Camping trip attendance policy

[nighthawk]

Our Troop seems to be developing a problem with families who seem to think BSA should come second to everything else. What I mean by that is we have situations where boys arrive late to camping trips because of sports practices, leave for a period in the middle due to games and leave early on Sunday morning due to sports, church or other activities. At our last camping trip 30% of the boys left early Sunday morning leaving the remaining 2/3 to handle all the cleanup. We've tried having boys who leave early do cleanup the night before but that doesn't work well as we need most of the equipment for Sunday morning.

 

What I'm wondering is do other Troops have policies on arrival, attendance and departure from camping trips and if so what are they?

 

Nighthawk

Troop Scoutmaster

[acco40]

One of the things that our troop does is to try to leave as early as possible on Sunday morning as possible for ALL scouts. They do have school work after all.

 

We leave it up to the discretion of the SM. For example to meet the requirement for a summer camp "patch", it was stated that the scout needed to attend the whole camp (Sunday afternoon - Saturday morning). A Scout asked if he could leave Friday evening (had a sporting event on Saturday). The SM gave him permission. We do it on a case by case basis.

 

 

[le Voyageur]

 

I would break up a camping trek into equal segments that would total for the entire period. Those that leave early would only get those hours they camped, and no more.

This will impact both advancement and any future consideration for OA membership, and force both parents and scouts to consider what really is important to them, and reward those who stay the course......

[OldGreyEagle]

Here's a thought, throw the issue to the PLC. Odds are the PLC is composed of both dumpers (those who leave early, come late, etc) and dumpees (those who get stuck when others leave.

 

See what they come up with to address the situation. You never know, it could be rather interesting, entertaining at the least

[nighthawk]

acco40: We're currently doing it on a case-by-case basis. Problem is case-by-case is adding up to 30% of the boys on a trip.

 

OGE: We already plan to do that. We have a Junior Leader meeting tonight. You are right that it'll be real interesting to see what they come up with as both groups are covered.

[eisely]

There isn't a troop anywhere where organized youth sports are available that doesn't have this problem. We have not had an issue with early departures so much as late arrivals. If you force scouts to choose you will lose a lot of scouts. I think it is fair to impose participation requirements as a pre requisite for a leadership position, but tolerate non leaders attending partially. It does have to be controlled to make sure everybody does their fair share of work. There is also a safety issue in knowing where people are at all times. You need to establish a procedure where late arrivals check in with the adult responsible for the outing, and early departures check out. As suggested in one of the other posts, throw it up to the PLC to discuss and come up with a policy.

[Bob White]

I look at this differently so it's not a problem. Perhaps this same view could work for nighthawk and others. My son's SM and I have very similar backgrounds and understanding of the scouting methods and here is how we view this.

 

This is not a troop problem. Since we do everything as patrols it is up to the patrols to know their members schedules and adjust accordingly. If a patrol knows that two members are leaving early then they are tented together. They break down their tent and police their area before they leave. That way the rest of the patrol does not do the absentee scouts work.

 

If they are coming to camp late then they put their tent up when they arrive or tent with someone willing to pitch the tent on their own.

 

If someone decides to come after the deadline for signing up the they buy their own food and are responsible for their own preparation and cleanup.

 

So for the most part it comes down to individual responsibility and is no strain at all on the troop. We realize that the scouts have other activities and they need to make decisions on how to balance their participation. I would rather have a scout make part of the activity then to not come at all. We are willing to be extremely flexible as long as the scout is in full scout mode when he is at a scout event.

 

Hope this helps,

Bob

[evmori]

I like OGE's suggestion. Also, when they are there, do they do anything?

 

I think kids today are overcomitted. It seems their parents are trying to re-live their childhoods thorugh their kids.

 

I feel kids need to commit to something instead of being a part-timer at many things. I don't feel this teaches them the importance of things.

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[red feather]

Many scouts have mulitiple commitments, it is up to them to set priorities. A scout that makes overnights as they can is better than one that quits and never shows up.

 

As the boys grow older sports, etc. can be more of an influence in their lives and until scouting can provide comparable scholarships we can't compete.

 

Most of the boys in my troop do not have an issue with a boy leaving early or arriving late. Part of the normal routine for them. If they don't see a problem I don't either.

 

I guess my pet peeve for leaving an overnight early is when they leave early sunday morning for church because their church requires their attendance. We hold non denominational services every o-nite sunday, but that is not enough for some churches. Oh, well.

 

To strict rule base and it will limit the experience of the boys.

 

YIS

[LauraT7]

luckily, even with a rather small troop, we have a pretty good turnout percentage for campouts - Sometimes people have to leave - but usually it is for family events - a wedding, Christening, something like that - most of our boys are under 14, though and not on HS sports teams yet. Alot of the Jr high sports teams are more forgiving of missing a practice or two. And the boys DO set their priorities - most of ours - chose scouts.

 

however, when somone does have to leave early

( my son and I had to leave summer camp on Fri for my nephew's wedding on Sat) We make arrangements in advance. The replacement adults took over my tent for that night, and brought it home the next day, rather than taking mine down and putting up another. (it was my personal tent) We had 3 boys in one troop tent and my son and another boy in another troop tent - so one of the boys moved over so my son's tentmate wouldn't be alone that last night.

 

One problem mentioned is church - especially when the boys are in 7th and 8th grade, when many faiths do their confirmation classes. Most of these REQUIRE attendance on sunday, because their church services (as opposed to non-denominational Scout services) support and teach their particular beliefs and re-inforce the lessons the confirmands are being taught.

 

However, most churches are very flexible - esp with scouting, which encourages faith participation, IF someone (parents) talks to the confirmation staff/ minister and explains the situation. Many pastors / teachers will allow the boy to do his lesson / review on the scout service instead - after all, it's only 1 sunday a month! All they have to do is ASK! Even a "no" answer would only put you back to missing a boy on Sunday - which you already are dealing with - right?

 

We also try to get back by noon on Sunday - which doesn't get you home for church - but does get you time to do homework, rest up and hang with the family some.