jumpstarting a troop

[MomScouter]

My son is 11 and has been with his troop about 6 months. He is enthusiastic about Scouting, looks forward to campouts and events, participates in fundraisers and everything else. There is another boy (also 11) who also participates in everything. The problem is, the rest of the troop of about 9 (they come and go)does not seem very enthusiastic about anything. The 3 older boys are always busy with work and social activities. The younger ones show up for campouts and other things sporadically. I am committee chair (no one else wanted the job), and cannot get a committee to all show up for a meeting or get new members to join. Parents seem apathetic. The scoutmaster just got a new job and is not able to be at all the meetings. He says the troop is boy run, but I see plenty evidence of his imposing his will an what the boys do. In short, my son and the other 11 year old, as well as me and the other boys parents, feel like we are banging out heads against the wall trying to get things going! Any other troops in our rural area are quite a distance away; not too far to go to, but out of school district. Our choices seem to be to stick it out with this troop and try to get everyone motivated, or to move to another troop away from our area. (Our Cub Scout pack went through the same kind of stuff about 3 years ago, I became Committee Chair of the pack and worked like a nut to get things going and it worked - now there are a lot of parents involved and the pack is in great shape. These same parents will be looking for a troop in a few years and I would sincerely like to be part of a good one that their sons would like to join! ) Any advice?? My son wants to move to a more active, better organized troop.

[Rooster7]

Here's what I would think about:

 

1) Since you laid a foundation with the Pack, use that to your advantage. Don't lose contact. Let them know what you're trying to accomplish with the Troop. That way, when they come on board, you'll have some helpers.

 

2) If the Scoutmaster doesn't want to climb on board your train, then start looking at the Pack level for a future Scoutmaster. Perhaps the Cubmaster will bridge when his son does?

 

3) Stay the course, and be patient. It looks like the Pack will feed into the Troop and give you what you need - enthusiastic kids and their parents as volunteers.

 

4) Don't give up your Committee Chair spot and stay close to the Chartering Organization. Make sure they are "on your side". If these things remain true, you'll have the power/authority to make good things happen in the future. If you lose your position, you may be fighting an uphill battle.

 

Just some thoughts...

 

[MomScouter]

Rooster,

 

I agree with everything you wrote. But what about my son who wants to go elsewhere now? He is getting frustrated and bored. The last campout was cut short because the SM got sick and there were no other adults there except 1 ASM, so (all 4 of the boys there) had to pack up and come home. They had talked about this campout for some time, the weather was great, yet we could not get other boys or parents to attend. I fear that it will be the same with the upcoming Klondike Derby. I have told my son to wait until he is with the troop a year and then make a decision, but I hate to see him get so discouraged.

[P_Swigs]

I agree with Rooster. Having had success at the Pack level, you bring a certain amount of expertise to the situation, and as Committee Chair, you also bring an amount of clout. While nothing should be force-fed upon your small Troop, I think you have the background and authority to try and get things going a bit.

 

Find at least one other parent and work together with the Scoutmaster to pick up the pace and have a more structured program. Have you and the Scoutmaster gone through training? If not, go at the next opportunity. See if you can convince another parent to go as well. There are lots of resources to help you in your task.

 

Since you have a strong attachment and relationship to the Pack, work closely with the current 5th graders and their leaders/parents to encourage them to join the Troop. Then, make sure your Boy Scouts are organizing outings, participating in district and/or Council events and going to summer camp. The more solidarity you have throughout the Troop leadership and members, the stronger the Troop.

[eisely]

MomScouter,

 

To the extent that you are able get an active outdoor program going with as much camping as possible. If your scoutmaster doesn't want to buy into this, or is not able to buy into it, don't let him become an obstacle. Your position as committee chair is potentially a powerful one. Hang onto it.

[k9gold-scout]

Go to your next district roundtable meeting. Talk to other Scoutmasters in your area, they will often be happy to have your troop tag along on one of their camp outs ar even summer camp. Just keep your scouts in their own patrol for all your activities.

[MomScouter]

Thanks for all your comments. Our troop does have a plan to go on a campout every month of the year cannot always follow through due to lack of boys willing to go! (Example - last campout, 2 boys working, 1 not allowed to go on 'cold' weather campouts because he got sick last year, 1 didn't go because it was his birthday, 2 others MIA). This happens every month! Scoutmaster strongly endorses outdoor program, not a problem there. Main problem seems to be lack of parental support for program. (At the annual 'parents meeting' last month NONE showed up! Probably because in the newsletter I said we would be electing committee positions!) On a positive note, last nights meeting went well, my son and a few others almost at First Class and rarin' to go on merit badges, all seem excited about Klondike Derby.

