Troop Survey Results

[acco40]

At our recent JLT outing, I asked our "senior" boys (12 - 15 year olds) a few questions via a Troop survey. I thought I'd share them with you. I was surprised by some of the answers. The troop had recently doubled in size with the influx of new Webelos and like with most change, some of the older boys did not embrace the change. I also found out during our JLT "games" that many of the boys preferred the "wrong" leadership style. If you are aware of the rope circle games, the following is interesting. In the first game, a SM barks orders to blindfolded, silent Scouts, linked together in a rope circle to form a square. Next, the blindfolded Scouts try to form a triangle with the SM silent and the boys leading. During the reflection afterward, most preferred the directive style of the overbearing SM! Less confusion in their eyes. They still are warming up to having to lead or being led by their peers. As one boy told me on a previous camping trip when I asked him to supervise dinner he said he didn't want to be a leader because he wanted everyone to like him. I've still got a lot of work to do in teaching the boys that a leader is more than the John Wayne type depicted in the JLT tapes. We WILL get there!

 

What do you think Scouts should do?

1. Go on campouts, make friends and have fun.

2. I think that scouts should participate in community service projects, camping, and educational programs that you cant get in school.

3. They should run the troop.

4. Campouts

5. Have fun and learn

6. Have fun with everything we do, help and assist people

7. Earn eagle

8. Be a leader, teach other kids

9. Have a good time camping and moving up in rank and going cool places

10. Run the troop

11. Have fun and learn new awards.

12. Have fun, learn and have fun

 

If you could change anything in the Troop, what would it be?

1. The meetings every week because most of the time we have nothing to do.

2. I would change the lack of Boy leadership. More available merit badge counselors.

3. Mix the patrols up so they're diverse in experience.

4. Nothing.

5. Meeting end on time

6. How the troop works together.

7. Be fun with more activities.

8. More informational meetings.

9. Better advancement.

10. Not to sit in the basement for an hour and a half.

11. Dont know.

12. More campouts and more fun activities.

 

What is your best skill as it relates to Scouting?

1. Camping and relating good with others.

2. My best skill would have to be carpentry and wood working.

3. Helping people out.

4. First aid.

5. I dont know.

6. Getting people to understand the importance of what they do.

7. Teaching little scouts.

8. First aid.

9. I dont know.

10. Helping people.

11. Organization.

12. Blank.

 

What would you like to see the Troop do?

1. Have more campouts and more hard campouts like white water rafting.

2. I would like to see the troop go on more high adventure trips.

3. I think the mountain climbing was fun. Id like to do paint ball if we can.

4. More games.

5. More exciting campouts.

6. Fun activities such as rock climbing and snow sports.

7. More merit badges.

8. More first aid and fire safety.

9. More places where we sleep inside or do more than just camp or go to camporees.

10. Go to Cedar Point or the U.P.

11. Dont know or care.

12. Fun activities.

(Note: Cedar Point is an amusement park)

 

What do you expect to get out of being a leader?

1. To know what to do as a leader.

2. Strategies for motivation younger boys and controlling out of control behavior.

3. To be able to lead better, understand tricks.

4. More respect.

5. Leadership schools. (Skills?)

6. Able to deal with the boys who dont work or listen.

7. More leader experience.

8. More experience.

9. I will bet better at being a leader and it is a requirement for some badge.

10. To know what is expected of a leader.

11. More respect by others.

12. Blank.

 

Would you like to see the Troop youth run? Why?

1. Yes, because if it is we have more power.

2. A balance of adult and youth run.

3. Yes, we learn more that way.

4. The youth do it.

5. Yes, it would help them.

6. Yes, to see their ideas.

7. Yes, they get thing done faster.

8. Yes because it gains respect and responsibility.

9. No. They are not mature at all. The older kids should be the leaders.

10. Yes, because then we can do what we want to do.

11. Yes.

12. Yes. We can learn more.

 

Would you like to see the Patrol Method used? Why?

1. Yes, so not one person has to take control over everyone.

2. Dont understand.

3. Yes because it keeps things organized with the chain of command.

4. Yes, so it would be more fun.

5. No, because I dont know what it is.

6. Dont know.

7. Yes, so the patrols would run smoother.

8. Blank.

9. Yeah. Cobras are driving me nuts.

10. Yes because then the patrol can do what they want.

11. Yes.

12. I dont know.

(Note: Cobras are the NSP who just joined the troop.)

