Our current Negitive news-worthy scout

[moosetracker]

Ahh-Ha, that's where we differ..

 

You no longer cringe at the tarnishing of the rank, as you already don't think much of it. I know a few scum, I know of stories like these.. And I do know there are several kids with the attitude of the one last week that was totally self-centered, but thought the rank of Eagle was going to buy him something in paper that he did not possess in character..

 

Me, I still cringe at the tarnishing of it.. I know the rank doesn't guarentee perfection, but for the great scouts I see getting the rank, I cringe at those who drag the rank through the muck with them, by having their earning the rank as part of the storyline.

 

Me, I know of the scum.. But 90% of the scouts I see are really great kids.. 10% are unworthy of the rank.. With parents pushing them through, or they themselves cheating their way through, or going through the motions..

 

We had one kid who went through Den Chief training this weekend.. My Trainer wanted to flunk him as he truely scared her. He tried to pull the chair out from her, and talked about dead cats and death..

 

I had to tell her, that our course is not a pass/fail.. It is the scoutmaster who should be the gatekeeper and not allowing this scout to be a den chief.. She felt better that this den chief being trained by her was not a sigh he had her stamp of approval.. But all the others taking Den cheif training were wonderful.

 

Edited to ask: What would you think if you were the SM and got an email from the Training Chair informing you about the boys disturbing conduct? Depending on the SM he could see it as us budding in without all the facts, or be appreciative.. Would you first run it past your DE?(This message has been edited by moosetracker)

[RememberSchiff]

Sort of the idiot light flashing on the dashboard. Don't ignore it, there's a problem.

 

If I was teaching the Den Chief course, I would have failed him (no certificate) and contacted his SM ASAP in hopes that a scoutmaster conference would quickly follow. That scout doesn't appear ready for a POR (especially not Den Chief) so get him help, don't ignore the problem or make it worse.

 

Now the Training Chair/Committee would, of course, have my back on this and make an additional call to SM asking why he recommended this scout to be a den chief and take this (my) course. (Maybe it would make that SM think before recommending just anybody for NYLT...sigh)

 

And then with this feedback, an interesting and educational SC would follow where the Scout Oath and Law was reviewed, what was going on in his life, his future in scouting,... BTW, that dead cats and death stuff is very similar to comments made by said Eagle scout who is now on trial. He became a lost soul (goth?) sometime senior year or after. DAMN SCARY.

 

Old school responsibility, not buck passing.

 

My $0.01

 

[red feather]

Some Eagles soar, some flap. Some are ticket punchers and some go wrong. It happens. A young scout who earns his Eagle at 14-18 yrs of age really has no real clue what it CAN mean. Lifes experienes will define it. If the scouting experience as a youth can translate into real meaning as they continue the Trail to Eagle then it will have more and more meaning as they travel the Trail of Eagle. The Trail to Eagle is what we are all about, whether they earn it or not does not really matter. It is what they have learned on the trail that is important. Eagle rank and what it means does give a young man an anchor that he can base decisions on, if he wishes to choose so.

 

Some Eagles go wrong yes, but it is the benefits of learning the Trail To and Of Eagle that will enhance the lifes experiences of those who are on the trail.

 

soap box broke

yis

red feather

 

 

[BartHumphries]

No training program of any type is 100% effective. What you want to look at is whether a given program tends to increase, decrease, or leave alone the rate of success in a person's life. I think we can show that those who truly live the Scout Oath/Law generally have a better quality of life than those who actively disdain the Scouth Oath/Law. It doesn't matter who you are, but being trustworthy, etc., is only good. Being an Eagle isn't a guarantee that a person embodies those concepts in their life, but it does show that a person at least did (in most cases) a lot of work in that vein.

 

That the paper mentions that he's an Eagle Scout is only a sign of how much esteem the average person has for Eagle -- other people recognize that the BSA program generally raises the bar for youth and encourages a life better lived than it perhaps might otherwise have been lived, in my opinion.

[John-in-KC]

Scouting's job is not to inculcate the values we hold highly.

 

Our job is to reinforce those values. The Scouts' own family is the first line of defense.

 

Hillary, nearly 20 years ago, didn't quite get it right: She said "It takes a village to raise a child." That one little word ... a ... is the weak link. It takes THE VILLAGE: Parents, extended family, church, civic groups, school (in about that order IMNSHO). We fall under civic groups.