Troop Meeting Program

[ronvo]

Thank you for the additional responses. Very helpful

t258sm wrote: Each month the PLC plans out the following months meetings using troop program features and other materials as a guide. It gives them a good base to start with and they change the meeting plan to suit their own ideas. Meeting and activity plans are not so much about merit badges as they are practical skills relating to the theme. The idea is to introduce the Scouts to a theme and then peak their interest into finding out more about the merit badge.

That is great and how I think it should be. I think to often many boys just go along with a merit badge class with little interest in or actual work for the badge.

Last night I went to our troop's "leaders" meeting. All adult except for the ASPL who is the SM's son and he had little to say. The adults made the plans and I was amazed at how they do it. If you are having the boys lead your troop no matter how much guidance they need you are doing it right. 

 As I said earlier our program is about boys LEARNING to be leaders and different groups will need diffrent things from the adults. I think we often expect to much of a boy led troop and when it doesn't meet those expectations, we say, see told you it wouldn't work - we better let the adults do it. And that is stealing the program from the boys.

ronvo

[t158sm]

ronvo:

Adults are all too often impatient when it comes to the idea of a boy-led troop. It definitely does take a lot of patience to sit by and let the Scouts fail at something when you know you could guide them in the right direction. But if you always tell them the right way to do things they've missed out on an important opportunity for learning and reflection. Most times lessons are not learned by being handed all the right answers, they are learned by having to overcome obstacles or working to achieve the goal.

I grew up in an adult run troop and I've had to struggle to overcome the natural tendency I feel to take charge and rescue the Scouts from themselves. To do so would be counterproductive though. Scouting isnt about doing things perfect every time, its about learning how to overcome obstacles and to grow as a person from that.

[ronvo]

In that respect I was lucky. I joined a boy led - SM advised troop and it stayed that way the entire time I was there.

 

It was by no means perfect and the SM ( all 3 at different times) stepped in when needed, which at times was often - however we learned a lot.

 

We also had patrols that worked always as patrols. We went to a summer camp where we were separated within the campsite by patrols and cooked our own meals as patrols.

 

I think that is why I get so frustrated with these folks.

 

ronvo