Questions Parents Ask

[CharityAK]

Hello All

 

This is my first post. New to this forum.

 

I am the Advancement Officer for my son's troop. We have had some problems with parents who do not understand that personal initiative is required on the scout's part in order to advance - particularly further than First Class. Some have blamed troop leaders when their sons did not earn the necessary badges for rank advancements. They felt it was the leader's obligation to work with the scouts to earn the badges.

 

To help prevent these misconceptions, I am crafting a brochure to give new parents - An Advancement Guide for Parents. In it I covered the four-step process of advancement, the merit badge program, record-keeping, helpful resources, a section on "How to Help Your Scout Advance" and now I'm working on a Frequently-asked questions section.

 

Would you mind sharing with me the questions you have had from parents through the years regarding Advancement? I'd so appreciate it!

 

Thanks

 

Charity

[matuawarrior]

Welcome Charity to the campfire.

 

There are many questions that involved parents ask.

 

--How long will it take my Scout to be Eagle?

 

--How old does he have to be to earn Eagle?

 

--Where can I get resources to help my Scout?

 

--What does he need to do to advance?

 

--Why does/doesn't the troop offer MB's during regular meetings?

 

--Why does he need a buddy to earn a MB?

 

--Why can't the Scoutleaders hold classes for the Scouts to earn MB's?

 

--What are Eagle Required MB's?

 

--Why does he need to do a service project?

 

--What's a Scoutmaster Conference?

 

--Is the BOR hard?

 

 

I feel that the questions are answered if the Scout and parents are actually active with the Troop's program. The advancement program is self-paced. It is up to the Scout when and how long he'll earn a certain badge.

 

Some Scouts are only interested in the Outdoor Activities. Others go all out for advancements. It really is up to the individual Scout. With some prodding, those scouts who are slow or have had no interest in advancements start to slowly earn badges.

Sometimes certain Scouts don't like to be pushed at all and if you leave them alone long enough. They just want to do it on their own.

 

One of our long time District Trainer's once said, "The Eagle Scout Award is available too all Scouts who want to earn it, But not all Scouts are willing to earn the Eagle Scout Award".

 

 

Matua

 

(This message has been edited by matuawarrior)

[acco40]

The proverbial "Who can sign off on advancement? According to the SM Handbook, it is simply "leaders." Now, the devil is in the details on what is a leader (adult, youth, etc.).

 

Anyway, many troops do it differently. Make sure your troops philosophy is included in your brochure (and make sure it agrees with the BSA first!). Sounds like you will be providing a wonderful resource.

[evmori]

Welcome! Grab a log & have a seat!

 

Wow! Great idea! The questions matua asked would be the ones I would ask if I were new to the program. Acco40 also has a valid question. Get the answers to those & you will be in good shape.

 

On other thing, with these new parents asking all these questions, why not ask them one, too! Why haven't you filled out your adult leader application yet?

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

 

 

[Eamonn]

A friend of mine is the Charter Rep. For a local troop who were without a Scoutmaster.

I took the position, while they searched for a new Scoutmaster.

The troop was not in the best of health. They did have 26 Scouts on the charter, with about half of these attending the weekly meeting.Of the 26 there were nine Eagle Scouts.

The Patrol Leaders Council had never met.

They did attend summer camp but did little or no camping.

Troop meetings were a real mess, no opening or closing. Just a lot of Merit Badge "Classes"

Once we got the SPL and the PL's up to speed. Troop meetings got to be a lot more fun. These lads had never played a game at a troop meeting. We started planning camps and hikes and the Merit Badge "Classes" went Bye-bye.

Some of the parents were not very happy.

One even said that all this fun was ok, but what about doing some work.

I explained that if his son was interested in any merit badge that the troop had all the books and I had a Merit Badge list and I would be willing to help his son set up any merit badge that he was interested in.

This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted the "Classes".

I explained that that was not the way that it ought to be and that maybe this wasn't where his son ought to be.

Some of the parents were shocked to see the Troop doing non merit badge stuff. So at the Court Of Honor, I explained how the system worked.

Of course being the District Commissioner at the time, they did take that maybe I knew what I was talking about. In fact one parent came forward and became the Scoutmaster, took all the training. Is doing a great job and is off to Wood Badge this fall.

I would be sure to explain the methods of Scouting. Along with the Mission of the BSA, making a point that Eagle Scout making is not what we do. The Scout does that.

