Re: Turning 18
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Mon, 19 Apr 1999 14:02:21 -0700
Michael Bowman <mfbowman@USSCOUTS.ORG> wrote:
>I was one of those 18 year olds that became an Assistant Scoutmaster while
>still in high school and while serving as Lodge Chief for OA. Never had a
>problem with being treated as a youth. The Scoutmaster simply told me that
>in the eyes of BSA I was an adult, better act like one, and would have to
>pull my weight. The other adults at the time, were tickled to have a
youthful adult leader and offered nothing but encouragement.
>We could probably hash through a lot of anectodes about what it is like to
>be an 18 year old Scoutmaster, but I suspect that it is going to be hard to
>generalize very much. So much depends on the unique qualities of the
>individuals involved, how well the adults accept a "new" adult leader, how
>well the "new" adult adjusts to the new role, and so forth. For all
>concerned it can be challenging to shift gears in how they see things.
My experience with young Assistant Scoutmasters has been pretty good,
probably because most of them had developed strong leadership skills in
the troop (and working on staff at summer camp). There have been a few
Scouts who had demonstrated little leadership in their seven years (one
made it to First Class in 2 years, never held a leadership position
after that) in the troop, and we didn't bother to ask them to stay on
as leaders either.
A couple of them had gone to Sommers Canoe Base in 1995 and wanted to
return with this year's crews, but we explained the facts of life to
them: you won't be able to take a slot away from a Scout, and you will
be expected to act as an adult leader. They opted not to join the crew.
A third one had been the crew chief in 1995, and he is going back as
an adult leader.
YiS,
Alan R. Houser ** troop24@emf.net
** Scoutmaster, Troop 24, Berkeley, California **
** Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner, Herms District **
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
