Back from Summer Camp

[gwd-scouter]

Hi folks.

 

Back from our week at summer camp - Camp Old Indian in the Blue Ridge mountains. Great time had by all! Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do on the Forum, though.

[purcelce]

I just got back from Camp Happy from my week stint as Aquatics Director. Great week. The best parts of it all was: I had three first year campers complete the mile swim. Three kids who were non-swimmers made blue swimmer. One old guy finished completed the mile swim. I got to play pirate. Nobody drowned on my watch.

 

 

[SWScouter]

I'm just back from Camp Raymond near Flagstaff, AZ. I had a great time and did Life guarding and both low & high COPE.

 

My son and the rest of the scouts seemed to have a blast. Except for a short bout of homesickness my son did great, earning Swimming, First Aid, and Woodcarving MBs. He's already looking forward to next year.

 

It was really neat watching the scouts bond together, especially the new scouts with eachother and the older scouts.

 

It's great to be home and clean all the dust off but I'm ready to go back!

 

SWScouter

[hops_scout]

Just returned within the hour. Will add more later.

[GernBlansten]

Returned this afternoon. Aside from the bears, we faired well.

[Capella Rocks]

Back from Summer Camp as well - out troop's 1st camp!

 

We have 7 boys in the troop - 1 experienced scout (1st class, completed NYLT), and 6 first year campers. Experienced scout had a blast, earned 3 Merit badges, tapped out for OA, did some service for the staff, wants to be a Counselor in Training next year, etc.

 

2 of my first year campers (ages 11 - 12), had a blast. Completed the FYC program, and after next week, ready to advance to Tenderfoot (Have to finish part 2 of the physical requirements: push-ups, run, etc.; which they will do next week.)

 

4 boys (ages 13- 15), were our problem scouts. They didn't do anything to warrant expulsion from camp, but they were habitually late in getting up, didn't contribute to campsite or cabin maintenance, had to be coerced to attend some of the activities, and chose to blow off the last afternoon of FYC. In short, my scoutmaster and I (I'm the troop committee chair), believe that these 4 boys did not live up to the scout oath and promise, which is a requirement for advancement for tenderfoot.

 

We informed their parents about their behavior, and of course, the reactions ranged from, "I'm very sorry that my son acted this way and I will take care of it" (which the parent did immediately), to "my son was influenced by his buddy, and he shouldn't be responsible for his actions - it's all his buddy's fault).

 

We don't want to shut the door on these boys in scouting, and it is our hope that the boys will look on this as a learning experience. But we believe we are doing a disservice to scouting if we advance these boys. I'm thinking of having the boys perform some type of service project to show "scout spririt." So to the forum...

 

1) Are we correct in not advancing these boys? If you feel we should advance these boys, what steps should we take to avoid having this issue in the future?

 

2) If you feel we should not advance these boys, what suggestions would you make for us to give to these boys as a project or other means to show "scout spirit" for advancement?

 

YOS,

 

Capella Rocks

[t158sm]

I think we have all just gotten back from summer camp - sounds like it from the posts.

Scouts had a good time - program wise. Was a strange week all around - more later. Food was the worst ever - cold and skimpy. Good to be home.

[GernBlansten]

Cappella,

Take heart. your 13-15 year olds were acting just like 13-15 year olds.

I thought we (as adults) had it made in the shade when one of our 16 year old Eagles joined our summer camp as an JASM. I thought, great! Now we can really step back and let the boys be lead by experienced youth leadership. Boy was I wrong. He acted just like a typical 16 year old. Up late, wouldn't follow through with tasks, just all around lazy. He wasn't disobedient or discourteous, just lazy. Oh well. We spend our camp working with him and the SPL (a 15 year old Star scout) on leadership, always working through them to get our patrol leaders through the tasks. Over and over and over again. Just seemed twice as hard on us.

Good news is, our patrols (all four of them) worked great together. Cooked, cleaned, camped as a team. It was fun watching those 2nd year patrol leaders grow into leaders. We had 24 scouts, 15 of which where first years. I can already see who will blossom from that class into our next set of leaders.

 

About the bears...

The camp we went to in northern Colorado had a real problem with black bears. We did patrol camping where the boys do all the cooking and cleaning in camp as patrols. We are in a drought so there just aren't any berries for the bears and they have come into camp to get grub. The boys had be very careful not to spill food on the ground or themselves and return all food back to the commissary every night along with the trash. Camp provided steel bear boxes to put "smellies" so nothing of interest was in the tents. First night, I was awoken by two shotgun blasts in the neighboring campsite. Then the unmistakable sound of a huffing bear running through our camp. The camp rangers were standing watch each night and would shoot bean bags at the bears to scare them off. By the four night, we pretty much expected shots (they happened like clockwork about midnight). Our diligence and attention to campsite cleanliness paid off. No bears in any tents and our cook boxes survived with no attempted break ins. The scouts learned a valuable lesson in camping in bear country. They learned the if you take proper precautions, bears really don't have much interest in you. By the end of the week, many of the boys were sleeping outside their tents. Like a tent would provide much protection from a bear anyways!

