Has anyone seen .....

[Eamonn]

I really don't like the idea that youth members are "Kicked out."

Leaders don't have the authority to revoke the membership of a Scout.

The Troop committee is the group that is supposed to handle discipline and only the CO or the SE can remove a Scout.

I don't understand why a Lad not attending should be a surprise?

Week one: Timmy isn't at the meeting. SM notices that he isn't and asks Timmy's pals "Where is Tim?" -No one knows.

Week Two: Timmy isn't at the meeting. SM tries to contact him. Timmy tells SM that he has quit. SM can now choose to just accept the fact that Timmy has quit or he can talk with him and maybe meet with his parents (I think it depends on the age of Timmy.)

Timmy may have 1001 reasons why he wants to leave.

The Troop may have a problem that SM isn't aware of? (Bullying, hazing,..)

Timmy might be involved in an activity that means he can't attend the meetings?

Or maybe Timmy is just fed up with Scouting.

Open lines of communication need to be in place.

Sometimes whatever isn't working can be put right or things can be worked out.

Timmy has the final word. It is up to him to decide if he wants to stay or go.

If he decides to leave. Time stands still.

Because he has quit he isn't able to fulfill the duties of any office he may hold. But if he has completed a term, it can't be taken away from him.

Rechartering time comes around.

Timmy is on the charter that is about to run out.

The Troop Committee is working on the new charter. Of course they would be nuts to spent the money paying for a Scout who isn't there!!

But they know if they don't call Timmy, the unit commissioner will be doing so. (Yes when I was District Commissioner, our Unit Commissioners called each and every Scout that had been taken off a charter.)

Timmy is called and asked if he wants to come back?

If he says no. Timmy is no longer a member of the BSA and is not entitled to the benefits of membership. But he has been informed that if he changes his mind he will be welcome to return.

We might never see or hear from him again.

He might decide that he wants to return. If he does he can pick up where he left off.

Not so long back a Council near us received a bequest of over a million dollars from a man who had been a Scout for only a year and had not been involved in Scouting since his youth. He gave the money because he felt the people in Scouting had been kind to him.

We never know what sort of impact we have on a youth. We never really know what or where our Scouts will end up.

I've seen really nice kids end up in Jail when they have grown up and Scouts who were little toads grow up to become really great men.

We never know.

Our job is to work with each and every Scout as an individual. Maybe that's why the title is Scoutmaster and not Troopmaster?

Eamonn.

[evmori]

We can only be there for the boys that want to be there. In your scenario, Timmy would not be called at rechartering time since he already indicated he no longer wanted to be a member. If he changes his mind, he is always welcome to come back.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[scoutingagain]

We have a fall sign up and recruiting campaign every year. We send a note to each scout letting them know the can re-register with the troop any meeting in September. If we havn't seen them in the first two meetings, we usually give them a call, unless they have made it known they don't want to re-up for the year. If we don't hear from them one way or another by the time we re-charter in December, they're dropped. They are free to sign-up again at any time, but we don't carry dead wood on the charter. Same scenario goes for the adults.

 

SA

 

 

[bolin]

Thanks for the info.