Just who is in charge of the troop

[anarchist]

 

hi folks,

 

not to jump in on the side of an obvisously out of control "C-C",a screaming nut job, a clear case of nepollionic syndrome, who has delusions of grandure, physchotic, skitzoid, post-nasal drip, hives, PMS, and possible Republican tendancies...god, how we love to trash others on just the "say" of one poster...

 

yes, she is out of line on the patrol vs troop cooking...but thats a normal "Mom thing" - with getting it "done and over" (calm down ladies... just a 50 year observation of Moms...)

 

But I am not sure about the issue of first Aid "work", unless I am not reading right, she is objecting to spending troop meeting time on Merit Badge work...not first aid training...Perhaps part of what has been "working so well" from Kellyr's perpective... is the slow development of a merit badge "mill" (which some scouts like...advancement is easier) or maybe she just sees that possiblility developing...its hard to say.

 

But Kellyr does not say she nixed a "first aid review" or even a "class" but "merit badge work some of the boys put into the planner" and I don't know that she is not "right on" in this area....

 

and Venividi the "tone" of the question you pose for Kellyr to ask might just be looked at as disrespectful...by a new "C-C"; perhaps a note of caution as to how one delivers a "challenge" would be a better tact than just an ..."ask her why she does not think...." heck, it could get a guy on the bad side of this demented "psycho" and she may be armed with a camp spoon or a cocoa pot!

anarchist

 

[LongHaul]

Kellyr, Does the CC have a boy in the troop? How does she know how long it has been taking for meals and clean up on outings? How did her rejection of the first aid instructions come about? Sounds like a case where the troop committee feels it must approve the PLCs yearly plan. As EaglenKY wrote the committee is there to enable the youth leaders not dictate to them. The only reason a committee should have to refuse an item in the yearly plan is because it violates the policy of the CO, violates the GTSS or BSA R&R, or is viewed as unsafe by the committee. What is the relationship between the rest of the committee and the COR? The CC needs to understand her job and the program she is supposed to be helping provide.

LongHaul

 

[EagleInKY]

Longhaul - I agree with your comment. Only I'll add that there could be some other reasons. The most common one I've heard discussed is "can we afford it". Sometimes the guys will bite off more than we can chew. But in those cases, the committee ought to give some feedback and see if a suitable option can be found.

[LongHaul]

EagleInKY,

The big difference there is that the committee is NOT telling the PLC that the PLC can't do something they are telling the PLC that the committee can't do something.

LongHaul

[EagleInKY]

Valid point Longhaul. I just wanted to make sure that was listed as a possible reason. I think we'd both agree that the following are a list (not necessarily exhaustive) of reasons the committee may reject an activity:

- Violates G2SS

- Considered too dangerous by the committee (subjective, but a valid aregument)

- Violates policies of the Charter Organization

- Is too expensive, or possibly scheduled at a bad time.

 

In any of the above cases, the committee should explain to the PLC and offer the chance to work on a plan that they will approve. For example, let's say a campout activity was to go do paintball. They may change it to going to a rifle and shotgun range, and the committee could approve it.

 

Examples of reasons the committee cannot (or should not) reject a plan (again, not exhaustive):

- They don't "like" the idea

- They think they should do something else

- They don't think it's worth the effort

 

What's common about all of these, they are very subjective. The first list is mostly objective.

[John-in-KC]

For the past year, I've invited the SPL to attend troop committee meetings. The premise is this: If we are "boy run," then the head of the PLC has an obligation to report the PLC's program plans and desires to the Committee.

 

SM provides mentorship in how to talk "peer to peer" with adults.

 

It also allows the Committee to give tasks to the PLC: Our troop is doing a HA at Packerd next summer. It started when one of the results of an annual program planning meeting was "we want to do a high adventure trip." OK, great ... Committee charged the PLC with finding at least five camps with HA programs, their session windows, and their approximate costs. We also asked them to tell us which camps they wanted to go to, in what order.

 

As far as doing a MB on the troop time, folks here are right: Teach the SKILLS on the Troops' meeting time. With the exception of CPR, youth can do much of the skill teaching themselves. Do the MB testing and COUNSELING outside the troop meeting.

 

My thoughts, others will differ. That's ok.

[FScouter]

I think the SPL has enough to do without attending an adult meeting. The purpose of Scoutmaster attending the committee meeting is to report on the doings and needs of the troop. If the SPL is going to do that, maybe the SM can skip the meeting.

[EagleInKY]

Our committee meetings take place at the same time we have monthly patrol meetings. It works pretty well that way. The SPL is often roving from patrol to patrol, observing or helping as needed. If he's not too busy, I'll sometimes invite him into the committee meeting to talk about the next month's activities. I think it's a good experience for him and it also reminds the adults that its the boy's plan. He's usually not in there for more than 10 minutes.

[Hunt]

I think it's good for the SPL to meet with the committee occasionally, but probably not every meeting. I think it's especially useful to have him there when plans for the year are being discussed, because it reins in the tendency of the adults to think that they know what the boys would like to do.

[meredelaire]

I have read many threads on boy-led troops and who's in charge. Knowing how things are supposed to be, I'm not sure we can ever get there. We are rural, drawing from schools that are sports rivals. We have one patrol. We have invisible boys, who usually end up not coming back at all, and invisible leaders. We have no committee meetings (I'm on the committee). I think we have a unique situation.

 

Because of his job, the SM comes to every other meeting, which he runs, on a day of the week that he chose due to other commitments, knowing one boy had a long-term conflict. The SM joined the troop in its second year when he was 16 and has been with it ever since in some capacity. The unit commissioner usually comes the other weeks. I was planning to turn in charter renewal papers for the troop when I turn in the pack papers and the SM said he would handle it. I really think he wants no input from me when it comes to running the troop. I have mentioned that all of us leaders should get refresher training. The SM said flatly that he was trained years ago. I have no reason to not trust the SM. The SM's wife is the COR and the SM has put her name down as the TCC. Our brand new DE is trying to get his own act together.

 

I have put in many hours over five years trying to keep the troop and pack alive, including running a couple of troop meetings because the SM and other leaders couldn't make it, or running the pack meetings because leaders left. Having a Boy Scout, a Cub, and another Cub next year, I would like to see the troop and pack thrive. I have seen "trouble-makers" driven away and good people abandon us. The leaders we have think no one at a higher level cares about us. I believe that without the SM we will totally fall apart.

 

So, I guess my question is how can I be a "trouble-maker" and not get driven away? How can I tell the Boy Scouts that I am disappointed that they didn't do this or that without casting shadows in the direction of the SM? It's obvious who is in charge of our troop; how can we turn it around?

[AvidSM]

No doubt that what the org chart says is true. And that training is key for everyone with a position in that chart. But never forget that we are dealing with PEOPLE here.

 

I am friends with and have known our Committee Chair for years. I have been camping with him many times and have spend a lot of hours around a campfire BSing. I would know when something is bothering him even before he speaks.

 

A troop runs a lot smoother when everyone knows each other and cares about each other thoughts and feelings. Try to avoid getting into a situation with a bunch of strangers. It's not fun and you will get burnt out quickly.

 

Some disagreements may come up because of a lack of knowledge about how a troop should be run. The problem is turnover and that people don't have time to get trained. As the Scoutmater of my troop, I Try to nip this in the bud by stressing the basics to everyone as the situation allows. Try to stress the positive and casually point out when things are going by the book. Just like the boys, the people who know a skill should be passing it on.