Who makes the best Scout Master

[Knot Head]

I like Lisabob's post.

 

For me it's a balancing act. Deciding when to step in and offer discipline, a gentle nudge or a strong suggesstion so things don't totally fall apart and ruin the event. Knowing when to hang back because the mess you see about to happen will be a good learning experience. Teachable moment!

 

This is not easy to do but sure leads to grow when the adults can get it right. Setting those lines far enough apart that gut guys can learn to drive and correct their course yet enforcing the lines so you don't go headfirst off a cliff. Like teaching a new driver you start in the giant empty parking lot and slowly work their way up to the level of experience needed for downtown traffic.

[NJCubScouter]

I agree with ScoutNut, AlFansome and others who say that there is no way to generalize on this. I don't know if there is even any way to say what is true "most" of the time. Moving from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts as an adult leader can be a tough transition, some do it better than others. I have seen a few still stuck in "Cub Scout mode" where someone coming into it fresh, without any preconceptions, might do a better job, and others make the transition just fine.

 

One comment to Scoutfish, you say you have no intention or plan of being an SM or ASM. I don't think you need to plan that far ahead, one way or the other. When your son is ready to move to a troop, I think that is the time to decide whether you want to become an ASM, or a troop committee member, or wait and be a helpful volunteer parent for awhile, or maybe even some other position. One of the parents in our troop went from being a Cub Scout leader to being a unit commissioner and chair of one of the committees on the district level, and only then (after his son had already been in Boy Scouts for about two years) did he get involved with the troop. I don't think he had any of this planned out, in fact I think it was not until his son was a Bear or Webelos 1 that he took any leadership position at all, even in the pack. So my suggestion is, just relax a little and see what happens.

[Stosh]

Here's my take, and it may or may not be with the consensus of others.

 

CUB scout parents/leaders are setup to direct and lead because the boys are in many ways unable to do it for themselves. This dynamic has been successful for many years. I have no problem with adults leading the Pack.

 

However, BOY scouts are expected to start the transition from being told everything to start in the process of self-leadership and because they are more mature this transition is facilitated.

 

If someone has come up through the ranks under one premise and does not mentally and emotionally make the change with their boys they will always remain "cub" scouts in their development. The boys will always look for leadership from the adults directing the program. This is what they have been accustomed to coming through the CUB scout program.

 

However, if an adult comes in and doesn't feel it necessary to run the show, has no CUB background, gets training in the expectations of the BOY scout program, they should do quite well. If a CUB scout leader transitions over with his boys, gets BOY scout training and makes the appropriate focus changes should do quite well also.

 

The common denominator is in the focus/attitude of the individual and the supportive training to assist them in that focus.

 

When I was a CUB scout leader, I spend a lot of time doing everything for the boys. I designed the program, got all prep ready and the boys had fun. However, when I switched hats, I had to start teaching them to do it for themselves. It's difficult because it was in no way coming up the the standards I had enjoyed if I just did myself for them. I later went back into CUB scoutings to work on the Webelos transition issue for my WB ticket. I had to switch hats from one meeting to the other and it was a challenge. It's not easy, but it can and needs to be done. One does not teach kids in grammar school the same way a professor on the college level does. The teachers have to change as the kids change.

 

Stosh