Age or grade requirements-AOL
Heyboer Brian J (heyboer_brian_j@SPACE.HONEYWELL.COM)
Wed, 18 Jan 1995 18:12:52 U
In a previous posting, Nancy Smith S <munss@UXA.ECN.BGU.EDU> writes:
> Now here's our problem...this committee member has a boy who
> is in the first year of Webelos--he's in fourth grade. She pointed
> out that he is actually a year older than most 4th graders--he's
> already ten and will be 11 this summer. She wants him to earn his AOL
> soon after school starts in the fall and have us arrange a special
> AOL ceremony for him so he can move into boy scouts during his fifth
> grade year.
> When we pointed out that this is a *pack* effort and he should wait
> until we have our regular AOL for all the 4th grade boys she became
> upset and said if her boy earned it he should receive it, no matter
> when that happened. We finally said that we would consider awarding
> his AOL patch to him at a regular pack meeting and he would be
> welcome to come back for our regular AOL ceremony. That wasn't good
> enough. We also argued that if we gave him his one month, then the
> next month another boy may qualify and demand his own ceremony, etc.
> She didn't think that should be a problem. The CM and I don't think
> this should be an every-month occurrence. We have a pack to run with
> many different events. We can't plan every month's meeting around an
> AOL ceremony!
I have to agree with her. As with any award, it should be awarded at the first
available opportunity. It sounds to me as if you are making your AOL ceremony
too complex. I suggest you keep it simpler and make the bridging the big
ceremony. Bridging is traditionally a once-a-year thing, with those who have
moved up early invited back to participate.
> Our feelings are that he should continue through his 5th grade year
> (we were under the assumption that Webelos is a 2-year program and
> that AOL should be earned during the 2nd year). If she wants him to
> move into Boy Scouts we told her to contact the troops and see when
> they wanted to accept new boys.
In my experiance, Webelos is almost never REALLY a two-year program. By
January, I had only two of my five "second year" boys in my den -- the other
three, my son included, had turned 11 and gone into Scouts. I would not
normally suggest that a boy stay a Cub any longer than is required to earn AOL.
During that extra six months that he would be a Cub, he could be well on his
way to First Class Scout instead of just earning more activity badges.
> To be honest, this boy is a nice kid (despite his mom) but really
> doesn't have the maturity to move up. Unfortunately, there is no
> father in the picture so we can't get an ally from that angle. I'm
> going to call our district office tomorrow and get their input, but I
> really want to know if anyone out there has had a similar experience.
> We really would prefer to enforce the grade-level advancement over
> the age-level advancement. We really don't know how he would get the
> rest of the AOL requirements completed anyway. His den has not done
> any camping or activities with the Boy Scout troops.
Lack of maturity is another issue, but behavior is often influenced by
surroundings. You might find that he behaves more mature around the more
mature Scouts. He doesn't have to attend the Troop functions as a den
function, either. Let the SM know your concerns and have HIM evaluate his
readiness to enter the troop when he attends their functions.
> Can she force us to award him the AOL in August or September as
> opposed to giving it to him along with the rest of the boys who will
> advance in February? Help!?
Yes, she can. But, IMHO, she shouldn't have to. If he earns it, award it.
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
