Re: Advancement Transfer Question

From: Joseph Alessi <JosephAlessi@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Date: Monday, October 19, 1998 9:55 AM

<<****WARNING!!! WARNING!!! HOT BUTTON PUSHED*****

Jim, this is *EXACTLY* what national does not want, and
is the reason for the change in the wording that took
place a few years ago. Too many units used the "scout
spirit" requirement as a weapon to force boys to be
more active in the troop. National recognized the
problem, and took steps to tell us, the adult leadership,
that we must focus on how well a scout follows the oath
and law in his daily life, and not just for the 1 1/2
hours he spends at a troop meeting, or the one weekend
a month he goes on a troop activity.

Does your unit require the SM to personally observe
the things done to meet each and every other rank
requirement? Why single out this one (except for the
fact that your unit wants to wriggle out of following
the rules). We all know what the requirement is
supposed to be, and what National wants us to do. Just
because we personally disagree with the requirement, or
want it to be something else, doesn't give any leader
the right to ignore his commission and his duty to follow
the rules the way they are.>>

Well, Joe, so far so good. Better you than me. :-) Seriously, I thought
about a similar reply and I agree with you completely, to this point. It
is the rest of your response with which I disagree.

<<To answer the original poster's question, it is not
proper to require the boy to spend any additional time
in your unit so that you can "observe" him. How should
the unit leader determine that the scout spirit requirement
has been met? First off, ask the scout for examples of
how he lives the oath and law in his daily life. Ask
him if there have been times when, as a Star scout, he
did not follow the oath and law. As about his community
service. Ask him how he acts in school. Ask him about
his religious activities.

If still in doubt, ask for references that you can
contact. Talk to his friends, teachers, parents, or
religious leaders.>>

I don't see any problem with the SM waiting until he can be comfortable
with signing off the requirement, even if that means it takes some extra
time. (Let's exclude the Scout with time pressure.) This situation, IMO,
is no different from the situation where a Scout comes to a merit badge
counselor with a partial in a merit badge. We all agree that it is the
final counselor who is taking responsibility for the merit badge and that
he is under no obligation to accept, without question, the decisions of
the prior counselor that the work has been completed. He is perfectly
within his rights, and maybe even his responsibility, to satisfy himself
that the Scout has, indeed, completed the requirements that are initialed
by the first counselor. And, he can, and probably should, make the Scout
redo any requirement about which he is not satisfied.

So, why do you now say that when it comes to Scout Spirit the SM MUST
accept the judgement of the prior SM who, in effect, gave him a "partial"
without developing a personal confidence in that decision? I don't think
he must, or even should. All of the steps you outline are fine, but so is
asking the Scout to wait a while so that the SM has time to observe how he
behaves, in and out of Scouting. Remember, there is no time limit on this
requirement. I agree that the SM can't ask him to hold a position in the
new troop if he already has the six months, but Scout Spirit is different.
The SM, IMO, can delay advancement for as long as it takes for him to
comfortably sign off the requirement, as long as he takes reasonable steps
to reach that satisfaction level.

And, once again, let me stress that this should be done with the full
acquiescence of the Scout himself, who should be just as anxious to
develop the SM's trust and respect as the SM is to develop it. This
should NOT become an us against them situation. Maybe I'm too much of an
idealist, but I believe that in virtually all of these situations the SM
should be able to reach an amicable agreement with the Scout over this
type of matter, without either one feeling put upon.

--
Bruce E. Cobern
mailto:bec@pipeline.com

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