Summer Camp schedule-fill it up or leave free time?

[Hubert01]

I am a member of a troop in Michigan, and am working on my eagle. I only have a few merrit badges to go, and I am working on them at home, but I am the Jr. Asst. Scoutmaster in my troop and the way my troop is set up, I have to go. We have no SPL. So with only having a few things to work on, I will have a lot of free time. I think it is good to have free time so the boys can clean up the campsite and their sleeping area. I also like to fish so that will be worked in too. You dont want to overwork the boys, they will be too tired to do anything by mid-week. Plus you want them to have time to play games, football or my personal favorite, capture the flag.

These are my views, from a boy,

J.Habbershaw Troop 129

[gwd-scouter]

Herbert01 - Thanks for your response to my question. It is great to get a Scout's perspective on this.

 

Good luck on working your way to finishing Eagle. Let us all know how that goes.

[Herms]

We encourage our boys to only take two or three merit badges. We have some of parents who want their boys to take 4 or 5, lots of Eagle required etc... At our parents meeting we remind them that this is a fun time for the boys and really helps avoid burnout. Let them set there own schedules and just have fun!

[Kichkinet]

Our leader encourages us to take as many badges as we can when we are first, second, and third year campers. As we get older and have our Eagle badges already or have earned most of the merit badges the camp has to offer then those scouts can take free time if they want to. Free time offers the older scouts a time to hang out and have some fun together. Me fitting in the above catagory has chose not to take free time at camp. I like to be doing something not just sitting around in a camp site.

[Fuzzy Bear]

PS, My boys and I loved the TB song.

 

gwd

Two stories:

1. As a Scout, my best summer camp memory was when our SM had us pack lightly for an overnighter. We departed directly after supper in canoes and paddled across the lake to an island. Before dark we played games in the canoes and in the water. We then threw our sleeping bags and ground cloths down and slept beneath the stars and a bright moon. It was cold but we were tired and slept hard. The early morning return trip to a hearty breakfast was even better. That extra trip cost nothing to the program but was worth more than all the rest.

 

2. I don't fish but once every twelve years and only then by mistake. Scott, the youngest and smallest Scout in our unit came up to me after dark on Wednesday night and confessed a little home-sickness. As SM, I wasn't sure of the depth of his feelings but I listened to a few of his stories about his Dad and how he had gone with him and the other boys in their family to the lake. They had fun times over simple and silly pleasures worth a great deal to Scott. Something was said about fishing, so I agreed to go. I also confessed that I didn't have a fishing pole and that we should not infringe on the program.

 

Scott lit out to his tent and soon returned with a fishing pole for me and one for him. Along the way he also picked up two other Scouts that were equally excited about the impending outing. I agreed to get up at 4:30 A.M. and go when the "fishing is good". That morning came awfully early and with it was about six or so Scouts along with Scott. Down to the lake we all went where we began baiting and throwing in our lines in all manner of ways and directions. Of course, mine got tangled with another Scout's immediately and we spent the next half hour untangling our lines and all the while there was chattering expectations being hurled all about us.

 

The next thing I knew amid all of the laughter, jokes and funny things was that it was about 7:30 and time to get cleaned up for breakfast. Nobody had caught anything or even come close to a fish but that fishing expedition was well remembered by all. A few weeks later, Scott came up to me with his Dad and they both thanked me.

 

A few years later, I spoke to our unit as a former SM. I recounted a few stories all having to do with great adventures and the Scouts that were in them. Scott's fishing trip was one. Scott was a Junior Leader in the Troop and his Dad was with him. I felt a little home-sick.

FB

 

[scoutldr]

Well done, Fuzzy. Let us not forget, as we get all wrapped up in uniform rules, G2SS, and unit/council politics...we are also in the business of creating memories that will last a lifetime. In some cases, they may be the only pleasant memories a boy has.

[VAordeal]

Here is another Scout's perspective on this matter. I am in a unit where our leaders expect us to fill up every spot and get really ticked off at us if they think we are doing anything not related to meirt badges. If we arent doing that we are supposed to be helping with the construction of a "troop gateway..." In my opinion many scout leaders arent aware that in their goal of having their kids get loads of badges they are turning many away from the scouting program. Some parts of the schedule should remain free. Part of summer camp isnt just earning badges but having fun with old and new friends. Also, i dont think some Scouters are aware of how mad or annoyed their scouts get at them. When we have adults constantly pressing us with demands to take some badge or another, it gets very frustrating. Im not saying i dont like to badges. I love it, just some time needs to be kept for doing whatever.

[Hunt]

My son explained to me that he considered Scout Camp to be his real vacation, and that he wanted some time to relax. I would have liked him to accomplish more--but in retrospect, what better place for a vacation?

[Lisabob]

I just recently helped our troop's scouts choose mbs for camp and I had this discussion in the back of my mind. In most cases, the boys WANTED to fill every MB slot with something. The camp they're going to offers a lot of cool mbs as well as additional special programs. The main exceptions were a few of the older boys who have been in scouts for a long time. They left some blank spots, no problem.

