Re: New Boy Patrols - Yes or No???
Robert Haar (rhaar@MI.VERIO.COM)
Sat, 30 Jan 1999 09:58:29 -0500
Peter Murphy said:
> From: Scouts-L Youth Group List [mailto:Scouts-L@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU]On
>
> Not every program
> or procedure pushed by national works for every troop.
Absolutely.
> I use the new Scout patrol from crossover (March) to troop
> elections at the end of summer. At both elections (March
> and Sept), the boys are free to reorganize their patrols. The
> 6 months of the new Scout patrols give each boy a chance
> to be patrol leader for a month.
>
> The thing I do not like about new Scout patrols is that after
> bonding together for 6 months, they generally do not want to
> split up.
As I understand it, the intent of the New Boy Patrol method is to
get the new scouts who have just tansitioned from Webelos engaged
in Scouting immediately and to make significant advancement
occur during the first year. I think that this adresses two
problems - high rates of early dropouts and the sometimes difficult
transition from adult-lead Cubs to boy-lead Scout troops.
The use of the New Boy Patrol can certainly help address these
problems. It may also introduce other problems such as isolation
of those boys fromt he rest of the troop.
We use other methods with a similar intent. We have an ASM who
works almost exclusively with advancement of the first year scouts.
We try to use older boys as Troop Guides to assist in this. We
continually involve the Patrol Leaders and Assistants in teaching
basic skills to the younger boys. As adult leaders, we reach out
to the parents of the new scouts to involve them in the operation
of the troop committee and to get their sons going to campouts
and summer camp right away.
As peter said, any specific program may not be what you need in
your situation. However, the national programs are meant to
achieve certain ends. If we understand what National is trying to
achieve, we may be able to get there through a different path.
-----------------------------------------
Robert Haar
ASM, BSA T188, Rochester Hills, MI
email: rhaar@mi.verio.com
home page: www.mi.verio.net/~rhaar
