Re: Troop discipline (carrot or stick?)

I waited for other's input as I have gotten on my soapbox before about
rowdy kids, but my .02 worth hasn't been represented yet, so here I go!
5 of 22 kids are problems. These 5 belong to the "new kids" You don't
have rules of discipline for your troop. You follow the scout oath and
law (which can be the cause for disagreement between us adults)

First, your consequences look good. I would have 1.warning and then
2.note to parent THEN 3. project. This way your note will explain
everything, mention the consequences list, and lets the parent and child
realize how serious you are. Writing does that.

With your consequences, you have to have some sort of "offenses", so your
leaders, youth and adult judge evenly throughout the troop. You will
probably find that judging evenly will be the biggest problem, which is why
I liked the incident going through the Scoutmaster (as a funnel effect, this
should eliminate irritants from problems) Sometimes Rules of Discipline, or
whatever are needed to be spelled out. You certainly can't expell someone
fairly without having outlined to them and their parent exactly what behavior
is improper,why,and what consequence will follow if that behavior is repeated.

Now, as a parent of an ADHD Webelo going into Boy Scouts, part of my interview
process with troops has been to let them know his problem. He is probably
going to a troop with several other ADHD kids. I am told that they go off
Ridilin (sp wrong) on weekends, so can be a handful. My son never goes off his
meds, so may do even better than the others. If you have ADHD kids, you need
to know it. You may have some undiagnosed ones, and although George (I think)
mentioned a book discussing this, you are in no position to diagnose. Using
behavior modification techniques successful with ADHD kids is fine though.

If all the misbehaving ones ARE new, I offer two things: what did they do in
their previous den/troop? and: they are probably going through the first stage
in small group development that I cant put a name to right now. The stage that
includes showing off, bragging, and physical behavior. Once the pecking order
is established, they will improve. This phase begins whenever a new member is
introduced to the group, or changes occur in group dynamics, so it can last
longer than one might think. If their previous group had very relaxed rules,
they may need yours spelled out a lot clearer than the Boy Scout Law an Oath.
I try to mention when correcting my girls/guys which law they are running afoul
of. In this way, they will learn to apply the laws to their own lives.

If someone is hurting someone else, obviously a wrong thing, parents should be
involved early on. Bullies happen everywhere, even in scouts, and as a parent,
I would want to know.

Lastly: Handling a small group is always easier than a large one, and being
a member of a group is easier when it is small. You said you recently
increased to 22, so this jump in membership affects the leaders, too. There
may be some cause here. Make sure your leaders (youth and adult) are ready
and comfortable in the positions they are in. If you've added a patrol or
two, changed patrol members, these are causes for behavior changes. Time and
training may fix things.
Whatever you do, include your troop committee in the process!

Beth Allerton
Junior Leader, GSUSA BITNET: BETHPET@NERVM
Webelos (5th grade) BSA INTERNET: BETHPET@NERVM.NERDC.UFL.EDU

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