New leader needs advice

[MollieDuke]

I host Advancement Training for all new leaders at the request of our District Roundtable Commissioner. I've done Advancement for different units forever, and I've probably seen nearly every situation described.

 

It's been my personal experience that some individuals (particularly MOMS for some reason) become DLs so that their boys just don't have to work. They want little Johnny to have awards pasted on every free spot of their uniform and do nothing to achieve it because....well...it's work and maybe little Johnny does't want to do that work. I teach in a high school, and believe me, it does transition into every aspect of their lives. I see it and have to counteract it each and ever new class I get.

 

As for advancement, I try to get these people, as well as those wanting to do it right, to see that they do no favors for these kids. Advancement is more about the journey than the result. If they are denied the journey, how can they have a memory, or a lasting friendship, or a skill learned?

 

Personally, I feel the culture of our country is too focused on awards and prizes than the journey, so I try to focus on that aspect which I feel many moms neglect. One is an instant gratification, one is a lifelong gratification.

 

As for moving them on together, that comes into play at schools as well. I have kids in high school who can't read. They can't write past 2nd grade level. They were passed on to be with their peers. Most of these kids are behavior problems now. NO, I'm not generalizing. I could show you proof in their IEPs and Detention trips. They DO coorelate. So, what good did we do by passing them on something they have not mastered? It's a mess. As for me, the answer is more looking at an entire child and not just a sum of his badges or awards.

 

Good luck, and if needed host a training at the district level on advancement and use the Advancement Guideline booklet for your source. Make sure you have someone who actually is impartial, but then invite both your leaders AND the parents. Once they see the hipocracy, they may insist it be done correctly (or not), but at least you'll see where the water is deepest and can leave if it doesn't work for you. There is no reason to have this major of a difference in theory if you feel it is not good for your boy. It's about the BOY after all, not about you interacting with this DL. :-)

 

 

[SSScout]

See if this story rings a bell...

 

This past four years, I have been the Archery Range Safety Officer (no shoulder patch, but plenty of recognition) for our District Cub Day Camp. Five days of alternating fun, panic and great satisfaction.

Every Cub earns a bead a day for his Totem for being there and shooting the arrows( not to mention the belt loop).

One of the things we do is award a Special Bead for the Cubs Totem if he makes a Bulls Eye. I make the award of the bead at the closing ceremony each day, calling the boy forward, and the Cub signs my Bull Book. When we are explaining and training about safety and technique, I make a point to explain EXACTLY what a Bulls Eye is. The arrow must STICK in the target in the inner circle. The line counts. If it bounces off in the circle, someone else must testify that they saw it hit in the Bull area. I never fail to have to explain to some boys that THAT area is not a Bull, and sometimes I have to dissapoint and sometimes I give the benefit of the doubt to the boy. But I can never, in good conscience, award a Special Bead if they didn't put the Arrow in the Bull.

 

Perhaps you could talk to your fiend in that vein.

 

Oh, By the Way, Why did the Cub Scout Cross the Road?

 

To get to the Archery Range!!

 

KiSMiF