PNScouter

I was about to say the reverse was also true in some of your posts until I read your last one. But back to your original question. This is a forum where you really need to get to know the members. Although I do not post much, I do view their posts often, you really need to watch these people often to get a sense of their character so you can judge who is giving sound advice and who is not. Also, it can be irritating to find out you are wrong.

kenk, I have a feel for what you are going through except from the other end. I am an ASM in a troop that has a boy with Asperger's. It is a tough challange for a troop to deal with a kid with this type of disability. We have not been totally successful in incorporating this young man into our troop and I believe this is due to a lack of knowledge of Asperger's. We need to educate our Adults and youth and I think we will be able to help this guy. You should find a troop that is willing to learn (adults and youth) what the Asperger's is and how to deal with it before the young man joins. The troop needs to be prepared. Don't quit, communicate and educate and you just may find the right troop to help your son learn how to act socially and begin to deal with life away from mom and dad.

I assume you guys have let the proper people in your district and council know of your concerns. You should be lobying these people for productive change.

Scouting is my hobby and I pay to play. Having said that our troop will buy the gas for the drivers on some of our longer trips. We also pay the registration for the leaders that attend summer camp. This is done on a case by case basis.

My first question is - is the PLC truly planing these events? Because if they are they should be planning the event so that it fits their schedule and their idea of a enjoyable event. If the adults are telling the PLC what to do then I would have the adults step back from the process a little - no, a lot.

The last time it was done in our troop the SMs and ASMs took the lists the scouts put together and decided who would be in what patrol, PLC was not involved, and some guys were not happy. Should we allow them to switch patrols with the approval of the patrols and the PLC?

What is the best way for a patrol to form? Should the SM & ASMs have any say in who should be in a certain patrol or should the scouts make the decision? Should, for example, two friends who like to make trouble when together be in the same patrol?

Using the patrol method has been one of the hardest concepts for me to learn as an ASM. It took me over a year to truly understand how a boy run troop really works. I could not control my need to make sure everything was working correctly and there was peace and tranquility. Made me nuts some times. Now, I still catch myself doing it on occasion and I tell myself, dummy your intupting the learning process, put your hands in your pockets and shut up. Yea, we still have to drive the cars but someone better tell me where to go or I might end up in my favorite fishing hole.

Herms, The answer to your qrestion is yes. We just came back from a weekend outing where I think the guys had a good time. We make it work during outtings by basically conforming to the SMs wishes in order to present as positive an experience to the scouts as possibe. All of these issues were discussed at the committee level or with the board of our CO.

I have worked with Greg on this issue and am the person which the committee may have chosen to nominate for the Scoutmasters position if the CO had voted in a different way. However, that is now water under the bridge so to speak. Now we need to pick up the pieces. BTW, Greg told be about this forum and I have been watching (lurking) for about six weeks and I have learned so much in that time. This is a great site! I would like to know what is the right thing to do? Several boys are truly frustrated with our current SM. The options like NeilLup stated are there, however, I will narrow them to three. 1. Stay and attempt to work it out. 2. Go to another troop which may fit the boys better. 3. Start another troop. I cannot consider the quitting option and to change my vision to match our current SM and CO would, I believe, go against the aims and methods of scouting. Option #3 is potentially the most appealing to me. I say potentially because the down side to this option is that I believe that eventially only one troop will survive and this is terrible thought. We are in a very small community and will be recruiting scouts from the same pack which has less than 25 members currently. Splitting the troop will mean splitting up some friendships and that is not what we had in mind. On the up side we could start a troop which is truly boy run and leader supervised. I have a potential sponsor lined up and a majority of the boys and parents (including 5 MCs and two ASMs) are likely to follow. I would like to offer the frustrated guys the #3 option but as I have stated it has huge rewards and huge consequences.

Yes, this camporee was great. I am amazed at how the staff pulled this one off. They should be commended for all of their work. For $25 we got a two night stay in a State campground, a boat ride to Mackinac Island and back, a full program on the island including access to the fort, a concert by Song of the Lakes, 5 meals, and an event patch that looks like it cost $10 by itself. Thanks to all of the FOS supports who must of kicked in a whole bunch of cash for this one. Good job Hiawatha and Scenic Trails our kids love it.