Scoutmaster Doesn't Get It

[DannyG]

Train them. Trust them. Let them lead.

On 4/15/2024 at 11:45 AM, mrjohns2 said:

Her argument is that is 3x the work. An ASM tried to explain to her that this is the process. This is how things get done. Cooking for 11 isn’t easy,  or how it should be done. 

It is 3x less work for SM..... Since the adult "patrol" is cooking for 3 people, not for 11. 

[curious_scouter]

Adults are the worst enemy to patrol method.  We apply our sensibilities and biases to a process that the youth see no issue with.  Last campout we had 5 patrols.  1 patrol was two scouts.  1 patrol was four scouts.  They had a great time, they cooked and enjoyed their meals and were happy to have only their own dishes to contend with. 

I subscribe completely the B-P's POV:  "The patrol system is not one method in which Scouting can be carried on. It is the only method."

There is another tenant of B-P I fully subscribe to:

"My ideal camp is where everyone is cheery and busy, where the patrols are kept intact under all circumstances, and where every patrol leader and Scout takes a genuine pride in his camp and his gadgets."

So, in my unit - Patrols cook.  Patrol Leaders have the perogative to team up with other patrols if they feel their patrol attendance is too low to justify standing alone.  That is a Patrol Leader decision - not an adult decision.  But if the Eagle Patrol leader decides with only 2 people coming to the next campout they would like to partner with the Owl Patrol who has 4 - to make 6 total - the entire Eagle Patrol teams up with the entire Owl Patrol in partnership for cooking and KP and activities.

We once did this thing where adults would decide something like "With 16 scouts going, we should split into two patrols."  This was misguided.

This is leadership, problem solving, negotiating opportunities lost if adults get in the mix.

[Eagledad]

She thinks that way because she didn’t have a scouting experience as a youth. Patrol method is only limited by adults fears.
 

I used to teach a course teaching adults how to push their fears boundaries out. The adults need to ask themselves what it would take to let the patrols to cook on their own. I’m not a fan of no cooking, but some healthy easy to fix meals might help the adults grow in the program. 
 

Discussion?

Barry

[qwazse]

@mrjohns2, we validated you, now what do we propose for a solution?

One of my strategies: offer to cook an adult-only meal. This assumes you know how to cook one very fine meal very well. But, usually when adults know that they’re getting a meal where they won’t have listen to kids complain, they’ll pitch in.

Other ideas:

Camp physically distant from the youth.

Attend Camporees and require that the SM visit all of the other troops.

Get your SM to training.

Attend a summer camp that does patrol cooking.

It takes quite a while to unlearn bad habits. So encourage her every time she takes a step back.

[curious_scouter]

Those are all great ideas.

I'd add:  Form an adult patrol.  Act like a patrol.   Make a yell.  A flag.  Camp apart.  Have your own kitchen, just like theirs.  Do your menu, just like they do.  Have your own grubmaster.  Plan your own patrol activities when it's patrol time.  Set the example.

 

[mrjohns2]

1 hour ago, qwazse said:

One of my strategies: offer to cook an adult-only meal. This assumes you know how to cook one very fine meal very well. But, usually when adults know that they’re getting a meal where they won’t have listen to kids complain, they’ll pitch in.

Other ideas:

Camp physically distant from the youth.

I think we will focus on these 2 items. Physically separate camping, adults cook their own meal, adults have a duty roster like the scouts.