A Modest Proposal

[Gone]

In our troop we did a bit of "market research" to find out what the boys liked and what keeps them in Scouting. The answers, of course, varied depending on the age group. Here's what we found:

 

- Boys 11-13 were in Scouting pretty much for the camping, challenges of new things, feeling of being on their own or being trusted with stuff, rank advancement and being with friends.

 

- Boys 14-15 were in Scouting to hang out with friends, do "older Scout stuff" like archery/shooting, and "high adventure" stuff.

 

- Boys 15+ were essentially in it to get Eagle or because their parents are forcing them to come. Some seemed to really like Scouting but that other demands (school, band, sports, church, etc.) took away from doing Scouting.

 

- A common theme was that "stuff got old" either due to going back to the same places too often OR because the boys who were still in Scouting aby age 15 had ALSO been in Cub Scouts, so that they have really be in Scouting nearly 10+ years.

 

We took this information and sat down with the PLC to develop ways the boys could address these issues. The response was two-fold: 1) for the PLC to do some real investigation on activities/events we could do which were different, exciting and fun. These included sleeping aboard an aircraft carrier, developing our own troop high adventure program, doing more hiking/biking/canoeing, having courses in first aid, wilderness survival and other Scouting core skills and basically giving the boys more responsibility. 2) was to have the boys talk amonst themselves about why other guys are not participating and try to get them back.

 

For us the biggest issue seemed to be that boys as they got older wanted more time to hang out with each other, wanted more responsibility, wanted more latitude to be grown up and wanted to have fun in the process. When we sat down and helped them realize what is entailed in building a program/events that allows this to happen and gave them the skills to organize such events, then they got more energized about the program.

 

Still, the apathy kids get around 16-18 does not really wear off until that first year of college smacks them right in the face. ;-) Then the usually come back and want to be JASMs or ASMs. :-)

[qwazse]

Boomer, although a full blown sports oriented scout camp may be out of reach, I think you may be on to something. A camp with limited resources may need to offer a theme every year. It may tap into "sports focused" kids.

 

For example, one year they may offer morning excersizes in speed conditioning. The next year: weight training. The next: diet and aerobics. The next: core stablization. (Think "log Nautilus" in the pioneering area, or calorie counters using knots on a belt in the cooking area, and you might get the picture I havee in my head.)

 

It's impossible to do all of those well in one week when the focus should be on scout skills. But it may be possible to do one of those. If a sports oriented kid knows that every year he'll get to focus on a different unique fitness skill (even if it's not specifically the sport he plays), he might be inclined to come back to camp to pick up those pointers.

 

The challenge: trained supervision. What will draw such kids is not that you have those themes, but that someone with qualifications in those areas is guiding the program. Also, you need to ramp up the skills of your medical staff so they are prepared for potential injuries.

 

Then you need a little glitz. For example, if a popular local athlete was willing to drop by on the last day of camp and have a meal at the patrol site whose members participated in the program and showed the most improvement, the program would have a big draw.

 

Can't wait to hear what you come up with in the next couple of years.