Re: Wood Badge Uniforms
Bruce E. Cobern (bec@PIPELINE.COM)
Tue, 7 Jan 1997 14:07:29 -0500
> From: Barry C Runnels <Barry_C_Runnels@MMACMAIL.JCCBI.GOV>
> Date: Tuesday, January 07, 1997 12:34 PM
> This is not a uniform issue. This is a obedience issue.
I agree with you and I never suggested that somebody attend the course and
ignore the rules. One of the questions I've asked, and not seen answered
yet, is what is the acceptable "turn off" level for a policy? (The
stripped shirt is just one example.) How many people have to refuse to
take the course (quality people who would benefit and benefit from the
course) before we decide that something must be wrong and we either have
to change the policy or do a better job of selling the course and the need
for the particular parts of it that are turning people off. Is one
Scouter refusing to take the course an acceptable level? Two? Twenty? I
believe the answer is NONE and that when those in charge detect that a
perception such as this exists they either have to do something to deal
with it, or they are very much part of the problem, which WILL escalate.
> I agree with Peter, if the person does not participate in a activity
> because of the format or rules, that person isn't ready for it anyway.
> Changes have to done within a group to have success.
I disagree with Peter on this statement. That is like saying that when a
boy either leaves a troop, or decides not to join, you just say that
Scouting wasn't right for him anyway and move on. Wrong. What you should
do is try to determine why he left so you can decide whether there are any
changes that need to be made to prevent the next boy from leaving.
Sometimes the answer is that Scouting was not the right program for that
boy, or that a Scouter is not really ready for WB. However, other times
the answer is that he should have been there and that the troop or the WB
course blew it.
> I have the highest respect for Bruce Cobern and his advice. He has a lot
of
> good experience and is good with words. But Bruce our District has a bad
> reputation for Woodbadge plus the problem that my schedule doesn't fit
well
> with the training. I am looking out of council for the course because I
am
> convinced that training helps us become better guides for these young
> Scouts. Even bad training can be a good learning experience. Bruce, I am
> convinced that Scouting needs your experience and wisdom. You more than
> most of us could be the difference your Woodbadge Trainers need. Go get
the
> painful part out of the way and then set things right for the future
> leaders.
Thank you for the kind words. First of all, just so there is no
misunderstanding, I am not opposed to WB. In fact, as I have said
privately in number of replies, I know many more people who have had
positive mountaintop experiences than the opposite. I would recommend to
most people. What I have said is that I have not seen anything in my
council's training committee that would give me any reason to take a
course run by them. Further, there is the very real issue of priorities
and time management. To take WB a Scouter has to decide that the three
weekends or full week can be most profitably used at a WB course as
opposed to summer camp with the troop, Jamboree, NOAC, troop weekends, OA
weekends, family, job, etc. As with the decisions the Scouts make,
whether a Scouter is willing to make the time commitment depends, really,
on how much fun he feels he will derive from the experience. Since this
is a volunteer organization, no matter what any one says about their
motivation, people stay involved because they enjoy what they are doing.
When they stop enjoying it, they stop doing it. Period.
There is a possibility that at some point I might still make the time to
take WB. However, it will not be in a course staffed by my council. It
might be the "Observant (Kosher)" course being offered in this area in the
summer of 98. We'll see. However I will still need to overcome some
rather strong and negative impressions of WB and some of the WB staff and
graduates that have accumulated over the last 20 years. Impressions that
usually run to a glaring lack of common sense or the ability to work their
way through situations that are not right out of the book. (Note: SOME,
not ALL, on either the staff or graduate level.)
As to Scouting needing my experience and wisdom, I hope so. Be assured
that WB trained or not I have no intention of leaving the program or
making that experience and wisdom (if there is any) less available.
--
Bruce E. Cobern
mailto:bec@pipeline.com
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
