From: pershng@US.IBM.COM
Date: Thu Jun 15 2000 - 22:44:41 CDT
Well, since we've all been talking about 2 of the 3 "G"s, and the Supreme
Court is about to rule on the third "G"...
...I thought I'd inject an "easy" question about basic, main-line Scouting
advancement.
Got a Star Scout with 21 (more or less) merit badges, plus all the Eagle
required ones (I believe). Has been a bit of a slacker in the past and,
partly due to this, has become somewhat of the "whipping boy" of the troop.
The kid's making definite progress in improving his attitude, to the point
where he is one of the only boys on campouts who will actually do things
(e.g., fetch water, wash pots&pans) on his own volition without being told
by the SPL -- not that anybody notices this. He's been the Troop
Quartermaster for a long time, and does a perfectly competent job of it.
Anyway, he went up for his Life Board of Review, and they flunked him,
claiming that he wasn't showing enough "leadership" in the troop. So, I
went and looked at the requirements book, and there isn't any mention of
"leadership" under the requirements for Life. "Responsibility", yes; which
this boy has fulfilled as Quartermaster.
So, what's the story? Indeed, I agree that a Life Scout should be someone
that the younger boys can look up to as a role model (after all, our troop
has "only" four Eagle Scouts who are currently active, so we have to
back-fill with Life and Star Scouts). But, is it fair to demand
"leadership" (whatever that means) before conferring the rank of Life? If
so, then how much "leadership" is required?
(This question is moot, as a subsequent BoR conferred the Life rank on this
scout, which was awarded this past Tuesday at our Court of Honor. However,
I'm still interested in people's views and comments on how much
"leadership" we should demand of our upper-rank scouts.)
John A. Pershing Jr. <pershng@us.ibm.com>
ACM Pack 36 / ASM Troop 36, Westchester-Putnam (NY) Council
