Chasing the Rainbow in North Georgia

[GaHillBilly]

 

I started investigating Scouting, as an opportunity for my (then) 11 year old son two years ago. We joined a troop about 20 months ago. Since then, I have learned a lot about Scouts and Scouting -- as it is in the literature AND as it is in practice.

 

I've been grateful for this forum, for it has given me a place to ask questions I dared not ask locally, and a place to vent, when the pressure got to be too much. I've mostly tried to avoid being specific about local details, to avoid raising a ruckus or hurting feelings. But, I'm getting beyond that now.

 

I'm again in the middle of a mess, largely due to having made the mistake of serving on the Star BOR of our SPL. (I'd had sense enough to stay far, far away from the Eagle BOR.) But, our SPL proceeded to lie to us to excuse his lack of basic Scout skills, and I compounded my first mistake of serving on the BOR, with a second huge mistake: I thought, and acted as if lying to a BOR was a serious issue. This BOR took place only three weeks after I found him, along with both PLs, arrested informally by a State Park ranger for having violated park curfew, and being loud and boisterous at midnight in the middle of a campground crowded with non-Scouts.

 

I'd thought I was going to be able to help things for some of the boys by using the 'patrol method' and patrol camping to do an end run around a group of skill-less (all of them) and character-less (half of them) older boys. But, the ASM 'step-father' (who is dating the mother of the SPL, having parted with the mother of the former SPL) was entirely unwilling to have anything take place which would shrink the group of boys his sort-of step-son had to boss around at a troop camp.

 

The younger boys have learned that Eagle candidates can't tie square knots and are afraid to camp in the dark without one of their parents nearby. They've learned that their SPL can't whip a rope properly 10 minutes after a training session in which ALL of the younger boys learned to do so . . . because the SPL can't be bothered to pay attention! They seen that the new boys can use a compass and map better than the experienced and older former SPL (who is actually a generally good example of moral character, but who is unfortunately rather indolent, unfit and slow to acquire physical skills). They've helped our Eagle candidate on his one-day-wonder 'trail repair' project, and watched the work and the planning and the arrangements be made by his mother and father. And, then they've hiked on those trails, and tripped over the uselessly placed run-off guides and gotten mired in the incorrectly selected fill.

 

I've seen boys with Swimming MBs who can't swim, boys with Canoeing MBs who can't hold a paddle, boys with Lifesaving MBs who can't put their head underwater . . . and watched younger boys learn that a Merit Badge is just a patch you get for paying up and showing up, just like a Camporee patch.

 

There've been some benefits:

+ I have greatly increased my knowledge of knots, botany, & land navigation

+ My son has greatly increased his knowledge of knots, first aid, botany, camping & land navigation.

+ I've camped more, including camping more with just my family.

+ I've begun to think about, acknowledge, and work on flaws in my own character and behavior, as a result of considering the Scout Law.

 

But, the frustrations have been enormous, as I've chased the pot of gold at rainbow's end:

- I've struggled, often fruitlessly, to understand a program that is contradictory in its goals and methods.

- I've come to understand that Scouting is a program of enormous promise and vision, but little in the way of important results, largely because it is very hard and demands great skill and wisdom and countless hours on the part of key troop leaders.

- I've experienced, and continue to experience, enormous frustration with a program in which common and widely accepted practices directly contradict the Scout Law. In particular, advancement and merit badges requirements are 'processed' in ways which directly contradict every Scout's pledge to be "trustworthy".

- I've watched troops and boys be denied the "outing" experiences fundamental to Scouting, because the leaders were too fat, too frail, too unfit, too unskilled, too fearful or too disinterested to provide those experiences.

 

- I've watched younger boys' needs and concerns sacrificed to older boys' desire to be bosses.

- I've watched younger boys' opportunities restricted or eliminated, in order to cater to older boys' fears and lack of skills.

- I've watched "methods" -- particularly "advancement" and the pursuit of the Eagle 'patch' -- become the real goals, and replace the original goals of Scouting.

- I've watched a mockery made of one of Scoutings' most central ideas, that of older boys leading younger boys by good example, when older boys who set bad or even horrible examples are elevated in rank and position, rather than censured or disciplined.

- I've watched younger boys learn that "trustworthy" means "cheating only in accepted ways"; that "brave" means "admitting, when you have to, that your fears dominate your decisions"; that "obedient" means "not getting caught disobeying".

