From: Barry_C_Runnels@MMACMAIL.JCCBI.GOV
Date: Wed Aug 30 2000 - 11:09:21 CDT
>Please do not burden overworked den leaders with den chiefs who have been >in a
Boy Scout troop for less than a year!
I haven't kept up with this thread, but Faun's plea reminded me that many of us
don't understand the intention of the methods of scouting. Faun is right, Don't
push those scouts into something for which they aren't ready. Everything has a
purpose, and scout skills in the Tenderfoot through First Class are intended to
build confidence and habits of reaching goals. Each skill is a goal for the
scout to achieve. As he masters the skill, he sets another higher goal such as
rank. If we push the scout to advance faster than he is ready, we cheat him of
the confidence to set and achieve goals. That is why I get uncomfortable
watching a group of Scouts advancing at the same rate. Sure, you set a level
path towards advancement, but the truth is, that path is personal and should be
set by the Scout. I have seen Scouts who had the program laid out for them and
advance without setting goals or struggle in their first year , need someone
pull them to Eagle the following years. You see this a lot in Eagle Mills
because those scouts never learned to good feeling of achieving their goals. The
Tenderfoot through First Class program achieves this very well and when we alter
the programs designed intention, we interrupt the life skills the Scout learns
from Scouting.
Same goes for leadership. Our program has seen that leadership in Scouting
really starts at about 14 to 15 years of age. That is the age where these guys
want to be leaders and to learn from the experience. Over and over we see it,
those frustrating 12 and 13 year old Scouts who take on leadership to advance
but don't really get it or enjoy it. You think they are hopeless and will never
get it, then all of a sudden, the reach 14 and bam, they are your most
aggressive leaders. The program has just started for them. Many units think that
14 is the end of the Scouts career, so they push leadership early depriving
them of a real learning experience later on when their maturity is ready for
real leadership. I agree with Faun, Scouts need to be at least First Class
Scouts and about a years worth of scouting to really get anything out of Den
Chief. I also believe that Den Chief is the best training for Patrol Leader. Den
Chiefs get a great experience of going through all the frustrations of gaining
respect and working with a group. We adults need to understand that Scouts need
to take those small steps in leadership. I get very concerned if we have a first
year Scout take on Patrol Leader. Ideally, the Patrol Leader should have been a
Patrol Quarter Master, Scribe and Grub Master. Each one of those positions
should give the Scout little steps in learning leadership and Troop procedures.
Each position is a stepping stone to earning respect, or not, to get voted into
the Patrol Leader Position. Most of our Patrol Leaders are at least in their
third year of the Troop. Some go faster than others, we have 12 year old Patrol
Leaders, but they usually don't do well with the responsibility and find the
experience very frustrating. Also, usually in our Troop, a Scout has been a
Patrol Leader at least twice before they are ASPL.
And what about those Scouts who want to move up fast in rank. Well, many of
those guys start out as Den Chiefs for a year, then they ask for a small PLC
position while taking on a Patrol position as well. They do all this because
they are that unusual part of the group that works extra hard to get ahead. The
opportunities are in place for every Scout to do what he wants with his
scouting. We don't need to push them along any faster than they need to go, we
just need to provide the opportunities for when they are ready.
For those newer Troops that only have young scouts, your boy run program is
limited by the maturity of your young PLC. Still, if you understand that these
guys change at about 14, you can build your program so that when they get to
that age, they will see an opportunity to use those learned skills to do great
things with the Troop. Give your young Scouts enough responsibility that the
program grows towards boy run but doesn't discourage them from the weight of the
leadership. The adults have to really learn and watch to makes this process
work. When the Scouts mature enough, they will naturally take over the program
provided the adults are prepared to let them go. When our young Troop reached
this age, our PLC meetings and Troop meetings really started to change to very
boy run, and it was all the adults could do to keep up. Use the early years to
teach the leadership skills and count on that they will use those skills when
they reach 14 or 15 and you will be rewarded greatly for your efforts. Scouting
doesn't end at 14, it's just really getting started.
For us adults, it's easier to lay out a program for a Scout to just follow and
end up as an Eagle at the end. But that is not Scouting. Our job is to build a
program where the Scout has the opportunity to grow on his initiative. We have
to be cheer leaders to encourage forward progress in to the dark unknown, but
that doesn't mean holding their hands. I hate the part in the SM Hand Book that
says a Scout who reaches First Class in one year is more likely to stay in the
Troop. Truth is, a program that encourages a scout to grow at his pace is more
than likely a program where a boy feels encouraged to stay after reaching First
Class. It's much more challenging for the adults insure that type of program. I
believe the first step to a good program is to understand the importance of each
step in the Scouting program.
Start looking at the first year goals as an opportunity to build the skills of
setting and reaching goals instead of advancing in rank, and you will find your
program is one where the Scout says "I like myself when I am with the Troop". I
love this Scouting Stuff.
Barry Runnels
