Re: Adult Leader Meeting....Meeting of the Minds
Michael Bowman (mfbowman@USSCOUTS.ORG)
Sat, 17 Apr 1999 23:55:55 -0400
Marcia,
Your Scoutmaster has some wonderful ideas that might just take off with the
boys regarding patrol names. However, I would suggest that these ideas are
being discussed in the wrong place.
The right place is the Patrol Leaders' Council or PLC. In a boy-run and
lead Troop, the youth leaders should be discussing how patrols are
organized, named, and so forth. The Scoutmaster is there to advise, coach,
and help. The Scoutmaster can suggest ideas enthusiastically to the PLC,
but should let them decide on this issue. Uniforming can also be discussed
with the PLC. If the PLC adopts a strong position on uniforming, the
chances are a lot better that more boys will show up in uniform.
The committee needs to understand a little more about how the patrol method
works and why there is a PLC. The committee is there to support the Troop,
but should not be getting involved in issues that can be handled by the
boys.
There is a strong tendancy among adults in Scouting to want to direct things
to make sure that the boys have a great experience. Although well
intentioned, this robs the boys of a chance to learn and grow.
Mike
Mike Bowman, Vice President
U.S. Scouting Service Project, Inc.
Website: http://usscouts.org
E-Mail: mfbowman@usscouts.org
