Behavior Issues Amongst Youngest Scouts

[swilliams]

I've worked with youth for ages: besides scouting, as a substitute teacher and a cross-country/track coach.  Maybe it's just me getting old (Get off my lawn!), but the last two new batches of scouts seem to have more behavior issues than before.  We've had issues with scouts not listening to the older scouts, talking back to them, refusing to do as asked, etc.  At one point last year they vandalized a school bathroom and almost got us kicked out.  Nothing permanent, but spitting on the mirrors, unrolling all the toilet paper, etc.  It's gotten to the point where our older scouts are beginning to avoid coming to Troop meetings.  

I'm not involved in weekly meetings anymore, so this is coming from my husband, who became an ASM last year.  In reading BP's words that were posted in another thread about number, I'm wondering if we should look at restructuring how meetings are run, specifically breaking out groups.  Any other suggestions as to how to help keep younger scouts in line?  While still having fun.

[qwazse]

Suspension is a very important tool. Some youth need time to decide if they want to be scouts, or something else.

[fred8033]

Some bad behavior is push back because it's mainly their parents that want them in scouts.  They might not really want to be there. 

Some bad behavior is perception.  We remember past new scouts being better than they really were.

Don't ignore bad behavior.  It can poison a troop.  Also, don't over react.  It can kill the fun.

[Timbuktu]

How’s their behavior on campouts?

[yknot]

The pandemic has had a noticeable effect on child development and what might have been reasonable expectations before are not at present for some of these kids. There has been a lot of discussion about this in the educational community because teachers are continuing to deal with it in the classroom and that would be a good place to look. In general, these kids need more social intervention, not less, so suspension might not be productive. Expecting peers to be able to manage this along old youth led models also may not be productive because they are experiencng some of the same deficits. From what I've read and done, smaller group sizes, more mentoring, and giving more explicit and direct and sometimes repeated instructions is helpful. Bad behavior is bad behavior and has to be dealt with, but some of these kids need perhaps more adult supervision and mentoring than scouters may have been comfortable with in the past.  

[jcousino]

I agree will the above but where are the parents in this situation? It was hard to fix a problem that has its roots in the home. Not a bad or abusive home but one where there are no controls taught or placed.  "Johnie can do no wrong."  I would be very careful on what you as the troop do as the parents may be unwilling to see that little Johnie is in the wrong, but only see that the adults/troop are being very mean to their perfect child. A report made to scouting about the way you delt with their child may be hard to defend based on scouting current rules and practices. 

[yknot]

5 hours ago, jcousino said:

I agree will the above but where are the parents in this situation? It was hard to fix a problem that has its roots in the home. Not a bad or abusive home but one where there are no controls taught or placed.  "Johnie can do no wrong."  I would be very careful on what you as the troop do as the parents may be unwilling to see that little Johnie is in the wrong, but only see that the adults/troop are being very mean to their perfect child. A report made to scouting about the way you delt with their child may be hard to defend based on scouting current rules and practices. 

Parenting methods have changed a lot in the past decade or so but the pandemic didn't help and many of these parents who were juggling kids and working at home short circuited right alongside the kids to some degree. That's not an excuse, but it is another challenge.  A little household destruction was considered the price of staying employed while parents locked themselves in the closet for zoom meetings.  Normally in scout led you would let scouts come up with the meeting programing but in this case I might try to actively schedule some cool things and speakers to hold their attention for awhile. It can help the younger ones learn to focus through actual interest and give the older ones a break until they mature a little more. We also had a bathroom trashed so we did things like sign out sheets, one at a time, adults monitoring who was out of the room, etc. 

[qwazse]

It’s also worth noting that things aren’t always in a negative direction. Over the years, I’ve seen us cycle between stellar classes of youth, and class that could use a little polish.

[BetterWithCheddar]

Our Pack meets at a local elementary school. If you asked my son what's his favorite part of every Pack meeting, he'd probably say playing freeze tag before the meeting starts. Containing 40 Cubs is a challenge. We're considering appointing two parents as hall monitors for every Pack meeting. In the OP's case, I wonder if stationing a pair of supervisors just outside the meeting area would help curtail rowdy behavior? They could also approach it from the standpoint of incentivizing good conduct - maybe each week the best-behaved patrol earns a pin for their patrol flag?

[swilliams]

Thank you all.  We have our COH tonight, but will put the advice to work next Tuesday!

[DuctTape]

6 hours ago, BetterWithCheddar said:

Our Pack meets at a local elementary school. If you asked my son what's his favorite part of every Pack meeting, he'd probably say playing freeze tag before the meeting starts. Containing 40 Cubs is a challenge. We're considering appointing two parents as hall monitors for every Pack meeting. In the OP's case, I wonder if stationing a pair of supervisors just outside the meeting area would help curtail rowdy behavior? They could also approach it from the standpoint of incentivizing good conduct - maybe each week the best-behaved patrol earns a pin for their patrol flag?

If possible, I would move towards a Den-centered approach instead of a Pack-centered. 

Imagine the den meeting with 3 adults and 8 kids. Much easier to manage. 

For example, at the Elem school, each den gets a room. Keep the dens separated except for necessary functions (which are few and far between). 

 

[mrjohns2]

11 hours ago, BetterWithCheddar said:

In the OP's case, I wonder if stationing a pair of supervisors just outside the meeting area would help curtail rowdy behavior?

This is a troop, not a pack. More should be expected from the Scouts to not require a hall monitor. 

[scoutldr]

"Show Scout Spirit" is still a requirement for EVERY rank, is it not?  Quit checking the box so readily and remind everyone (SM Minute?) that Scout Spirit means exhibiting the Scout Oath and Law in everything they do.  No Scout should be awarded the next rank without it.

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

7 hours ago, mrjohns2 said:

This is a troop, not a pack. More should be expected from the Scouts to not require a hall monitor. 

You know, I had to go back and check several times to verify which it was, because it sounds an awful lot like a pack. Initially, I was reluctantly impressed that such small children managed to vandalize a restroom physically 🙃

[DannyG]

Now that you are aware of the problem, what can you do to teach these scouts about their behavior? A lot of scouting is perceiving your own mistakes and learn how to correct them. So the scouts that were involved in vandalizing the bathrooms, they might be given the task to inspect and clean the restrooms after every meeting for a month. Find a constructive way to let them see their mistakes and correct them. Hopefully one day these scouts will have a chance at leadership and they will have to put up with younger scouts talking back!