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  • How are youth staff treated where you reside?

    #1
    The thread about how Council/District events are run got me thinking of an issue regarding these events.

    When an event, such as a Cub Scout event is staffed by adults and youth, do you find the youth being treated with a different level of respect then they would if they were just scouting? It's just that during my observations at these events, something happens to some adults when they have youth that "work" for them instead of youth they are leading. The shouting and disrespect I see directed at some youth makes me cringe.

    Now please do not get me wrong. I have also learned that when you employ young teenagers, you have to be on them. Some more than others. But it seems to me if you have a youth that is staffing, you have two options on how to treat them. 1) As you would if it was any other Scout/Scouter environment, or 2) As you would any co-worker (possible better option with older youth). It seems to me some people go for option 3) Treat them like the rented mule they are and guarantee they will never staff again.
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  • #2
    I have seen this, and yes some boys need a close watch. But I agree with you to treat them like (junior) colleagues. I learned this from an old CM who used to always talk to the cubs "Gentlemen...".

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    • #3
      I can't say I've noticed anything that worries me (at least, nothing more than what is sometimes observed at a unit level).

      In the district/council events that I'm involved with that are staffed by youth, the youth almost always come from several different troops and crews. So, sometimes there's a difference in expectations (in terms of behavior, leadership, uniform, etc) between their "home troop" and the event that they're working on. Sometimes this situation can cause some difficulties that need to be resolved - but they're never resolved "disrespectfully".

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      • #4
        In all of the council/district events that I have worked on the youth staff have been treated fairly and respectfully. Certainly there are always those one or two adults you run into who can be overbearing. You then simply make a choice not to use/work with them again. Overall though, the experience is generally a positive one.

        As a matter of fact, that was one of the draws for my son. He liked working with adults who respected him for the job he was doing. He made some good friends of the Scouters he worked with.

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        • #5
          It's good to hear the replies so far. And I should also add that the situations I describe are from an extremely small amount of Scouters. We really have some great leaders in our area.

          Just one of those things that the actions of an unfortunate few can overshadow a lot of great work by the many, and it's the negatives that leave a mark.

          And that is a great observation about the collection of many youth and leaders from different units working together can lead to some misunderstandings. We just have to remember the adults need to act like adults when that happens.

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          • #6
            From my observations most times the youth who volunteer to help at events are treated as being special and the adults seem thankful for what they are doing.
            This changes a bit at summer camp when the staff is paid.
            Then the expectation seems to higher and at times some of the adults forget that the youth staff are still youths.
            Ea.

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            • #7
              Youth working to support Camporees and such ten to be quite responsible in my experience.

              Young Commissioners in Training at Scout camp can leave something to be desired in terms of skills and experience, but they are usually trying pretty hard.

              I haven't seen problems with either youth staffers or adults being treated disrespectfully myself. There are pretty high expectations for youth or adult staffers.

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