Cliques and un"Trustworthyness"

[louie6000]

I am a Webelos den leader and I have a question. What are the rules for turning in advancement? Can I go to the council for the following problem?:

 

Every time I turn in new advancement to the Awards Chairman, she questions whether my boys "really" did the requirements. I believe she is jealous of our boys since they work so hard at their rank and since she is the other Webelos den leader "her" boys appear to be behind in advancements since they focus on football and soccer etc.

Regardless of her motives, shouldn't she pass the awards along to the council since I am an authorised, trained leader, (More training than her I might add) plus she has no valid reason to doubt my honesty. I have nothing to gain by "cheating" the program or boys. I believe trustworthyness to be a core value of scouting. And for me personally I am a devout Christian attending seminary and raising my sons and daughter to hold their honor as a treasure. I have wanted to quit every time she does this. I only stay in since my son and his buddies in our den love it so. It is the adult leadership I can't stand.(Packmaster is always "Singling" my group out for harsher details and less positive attention)

[acco40]

Did they teach you what a Packmaster is in your training? If so, I'm clueless. I thought it was a S/W tool.

 

Have confidence in yourself. Don't worry about what others feel. I don't sense any guilt do I? Take pride in your den's accomplishments. Just make sure that it is what they want to do! Some of the thrust for advancement should come from the boys themselves and their families and not all from the WDL. Good luck.(This message has been edited by acco40)

[Big_Dog]

Louie,

I agree with acco, have confidence in yourself. I you are in seminary to one day have a church, then God is probably using this experience to teach you patience or some other virtue that you have to go thru a lot of discomfort to learn. Hint: churches are full of people just like these other leaders. As long as you are sure that the boys are learning what they should, just keep turning in the advancements and going forward. If you're talking about the cubmaster, look at it like this: maybe yours is the only den that can handle the rough stuff. That may not be true, but as long as you keep a positive attitude and convey that to your scouts, you'll come out ahead!!!

 

YCVT

bd

[louie6000]

I did mean cub master.

[Gidget]

Louie:

 

No, your advancement chair is not supposed to question you on the advancement information you turn in. At every training I've ever attended we are told that regarding advancement, if a parent or leader says it's done, it's done.

 

The next time it happens you may want to ask the woman why she's quizzing you - say something like this: "I notice you always ask me a lot of questions when I turn the advancement information in. Am I not filling the form out correctly, or am I missing information?" Put the oness back on her to explain where she's coming from. She may be jealous of your den. If she says that you just seem to earn so many awards, offer to send her your den schedule to help her out so that her den can earn more awards. In my mind, the key is not to take her comments personally. Instead, view them as a way for her to get more information from you, a good leader, to get her den operating more efficiently. If she continues to be a jerk about this, talk with the Cubmaster and if that gets you no where, go to the Committee Chair. Good luck!

[ScoutNut]

Just wondering how your Cubmaster is "singling" out your Webelos. What kind of "harsher details" and "less positive attention" ?

[louie6000]

Pack Flag ceremonies have been mostly done by the Den that the Cub Masters son and his friends are in. My den is only asked to do flag ceremonies on kindergarten-2nd grade PTA night instead of with peers (3rd- 5th grade PTA) or Scouts. It may seem petty, by my kids point it out to me; "Why do they get to do the flag ceremony all the time?" (Often in a whiny voice --grins--) I just defend it as "We did the PTA meeting last week....." or things to that effect.

 

Additionally, any messes made by any other group, tigers, other dens etc. seem to get cleaned up by my guys and their parents since the Cub Master will approach and get them to "help clean this place up." His son's den is usually out playing tag in the school yard when this happens. I don't believe the boys have noticed the cleaning up side of things. I just don't let them run wild when there are things that need doing to retun the school property to a nice condition. But the cub master makes no effort to collect other dens or announce before dismissing that they should stick around for cleanup.

[Laurie]

Hmmm...sounds vaguely familiar in some aspects. My 2 cents, which is worth just about that , is to try the following:

 

1. Ask if the den you lead may lead the flag ceremony at a specific time/event. Say that the boys have expressed an interest in doing this. It should be received well, and it's not a criticism, just a request.

 

2. First, recognize that your den is actually there and available for clean up. That may be why they get asked: they are right there as others run off. Second, ask the CM or CC to ask the other DLs to recruit the help of their boys as well. All should be helping, and it helps everyone to head home sooner if many hands are busy. Plus, it keeps those running about out of trouble.

 

3. I personally like Gidget's advice for responding to the Advancement Chair. Why not just ask if you are doing something incorrectly? That way, you've provided an opening for a response, even a critical one, but you have not placed blame or complained.

 

And try to have fun This past month for us was really tough, but when we had our first ceremony in years, and the boys AND parents loved it, it was well worth hanging in there to see that happen. Sometimes we just need to remind one another of that.