Re: (Scout loses lots of personal gear) help strategies sought

Paul-
My first question would be, "How old is the Scout?"
I have experienced the same problems with several of my Scouts, and in every
case, as they get older it gets better. I don't know if it is because they
mature, or if it is a result of a practice that began in our Troop about 3
years ago.
The other adults and myself usually pick things up that are not in their
proper place and then each evening we make a big deal over the items that we
have found. We do not act mad or try to embarrase the boys, but sort of make
a game of what we have found, and what has to be done to "earn" the items
back. Now another thing we have found is that if you are not careful, the
boys will "find" other boy's things to give to the leaders, so they can watch
the fun. We have taken care of this by telling all of the Scouts that if a
leader finds someone's property in place where it does not belong, it is up
to that leader if he wants to keep the item or allow the owner to earn it
back. (we have never kept anything that we have found, although I did find a
brand new official Boy Scout pocket knife recently that made me think twice).
We told the boys that we expect them to work together to help one another, so
if a Scout "finds" something he is to return it to the rightful owner so no
one has to be called out to earn back their property. This has actually
reduced the number of items and has really helped the boys to learn to help
one another instead of working against each other.

YIS-
Joe Gatton-Scoutmaster
Troop 174
Troutman, NC

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