Positions of Responsibility

[evmori]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the requirement states "serve actively" and doing nothing is not "serve actively".

[Mike F]

I reckon we all struggle in this area and most have a few scars if we try and maintain integrity in the system.

 

Specific things like participation percentages can be expectations, but it gets messy when someone tries to make them requirements. If a scout is falling short of the expectations, its time to take a closer look to make sure theyre still meeting the requirements of the job.

 

We use a written contract tailored to each POR. They are discussed as part of Troop JLT. It is signed by the leader, his immediate boss, and SPL. We make them available for interested parents. At the end of the term, the leader documents a summary of his actions during the term and submits a form to apply for leadership credit. They know what's expected so they can work to meet it.

 

The job descriptions are written to show increased levels of responsibility and leadership for higher ranks. (Example: A 1st Class Den Chief is expected to help the Den Leader. A Life Scout fulfilling his POR for Eagle is required to show significant initiative and independently plan and run Den meetings.)

 

When things are working right, we train, monitor, coach, guide, mentor and advise each leader during his tour of duty. If hes consistently falling short, we make sure he knows hes not meeting expectations and we make sure he knows what he needs to do to get where he needs to be. Its up to him to step up. We also let his parents know that hes struggling.

 

Its fairly common for scouts to reach the end of their term without growing sufficiently and demonstrating they are ready for the next level (rank). Its not a surprise to the scout or his parents, nor do we make it a big deal. Hes growing and were helping him in the process.

 

We played this out last week with a 15-yr old scout working toward Life. His first POR as Den Chief was weak he missed most of the meetings and didnt meet the expectations of Den Leader. No punishment or yelling just some counseling on how he needs to improve his game in order to meet expectations for Life. Next he served in a different position within the troop, showed a very slight improvement, but still missed, forgot, and didnt follow through on way too much. Feedback along the way was clear, so no surprises at the end. We had a SM Conf to discuss his progress and a few specifics on where he needs to demonstrate more responsibility. The lights are starting to come on hes getting it. Since the meeting, both of his parents have contacted me and thanked me for making the effort to get him to wake up. They see the same problems at home and school.

 

In my opinion, this is how the system is really intended to work. I would much rather work with a boy as he struggles, than put him through the humiliation of removing him from the job. These are tough lessons for a boy, but better to learn fundamentals of responsibility and accountability as a 14-yr old, rather than at 34.

 

When parents dont trust us to be doing the right things for their son and start demanding promotion because scout served his 4-6 months to the day, it gets much more difficult. The written/signed contracts help, but some parents want to push anyway. After explaining that BSA gives me only one other option removing a scout from his position as soon as he shows a deficiency usually gets them to back off. When it doesnt, everybody loses. Ive only had it happen once with parents jumping over District (where I sent them) to complain at Council. This forced me to set up a formal review to document the details of the scouts subpar performance. Our decision was upheld due to written, signed agreements and clear documentation, but unnecessarily created hard feelings. The Scout seemed to understand and accept his progress in our troop, because he knew we were being fair and consistent. Parents forced him to transfer to another troop. Scout is now miserable and misses his buddies.

(This message has been edited by Mike F)