Welcome to the Campfire.

Eamonn

 

[Eagledad]

Hi all

 

This is a great idea. We do new scout orintation each year where we spend a great deal of time talking about advancement and answering questions such as these. I think this is a good place to do the Bob White thing and list the pages of the BSA publication that support the answers to all your questions. That prevents a lot of why does you troop do it this way when the other does it different. And it adds integrity to your adult leaders and program.

 

A couple of questions I've heard a lot are does the SM sign a MB Card before the scout starts or finishes his MB?

 

Can the parent be a conselor for most of the sons MBs?

 

Can anybody be a MB counselor?

 

Great job CharityAK.

 

Barry

[CharityAK]

Thanks for the replies so far. I've cut and pasted them all and am researching policy websites for answers.

 

I need to beef up the section on "How to Help Your Scout Advance" I have 3 principles so far:

 

1) Make sure he has the necessary supplies, equipment and materials. Unless your child has access to his own banking account and can drive, he is dependent upon his parents for many of the things he will need to be successful in scouting. He will need a uniform, a handbook, access to camping supplies, appropriate clothing for cold-weather camping, etc. He will need to be driven to and from activities. Participation in some activities is needed for advancement. When he reaches the point where he is earning merit badges, he will at times need some odd materials. For example, the Environmental Science badge requires access to such diverse items as Styrofoam peanuts, nightcrawlers, motor oil, ziplock bags and an aquarium. While a scout should operate as independently as possible, there will be times he will need parental assistance to secure needed items.

2) Be informed. Read through your scouts handbook and familiarize yourself with advancement requirements. Dialogue with your scout from time to time about how his scouting experience is going, where hes at in his advancement progress, and what type of assistance he needs to continue. Read any communications that your scout brings home. Attend the parent meetings. Ask questions when you are confused. Feel free to call on your Advancement Chair with any questions you may have.

3) Get involved. Scouting is heavily volunteer-dependent. Call your Committee Chair and see how you can help. A scout who observes parental enthusiasm regarding scouting will most likely be a motivated scout himself. Attend some troop meetings. Volunteer for some of the fundraisers or service projects. Sign up to be an adult leader or merit badge counselor. Or just bring a plate of cookies! See firsthand how your scout is doing.

--------------------------------

I'd like something about how to be more involved in the actual advancement process, earning the badges adn all, but don't want to inadvertantly encourage parents to do the work for their kid or somehow empower already pushy Stage mamas.

 

What would you say to a parent who wanted to know how to help their child advance? Let's assume this is a healthy, caring parent, but that we are aware there are some loonies watching in the wings...

 

Charity

 

 

[saltheart]

Charity,

 

With regard to parent involvement in advancement, here's a couple of thoughts.

 

Make sure that parents understand that Boy Scout advancement is quite a bit different than Cub Scout advancement. In Cubs, parents were hands-on with the boys. In Boy Scouts, the aim is for the boy to learn how to work on his own, with adult support for those things he can't yet do...but support and guidance only, don't 'do it for him'.

 

Make sure that parents understand that reading their sons handbook, just like you said, is the best way to develop an understanding of what their son is faced with on his path from rank to rank. But again, stress the independency of person and the dependency on his own abilities and drive to make things happen. Less so in the early years, more so as he grows.

 

And also, make sure parents understand that for any boy to make the most of his Scouting career and the work towards advancement, it has to be fun...the boys fun first, the parents second. If and when parents pressure their sons to work on advancement (more than the subtle reminders) working on advancement may come to be seen as no more fun that school homework. Don't dangle swords above their sons heads...like 'you won't get your license until you make Eagle'...which many of us have seen. As another thread here is discussing, only positive reinforcement will help a boy seek the fun and advancement in Scouting. Negative reinforcement will kill the spirit and drive for sure.

[evmori]

Ditto to saltheart especially the part about Cub & Boy Scouts being different.

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[Fat Old Guy]

Perhaps our parents are more self centered than most but one of the most frequent discussions that I have centers around "fairness."

 

I hear that "it's not fair that Johnny isn't a 1st Class when all of his friends are. He wanted to go on those camping trips but he had soccer." They just don't seem to understand that it wouldn't be fair to the boys who did the work to promote someone who hadn't.

 

 

[dsteele]

The best advice when it comes to Boy Scout advancement that I can think of to offer to parents is . . .

