Re: Advice needed(long but serious)
Bruce E. Cobern (bec@PIPELINE.COM)
Tue, 5 Dec 1995 10:18:05 -0500
On Dec 05, 1995 00:26:31, 'Mike Montoya <mmm@IMS.MARIPOSA.CA.US>' wrote:
>I took the candidate off to the side and sat down with him, and went over
the 12 points of the Scout Law >and the Oath. We decided together that he
needed some work before he was ready
>to become an Eagle Scout.
I think you are on exactly the right path. What is important is for the
Scout and the unit to come to an understanding of what will be required in
order for him to advance. You seem to have done that. If the SM and his
SA's can agree with the Scout on a reasonable timetable for his advancement
based upon certain specific behavior modifications then that should be the
end of it, BUT . . .
There are always OTHER adults who feel that whatever is agreed to amongst
the interested parties is not good enough. It would be helpful if the
Troop Committee (except the CC, since it is his son) would "sign off" on
the agreement with the Scout. Then ALL of the parties involved would have
ownership of this agreement.
Of course, if you have reached an agreement with the Scout then he won't
even be asking for a B/R until he meets the terms of the agreement so dad's
concerns should be irrelevant, right? Or is dad prepared to pressure
junior into asking for something that he himself has agreed he is not yet
ready for?
>Here's the problem:
>The father (Troop Committee Chairman) thinks this is unfair.
Tough. If junior thinks it is fair that is all that matters. Tell the CC,
to be blunt, to take a hike, it might be his concern if it were not his
son, but since it is he is out of the loop. That does not mean he can't be
told what the agreed upon timetable is, but any of his other concerns are
extraneous to the process.
>He wanted this son to get his eagle awarded during his oldest son's (an
Eagle now at the
>Citadel) Christmas Break.
As previously stated, unless the Citadel's Christmas break lasts until
February or so that is highly unlikely. Even assuming that a B/R could be
scheduled immediately, it takes about 6 weeks (recent experience) for the
certificate to be returned from National (mid January, earliest) and the
troop is not supposed to even start planning its C/H until that happens.
So, tell dad to forget it.
>By the way, the issue of whether the SM is within his power to even set up
>"Scoutmaster conference by committee" never even came up in the
discussions.
>I wonder about that, but maybe I'm just a little sore from having to be
the
>"bad guy" on this one, but I feel very strongly that somebody had to be,
and
>I would have had to do something if the SM had yielded to the pressure of
>the dad and passed on this one.
I don't believe there is anything in the rules that either specifically
authorizes or precludes this kind of collective decision. Ultimately, it
MUST be the SM who decides, but it would appear that he could consult with
anyone he chooses while making that decision. In our troop the SM consults
with his entire staff of SA's over EVERY decision concerning advancement to
Star, Life or Eagle. For Star or Life he will usually go with the
consensus of the staff, but for Eagle he insists that he, personally,
approve even if the consensus says okay. My only objection to the way he
conducts the process is that he sometimes does not express his own views
during the discussion and I insist on knowing how he would have "voted"
even if at the end of the meeting.
Good luck
--
Bruce E. Cobern
MC, Troop 1, Flushing, NY
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
