Maybe the OA does not have the meaning it used to

[Eagle92]

Funny thing about this thread, it has made me think, really hard. OUCH got a bad headache

 

Seriously though, in thinking about the OA I has dawned on me that if we want to change the perception of the OA to non-members, then ARROWMEN must change that perception. If Arrowmen complain about it being to easy to be members nowadays, etc, then that attitude will spread.

 

WE must keep the high ideals of the OA. WE must set the example to the non-members. And WE must change that misguided perception of the OA. The OA IS an honor society, dedicated to service and camping. WE need to set the example.

 

OK gotta start packing for the ordeal this weekend.

[highcountry]

Our troop is one that is not and has not done anything with OA in a long time. We had a scout make Eagle shortly before his 18th Birthday about 5 years ago, I think he may have been OA in the early 2000's but it was before my time in the troop. One problem is that I as SM (And other adults in the troop) know little to nothing about OA. I got elected in back in the early to mid seventies but never even made the ordeal, I dropped out of scouting shortly after so I never learned anything about OA back then. I have brought up OA to the troop on several occasions but not one scout in the troop has any interest. When OA calls to do elections up at our troop I never have anyone interested in being involved so it ends at that. One of our problems is that we are distand from where meetings (And most activities) are held with OA. Most of our scout parents work in teh city and have to drive 40-50 miles home to get their scout and drive right back down to the city for an OA meeting, then another trip back home. Unless a scout and the parent are super OA enthuisastic it ain't gonna happen for us. Add to that we are pretty active as a troop and we get a good turn out at campouts, meetings and such but I can feel where the limits are. Any more Scout activities for most in our troop is going to be too much and blown off for lack of time. I am fortunate I do have good retention in the troop, the older scouts stay involved and my eagles stay on and tyry and mentor the leadership in the scouts. Some of these guys are active in baseball swimming and wrestling at school so I apreciate their giving back to the unit and continued involvement. I cannot see where they are going to have the time to do OA unless they drop something else. From what little our scouts have seen of OA, they have the impression the things tey saw were somewhat lame and are more inclined to do high school sports. If we were in a suburb of the Metro area, it would likely be a different story, logistics are teh main nails in the coffin in our troop with OA.

[HICO_Eagle]

I'm honestly not sure what meaning it used to have. I refused to have my name on the ballot for OA elections when I was a scout because they seemed little more than a popularity contest or longevity award then. I accepted it as an adult because the lodge and council I was in then seemed to really have their act together and it really seemed like a group of honor campers. However, I never went past Ordeal -- I was too busy to go to lodge meetings and never got my membership book anyway. Perhaps it would have meant more to me if I'd been involved in it as a boy but I'm just not into doing things for show or ego.

[Eagle92]

HICO,

While there is a standard procedure that should be followed, unfortunately the "popularity contests" do appear. I blame part of the problem on the lodge/and or election team. They really need to do a better job of stating that the it is not a popularity contest, but one which is who the best individuals who live up to the Scout Oath and Law. I've used the phrase, and trained my ETs toas well, "who would you want ona backpakcing trip gone wrong?'

[HICO_Eagle]

Eagle92, agreed, which is why I refused OA as a Scout (wa-a-a-a-ay too many years ago) but accepted it as a Scouter (in a different council/lodge).

[desertrat77]

Depends on the lodge.

 

Good lodge:

 

- an organization of honor campers

- respectfully displays the traditions of the Native American tribe with which it associates

- consistently, visibly serves at camporees and the like in worker-bee and leadership positions alike (closing campfire set up, event judging, etc.)

 

Then scouts are interested. But when lodges put on shoddy ceremonies, in shabby costumes that do not reflect honor on Native American culture, OA respectability really takes a dive. It drops further when the lodge gets a rep for being nothing more than a flap/sash factory, or a frat that only thinks of itself.

 

In addition to being an honor camper organization, it's also about service. If the only service rendered is the spring and fall ordeal, then the OA is a mystery organization with the wrong kind of mystic.

 

Other practices that decrease OA mystic: holding OA overnight events where the lodge members sleep indoors on the floor of camp mess hall...cliques (as mentioned by other posters)...hazing...ordeals are not challenging or accomplish anything of lasting value (fine balance there, granted)...lack of clear direction to new members of why the lodge even exists or what is expected of them in the future.

 

Like anything in scouting, a program that strays from the original principles inevitably gets a bad rep.

 

[Eagle92]

Desertrat has some good points. I would also add adults getting to involved in the workings of the lodge. I admit it is very hard to keep my mouth shut and let the youth run the show, especially when you got a brand new chapter chief who is overwhelmed by all the minutia involved in runnign a lodge, but you gotta do it in order to prove tyhe youth with the benefits of leadership.

[desertrat77]

Re my post above: "mystic" should be "mystique" X2

 

My apologies to teachers everywhere.