They Cant or Wont Organize an Outing (what to do...)

[scoutldr]

I think we should require them all to take Lean Six Sigma training and a Black Belt should be required for Eagle.

[shortridge]

I've found that an advisor (or SM) can help the planning process along by asking the questions (or variants): "What information do we need? What questions should we ask of Person X? What are the things we need to put on a checklist?" Don't tell, but ask.

 

In my day job as a reporter, we quickly learn the difference between open-ended and directed questions - "How do you feel?" vs. "Does that make you feel sad?", for example. Sometimes you need to ask one type of question or the other to elicit a response - it depends on the situation, the subject and the person you're interviewing.

 

Guiding Scouts is no different. Asking open-ended questions, when they don't know where to begin, can quickly devolve into a mutual exercise in frustration and early hair loss. Asking guided questions, designed to elicit a particular response, can accomplish your goal as an advisor while getting the Scouts intimately involved in the process and taking ownership.

[qwazse]

After our last meeting my crew president said that me and my co-advisor talked to much. So, looks like it's youth led or bust. (I still have to break it to my co-advisor.)

[hingram]

I find that Cub Scouts tend to bring Cub Scout behavior to Boy Scout meetings. We only allowed play after the meeting and that seemed to work best. When they arrive, start working. If they start throwing a ball, it is hard to get them to stop. Start on time.

 

 

[Stosh]

I solved some of the problem by priming the boys' pump. Last spring I "announced" I was heading out on an activity and the boys were invited to go along. They did nothing to get ready and I went and had a great time. I told them all about it when I got back and how much fun it was. I "reminised" a few times about it over the course of the next few weeks and then announced I had so much fun I was going to go again. This time 7 boys got their act together and went along. I didn't do anything different. Meals were planned out, budgets made, expenses calculated, etc. The boys need to get "left behind" a couple of times to convince them that the adults aren't going to do it for them. Once they figure this out, things change rather quickly.

 

Stosh

[highcountry]

I'm experiencing what GB and Lisa explained earleir. I had on of our Eagle Scouts (Now in College) tell me he really didn't get the leaderrship, reposnibility palnning picture until after he was 18. He is one of our most exveptional scouts too. I ahd a parent who is tiuned into reality tell me the same thing independently, that they are only ready for so much at scouting ages, they get better as they move from 12 year olds to 17 year olds but there is only so far you can go in general. I thin k short attention spans, instant gratification, narrow mided focus and other factors make this the norm today vs what kid were like 40 years ago and before. I have had scouts come to mne and exclaim they want to start planning more troop meetings, I have tried to teach, encourage and prime the pump but when it comes down to actaully doing this they are totally un engaged. I have seen the behavior pattern a lot....through out some verbal ideas and then be doen with ti, hope someone else (an adult) picks it up and actually does the work. I have had older scouts suggest bicycle trip activities 3 times, I have encouraged it and promoted their trips as they failed to do so. The guys who insisted on putting one of these events on teh calendar one year faield to sign up for theri own event ! Same with Skiing, had a couple scouts suggest we do a ski outing in addition to the event alreay on the calendar, we said great, and began to coach them on what to plan for and suggest how to go about it. As was predictable, even with check ins and little motivations and ideas they entirely dropped the ball.

Our previous scoutmaster allowed events to simply be cancelled, the result was not the boys stepping up and learning from it, they jsut got bored, quit and went home to their xbox. I am getting the level of boy led increasing in the troop but I know there is only so far wecan go and only so fast we can get there. Having a rapidly dying troop is less preferable to the boys having fun and learning some skills via boy led method that has considerable adult led pieces where they are needed. The lst scoutmaster had a troop the was chaotic and diminushing in fun and activity and the mebership and attendance levels were headed downward. I've made significant impovement on the fun and activity level, the mebership and the advancement and even in regards to boy led, but I can't allow enough failure to occur that it keills what has been built upp in our troop. The majority of my scouts are just not that motivated and I know ou limits.