 

Do other troops have parent problems? How do you get parents involved and get them to see what a positive thing Scouts is for their sons? We can't even get them all to the Courts of Honor.

[Chippewa29]

Mom-

 

I am currently in a similar situation. I took over my troop as SM last March after growing up in the troop and being an ASM for ten years. I took over for a SM who was burned out and not at all enthusiastic (he also had to miss troop meetings because of committments with work). Parent participation was ok but not great.

 

I can tell you one thing. You've got to be patient for things to get better. My troop is no where near where I want it to be and probably won't be for a couple more years. I have no ASM's, but a solid troop committee where a lot of different parents help out. Most of those parents have started to help out since I took over. When I took over, I spelled out a vision of where I hoped to take the troop over the next few years and what it would mean for their sons. I've also spent a lot of time getting to know the parents personally and have gained their trust. That has been a big key to getting them to agree to the changes I've wanted to make over the past eight months.

 

What is your relationship like with your SM? Does he see you as a great supporter or as an adversary? My committee chair is a great lady that is a big support. She doesn't try to be the head of the troop, even though at times the committee chair can be. If your SM sees you as an adversary trying to pull the troop in a different direction than he wants, you'll go nowhere fast.

 

Don't try to jumpstart a dead horse. You may need to take a step backward before you can go forward. As long as the older Scouts aren't a distraction at the events they attend, then don't worry about them (obviously, if they are, speak to them and their parents and ask why they are there). You have to focus on the younger ones that want to be there and build with them. My troop's 17 year old is around about half the time and helps out when he can, but we are not focusing on him at all (he ages out in six months, so he won't even be a member). Our fifteen year old is doing a good job as PL (no SPL as we have only one patrol) but my main focus is on developing our 11 and 12 year-olds. They are the future of the troop. We are doing things correctly with them and not worrying about changing the older Scouts. Pick your direction, and if they don't like it, they'll go another direction (leave the troop). Don't worry about quantity numbers for troop right now, but rather quality numbers. If you only have 3-4 quality Scouts, that is your troop and work on building from there. As you get new Scouts in from the Cub Pack (or other sources), you'll get more of the quality you need and can grow from there.

 

Something else you may want to do is try to find another SM. I wouldn't go behind your current one's back to get rid of him, but he may be looking for a way out and just doesn't want to abandon the troop at this point (our previous SM wanted out for two years before I took over, but he wouldn't quit until he knew he had a good successor). You may have to look around outside of the troop, but start searching for one. Even if you have to bring in someone to be an ASM for a time before they take over, that is great.

 

I was kind of glad to see your post and realize that we're not the only troop going through growing pains right now. However, I must tell you that being a part of a small troop going in a upward direction is much more exciting than when we were twice the size a few years ago, but shrinking and having no direction whatsoever.

[eisely]

Momscouter,

 

There isn't a troop in the world that can't use more parental support. You are not alone on that aspect of it. You do need to insist on more help and ask directly. Define specific tasks or responsibilities and ask people to do it.

[FScouter]

The easy "solution" is to abandon the leaky boat and climb aboard one of those big, powerful troops with 70-80 kids, a big bank account, and a 50 year history. The tough job is to build your troop. Life is tough, and your son will learn more from your efforts to improve the program in his small struggling troop than he will if you give up.

[FScouter]

I'm not surprised no one showed up for your committee elections meeting. Some parents are reluctant to get snagged for a long term committment. I felt the same way at one time. Try asking one parent to help with one single simple thing. For example, "Could you please help me set up the chairs for the Court of Honor". It's a lot easier to say "OK" to a simple task than to agree to be the Advancement Chair. Then 2 or 3 weeks later ask the same parent to drop of the Tour Permit at the District Office, "and at the same time could you please pick up a council patch and patrol patch for the new kid?" Next thing you know they'll be calling you to see what else they can do to help.

[MomScouter]

FScouter, you are absolutely right about getting help. Sometimes I forget this in my enthusiasm! Starting small is the way to get parents involved and is in fact how I got started.