How do you get the kids to wear the uniform?

[GopherJudy]

My son Mark crossed over to Boy Scouts in March of this year. The 13 boys (from 2 different packs) that are in the 2 NSP's are in full uniform. The SM & ASM's are in full uniform also. I did notice that a few of the older boys will wear the uniform shirt but wear a pair of jeans. The SM has told the boys all of the boys that they must be in full uniform, with shirts tucked in & have their handbooks, notepad & pen at all meeting. The SM has been the SM for almost a year now & is trying to get things to run the way they should; the SM beforehand just let things go amok! The SM now has gotten the boys into patrols, have PL's, APL's. SPL & ASPL & is slowly getting the troop to wear the boys are running it & not running amok! I personally think that the boys should be in full uniform.

 

Now, regarding clothing banks that people have mentioned. I don't mean to sound mean, but why would a boy want to get rid of his uniform (Cub Scout and/or Boy Scout) with all of his badges and/or patches that he worked so hard to earn? It's a memory for the boy & what he did! I wish I never gave my Girl Scout Junior & Cadette uniforms to my cousin! I would love to have them now & show my children what they looked like & what I did! I'm sure I have my handbooks but there stored at my parents' house.

 

Judy

[EagleInKY]

"Now, regarding clothing banks that people have mentioned. I don't mean to sound mean, but why would a boy want to get rid of his uniform (Cub Scout and/or Boy Scout) with all of his badges and/or patches that he worked so hard to earn? "

 

How about teaching the boy about being thrifty. You know, conserving our resources and getting the most out of what we have. Also, being kind, especially to those who can't afford a new uniform. These are good traits as well.

 

When I was in scouts I think I went through 3 or 4 uniforms. I still have the last one, but haven't looked at it in years. I say take off the patches and keep them as souvenirs. Turn the shirts in so others can benefit. Keep that last one, if you really want a memoir.

[Hunt]

It seems to me that there are a number of ways to get kids to wear uniforms:

 

1. You can require them to wear uniforms, and penalize them if they don't (i.e., by making them go home, not letting them ride in your car, flunking them in the BOR, etc.).

2. You can reward them for wearing the uniform (either with something concrete or with praise and recognition).

3. You can persuade them to wear the uniform, explaining why it's important.

4. You can provide a role model for them by wearing the uniform yourself with pride.

5. You can ask them to wear the uniform.

 

Now, what method you will choose depends on what your goal is. The first method is probably the most effective, at least for the Scouts who remain in your unit. It is probably the least effective in terms of building character and encouraging boys to choose to wear the uniform.

[madkins007]

Re: uniforms as memories- I kept a LOT of my old patches and will treasure them always. I have a memory box for my son's patches and hope that he will ask for them one day. Keeping the entire shirt is a bit packrat-ish in my mind. Don Anslett ("Clutter's Last Stand") argues as well for keeping good memory items, but 'miniatureizing' them to reduce the clutter we can so easily accumulate.

 

 

[madkins007]

Youth wear sports uniforms because they have great pride in their team and their role on the team.

 

Youth rarely wear school uniforms away from school no matter how much they like their school, but they will often wear school T-shirts and sweats to brag it up.

 

Could it be that youth are not as proud to be Scouts as they once were? Even in my day, we rarely wore anything in 'civilian life' that marked us as Scouts, and fought tooth and nail against wearing the Scout uniform to school on 'approved' days (at least past about the 4th or 5th grade).

 

And if pride is a major issue, what can we do, locally or nationally, to reinstill pride in our Scouts?

 

 

[Its Me]

 

My understanding is that the girl scouts pretty much did away with any real uniform. That the GS's have gone to a class 'B' style t-shirt for all occasions.

 

Perhaps the uniform is only needed at (blank) and all other times the boys could wear matching T-shirts. What I like about the GS approach is that the t-shirts are better for crafts, outdoor activities and physical activities. But when would we wear the uniform, only at pack meetings and ceremonies? Can I expect my families to buy a uniform that will sledom be worn? And add a $10 tshirt to the uniform budget.

 

 

 

 

[Hunt]

My son definitely does not want to wear his uniform to school. However, he frequently wears a T-Shirt commemorating a 45-mile backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail.

[KurtB]

I bridged from Webelos to Boy Scouts in 1979. I still have all of my Cub Scout uniform patches (Rank, Arrow points, AOL, etc.). Up until I got married 12 years ago, they were hanging in my house, but not on the Shirt. The shirt got passed on to another cub scout, the same way as how I came to have the shirt.

 

The wife of our Webelos den leader made each scout a wall hanging consisting of all of our badges, sewn onto "cub scout blue" fabric - the fabric was then hung via 3 loops on an arrow. There were no "panted arrows" or anything like what have seen done now, just a square piece of fabric, hung from an arrow, that reminded each of us of what we accomplished in scouting. I hope to do something similar for my sons Den, but that is still 4 years away...

 

Kurt

[VinceC]

You mentioned that this is at the den level. This year I got back into scouting as a Tiger Cub den leader with my son. Although I had been out of Scouting for 15 years, I still had over 20 under my belt. The first thing I did was to make sure I had a proper uniform, as well as my son. I put on all the patches and awards that I'm permited to wear that I earned. Not only did that get the attention of the young Tigers, but more so of the parents and other leaders of the pack that did not own or wear a uniform when I joined. At the first Pack Meeting, several of the committe members said maybe they should start wearing their uniform. They hadn't because no other adult leader had done so. And slowly through the year, nearly every adult now wears a uniform in my pack. As for the boys, this is the best example. At the young age, it is easier to get them to wear the uniform. All of my den were wearing a complete uniform by January. If just a few of the boys follow your example, the others don't want to be left out, and soon follow. Be sure to award them their badges as soon as possible so that they can display them on their uniform. Make a big deal out of it on their uniform, because it is a big deal. They EARNED it. And should be proud.

