Introduction to the Patrol Method in less than a day

[Stosh]

Posted Today, 09:02 AM

gumbymaster, on 27 Jan 2016 - 5:24 PM, said:

 

 

I, for sake of this argument, leave out the negative consequences in esteem for last scouts drafted.

 

 

why I think it would make sense for the PL's to do the draft at the PLC, not in front of the scouts

 

(just an old adult rambling here....)

 

And may I add, why is it anyone's business but the boy's who decides what patrol he's in.  Every boy in the troop if embarrassed because of what others "decide" has the option to vote with his feet.  It happens all the time when busybodies make decisions for other people.  Nobody is being "drafted" into scouts, that's a message I NEVER want my boys to hear.  Even if it's for "show" I would like to think my PL's are "fighting" over every boy they get for their patrol.  It's all part of them taking care of their boys!  How valuable would the "last boy chosen" feel if two PL"s were fighting over who gets to have him? instead of You take him, we don't want him.

 

If this kind of leadership isn't being taught in your troop, it should be. 

 

One last thought... this kind of leadership isn't being taught in NYLT, TLT, or any other management training of the BSA, one has to teach it separately on their own.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Stosh

[gumbymaster]

why I think it would make sense for the PL's to do the draft at the PLC, not in front of the scouts

 

(just an old adult rambling here....)

 

In retrospect, yes.  If I were to do it again now, yes.  Back then, just like picking teams in school PE, it just never really occurred to us at the time.

 

That said, after I was SPL, and got board with JASM (we didn't have trainers or guides at the time), I asked the SM if I could create a new patrol with all of the, shall we say ... high energy ... scouts that were typically disruptive to their current patrols.  Again, I don't think there was any thought to what the scouts who were invited to join this patrol would have thought about why they were selected.  In the end we didn't do too bad, and many of the Scouts later settled into Troop leadership roles.

[Stosh]

In retrospect, yes.  If I were to do it again now, yes.  Back then, just like picking teams in school PE, it just never really occurred to us at the time.

 

That said, after I was SPL, and got board with JASM Retirement POR.  This is why I never use it.  Of course I don't use the SPL either (we didn't have trainers or guides at the time), I asked the SM if I could create a new patrol with all of the, shall we say ... high energy ... scouts that were typically disruptive to their current patrols.  Again, I don't think there was any thought to what the scouts who were invited to join this patrol would have thought about why they were selected. LIke picking the sports teams above, you had no idea what was really happening.  If I were approached by you today with that idea, I would have called it the Leadership Training Patrol.  As it turned out, you did realize the potential you were dealing with.   In the end we didn't do too bad, and many of the Scouts later settled into Troop leadership roles. BINGO, well done.