- I've watched the phrase "boy-led" become a mystical mantra, used to justify the useless or destructive results of giving real leadership to untrained and undisciplined older boys, who remain untrained and undisciplined because the leaders do not themselves have the time or skills to train and discipline them.

- I've watched boys mis-taught plant ID and animal ID and navigation and knots, by leaders who hadn't put forth the effort (and it takes a lot!) to learn those skills first. About 75% of the instruction my son has received that has been factually correct, came from me.

 

We homeschool, and I've nearly concluded that we should simply re-register my son as a Lone Scout. All the benefits above are available via Lone Scout. There are a half dozen younger boys I won't be able to help, but I've had to recognize that I can't really help them now, but must instead watch them be consumed as fuel for the altar of the older boys' experience 'boy-leadership'. As I consider the huge negatives listed above, I can't see any reason to stay, except for a somewhat dogged tendency to refuse to admit failure.

 

I'm going to back away and cool down for a week or so, and discuss it carefully with my son, but with gas at $4/gal and going up, and no troops that are better within 30 miles, I can't see that there's any other option.

 

 

GaHillBilly

 

[packsaddle]

Man, I feel your pain and I've felt many of the same things back when my son was still coming along in Scouts (he earned Eagle and later turned 18, Oh man, has it been six years ago?)

The younger boys in your troop need to elect a different SPL, perhaps one of themselves who actually HAVE the skills. The adult leaders need to begin to support the actual program rather than the ad hoc thing they've created. The relationships between the adults that you described made me dizzy but then, it IS the SOUTH.

 

Anyway, if you can stand the drive you're welcome in our unit and you'll find a quite different group. The couple of Eagles who haven't aged out are outstanding (awesome!) in their knowledge and leadership. The older boys, for the most part, are stepping up to their leadership responsibilities as well. And the younger boys are enthusiastic about earning their way up AND doing their best to outdo the older ones.

 

I too have cringed at the way MBs are handed out without merit in many cases. This is one reason the SM and I restrict who the boy can work with as a counselor (especially when it comes to summer camp). The current crop of adult leaders are either seasoned and well-trained or they are eager to learn. It is a great unit. And I am thinking that I soon will no longer be needed.

 

But if you can't make the drive, I'm guessing you're a couple of hours away, let our unit be an example that it doesn't have to be the way your unit is. There are two approaches: do the best you can to make it better and live with it, or look around and find a better unit.

I really wish you the best.

[Stosh]

Welcome to Scouting 101. This "stuff" happens all the time and eventually either 1) one becomes immune to it, 2) one quits, or 3) one does something about it.

 

What about starting a troop of boys that are assisted by adults who care about doing it right? I would think that are more than one family that is dissatisfied. Either 1) take over the leadership of the troop, 2) take over the leadership of a close by unit that is struggling but has potential for growth, or 3) start another troop. It took me almost 3 years to make up my mind, but I didn't have boys in the unit so it didn't make any difference. However, I would have been far happier had I not procrastinated.

 

Stosh

[jtswestark]

GA I will echo Stosh here. But either way you cant do it on your own. If you start from scratch, you will be taking on the same manning issues you may be struggling with now. Or conversely it may be easier: people may be now staying away due to the existing guards way of doing things. We had a controversial ASM go start his own unit and suddenly I had parents coming out of the woodwork to pitch in.

 

When I came back to Scouts it was in the troop of my childhood and going elsewhere was not an option, as far as I was concerned. But my committee gave me complete control over everything I should have and I had the great support and counsel of the outgoing very respected and very experienced, long time SM. WOW did I make mistakes, but luckily my committee stuck with me through it all.

 

A transition can take time when existing youth and parents are used to doing things in a particular way. So you either decide to stick with it and work them through it or give up. I determined I would outlast them, tried to communicate with them as much as I could to head off misunderstandings. Some I lost: lost to Scouts completely or to other Troops. Others stepped up becoming the leaders we needed and their names are on our Eagle role. Either way was fine as it was their choice. This was the new program now so join us or well do it around you. A young SPL can upset the older guys, but it can also get their attention quickly. Also, at least in our area, we always have changes: people coming and going, new leaders and youth maturing into their leadership commitments through crossover, transfers, relocations, etc all contribute to changing the face of the troop almost annually, so it isnt as difficult to work in new ideas as it may seem. Determined and consistent patience can pay off.

 

Stick it out a little longer. If you look back on where things were when you first started, I bet you'll see you've already made a positive difference.

 

JTS