Old Boys in NSPs?

[Beavah]

 

In da parent thread, BW suggests that troops that are big enough follow an age-based program structure as a way of dealing with whether younger boys are ready for some kinds of campouts. Dat's certainly an option, eh?

 

That got me thinkin' of a different issue. Plenty of troops get older boys who join, not just 5th graders. An older boy who joins is gonna be much more comfortable being in a patrol with his peers if you're runnin' age-based patrols; but an older boy who joins is gonna be no more ready to step into a winter campout week one than a 10-year-old is.

 

For those of us who do NSP's/age based, do yeh put the new 14-year-old boy into the NSP along with da 10 year olds?

 

B

 

[Eagledad]

>>For those of us who do NSP's/age based, do yeh put the new 14-year-old boy into the NSP along with da 10 year olds?

[Bob White]

My personal experience is that rarely does a boy join a Boy Scout Troop after age 12. The few that do rarely stay because their only reason to join was to take part in the outdoor activity with a friend in the troop. They have no interest in the other aspects of the program and quickly lose enthusiasm.

 

However if I did have a 14 or 15 year old join I would put them in a patrol made of scouts of similar age and interest as recommended by the BSA program.

BW

[FScouter]

We don't "put" a boy anywhere. He joins the patrol of his choice and which has invited him. That's usually going to be the patrol of the Scout that invited him to join.

 

A group of boys that join at the same time, as in bridging from a pack, usually want to be together. Thus is born a New Scout Patrol. We don't push them into other patrols.

[Beavah]

We don't "put" a boy anywhere. He joins the patrol of his choice and which has invited him.

 

Yah, that's one option, eh? One I'm sort of fond of.

 

But there are plenty of troops who do put lads in New Scout Patrols, eh? Rather than lettin' 'em join an existing patrol of their choice, or even letting existing patrols "invite" them when they cross over.

 

That's who I was askin' the question of, naturally.

 

B

 

 

[Bob White]

My apologies for that wording it was not representative of me. I would not place a 15 year old in a NSP uless there were enough scouits of his age to create a patrol. A Scout at that age as I suggested no doubt would be comming in because of a friend in the troop and I would expect him to join that patrol.

 

BW(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[BrentAllen]

We follow the BSA program. Boys are formed into patrols with the Scoutmaster's direction. Individual circumstances would dictate where the older boy would be placed.

[Stosh]

I have a troop that for many years didn't get any new Webelos scouts. Thus they spent a lot of time recruiting friends. The troop has a number of boys that are older and have fallen away because of a variety of different reasons.

 

However, I have a 15 year old that's working on his Tfoot. 2 Scouts at FC (both at 15) and 2 at Life (one at 14 and one at 15). Those are the 5 core boys. Needless to say we have successfully recruited a Webelos Den and will be tripling our numbers next month. I am not planning to strata anything by age. I have found that in my Venture crew I have 20 year olds hanging out with 14 year olds and every combo inbetween. Adults have created arbitrary age patterns and enforce them regularly in school, church, and other social activities for their kids. I ignore age and when left alone, boys will blend on their own. I have seen it done many times where younger boys gravitate to the older boys and older boys take the younger ones under their wings. Boy-led units will develop this naturally where adult-led units don't often get the chance.

 

Stosh

[scoutingagain]

We've had only a couple of older boys join the unit in the past six years. One was an older sibling who joined at 13, another a friend of a scout. In both instances rather than placing them with incoming Webelos crossovers they joined the patrol of thier peers. We tend to have aged related patrols, after the NSP, but there is some crossover. In both cases the boys were assigned a "mentor" scout. Kind of an individual troop guide to help the scout advance to 1st Class.

 

One of these boys stayed a couple of years and dropped out when his friend did. They other stayed on, worked camp staff, SPL etc. and eventually earnded Eagle.

 

SA

[J-dawg168]

Speaking as a Troop Guide, it CAN work. But IF you do put an older boy in there the troop guides have to work closer with him to keep him from loosing it with all the hyper little kids.

 

In my opinion, aged based patrols is a horrible idea. In my patrol, we do mixed ages, along with a NSP. The NSP does a different program at troop meetings and campouts, but goes tot he same place. With mixed aged patrols, everyone knows everyone, guys can learn from the older boys mistakes, and lets face it, most 14 year olds won't listen to another 14 year old their age(speaking from experience in a previous troop, it just doesn't work)

 

So to answer the question, I would put the boy in a regular patrol, so he does have a few guys his age, but pull him out to do the skills and intructions with the NSP so he gets the knowledge needed

[Scout_Dad]

J-Dawg, you warm this old Scout's heart. My son recently crossed over and I was shocked to see his troop segregated by age. The NSP fumbles along with little peer leadership and worse, no role models within their patrol - all the experience is in the other patrols. A troop guide may be a great mentor, but no replacement for a First Class Patrol Leader who knows his stuff and can get HIS patrol where they need to be on time and prepared to perform the training / task / event. I can still remember being 11 years old and wanting to BE that patrol leader. I'm not sure what my son will remember of his first year in Scouting, but I'm concerned that this NSP will not light the fire that it did for me and my peers. Congrats to your troop for your success with the "traditional" patrol method.