Venture Crews

[4sons]

Does anyone have ideas on how to retain the highschoolers for venture crews. It seems very hard to get commitments from scouts because of cars, girls, sports and other interests at this age level. Please give me some of your thoughts.

 

[Mike Long]

Program, Program, Program.

 

The only thing that keeps older kids interested is a challenging and exciting program. If your older kids just do the same thing that the younger kids do and the only difference is what you call it they will leave because the program stinks.

 

We do not have a Venture Crew in our troop but we do have a high adventure program. Basically our program centers on two week long trips a year. The first is seven days and six nights backpacking in the mountains. (A big deal to kids from Florida.) The other is a week long canoe trip. We are looking at adding a third winter trip, but plans have not been finalized (don't know if we can get enough adults.)

 

Your trips can not be easy, they need to be designed so that the trip itself tests all of the Scouts abilities. If the trip is something that any Scout can do it removes the "specialness" of it. These guys want to do what the little guys can't plain and simple. The big caution is that you don't plan an impossible trip and crush the kids and yourself.

 

I have to say in our troop (19 kids) we really don't have a problem keeping the older kids interested and our ages range from 12 to 17 with the vast majority being 16 (5 of them) and 2-17 year olds.

 

I do have to add that our older guys pick and choose what trips they do go on very carefully but none just blow off scouts. They understand that if they are not active in working with the younger Scouts and dislaying leadership and a good example they don't get to go on the high adventure trips.

[cjmiam]

Yeah, Mike is definitely right. You gotta have a program. And it cant just be the same thing they did as younger Scouts. It has to offer them more adventure. We started a Varsity Team for our older boys. We do activities separate and in conjunction with the troop. Ive got about 20 boys over the age of 14 in our program. They dont all come at once, well except for spring break when we normally do a big cross-country trip. You have to be understanding of their schedule and not make all-or-nothing demands. Work around their schedules and reference the school/athletic schedule when planning your events. Dont make them choose between Scouts and a game or a dance! Those kids need Scouting probably the most of any of the age groups in Scouting, because of the other negative social pressures put on them. At this stage, they really need a big-brother type of person that they can talk to about stuff. Additionally, encourage them to invite their friends into the program. Best of luck and thanks for providing a special program for older boys!

[OldGreyEagle]

In our venture crew we have girls and boys and cant seem to get really going.

With band taking up most of the fall and then with plays and other activities, it seems Ventures are an afterthought rather than a main activity. The training tapes show a crew that has youth 19-21 leading and we dont have any of those types, 16 is the oldest.

 

So, should we control the program more? Or let the kids run it?

[cjmiam]

OldGreyEagle, you know the BSA's answer to that one. Im sure they would be encouraging a youth-ran program. However, between you and me, I didnt get my troop and team from 0 to 45 by only allowing the boys to run it. Theres nothing wrong with the 16 year old Scout running the crew, but remember you have a lot more knowledge and experience. I suggest either sharing your ideas and getting them to buy into it or just do it yourself with the other leaders (at least initially). Work the program around their schedule and make it cool, fun, adventurous, exciting, and before long, theyll be knocking at your door to join. And many will even choose that campout before a dance. It happened last weekend with 15 of my older Varsity Scouts that had a dance Saturday night! Happy Scouting!

[Mike Long]

I'm sorry to hear that you are having a rough go of it Oldgreyeagle.

 

I have to say that I believe that the only way for the Scouting program to be successful is for the youth to lead it. The problem is that the kids have absolutely no idea how to lead it and most leadership training programs in Scouting are woefully inadequate when it comes to teaching kids how to form a program. Most units also get the double whammy of losing older kids right when they should be leading and planning the program. I think the reality is that a program that works well is one that shares the control. Here's how I tackled the problem.

 

I planned out the entire years program with some room for change. At our patrol leaders council meetings I went through the program plans with the boys and we "planned" it together. The reality of the situation is that the decisions were already made we just had a discussion about the who what where when how and why of it all so that they could get a feel for the process. I purposefully planned about four trips that I knew that they would hate (one per season.) When those trips were brought up the whole room groaned. "Do we have to do that?" they asked, I replied "No, it's your program. If you have better ideas lets hear them. If you don't speak up and take charge of your troop you will be stuck with lame trips like this one." So then the boys planned those four trips with the help of the adult leadership. Eventually the kids will just fall into the role of taking care of their share of the program (with a lot of coaching.) It has been about a year and a half and the boys handle a good portion of the program but not all.

 

For me it is enough for the kids to tell me they want to do a trip and do a little research on it. I also stress the use of the internet to find out about trips. There are several good sites that can get you pointed in the right direction. (If anyone wants those addresses just let me know, I'm putting together a list)

 

It amazes me to watch these guys plan a trip in just how considerate they are of each others needs. Most of my guys attend public school but we also have about 4 that attend private schools that have a different schedule from the public system. I suggested they get schedules from their schools and bring them to planning meetings.

 

Now as for high adventure trips, we plan those about 6 months out. With that much time and anticipation we usually get their time. Despite what many people say, we ARE competeing for these kids time. Another big issue is how well do you know your kids interests? How about looking at what your kids are choosing over your program and model something after it or take the portions that they like and add them to your program?

My best example of that is that where we live has some of the best fishing around. I'm not a fisherman, I'm a backpacker but almost all of my boys love to fish. So I suggested we combine the two. Now the boys are considering a backpacking/fishing trip to the Smokies. Hike in one day to a fishing hole. Spend the next day fishing. Next day hike to a new hole, and spend a day fishing it ect....

Guess what, I'm learning to flyfish from my boys. I love it!