Patrol Patches

[BobWarhawk]

I know protocol says only Weblos & Boy Scouts can have Patrol Patches on their uniforms. But, have any of you let the younger boys wear them on their blue uniforms?

The issue we have is we ended up with a massive Wolf Den this year with little adult volunteers. So we attempted to run all 15 boys together. That blew up in our face.

We are having to split the group into 2 Dens. And, needless to say, some of our boys are bummed about being separated from their chums.

My Assistant Cubmaster & I are trying to come up with a fun way to ease them into the separation. My first thought was let each new Den choose a patrol and sort of make a competition out of all that they do. That way Scouting becomes what it was intended for, a GAME, not a DREAD.

I know we might get crap from our Council for not following policy, but I'm not scared of them. Matter of fact, I feel maybe a little rebellion would make life interesting. ​

Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Happy Scouting,

Bob Warhawk

 

Poll Question: Should I encourage my Wolf Den to wear Patrol Patches?

[koolaidman]

Hi Bob,

 

Welcome to the forums. Your poll has expired.

I don't think your Wolves should be wearing patrol patches, since they are for Webelos and Boy Scouts. I would not encourage competition with the Wolf Dens, other than say games or sport of some sort. There is a lot of "bookwork" yet to do in Wolves and Bears, so it doesn't quite seem right.

 

I would suggest getting the boys' input on who they'd like to be in a den with and work it out the best you can.

[qwazse]

I'd vote, but "The poll is expired."

 

Patrols mean more than just groupings, there is a sense/expectation of independence. Unless your den leaders are willing to step back and your den chiefs willing to step up, you have nothing close to a "real patrol." Patrolling is not really competing (although in a troop, patrol leaders should be reporting about their patrols exploits -- and sometimes foibles -- with a little personal pride) but accomplishing the task of exploring our nation with modest supervision.

 

For the sake of mere competitions, different den numbers should do. Then the balance is simply one of figuring out which things the dens need to do separate (typically, the instructional periods), the wolves can do together (typically service projects or outings), which ones can be Den 1 vs. Den 2 (typically skill improvement or sports), and which ones as part of the rest of the pack (songs, skits, etc ...).

 

Also, keep in mind at that age increasing the "competition factor" can make a boy resent being separated from his buddies even more, so step carefully on that one.

[BobWarhawk]

Hi Bob,

 

Welcome to the forums. Your poll has expired.

I don't think your Wolves should be wearing patrol patches, since they are for Webelos and Boy Scouts. I would not encourage competition with the Wolf Dens, other than say games or sport of some sort. There is a lot of "bookwork" yet to do in Wolves and Bears, so it doesn't quite seem right.

 

I would suggest getting the boys' input on who they'd like to be in a den with and work it out the best you can.

 

I think I fixed the poll. It was goofy how it set the expiration date to the 1970's.

Don't get me started on the book work. That is part of the reason for our strife. You'd swear these handbooks were written by nursery school teachers. These boys joined Scouting to Scout. Not color and paste and do homework. I detest the book work.

 

[BobWarhawk]

I'd vote, but "The poll is expired."

 

Patrols mean more than just groupings, there is a sense/expectation of independence. Unless your den leaders are willing to step back and your den chiefs willing to step up, you have nothing close to a "real patrol." Patrolling is not really competing (although in a troop, patrol leaders should be reporting about their patrols exploits -- and sometimes foibles -- with a little personal pride) but accomplishing the task of exploring our nation with modest supervision.

 

For the sake of mere competitions, different den numbers should do. Then the balance is simply one of figuring out which things the dens need to do separate (typically, the instructional periods), the wolves can do together (typically service projects or outings), which ones can be Den 1 vs. Den 2 (typically skill improvement or sports), and which ones as part of the rest of the pack (songs, skits, etc ...).

 

Also, keep in mind at that age increasing the "competition factor" can make a boy resent being separated from his buddies even more, so step carefully on that one.

 

I understand what you are saying.

I think rather than 1 & 2 I might go with Red Wolves & Grey Wolves. This way they can make a Den Flag, etc. and have something visible to relate to instead of just a number.

As for competition causing resentment, I disagree with that. I'm of the belief that competition is healthy for growth. (Just my humble opinion)

[King Ding Dong]

Why was it necessary to split the friends up ? We try to add smaller dens if necessary and not break up existing ones. Friendly competition is good, rivalry is not. Look for games where cooperation is a goal.

[Tampa Turtle]

I draw the line at Webelos. But Siberian Tigers, White Tigers, Gray Wolf, Black Bear, Grizzly Bear are OK for patrol names and flags. Just not patrol patches. IMHO

[berliner]

I draw the line at Webelos. But Siberian Tigers, White Tigers, Gray Wolf, Black Bear, Grizzly Bear are OK for patrol names and flags. Just not patrol patches. IMHO

Have you heard of Grolar? I want a Grolar Patrol patch 8-)

(For those that didnt know it: Grolar is a new species that was found in the past years evolving from Grizzlys and Polar Bears)

[NeverAnEagle]

I'd vote, but "The poll is expired."

