Re: Discipline
Bruce E. Cobern (bec@PIPELINE.COM)
Thu, 27 Jul 1995 12:16:44 -0400
On Thu, 27 Jul 1995 "Greg L. Gough" <ggough@MAIL.ORION.ORG> said:
>Boards of Review for all except Eagle are not a pass fail situation. The
>Scout coming before the board has already demonstrated his worthiness.
>The Boards job is to make the Scout comfortable, talk about what he
>learned, what his likes and dislikes in the Troop are, etc. If the Scout
>is not demonstrating Scout Sprit his requirement should not be signed
>off. To send a Scout before the Board and reject him is sending him the
>wrong message, i.e. gee, I completed the requirements, why didn't I pass?
Why do you think the situation is any different for an Eagle B/R? The
Scout still feels he has done all the requirements. Wouldn't deferring him
still send that same "wrong message?" Are you saying that all Scouts
should pass all Boards of Review, except possibly for Eagle?
I believe that there is absolutely no difference between the responsibilty
placed upon a Tenderfoot B/R and that placed upon an Eagle B/R. All boards
have the same function which is primarily to determine how the Scout is
progressing within the program on his path of development of the goals of
Scouting - character, citizenship, etc. No board is supposed to be
retesting skills. Instead, IMHO, we should be talking about what the Scout
is getting out of the program, how well the program is functioning, etc.
In that context I believe it should be rare when any board finds it
necessary to "defer" the Scout. Instead, any information gained from the
board about problems that might exist should be used to improve the
delivery of the program in the Troop so that things work better.
I begin every Eagle B/R (without the candidate present, of course) by
telling the other members of the board that I start with the predisposition
that if the Scout didn't deserve to be an Eagle he wouldn't be here and
that he is going to have to convince me that he DOESN'T deserve the award,
not the other way around. I feel exactly the same about every other rank.
There should be a presumption that the program is working and that the SM
is not sending Scouts up to the board who are not ready. If this is not
the case in a troop then the problem runs deeper than whether or not a
particular scout is ready to advance.
In summary, unless I completely misunderstood the original post, I have to
disagree with it almost in its entirety. Sorry.
--
Bruce E. Cobern
Advancement Chairman
Dan Beard District
Queens Council, NY
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
