Crossing to in house or outside?

[Scoutfish]

Twocubdad brought up a great point when he said a scout should be loyal to it's CO.

 

I agree with that too. But at the same time, a scout should be earnestly loyal to his own true best needs too.

 

Now, I tend to like to see a Cub Scout crossover to a troop within his own CO, but I want him to have looked around at a bunch of other troops too. If he still goes with the current CO's troop,that's cool as long as he gave an honest openminded look at ALL the available options.

 

But this got meto thinking about one aspect of staying within a singular CO:

 

What other experience or other points of veiw are you missing?

 

I mean, uaully,a Webelos den leader will cross over with his boys and become either a ASC or committee right? And granted, there is not the same lever of direct contact or leading as there wonce was....but you still are working under the influence and way of thinking of that keader.

 

What I mean is this: If you stay in a small town al your life and never ever leave it ..not even for vacation or a shopping excursion....I mean NEVER go outside that town...you can be missing a very big picuture of life and experiencing anything other than what you know.

 

Kinda like if for some reason, your kindergarten teacher somehow managed to go up a grade every year, and you always end up with that teacher.

 

All your educational experience is based on THAT teachers thought process and point of veiw.

 

So, even though I like to see scouts stick with their original CO ( after a thorough and honest look around and decision process) , maybe it would be more beneficial for them to go to another troop to get a different mental experience?

 

 

Your thoughts?

[Eamonn]

While some Packs go to great pains to ensure that the Lads who are crossing over are exposed to Troops in the area, in most cases it's the parent who has the final word.

Most parents don't know about CO's.( A lot of Scout Leaders don't!) They think that the Troop meets where it meets just because that's where it meets.

Parents are more lightly to send their son to a Troop where they know the SM. Even if they don't know him well, just knowing of him makes them feel he is someone that they can trust. Most times this will be the SM with the same unit number of as the Pack.

Parents will do what is most convenient for them.

When my son crossed over he went to a Troop where he knew the SM. At that time there wasn't a Troop chartered by a R/C Church. When he made up his mind to change Troops there was a Troop chartered by the local R/C Church, but they met on Sunday. Both HWMBO and myself were unwilling to change what we did on Sundays in order that he might attend Troop meetings. So he joined a Troop that met on a Tuesday night, which was better for us.

 

The R/C Troop was started by the fellow who replaced me as CM.

The Troop started with a group of Webelos Scouts who had been together since Tigers. The Troop was very much counting on the Webelos Scout Den the following year joining the Troop but the Den Leader guided the Den to another Troop, mainly because she didn't get along with the SM.

It had nothing to do with program, just that her and him just didn't see eye to eye. This really hurt the new Troop.

Ea.

[boomerscout]

"Kinda like if for some reason, your kindergarten teacher somehow managed to go up a grade every year, and you always end up with that teacher."

 

in college, if you luck into a good, effective teacher, you are better off following that teacher all the four years. How would you know he is effective? By how well you do in other teachers' classes once you've passed the pre-reqs with the good teacher.

Even with a common CO, the quality levels of the Pack versus the Troop may widely diverge because different people are involved -- or they may not.

Feedback is important. What kind of retention level does the troop have? How well do they do in competing with other troops in camporees? Are they worthy of publicity in the local paper for their community service projects? Do outsiders favor their fund-raising efforts because the troop is looked on as a community asset?

 

 

[resqman]

We choose a pack because my son wanted to hang out with a buddy. It was a great pack. Drawback was it was a bit of a drive to attend. When it came time to cross over, we did not even consider the troop at the same CO. I said if we are going to weekly meetings, I am not willing to drive that far. Did not matter how good the troop might be, I was not spending the next 7 years driving across town.

 

My son looked at 3 troops much closer to our home. A family friend was the SM of one troop. One troop actually had a high representation from our old pack. 3rd troop had their own building. All three are good troops with strong programs and would have been a good choice.

 

I explained to my Den that I don't care what Troop they go to as long as they stay in scouting. I scheduled troop visits. None of the boys in my den attended any of the troop visits. 9 out of the 12 Webelos joined the troop my son selected. 2 went to troops closer to their homes. 1 dropped out of scouting. None joined the troop at the same CO as the Pack.

 

I attended a crossover last evening. CO has both a Pack and Troop. One boy decided to join the troop I serve while the rest stayed at the same CO. 3 or the 8 boys had older brothers in the troop. The DL and ADL moved on to the troop.

 

Many parents don't know that they can change units. Many are under the impression that they must cross over to the troop with the same CO. Unless the DLs are letting the Webelos and parents know there are choices, most parents don't know to look elsewhere.

 

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

I do NOT agree that LOYALTY should be invoked in a Cub Scout's decision on moving to a troop.

 

That sounds like a con job being used on a boy or family when a Scout troop isn't cutting the mustard.

 

It's a misuse and perversion of the Scout Law, in my opinion.

[Hawkrod]

SeattlePioneer, I think you may need to reread what was written. I think you have taken the comment about loyalty out of context. In both this thread and the other, the loyalty part was not about a boy going to the Troop from a Pack out of loyalty, the loyalty comments were about loyalty to the boys own needs and loyalty to the CO by the units working together both of which I find appropriate. I did not see anywhere where loyalty was used to suggest that a boy needed to go from a pack to a Troop chartered by that same CO.

[Beavah]

Yah, it's an interestin' thing, eh?

 

Is a scout just a consumer, like SeattlePioneer suggests? Or is he instead a member who has freely taken on a duty?

 

I reckon for many CO's, a scout is just a consumer. He comes in, he pays his dues or works his fundraisers in exchange for services provided. Like a commercial transaction, there is no duty of loyalty. If he can find better services or cheaper services somewhere else, off he goes.

 

Now, not all CO's are like that, eh? If yeh are a member of da church who sponsors a unit, then yeh might have a greater personal loyalty to that CO. Or, alternately, if the CO has shown you unusual kindness, like taken care of your fees through camperships out of its own funds when you were in need, then perhaps yeh have a personal duty of loyalty.

 

Beavah