Re: CC vs. SM about swimming
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Wed, 7 Jul 1999 09:41:09 -0700
Daniel Smith <dansher@SPRYNET.COM> wrote:
>Ron Goble wrote:
>> One of us is not reading this new requirement on swimming correctly.
>>
>> We have a boy who can not ride a bike, roller skate, or swim. Swimming
>> trainers have told his parents that he has an inner balance problem and
>> there is nothing that can be done about it.
>>
>> Our SM is adamant that all boys complete the swimming requirements to
>> advance. For this boy he refuses to back off and work with alternatives.
>> We are at odds right now on this issue.
>What does his doctor say? If his doctor concurs in writing, then it is the
>duty of both the Scoutmaster and the Troop Committee to waive the
>requirement. Short of that, then he needs to learn to swim and work on
>passing the requirement.... [snip]
Nope. Don't even need a doctor's slip for this. The requirements say
it is a decision by the committee.
>... It seems to me that the committee
>and scoutmaster need to sit down and talk about the direction the troop
>needs to head and come to some kind of agreement. Your troop can not
>succeed with what sounds like a power struggle. You might want to get your
>commissioner involved.
This is definitely true. There does seem to be a rift developing between
the Scoutmaster, whose job is to insure safety and TRAIN his boy leaders,
and the troop committee, whose role is to support the Scoutmaster and
make sure the program stays on track (the Board of Review is designed to
allow the committee to review the program as implemented by the troop
leaders -- boy and adult).
Back to Ron:
>> My SM has also turned the boys loose without adult supervision in unknown
>> woods, without my knowledge with the excuse " the SPL needs to learn to
>> handle the situation". This is a new Troop of 12-13 year olds. They have
>> had no training in leadership yet. He assumes they will know what to do.
And Dan:
>The boys were put in the woods without your knowledge? What is your
>position? The Scoutmaster is in charge of the program. Were adults nearby
>to insure safety? Every activity of your troop is a training and the
>Scoutmaster's primary responsibility is training of the junior leaders....
> [snip]
> ... Every troop needs every
>willing adult to work together to allow the scouts to develop THEIR program
>and second guessing and dissension prevents success. I have a Committee
>Chairman at my troop who very often disagrees with my decision to let the
>boys do their thing and run their patrols. On camping trips he is forever
>going down to the patrol campsites and interfering with well intentioned
>"teaching" and the end result is that the boys haven't learned a thing
>because he has done all the thinking for them. Adults are necessary to have
>a good program but too often we are the real problem in scouting.
My predecessor as SM felt he was doing his job by criticizing the boy
leaders every time they made a mistake. Not once did he actually do
any positive training or even give them an idea of what he expected
of them. As ASM, I insisted that we start having monthly PLC meetings.
As SM, he even came to some of them.
The two of us went through Wood Badge together, and both of us included
a Troop JLT (Junior Leader Training) on our tickets. Somehow, he
finished his ticket without ever convening a JLT. At that point, I
scheduled the JLT to make sure it happened.
Eventually, the committee asked him to step down. They were not
interfering in allowing the Scouts to run their own troop program. They
were expecting someone who would train them to run their own program
effectively. Perhaps if they had stepped in sooner, he might still be
SM.
If the SM of this thread did nothing to prepare his Scouts before sending
them into the woods, then he has failed in his obligation to insure their
safety, and the troop committee has a right to question his methods. At
the minimum, they need to see there was a plan in place for the outing.
If, on the other hand, he helped the PLC to plan this outing, making sure
that they were aware of what they might need (did I hear someone say
map and compass?) by asking the right questions, then I feel a bit better
about this SM and his program.
YiS,
Alan R. Houser ** troop24@emf.net
** Scoutmaster, Troop 24, Berkeley, California **
** Committee Member, Crew 24, Berkeley, California **
** Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner, Herms District **
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