 

Why do you think boys join the Boy Scouts?

1. To have fun and learn about cool things and camping.

2. I think that boys join to go camping.

3. To have fun!

4. To have fun.

5. To have fun and learn stuff.

6. To have fun with their friends and have good life experiences.

7. To get Eagle.

8. Blank.

9. To have fun.

10. To have fun.

11. To have fun.

12. Because its fun.

 

How would you rate the current Troop Program? (1 best, 5 worst)

1. 2

2. 3

3. 2

4. 2

5. 2

6. 2

7. 3

8. 4

9. 2

10. 3

11. 2

12. 2

 

What type of places would you like to visit on our outings?

1. River, sand dunes, rafting, kayaking.

2. I would like to go to either Philmont, or Florida sea base.

3. I would like to visit the Alamo.

4. Cedar Point.

5. I dont know.

6. Places like Boyne Mountain and Cedar Point.

7. Cedar Point, Six Flags, Disney Kingdom(?).

8. Blank.

9. Cedar Point.

10. Cedar Point, Isle Royal.

11. Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls.

12. Cedar Point, Boyne Mountain, etc. More fun places.

 

What is your favorite thing about the Troop?

1. Going camping every month.

2. The diversity of the boys.

3. The boys, they are all nice and good.

4. The people in it.

5. People I know are in it.

6. It is not a huge or small troop now.

7. Being with friends.

8. Meet a lot of friends.

9. Going on trips.

10. Campouts.

11. The guys are like friends.

12. Indoor camping and fun.

 

What is your least favorite thing about the Troop?

1. The annoying little kids.

2. The immature behavior by some of the boys.

3. Organization, we dont have enough.

4. Blank.

5. Meetings last long.

6. When the boys dont listen.

7. Loud kids.

8. Blank

9. We dont get enough done at meetings.

10. The meetings.

11. Dont home. (?).

12. The Cobras.

 

The numbers represent a particular boy. That is response #4 is the same boy for all questions. Some of the responses are interesting. For example, the same boy who responded "Don't know or care" about what he would like the troop to do is the same boy who stated that he wanted to receive more respect by others as a leader!(This message has been edited by acco40)

[Eamonn]

Nice list, a lot of food for thought.

Eamonn

[evmori]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[VentureScoutNY]

 

Interesting, for the most part it seems the boys all agree on having fun. We had similar answers to a Troop survey we were given as scouts. Most Scouts agreeged meetings were too long, and were boring. They wanted to camp more and go to new exciting places... Although all boys are different, most of them do have similiar interests that can be met by a proper program. Fun is no doubt the goal for all of them to stay involved.

 

I am guessing your Troop is not run by Patrol Method? It seems the Boys are up for the challenge, and some of them need an explanition of what is the Patrol Method. If they run the Troop by Patrol Method all of those answers under question #10 can be heard and can happen. They can be on there way to bigger and brighter things!

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

 

[acco40]

We (I) try to use the Patrol Method for everything. (B-P quote: The PM isn't a way to run a BS troop, it is the ONLY way! or something like that). The problem is the boys (and some of our SAs) sometimes don't want to use it. "Wouldn't it be easier if we just all ate the same meals and cleaned up together" is a refrain I hear way too often!

 

I do (and will) need to re-iterate it again and again. We do need to get "all of our oars" going in the same direction wrt adult leaders. The boys will always look for the path of least resistance.

 

Also like most troops they claim they want to be boy run but that usually means having veto power over adult decisions. When it comes time for the boys to step up, they are not as vocal about being boy led. They are still young, our leaders are only 13 and I am proud of them. They are learning that THEY choose where we go on our outings, what we do at our meetings, etc. Therefore, if they want to see changes, go ahead and make the changes! It is my job to give them the resourses to do that. It is not an overnight process as many already know.

 

Now, if any boy said he joined the Boy Scouts so that he would be able to make ethical decisions, develop character, become a better citizen or to maintain physical, mental and emotional fitness most of us would fall out of our proverbial chair. Fun is their goal and rightly so at this age.

[Bob White]

So what do you feel has been learned from the results?