[Capella Rocks]

GB,

 

Just so I get this correct, although these boys were lazy and had to push, pulled, and dragged to some things, did not participate in campsite maintenance, and blew off some of their program, that you would go ahead and advance them anyway? I think that these types of behaviors are not in accordance with the Scout Oath and Law?

 

YOS,

 

Capella Rocks

[GernBlansten]

No, I think they should not advance, especially if you feel they don't live up to the scout oath. But I think they are acting as typical teenagers. In my mind, if being lazy and generally detached from responsibilities is a reason to hold a scout back, then 95% of scouts shouldn't advance beyond scout.

[Lisabob]

Capella, I think you need to trust your and the SM's judgment on this. What you've described could encompass a wide range of behavior, ranging from minor, unthinking rudeness to downright open insolence. And the minimum standard of "acceptable" behavior is also in the eye of the beholder. Please understand, I'm not trying to make excuses for poor behavior. Just saying that I don't think there is likely to be a consensus on this and so you have to rely on your own standards in the end.

 

That said, a word of caution. I certainly understand a desire to help these boys learn the meaning of scout spirit. I would be wary, though, of setting the bar too high for tenderfoot rank. You don't want to make it unattainable or discourage them to the point of quitting. Then they won't reap anything from the program. And of course, your expectations of them are likely to grow as they advance in ranks (and experience and maturity), so do give them some room for that maturation process to occur. Character development doesn't occur overnight.

 

Good luck, it doesn't sound like the easiest of situations but this is where the real "work" of scouting gets done.

 

Lisa'bob

 

[Gags]

Capella,

 

In the "problem" boys defense, did you realize before camp what the FYC program was, and who it was geared toward?

 

In my experience, the FYC is basically an "Intro to Scouting" for 11-12 year olds. I've seen this program at 2 different camps (on in VA, one in NJ), and at both places, a 13-15 yr old would be the oldest by far (if not the same age as the counselor). The fact that they made it to the last day of class w/o missing any sessions tells me they either have an extremely high tolerance for boredom, or someone was watching over them the whole time.

 

If they joined scouting late, I wouldn't bother with the FYC program. Send them off to the rifle range or waterfront for MB work - something that will challenge them. Few SC badges require "pre-requisites" that would have been covered only in the FYC program.

 

Also - was there any complaints about them from the counselors?

 

Getting up a late is just a fact of life for some of us. My "over/under" for the amount of Summer Camp breakfasts I've made or missed falls well into the "went hungry" category.

 

And just to prove that I'm not meaning to sound overly critical, I agree that holding them back from advancement is acceptable - if for no other reason than failing to do their portion of the work around camp. Having them perform an extra service project to show scout spirit hints at adding a requirement. Why not just hold a SM Conference with them, or better yet, have the Board of Review for them, but let the board hold them up for a month until they show improved attitude. That way, there's no "punishment" involved, and the "bad guys" are the BOR, not the SM or ASM who will work with them much more frequently.

 

Just my thoughts for a slow day at work,

 

Gags

[tentmaker]

We just got back Saturday. Had a great week at Camp Daniel Boone.

 

We only had one scout in the equivalent of the FYC program. (called going great at Daniel Boone and TNT at Rainey Mountain). He is only 11 and was still pretty bored by the program. For an 11 year old fresh cross over with just a few months in the troop it is a good idea but if they have been in the troop long enough to take a few camping trips I would skip it.

 

As far as scouts being lazy that is your decision to advance or not. If they are standing for tenderfoot and can meet all the requirements I would probably let them advance. If they were 1st class sitting for star my answer would be different. Set you expectations based on their experiece and communicate those expextations clearly. Anytime you decline to advance someone you should very clearly state why and what they need to do to advance.

[evmori]

Capella,

 

We have had a rule in our Troop for years - Blow off a merit badge class or other scheduled program you go home regardless of the day. We have only had to do this once.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[ASM59]

Welcome Home to all,

 

We arrived back from summer camp on July 1st. Overall, I'd say it was a good week despite the problems that I noted in another thread.

(http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=136032)

 

The boys were very well behaved and I saw very encouraging signs that they are really getting the whole "boy lead" concept.

 

On the FYC topic, I'll interject that we typically steer clear of that program except for certain Scouts that we really think will benefit from it. I definitely agree that putting an older Scout (even if he just joined) in that program could be bad for him based on the same reasons already cited. We typically get our new Scouts in February and have the chance to take them on several outings before Summer Camp. They are usually finished or nearly finished with their Tenderfoot requirements by that time. We encourage them to take Swimming and First Aid and one or two other merit badges during the week. We also schedule a couple of Troop activities to keep them busy. Busy, means less chance of getting homesick.

 

ASM59