 

Let the Scout be a Scout. His desire to learn and to advance needs to be his and his alone.

 

I think a good parent in this role will read the boy's handbook and be prepared to offer assistance when requested, but the young man's drive is paramount.

 

With advancement or without, what we're trying to teach and hope that the boy learns are the values found in the Scout Oath and Law.

 

DS

[FScouter]

The best answers to parent questions can be found in Scout publications: Scoutmaster Handbook, Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures, Troop Committee Guidebook, the Boy Scout Handbook, etc. Web site have lots of information about how various troop handle things, and lots of opinions and ideas. Be aware though that lots of stuff on the web does not necessarily reflect BSA methods.

[Sparkie]

One thing i have found helpful is to give the parents examples of scenarios they may come across, and an idea of how to respond.

 

For example...a new patrol say less than 1 yr. is planning their camp meals, unfortunately they forgot to list drinks, what do you do? Of course as parents we say something like "and what do you intend on drinking that weekend?". I prefer to let the boys figure out what they are missing, without giving them the answer.

 

Sometimes adults are so quick to tell them what is wrong, that we don't give them an opportunity to resolve it.

 

On one campout, a patrol was literally burning their french toast because the fire was to high and hot. Two of the adults watched (from a distance) and listened to the boys "discuss" their problem. Finally, one of the boys came over and said "ummmm, we have a problem", "oh yea, what's the problem?" we asked (as we all walked over to the fire). He explained, and we questioned why they thought that happened? Not only did they know why it happened, they knew how to fix it! They just needed a little reassurance from an adult, without the adult taking over for them .

 

Sparkie

 

[LauraT7]

perhap you should include a 'job description' and a 'chain of command' for advancement and badge work - such as -

-Who is the advancement chair and what is their job,

-What a badge counselor is and how to find one, and - -WHY we use badge counselor instead of having leaders or parent sign off

-what leaders and Sr. boys can sign off on advancements in your troop.

-what committee members might make up a board of review - (and why committe members aren't supposed to sign off on advancements, and why SM's and ASM don't sit boards of review)

-what is the difference between Rank Advancement and Merit badges

-an explaination that while some badges lend themselves to group work - such as 'Swimming' at Summer camp - others are intended to be worked on individually - like "Personal Management"

-a brief explaination of BSA Youth Protection policies (that no boy should be alone with an adult, etc).

-how to 'keep their eyes open' for advancement opportunities - encourage the family and boys to familiarize themselves with the requirements, so that they can make use of local resources for badge work

- Give a list of commonly known local resources -for example, we have a Challenger learning /space center in our town that has a BSA badge counselor on staff who will work with boys in a group class or individually. there are librarians - past Eagle scouts in our library that counsel the citizenship badges and other research-type badges. the library also has contour maps, and merit badge books. (check to make sure they are current, first) Fire dept will sometime do "First Aid", and for advancement work and badge work - School efforts can count if the boy shows the appropriate teacher the requirement and has the teacher sign a note or otherwise show mastery of a subject ( for example - our 6th grade, in-school Drug Awareness (DARE)program covers an advancement requirement, our 7th graders all earn Red Cross CPR cards in health class, etc. show completion of the coursework, and a troop leader will sign off the requirement) Let the parents know if your area does any MB colleges, or what they can work on at summer camp.

-let them know, also, that if they have a 'special needs' child, that after completing all other requirements for a rank or Eagle required Merit Badge, that there IS a process by which the remaining requirements can be adjusted for their physically or mentally disabled child. The substitute requirements, however, will have to be of equal difficulty, and have to be approved at the district (I think?) and council (?) level. (check on that - i am looking into it for a boy in our troop, as well)

Also, since ADD and other learning disabilities are a special (and common!) thing nowadays - let the parents know that if because of that, if a boy needs an extra nudge or reminder, that if the parents keep the troop informed, and work WITH the leaders to help the boys advance, that the troop is willing to work with them too. some boys simply are not ready to jump from cubs and grade school. where everything is directed for them, and they do need a boost from the adults to get them on the path of self-direction, and self-monitoring. and some take longer than others to learn this.

[frank10]

Forget the FAQ's, what about he NAQ's (Never Asked Questions) such as...

 

Is there any way I can help?

Do you need another driver?

Can I bring something for the refreshment table?