 

What I noticed though, was that if only a few boys leave openings, then they won't have anybody to hang with (or to buddy up with - which is required) during their open times, because everybody else is off doing something during each time slot.

 

Maybe I'm missing something? What do you do, esp., w/ younger scouts, who have free time but no one to share it with? Wouldn't they be better off signing up for something specific rather than sitting around the campsite by themselves or just with the adults?

 

Disclaimer: I have not attended BSA camp myself so I might have missed something here. But it just seems like from about 9am-4pm things are pretty structured and a boy without something to do w/in that structure would get bored.

 

Lisa'bob

[hops_scout]

Summer Camp is my vacation this summer! I'm taking a couple merit badges, but I'm planning to hang out supervising some of the newer boys.

[pizzafrisbee84]

Hello gentlemen (and ladies??),

 

I am the Ecology Director at the best BSA camp in America (as proclaimed by me :-D). I have worked at camp for several years and plan to do so until I absolutely cannot continue. This year, I opted to take on the additional responsibility of creating a patrol activities program. I am working hand in hand with the program director to develop this, but on major problem that I'm up against is the lack of free time. Our camp, like many others, is very structured with Merit Badges, especially in the morning. In the afternoon and evening, our council mandates a couple of hours of "site time" for the boys to relax. No programs can be run at these times. On top of that, we do not run programs during Vespers, campfires, or outpost cooking night. This leaves me with only 3 1-hour blocks throught the entire week in which to hold patrol activities.

 

In my opinion, camp should not be a "merit badge factory." Yes, there is a lot to say for earning badges and learning new skills (I am a councilor for several badges), but Summer Camp should be an experience to stay with the boy for his entire life. I fondly remember my days at camp and I like to try to ensure that the campers get the same experience that I did. I have seen in recent years though that scouts are getting burned out around Wednesday. I strongly believe in the benefits of the patrol method, but how can I squeeze more stuff into an already packed schedule?

 

It's a terrible dichotomy.

[LauraT7]

I think that the boys should have some 'troop' unstructured time, rather than 'individual' unstructured time...

 

For example, a free hour after lunch or before dinner when they can all return to the campsite, visit, work on badge 'homework', organize an impromptu game of baseball or football ( our troop loves a game of football, with the tenderfoot scouts and SM against the older boys - the tenderfoots usually win!), hang up their wet towels and straigheten their tents, play a game of cards, whatever THEY choose to do with that time. the whole troop does not have to do the same thing - but if the time is scheduled for the whole troop - you avoid the problem of not having a buddy to hang out with or adults to keep things in hand.

 

30 to 90 min of 'free time' in a chunk is about right- it is not enough time to get too homesick, or for the boys to get into trouble if there are things for them to do - too much or too long of unscheduled time tends to cause both.

 

One summer our campsite had this HUGE, amazing tree in the middle - perfectly branched for climbing, and great for a rest, reading mail or a book, or just hanging out with friends. We have photos of the entire troop perched in this tree at once - and it almost always had a few boys in it at any time of day. it made for some great 'downtime' relaxation and great memories.

 

What has caused us problems is when the boys have too much 'free time' - especially when they hang around the campsite when leaders are out with the younger scouts - this is when we have noticed pranks & unacceptable behavior most often happen. New scouts, especially, tend to feel homesick if they have too much unstructured time and start feeling bored or lonely. Older scouts who get bored tend to think up ways of causing trouble! for that reason, if a scout returns to camp when he is supposed to be working on a badge or at a program area, we strongly encourage him to return to a program area, or work on some kind of badge, project or advancement with someone. we don't leave scouts unsupervised alone in the campsite.

 

Our council camps have a very structured program - set times for merit badges, programs, first class express, tote 'em chip, Fire 'em chit, etc. that the boys sign up for at the start of camp. there are some 'open' areas, and if you finish a badge early or only need part of a badge, you can join a different class later in the week - but it's pretty much structured.

 

One year we went to a different councils' camp which had all 'open' program areas. the only 'assigned' classes were for the program areas that needed close supervision - mostly waterfront and shooting ranges. you could join any other area any day, any time other than mealtimes, and work on any activity whether you were working on a badge or not. for the older boys who had some self-organization skills, this was great. But for those who were less organized - which was most of our boys unused to this 'open' plan - it was chaos. they milled around, uncertain, and often returned to the campsite - where they got bored, and either started picking on each other or causing trouble, or, if one of the leaders returned to camp and found them doing nothing but playing with the campfire (which was NOT supposed to be going during the day - no one there to watch it all day) - they got chased out of camp to 'do something'. The boys were frustrated, the leaders were frustrated, it was a mess.

 

my vote is for about 75% structured, 25% free time and flexibility to change depending on the interests of boys in your troop and their ability to self-direct. the older boys need less 'direction' but still need supervision.