How Do You Guide Scouts in Choosing Patrols?

[qwazse]

@swilliams, you’re in for a wild ride.

Since you mentioned cross-country, look up your local orienteering club and see if your troop can find time to attend their events. Lots of American youth have the discipline for running or for navigation, but few have both. You might be the person to change that.

[swilliams]

3 hours ago, qwazse said:

@swilliams, you’re in for a wild ride.

Since you mentioned cross-country, look up your local orienteering club and see if your troop can find time to attend their events. Lots of American youth have the discipline for running or for navigation, but few have both. You might be the person to change that.

I don't remember who it was, but I sent an orienteering map I made to someone on this site.  Always wanted to try it "for real".  We do an orienteering event that I create every March, before the woods get too overgrown.  This past March, one group got lost.  They happily blamed my map-making skills, haha.

[swilliams]

So... last night was a mess, lol.  Unbeknownst to me, Confirmation classes are in full swing, and they happen every-other Tuesday night - same time as our Troop meetings.  This resulted in about a dozen of our scouts being absent - roughly a quarter of our troop.  On top of that, we had a visiting scout checking out the Troop - not the best activity for him!  

Followed by three scouts surprising me with, "I need a SM conference."  Then the mom of the SPL asking me to 'pick Patrol Leaders based on who was there last night' so we don't have to postpone the training date because it will be inconvenient for her son.  This is going to be an interesting year.  😂

[DuctTape]

Expect chaos and embrace it. You are in the storming phase for the troop under your guidance. You will be great.

[InquisitiveScouter]

6 hours ago, swilliams said:

Then the mom of the SPL asking me to 'pick Patrol Leaders based on who was there last night' so we don't have to postpone the training date because it will be inconvenient for her son

This is deeply troubling, and indicative of a snowplow parent who does not understand Scouting.

Good luck with the parent's education 😜 

[swilliams]

23 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

This is deeply troubling, and indicative of a snowplow parent who does not understand Scouting.

Good luck with the parent's education 😜 

She got a firm, but polite, "If Patrols are going to work, we need to let the scouts pick their own leaders.  When Patrols work, we'll retain more scouts, they'll advance faster, they'll be happier, and your son's job will be easier."  She's still speaking to me, so I hope that went okay.  

 

39 minutes ago, DuctTape said:

Expect chaos and embrace it. You are in the storming phase for the troop under your guidance. You will be great.

LIttle did I know how appropriate that term is, haha.

For those who may find it useful, the pairing up of two scouts (or in one case a group of three), then having those pairs find another group was the SPL's second way to get them to group when the statement "form groups 5-8 or 6-8 scouts didn't work for one group (who kept forming into a group of almost 14 scouts).