 

Patrols mean more than just groupings, there is a sense/expectation of independence. Unless your den leaders are willing to step back and your den chiefs willing to step up, you have nothing close to a "real patrol." Patrolling is not really competing (although in a troop, patrol leaders should be reporting about their patrols exploits -- and sometimes foibles -- with a little personal pride) but accomplishing the task of exploring our nation with modest supervision.

 

For the sake of mere competitions, different den numbers should do. Then the balance is simply one of figuring out which things the dens need to do separate (typically, the instructional periods), the wolves can do together (typically service projects or outings), which ones can be Den 1 vs. Den 2 (typically skill improvement or sports), and which ones as part of the rest of the pack (songs, skits, etc ...).

 

Also, keep in mind at that age increasing the "competition factor" can make a boy resent being separated from his buddies even more, so step carefully on that one.

 

I understand what you are saying.

I think rather than 1 & 2 I might go with Red Wolves & Grey Wolves. This way they can make a Den Flag, etc. and have something visible to relate to instead of just a number.

As for competition causing resentment, I disagree with that. I'm of the belief that competition is healthy for growth. (Just my humble opinion)

My oldest child was in the "Road Runners" Den. This was because most of the boys had an older brother in they coyotes den. They even had a den cheer, "There are no coyotes here, we chased them all away! We are the Road Runners, get out of our way! Beep, Beep!"

 

My youngest boy was a member of the Vampire Bats den. Their cheer was, "We fly through the night 'til the morning light, Wahahahahah!"

 

I loved having dens use the patrol patches, gave them a sense of unity. It always took one whole den meeting for them to choose a den name and another meeting to come up with a cheer, but they always had a cheer on hand for any cub activities that happened over the 5 years they were cubs.

[NeverAnEagle]

I draw the line at Webelos. But Siberian Tigers, White Tigers, Gray Wolf, Black Bear, Grizzly Bear are OK for patrol names and flags. Just not patrol patches. IMHO

Why not? If you have an embroider in the area you can have anything you want on you patch. Now that my little one is in Boy Scouts, his Patrol is the Phoenix. You can't find that at the scout store, but they have blank patches you can take to the embroidery shop.

[qwazse]

I'd vote, but "The poll is expired."

 

Patrols mean more than just groupings, there is a sense/expectation of independence. Unless your den leaders are willing to step back and your den chiefs willing to step up, you have nothing close to a "real patrol." Patrolling is not really competing (although in a troop, patrol leaders should be reporting about their patrols exploits -- and sometimes foibles -- with a little personal pride) but accomplishing the task of exploring our nation with modest supervision.

 

For the sake of mere competitions, different den numbers should do. Then the balance is simply one of figuring out which things the dens need to do separate (typically, the instructional periods), the wolves can do together (typically service projects or outings), which ones can be Den 1 vs. Den 2 (typically skill improvement or sports), and which ones as part of the rest of the pack (songs, skits, etc ...).

 

Also, keep in mind at that age increasing the "competition factor" can make a boy resent being separated from his buddies even more, so step carefully on that one.

 

I understand what you are saying.

I think rather than 1 & 2 I might go with Red Wolves & Grey Wolves. This way they can make a Den Flag, etc. and have something visible to relate to instead of just a number.

As for competition causing resentment, I disagree with that. I'm of the belief that competition is healthy for growth. (Just my humble opinion)

I like the idea of the den flag. Something the boys can rally around -- especially if they are sharing facilities on the same night. I'd still use the #s so they can put something on their uniforms. Pin the # to the flag just to make it clear which is which.

 

Everything at this age is a balance. Get feedback from the den leaders, and do whatever they're okay with.

[BobWarhawk]

Why was it necessary to split the friends up ? We try to add smaller dens if necessary and not break up existing ones. Friendly competition is good' date=' rivalry is not. Look for games where cooperation is a goal.[/quote']

When they all go to school together/live in the same small town, they are all friends. But we have some in soccer, some in hockey, some in what-have-you...

Most of us parents coach/Scout/help/volunteer so we had to make it where the hockey guys can play hockey & scout, the soccer guys can play soccer & scout, the kids who have church on Wednesdays can go & worship as well as scout, etc. etc..

Wasn't trying to split friends, simply trying to retain some sanity for our parents/volunteers.

[Austinole]

I'm all for jazzing up the program as much as possible but you don't want to do everything all at once. They need reasons to progress. I like having specific wolf dens.

[ZScout5]

I draw the line at Webelos. But Siberian Tigers, White Tigers, Gray Wolf, Black Bear, Grizzly Bear are OK for patrol names and flags. Just not patrol patches. IMHO

National has just released a bunch of new patrol patch designs, including a Phoenix, Knight, Alien, Zombie, Ninja and more.

[BobWarhawk]

We split them into two dens. We will identify the dens as #1 & #2 as well as let the boys call themselves Den 1 Red Wolves, Den 2 Gray Wolves. I'll let them make Den flags, etc.

All should go well from here on.

Thanks for all of your advice.

Happy Scouting!

Bob Warhawk