 

[Lynda J]

We do uniform inspections but not at every meeting. The thing is that the boys never know when it is going to be. Not long ago one came in without his uniform. And inspection was posted. He had his mother take him home to change..

We also as the adults always wear our uniforms.

 

When I was with the pack we had den totum poles and each meeting the boys in uniform got a certain colored bead. At pack meetings there were prizes for the den that had the most beads.

Normally it was pizza for the den. When I left the pack the uniform rate was at about 98%.

 

 

[NIscouter]

After reading Students' post on the use of uniforms (and one on changing the subject line in a reply), it got me to thinking. I have a set of clothes, or "uniform", that I wear to work only. When I get home, I change into my relaxation "uniform". This allows me to prepare for and be in the proper state of mind when I go to work and when I return home. When I played Rugby, putting on the jersey, shorts, and the act of tying up those calf socks under my knees, got me into the Rugby playing mind set. When I coach baseball I put my ball cap on and "change" into my coaching mode. I feel the Scout uniform does the same thing. I put it on and "change "into my scouter mode. This, to me, is the most important part of the uniform method. It pulls the kids out of the daily living "uniform" (t-shirt and jeans)with all its' baggage and helps them change into the Boy Scout mode and mindset. Sports use this method, the military uses it; shoot, so do the teen-agers with the "in" fashions. You cannot be a good leader without understanding the power the uniform has in instilling the Scout spirit into the boy and transforming him mentally into a scout. As Student noted, the uniform represents all that is right about scouts. A requirement to be a Boy Scout? No. A powerful tool to help instill the values of scouting and scout spirit into the boy and "change" him into a scout? Yes.(This message has been edited by NIscouter)

[madkins007]

In Cub Leader Basic Training, I was at one point trying to change our 'Uniforms' module from 'how to be technically accurate' to 'why uniforms?'.

 

I was planning on showing a picture of an adult in civvies, a similar adult in a 'half uniform', and a leader in full uniform, then asking the people in the class the following questions:

- Which person would you most likely trust your own children to?

- Which person is most invested in the program?

- Which person do you think understands the Scouting program better?

- Which person is most likely to know how to deal with varius issues that might come up in Scouting?

- Which one do you feel would offer your Scout a better, more enjoyable experience?

...and so on.

 

Then, show three youth in the same types of clothing and ask:

- Which boy do you think will go the furthest in Scouts?

- Which boy has the most family support?

- Which boy will earn rank the fastest?

 

Afterwards, discuss how much of the judgement they made off clothing ALONE with no other cues and how much the images affected their perceptions. Discuss how their perceptions are not necessarily correct, of course, but this is the power of uniforming. Then use that foundation to discuss other uniforming issues.

 

Unfortunately, we never got the chance to try it!

[Kudu]

> Now, regarding clothing banks that people have mentioned. I don't mean

> to sound mean, but why would a boy want to get rid of his uniform....?

 

Um, $10 and 2 Reeses Cups.

 

That's what we pay for used Uniform shirts. It motivates some of our Scouts to ask their friends and relatives for their old Scout Shirts. Sometimes they can find them in thrift stores for $5-$7 and make a small profit. We then ask a $10 deposit when we rent it out. Pants and boots are still $5.

 

One time one of the Scouts brought in a Scout who had dropped out the previous year, wearing his old Scout shirt, and asked for the $10 and Reeses Cups saying that we didn't have any rule about against bringing in Scout shirts with ex-Scouts inside them.

 

The ex-Scout ended up staying, which started our Reeses bounty on visiting boys: Bring a friend in for a Scout meeting and you both get 2 Reeses Cups. If he joins, the whole Patrol gets an additional 2-Pack because, after all, it takes a village....

 

None of our Scouts have ever owned a new Scout shirt. The big advantage is that you never hear any of that nonsense about the Uniform being too expensive to wear while camping, where a real Scout Uniform belongs.

 

An indoor Scout Uniform? William Hillcourt is turning over in his grave!

 

[Cubmaster Mike]

We provide neckerchiefs, slides and books. The pack has a uniform bank and requests that all old gear get recycled. Some do, some don't. I routinely hit up the local Salvation Army and Goodwill, looking for shirts to add to the bank. We provide shirts and hats to scouts as we get them. Our Pack BSA uniform is from the belt up at all den meetings and pack meetings. At Pack meetings and ceremonies, we tell the dens to each decide on a common pant style and put them all in it. We do a uniform inspection every month at the pack meeting. The best uniformed den gets an eagle feather on a thong for their den flag and their Den # and the month/year on a perpetual inspection award.

 

ANY boy who doesn't show up in uniform, I make it a point of asking him where it is (privately).

 

If he "forgot it" I ask him to remember it next time.

 

If he says it's dirty, I ask him to wash it.

 

If they're not in uniform, they're not allowed to carry a flag in a flag ceremony.

 

CMM

[BrentAllen]

When I joined our Pack 2 years ago, we had a "waist-up" uniform policy. Very few adults wore any part of the uniform. I came in as an ADL, and wore the complete uniform. My son (started as a Wolf) did the same. A year later, I was asked to be Asst. Cubmaster. At that time, I very tactfully pointed out official BSA policy: "Uniform parts should not be worn separately or with civilian clothing. The entire uniform should be worn or not at all. The pack does not have the authority to make changes the the uniform." We decided to go to a full uniform policy, and have had great success. We perform a quick inspection at each Pack meeting (1 point each for hat, shirt, pants, socks, neckerchief, belt...) and the Den with the highest % wins a $2 Brusters Ice Cream card per member. Believe me, they want to win those cards!