''m hardly a rich man, they are going to have to pay for part of it this time. We''re in New Jersey and next year it will run $1545 for each of us. This includes airfare, per diem, lodging before Philmont, tours and transportation. It is not just a backpacking trip through the woods. Our troop has sent probably 25 boys over the last 8 years going every other year. They always want to go back. Is it worth it? Absolutely, the independence and confidence that they come back with is surprising. How many people will spend $300 for a Nintendo or whatever is the current toy? If someone goes to Philmont they''ll be telling stories to their grandchildren. I doubt the boy who got the Nintendo will have much memory of it. It is absolutely worth it.

All the weekend camping trips over the years sort of blur together. But, without a doubt it was the two treks to Philmont with my two sons on seperate occasions that stand out clearly. I'm trying to convince both of them that the three of us should go together.

Maybe incorrectly, but I'll assume that when the SM can't go on the trip at least one of the adults on the trip has had New Leader Essentials, Scoutmaster Specific and ITOLS. It sounds from your description the the SPL is afraid of his grandmother and that is why he won't talk to her. If you are on the committee you could bring it up at the committee meeting that some of the boys have come to you about the situation. How are the newer boys able to advance if the CC is doing the work on these trips? Is she signing off in their handbook that they did the work? If so, obviously she is doing them a great disservice. I first looked at this thread due to the subject, every year right after cross over we have scouts drop out of the troop as soon as they realize they have to do the work and not the adults. The hard part is to convince the new parents this is how the program is supposed to work. However, when it is the CC that is making it into Webelos III, then the SM needs to brought on board and a discussion has to take place at the committee meeting. Good Luck.

It is not a case of SM burnout. He's been the SM for less than one year. The boy had been a problem and the other scouts had complained about him. The SM tried to deal with him and correct his behavior. He allegedly hit other scouts as a first mechanism for something that didn't go his way. I was on a camping trip back in December and all the adults present commented that he was behaving, including the SM. The troop went camping again a few weeks ago. When I dropped off my son for the weekend the SM told me that he informed this scout that if he misbehaved he was going to reduce him rank from First Class to Second Class. When I went back on Sunday to pick up my son the SM told me he told the boy's mother that the scout could no longer be part of the troop. The procedure in our troop is the Patrol Leader should try to deal with it first, then the SPL, then the PLC and so on up the line. "Problems that may lead to a Scout's permanent removal from the troop will be handled by the Troop Committee and Scoutmaster and will involve the parent/guardian. Together they will work toward a solution with the Troop's best interest in mind." The part in quotes is from our by-laws. This is what the SM did not follow. Do I believe the boy should have been removed from the troop? YES. But, I also believe we need to follow our own by-laws. While I can't fix what happened in the past, I can prevent the same situation from happening in the future.

The damage has already been done in this case. The boy is no longer in the troop because the SM threw him out. He didn't follow the troop procedure, he just threw him out. I'm more concerned with him continuing this practice of threatening boys with demotion. I plan on having a conversation with him and hopefully this won't be an issue in the future. Thanks.

Our Scoutmaster (I'm the CC) threatened to reduce a boy in rank if he didn't behave on a camping trip. The boy has since left the troop, but I'm more concerned with future issues. The boy was a discipline problem, but we have by-laws covering this.

Can a Scoutmaster reduce a boy in rank, say from First back to Second class? If so what type of offense would it take?