When Scouting goes astray?

[ramanous]

We agree the aim is to be Youth Led. In your opinion / experience, under what conditions is it appropriate for adults to step-in? When you step-in, what is the appropriate correction for a Youth Led troop?

Certainly adults need to intercede when safety is a concern. I think I'm looking more for the grey areas. For example, do you let the troop meetings consistent of kickball games with occasional youth-led advancement sign-offs? If not, what is an appropriate correction for something of this sort without turning into an Adult Led troop?

In the sprite of "mad libs," how would you complete something like "The [PL / SPL / Patrol / Troop / ASM / Parent] is expected to A)______________. If this does not occur, then B)________________" (OR your own version of the statement.)

 

A)

B)

 

[DannyG]

Yes. Maybe your scouts like to play kickball. I think it is an appropriate activity for scouts, not one to immediately step in and put a stop to. Certainly if there is a safety concern, bullying, etc, it should be addressed immediately. Or is the activity getting stale, detrimental to troop morale? If you have concerns with the program, as an adult you should approach the Scoutmaster. SPL and Scoutmaster should work in tandem. I also believe scouts need coaching from time to time. If you have meeting ideas, get permission to attend PLC and present them. They should be meeting regularly. Ours meets once a month. Let the scouts decide how to move forward. We have adults presenting from time to time, when they are invited by SPL and PLC.  You should be counseling and directing the youth to make their own decisions.

As an aside, our troop meetings have turned into a consistent agenda of: opening, lesson, game, announcements, in that order. The scouts really  enjoy gaga ball, but PLC will mix in other games periodically.