Busy People.

[Eamonn]

If asked I freely admit that I think of myself as being a Lazy Toad.

I love to read, watch old movies, write letters and talk to old friends.

When we hand out the Silver Beaver Award at the Annual Recognition Dinner, I sit in awe of all that the people who receive it are doing. They seem to be active in so much and doing so much.

I seem to remember that when I received the Beaver, it said in the program that I was a member of my church. Which as I'm R/C is no big deal, sit on a few committees again not that big a deal and that I was a dedicated Scouter. Again I think the Den Leader who has a gang of little Lads on the doorstep every week does more than I do. Still I accepted the award.

I was talking with Wagionvigi who has only posted here a few times but is active in another forum. He sits as the Venturering Guy on the NE-Region Area 4 Committee. I was saying how busy the youth of Venturering age are. We both went on to talk about what these young people are doing. In his real job he is the Band Director for a High School Band. Yes one of them there guys who gets in the way of all that we want to do!! (A Joke!!)

After I put the phone down I gave this some thought.

I as a rule don't ask adults who never do anything to do something. Maybe because I never see them. Also because they are so busy doing nothing that they never seem to have time.

I think this is true of our youth members. The youth that want to be involved in what we offer are the youth who are busy but want to be busy. These Guys and Girls want it all. They are not the couch potatoes.

Of course at times they are so busy that they just can't fit everything in and they have to make choices. Sometimes Scouts and Scouting will be what they can do or what they choose to do. Sometimes other events or other people will help their choice.

Right now OJ is in the middle of Soccer, the coach has made it very clear that missing a training session or God forbid a game is just totally unacceptable. When this is done the School Play will be about ready to start. Him being a up and coming thespian, means that he will be in that. Add in the stuff that he does with the OA homework, and stuff around the house the Lad is a very busy fellow.

I do think at times we the adults in Scouting do need to take a step back and look at how busy the youth in our programs really are and try and be a little more understanding.

Who knows if OJ keeps on doing what he does he may grow up not to be a Lazy Toad like his Dad.

Eamonn.

[SueM]

My bigger concern is are we setting these kids up for early burnout? I understand how competitive it is for these kids today, especially if they have college ambitions, to be involved in many areas, but I still wonder...when do kids have time just to be kids anymore??

 

 

>Who knows if OJ keeps on doing what he does he >may grow up not to be a Lazy Toad like his Dad.

>Eamonn.

 

[scoutldr]

The old adage says, "if you want something done, give it to a busy person to do."

 

A lot of my co-workers do absolutely nothing other than go to work and go home. THey see no reason to contribute to the community with volunteer work, or charitable donations, scouts, Lions, Kiwanis, etc. Some of them have never seen the inside of a church, much less help make it run with their time, talent or dollars. They see nothing wrong with having other people carry the load when they drop their kids off at scouts and then go shopping for an hour. I don't get it...but then I was raised a Scout.

 

Do we allow thespians in the BSA?

[CA_Scouter]

Scoutldr,

 

Yes, its just that AVOWED thespians are not permitted. :-)

 

 

[SueM]

...is that the "Don't act/don't tell" rule??

[acco40]

Yes, young and old may have a very active or a very (in our eyes) inactive lifestyle. However, Eamonn, I'm not sure what you mean by the statement, I do think at times we the adults in Scouting do need to take a step back and look at how busy the youth in our programs really are and try and be a little more understanding.

 

I have one son in the HS Marching Band, Track Team and Hockey Team. He is also active in the OA and currently just finished being the troop SPL. I understand his "activeness" but I also understand that he needs to make choices. I understand that during the fall with daily band practices at 6:00 AM and again in the evenings that he will miss the weekly troop meetings and may miss some outings. But he understands that he should not hold a POR during this time too.

 

Parents have to understand that when their sons decide to play sports, act, march or whatever instead of attend and actively participate in Scouts that they don't "get credit" for actively participating in Scouts. I don't make a judgment call on what the boys should choose and I really do try to support their decisions, whatever they are, and to accommodate the Scouting program to the extent possible to allow them to continue to benefit from it. I guess I'm just a little hypersensitive to the issue because I get a few parents who badger me about how busy their son is but still want me to sign-off on requirements that their son has not met in my eyes. All of these other Scouting activities are great and may also contribute to character building, leadership skills, physical fitness, etc. but when a boy is not active in his troop and patrol he hasn't met that requirement regardless of his schedule task load.

[Eamonn]

acco40

You are never going to get any argument from me about boys meeting requirements. Life isn't that hard you have either met the requirement or you haven't.

Still we have units that insist on some sort of participation level in order to advance, even if the Lad has met the requirements.

Eamonn.

[acco40]

There's the rub. The requirement states active participation in troop and patrol. Some troops use a participation level (attendance) as the metric. Some don't like that (you and BW come to mind I think).

 

I think what is important is that the Scout should know what is expected of him regardless of the metric used.

 

Now in our troop, we do insist on some level of participation - an ACTIVE level. I give the boys my guidelines (verbally and in written form) on what I construe to be active with the reminder that they need to discuss with me their individual circumstances (i.e. I'm flexible).

 

 

[Eamonn]

acco40

Are you sure that you are not adding requirements?

If you are sure, that's fine.

If not maybe it's time for a rethink?

We have in the past spent many happy hours discussing what "Active" really means.

Maybe we need to agree that Active has to be what the Scout and the SM or better yet what the PLC decide it should be, hopefully on an individual basis?

This to my mind goes much further to help with "Making ethical choices".

Eamonn.

[acco40]

Maybe we need to agree that Active has to be what the Scout and the SM or better yet what the PLC decide it should be, hopefully on an individual basis?

 

I really don't want to force the PLC to meet and review to see if this requirement has been met. Say a hypothetical troop has 50 Scouts, 20 of which are 1st Class or above, each requiring this review at least once a calendar year - that would mean 20 PLC meetings to review and decide, on an individual basis, if this requirement has been met.

 

All though an anathema to some, I feel it would be better to state general requirements for all, which may be decided by the PLC and agreed upon by the SM, and then have the Scout under review be responsible for either meeting that requirement or communicating to the SM reasons why he feels he may need an altered requirement. Therefore, having an attendance goal if you will and then tailor that to the Scout and his particular circumstances would not be such a bad thing.

 

I currently have a Scout, who has not requested a SM conference but his mother has numerous times in the past three months. He has attended less than: a third of the troop meetings, one fifth of the outings, one quarter of the service projects, no fundraisers, etc. and has not come to me or the SPL once to explain his circumstances. Oh, his parents constantly email me what I consider to be "excuses" but not the Scout himself. My reply to his parents is to have their son contact me when he is ready to resume active participation. So far, he has not. Now, let's say I'm giving him a SM conference and he states that he feels he has met the "active participation" req because "he has been busy." What would you do? I know what I will do.(This message has been edited by acco40)

[Eamonn]

I am a little unsure what positions you are talking about?

If the requirement is to serve actively for a period of time and the Scout does so. The requirement has been met.

Adding an attendance requirement - Is just that -Adding a requirement.

Of course having a Patrol Leader who is not attending the meetings and is not doing anything to show leadership with the Patrol is not meeting the requirement. (He might be able to do this without attending the meeting.)

But a blanket rule that states that Scouts have to attend a percentage of the meetings is just wrong.

Eamonn.