Non-Committee Parents in Boards of Review

[kenk]

Ever since my son joined his troop they've had parents who are not Troop Committee members participate in Boards of Review. Their only rule has been that at least one person on the Board of Review must be a committee member.

 

I'm the troop's Advancement Chair, and I've read the Scoutmaster Handbook and Advancement Committee Guide, and I KNOW that doesn't match BSA policy. I've asked the troop Scoutmaster and the Committee members to follow policy, but that pretty much falls on deaf ears - partially because our troop committee is small enough (just the primary roles filled) that its hard to get three or more members together for the BORs).

 

That led me to wondering how many of your troops do the same thing. OK, fess up.

 

 

[Eagle92]

It depends upon how the troop operates. In my old troop growing up, ALL parents were de facto members of the committee, whether they registered or not. They could help out with BORs, fundraising, campouts etc.

 

If memory serves, you do not have to be a registered member of the BSA to be on a district EBOR. Sorry don't have the advancement book here, but I know that not all members of the district EBOR in my district are registered.

[justmescout]

Your troop is not the only one, we have the same problem, just because the parents are at the meetings, if they are holding BOR's they gey pull up to participate. Is sad because the kids are getting their ranks without really being prepared. I have participated in a few(I'm a CM), but because mayority rules, out of 4 3 say yes anD what ever my opinion is it doesn't count. My son has his tenderfoot BOR coming up and I know he is prepared but let's see how it goes. Is this the norm?

[mbrownkc7]

BOR is not a test so being prepared is not an issue. The requirements have already been signed off. This is great time to get to know the boy. See what he likes about scouting or dislikes. Talk about his next rank and goals in life as well as scouting.

 

It is also a good time to get other adults involved in the troop

 

There is little preparation required for a BOR.

[hendrickms24]

Mbrownkc7 is right! The BOR is really a Board of adults that listen to the scout's review of the Troop's scouting program. Hopefully the Board will use the information they received from the scout to better the program.

 

I hope I made sense there, :-/

 

 

Mark M.

 

[nolesrule]

There are some great resources online for appropriate questions to ask during a BOR. I've made handouts of it for units I visit that seem to have the wrong idea about what they are about.

[boomerscout]

be thankful you have any parents at all

[Nachamawat]

You are right, of course, that it should not be a test because the requirements have already been met. However, I have been told that a recent BOR in my area has indeed included tests of knot knowledge. I was not included in the BOR but know someone who was there. The person asking the question was on their first BOR so maybe it will not happen again.

[ScoutNut]

>>"just because the parents are at the meetings, if they are holding BOR's they gey pull up to participate. Is sad because the kids are getting their ranks without really being prepared."

[Wrong Number]

I guess I'm still from the old school, but your troop needs parent participation.

No better way than to get the SM and the PL's together and set it up so when a scout goes to a BOR, at least one of his parents needs to attend, (this will give them incite as to how their boy is doing in scouting, and what is expected from him for the next BOR).

Now you have a parent at a meeting of the scouts, now is the time for the SM to really meet them, (and is a good time to feel them out as to what help they can provide for the troop as a whole).

When I was a SM and started with a completely new troop we had this all set up with the institution, committees, etc. before we even had the first scout meeting. We got to the point that when we had a BOR we had both parents of each scout that was in front of the BOR attending (along with the required CM's).

We had 28 scouts on the register with 26 active 95% of the time, and never ran out of CM's.... We were a patrol troop, they set up all activities for the month ( two months in advance), when we went on camp outs (monthly) they set up their own meals, and who was to bring what, and did the meals together switching jobs as the camp carried out.

I remember one camp out one patrol was going to have bacon and eggs for breakfast, and they got their lists mixed up, and no one brought the eggs, but they all brought bacon, so that is all they had for breakfast that time. It was a couple of months before they even thought of having bacon for breakfast again (even at home).

 

Chuck(This message has been edited by Wrong Number)

[momma_bee]

Guilty as charged. Anyone who can read a list of suggested questions and make insightful notes / suggestions works for me.

 

I have called other troops to provide adults at times.

 

We have 5 boys in the troop. With one exception, they each have at least one parent registered, sometimes two. But, I struggle with explaining (AGAIN) that mom, dad, stepdad, guardian, and mom's new husband are all related and cannot serve. We work hard to make sure that the SM / ASM who did the conference is NOT on the BOR and that the parents are not. I also screen those with an axe to grind. This makes it tough, and finding one for my son neigh impossible.

 

(let's see, I'm out, his dad is out, the ASM who did the scoutmasters conference is out, and so is that person who considers his momma to be a lying liar who lies)

[Wrong Number]

I guess I'm still from the old school, but your troop needs parent participation.

No better way than to get the SM and the PL's together and set it up so when a scout goes to a BOR, at least one of his parents needs to attend, (this will give them incite as to how their boy is doing in scouting, and what is expected from him for the next BOR).

 

What I mean here is, a parent should attend the BOR, not as a member of the BOR, but as an attending parent so they know what their scout has accomplished and what will be expected of him in the future. This is the start of parent participation in the troop, which can lead to getting more members on committees.

(This message has been edited by Wrong Number)(This message has been edited by Wrong Number)

[Mafaking]

 

 

We don't use non committee members on board of reviews. On the other hand, almost one parent from each family is registered as a committee member.

 

My opinion, your troop needs to tighten it up a notch on the committee side.

 

I have seen our committee go through cycles of strength and weakness. One might expect a controlling SM (me) to sit back and allow a committee to dwindle into a paper committee of only the minimum officer's positions filled. Quite the opposite. A strong committee means more resources and more things happening like they should. Records are imperative for a troop and this is a committee function. Fundraisers, another committee function. I support the committee by personally encouraging adults to take roles on the committee. I work in other ways to prop up the committee when I believe they could use a little help.

 

Low numbers of registered committee members is more of a symptom of a disorganized and weak committee than just a problem for BORs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[eagle90]

I would not have a Scout's parent attend a BOR with him. To me this might have a tendency to make the scout hesitant to speak his mind with mom or dad sitting there listening to him. Also some parents would not be able to sit on their hands and not join in. Is mom and dad going to accompany him to his first job interview? Time to cut the cord!

[momma_bee]

My thoughts on parents at BOR's are similar. My objects would be based on experience and I have at least 3 or 4 sets of parents that would answer for their son if given the chance.

 

Which made me chuckle at the typo. Insight is vision and what I knew you meant, but INCITE, to cause to rise up, seems like what would happen in our troop. Parents at the BOR would INCITE me to rise up and squash their need to speak for their perfectly capable sons.

 

However, an adult equivent of a BOR would be interesting. "Your son has earned his First Class Rank - what activity did he talk about the most? How has he dealt with any problems with the patrol, homesickness, etc. What would he want to see us do in the future?"