Patrols grouped by age - Pros/Cons

[Mike F]

KL,

Thanks for chiming in. Hadn't thought about philosophical continuation of Den structure - great analogy!

IMHO, a change like this is a fundamental shift of the program and is beyond scope of PLC's authority. It's a boy-led program but SM is responsible for executing the program approved by CC.

[ozemu]

Mike F,

 

Same age patrols are virtually unheard of over here so I'm not so sure about the "wide-spread use throughout scouting". Personally I used it once only to get a large intake through the first (tenderfoot type) level in short time (6 weeks; in accordance with our National policy).

 

I agree that leading peers is the hardest form of leadership regardless of age. But age is not the key me thinks - IMHO experience is the key.

 

Our Troops are not allowed to be larger than 48. I cannot imagine 120!

[Mike F]

ozemu,

Please forgive my boorish US-centric view widespread use throughout US is what I should have said Your comments about peer leadership and experience are on the mark. Same for troop size I cant think of any advantages to huge size. 48 is great.

 

Thanks for keeping this thread alive. So far havent heard from anyone who successfully uses same-age patrols for the entire troop (i.e., not just for first year, or as an option to existing traditional patrols), but I still hope to.