Are Districts Obsolete?

[UCEagle72]

BP --

 

While the "one council per state" idea exists ... it also has four "field service councils" (FSC) doing the work of the previous 11 or so councils.

 

And the "Community Scouting District" (CSD) does have a lot of important functions. But not "program" - "program" is vested at the FSC.

 

Interesting, eh?

 

[Eagledad]

District sets the pattern of the quality for units. They can do that in several ways, but training is the largest contributer to unit quality, good or bad. I found that many of the bad habits the units used in our district were a result of the district simply not knowing BSA policies, so they kept teaching the wrong proceedures and policies even though it was not in the material.

 

At the pack level the District didnt understand the harm of Webelos submitting Troop Applications to the Troops before the scout received his AOL. Council just let it go for a while but eventually National had to make a call. At the troop level most Scoutmasters didnt know the process where the scout seeks the MB Counselor list from the SM and is supposed call the counselor and get the SM signature on the MB card before he starts work on the requirements. We found that the SMs were using the same process in their units that the District used for MB College, which was just find a counselor and the adults will do the rest.

 

We have found that on average, unit quality represents the quality of the district program, primarily training. I really saw this in a Colorado district where most of the Troops were very Boy Run because the district encouraged very boy run program.

 

And districts feed off the quality of the units for their chair positions, so it can be a vicious circle of bad unit leaders becoming bad district leaders. Bad district leaders encourage bad quality units which result in bad unit leaders. Trends can be hard to change, but we fixed a few problems by replacing the whole training committee with good teachers who actually taught the material. The District Training Chairman recieved the Silver Beaver for her efforts.

 

So its hard to know from the limited information if Basement's troop is feeding his district, or his district is feeding his troop, but it appears something needs to change. Just kidding of course.

 

Barry

[BadenP]

Barry

 

While much of what you say is true, IMO, National has become totally out of touch with scouting in the field. Even if you get a couple of "bad district volunteers" at least they know what is happening and what will and not work in your district, and it is fairly easy to replace them if necessary. With National you are stuck with those bozos for years and years and you get to watch them tear away at the scouting programs, unaccountable to anyone but the CSE. In reality all National truly cares about is the MONEY, FOS, etc.,followed in a distant second by numbers made up with weak thrown together units created by the DE, and ghost units and programs.

[Basementdweller]

So Barry how does one feed the district?????

 

My troop provides zero leadership to the district.....I was asked to be membership chair a couple of years ago but my scouting plate is too full and I asked on this forum what was involved and it was way more than I have time for....

 

http://www.scouter.com/Forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=266648&p=1

 

 

I think where we are at is that the district has run so poorly for so long the troops are just used to doing their own thing.....

[Eagledad]

>>My troop provides zero leadership to the district

[Tampa Turtle]

(This is not a total tangent)

 

I was reading about how the Navy and Airforce are largely technical services and approach combat with a layered, procedural sense. The Army and Marines see combat as chaotic and tend to be more flexible in how they may approach certain problems (say ground targeting). They have different cultures partially out of tradition and out of whatthey do everyday.

 

National is like the Navy/Air Force in respect they see Scouting in this measured sense with procedures and guidelines. Troop-level Scouters are "boots on the ground" dealing with the front line of chaotic boys and parents. The difference is a substantial cultural tension.

 

What is Council? Maybe the regional pool of support services for us ground troops with camps, training, etc. Though they get pretty Mickey Mouse and expect us to serve them at times.

 

I am not sure where District fits in? Are the the forward observers working with the Troops and calling in the air strikes and artillery as needed?

 

And with that I have exhausted my military metaphor for the day.

[SeattlePioneer]

>

 

 

There certainly are units that don't have the surplus resources to help out on a district level ---so I'm not questioning Basements post.

 

But in my experience, there ARE quite a few units which could find volunteers to help out with district activities and leadership if they had a mind to do so.

 

My own pack is small and struggling, but we have a Tiger Cub Assistant Den Leader who is helping plan the Cub Scout Day Camp. Last year the pack committee volunteered to help clean up at the conclusion of the Cub Scout Day Camp, allowing staffers to be able to leave when the camp was done.

 

In my experience, that happens when unit leaders are well enough plugged in to district leadership and activities to be able to see the things that need to be done, which allows them to review the resources within their unit and direct people who can help out with those activities.

 

Unfortunately, too many unit leaders pay no attention at all to district leadership except to consumer the resources and activities provided.

 

Sad. With some effort they could be strengthening their own program and Scouting for everyone in the district.

[JMHawkins]

Unfortunately, too many unit leaders pay no attention at all to district leadership except to consumer the resources and activities provided.

 

Seattle, I think that's just another part of the vicious circle Barry mentioned. If the District is bad and the district level volunteers are as obnoxious as what Basement describes, not only are the unit volunteers probably worked extra hard to make up for the lack of district support, they're also probably disinclined to get involved with a group they find mostly annoying.

 

Without some really exceptional and committed folks, turnarounds are hard to pull off before rock-bottom because of the people already in place.

 

It's usually easier to keep something working that to fix something broken.