Re: The REAL problems aboard ship
Skipper723@aol.com
Fri Jun 12 09:02:04 1998
Kevin:
It sounds like you have a teenage social club without any teenage leadership
and focus. It appears that you've got the activities and boats for a great
program. Now find kids who'll appreciate what you're doing for them (see my
previous e-mail regarding recruiting).
If your 19-year-old won't lead, then find another teenager who will. If the
19-year-old is an impediment to getting things done, then give him back his
registration money and tell him he's officially out of the ship. The program
is designed to have the Sea Scouts themselves run the program--if they're not
doing it, they need to be further trained and motivated by you and the other
adults.
It sounds like you put in numerous hours each week as skipper; if you're not
doing this out of the enjoyment of leading teenagers, then you probably should
reconsider your reasons for being the skipper and even consider finding
another adult to serve in that capacity. You're right--you'll not get many
pats on the back for your efforts.
As for advancement, you can require the kids to do it but I don't think that
would work. It's better to reward those who take advancement seriously so as
to motivate the others. Rewards for advancement: make them the ship's
leaders, take them on special trips, put their names in the local newspaper.
Don't worry too much about advancement. Focus instead on training sessions at
each meeting, and train your members so that they in turn can teach the others
at every meeting. Concentrate your training sessions on the Apprentice rank
so that the members can get a good foundation in the skills they need for
future advancement, and so that they can get most of the advancement taken
care of for the first rank at the meetings.
Matt Williams
Skipper, Ship 723
South Lake Tahoe, CA
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