Re: Scout Spirit
blaine a. jackson (blainej@JUNO.COM)
Mon, 24 Feb 1997 14:33:32 EST
On Mon, 24 Feb 1997 06:45:42 -0800 Scott Drown <scottdd@HALCYON.COM>
writes:
>>One of the qwuestions for Board of Review considers "showing Scout
>Spirit".
>>How do you approach this subject with your Scouts during Board of
REview?
>Bob Taylor
>
>Bob, our troop approaches it from the aspect of whether or not the
>Scout lives by the Scout Oath and Law. On several occassions Scouts
have
>been held up for advancement because, in the judgement of the Board,
they
>did not do a good job of doing so. These Scouts were told to consider
>this and return later. In every case, so far, there was a marked
improvement
>in the Scout's outlook and behavior and they were later passed.
>Scott Drown
>SM Troop 39, Maltby
>Mt. Baker Council, Everett Wa.
>
Scott,
I am very curious about how your SM feels about this. What you are
saying you have done is to overrule the SM. The SM has signed off on the
"scout spirit" requirement, indicating that it has been satisfied.
As a SM, I would be "maddier than a wet hen" to learn that the BOR had
denied a rank advancement on this basis. The ASM's and I are the ones
who work with and observe the scout at troop meetings, campouts and other
activities; we should be the ones who know if he is really "living" scout
spirit. I do not understand how the Committee Members on the BOR could
determine in a 10-15 minute meeting that our observations over periods of
days and weeks was wrong.
I should admit that I have a problem with the way that many (most?) BOR's
are conducted. It really started when my 11 year old son came home from
a 1st class BOR with a small piece of paper that said he had "failed"
because he did not know how to perform a heimlich maneuver on himself (at
the time, he had a current Red Cross Community CPR card in his pocket).
When I am leading the Scoutmastership Fundamentals course, I tell new
leaders that if they see a Committee Member going into a BOR with a piece
of rope in their hand, it is being done wrong. I suggest that the
question by the BOR should not be, "Show me that you can tie a bowline."
Instead, the question might be," What is one knot you have learned to
tie?" Then, "What is one place where you would use that knot?"
It is my job as SM to "test" the scout on his requirements. I will not
send them to a BOR until I believe that they are ready. What is "ready"
may vary from one scout to another based on their age, ability, and the
rank they are seeking. For a BOR to say that a scout has "failed"
because he has not performed on one requirement (i.e., heimlich maneuver)
is too strict a test in a situation that all scouting materials say
should NOT be a test.
Sorry about getting on my soapbox, but this is one point problem that I
see and hear about over and over.
YIS,
Blaine Jackson
blainej@juno.com
SM T450, Bentonville, Arkansas
1st SA Jambo T1807
I used to be a Bodacious Bobwhite
I am a Razorback
Chickens can't fly, so I am raising EaglesNon habeus malus, habeus equs
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
