Re: Parents as MB Councilors-reply
Jeff Bloom (PDefiner@AOL.COM)
Sat, 30 Aug 1997 12:26:16 -0400
An earlier post had the correct BSA policy stated, so I will only state how
our particular Council & Troop handle this by way of "recommendations" {ie:
this is NOT official policy, but simply a recommended, voluntary guideline
used locally...so...}
Council recommends that any adult register for a maximum of 10 MB's.
Our Troop also recommends:
** No more than 7 {though if some are inter-related, like Hiking &
Backpacking, then this is ok - again this is only a recommendation & we do
not tell a parent there is a "policy" limit}. This Troop recommendation is
because we have a large Troop [50+, & soon will be exceeding 65/70 when the
Webelos cross-over in '98], and luckily very active parents, so we want to
spread the fun around !
** Parents are allowed to counsel their own son, though this is usually done
is a group setting. No parents have ever abused this, & the SM keeps a close
eye on it, + the parents are obviously self-conscious, and thus "harder"
wuite honestly on their own sons. ...by way of explanation: Since most of the
MB's we offer the scouts are normally offered to more than 1 scout at a time
[eg., I have taught Amer. Heritage; other parents conduct scheduled MB
sessions in both Eagle required & non-required MB's], then obviously a parent
is eventually going to "counsel" their son. But since this is done in a group
setting, and the scout has to attend the sessions & complete the work like
everyone else, and sicne after all scouting is supposed to be a family
oriented activity, then our Troop sees this as ok. But other Troops have very
different experiences. I can only tell you it works for our Troop. Other
than the group MB sessions, in fact, I can tell you that in the past 2 years
only 1 scout has attained 1 MB with his dad outside of a regular MB session,
and that's because his dad was the only counselor for that MB, and the dad
let the SM and an Asst SM review what was done BEFORE signing off on the MB.
I thought this info might be helpful for other Troops to review.
YIS
Jeff Bloom
Troop 100
Columbia, SC
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
