Eagledad

Communication. Our scouts, First Class or higher, take a basic leadership course before they could be on the PLC, and basic communication was one of the primary classes. The class taught simple things like how to politely greet people when answering the phone or making a call. Our troop used the phone tree at least twice a week to communicate to all the scouts, so they got lots of practice. But the main motivation for creating the class was the scouts' inability to communicate clearly and politely when calling a MB Counselor or speaker for meetings. Barry

>>The Bible is suppose to be the word of God.. There is no proof that it ever was.

>>Basementdweller has been there and done that, one person cannot or will not change the Good old boys club or status quo.

>>Seriously, if we could all treat each other with equal dignity and worth, that's good enough for me. It really doesn't matter if we think Bob is abnormal or is going to hell for his beliefs and/or actions, as long as we treat Bob the same way we want to be treated ourselves

LOL

>>I take it a "pro-homosexual" is someone who believes that all persons deserve to be treated with equal dignity and worth.

Hi All. We hear now and then that the volunteer positions at District or Council are totally political and manned by scouters who dont understand the struggles of the units. Sometimes this is true, but more often than not the quality of leadership outside the units is not planned or political. Oh, many volunteers are ambitious and climbing the ladder for the golden ring (Silver Beaver), but in most cases, the volunteers in the district or council have a position because they happen to be in the right place at the right time. But it got me thinking about my response to these theories of dark conspiracies. Something like Change starts with you, or We reap what we allow to sow. Truth is we all as individuals have a lot of power to make change happen if we just take that first step. The changes you want to make may not be instant and in fact may take a few years, but you can start the stone rolling with the right goals and physical effort. A few personal examples: I was invited to be the District Membership Chairman one year because the position had lacked energy for several years and the DE overheard me discussed some ideas at Roundtable. Make a note: be ready to walk the talk because you may be held accountable for your words. Ive been trained through the years of professional leadership training that productive leaders last about three years, so I recruited five other adults who I knew wanted to help at the district level with the idea that one would replace me in three years. And while each of those adults did do greater things for the District, one fantastic woman took the ideas we developed the past three years and ran a great Membership Committee for another three years. She did such a good job at membership that she was asked to take over District Training because it was struggling. She was awarded the Silver Beaver three years later for turning the training program around. And, she herself found several hard working adults for other committee positions that were there after she left. Another example: I had the opportunity as a WB Patrol Counselor to be a cheer leader for a group of adults. I got to spend enough time with these adults that I learned enough of their personal gifts and skills to guide in directions that would best advance the scouting program. I wasnt directive, I just pushed them to get more experience and training than they had originally considered when they joined the BSA. I basically just cheered them to reach higher than they saw themselves using their personal talents and passions. Long story short; six of the eight adults were invited by their districts to help in positions the District was weak. Two leaders became Scoutmasters. I wasnt pushing them toward any position, I was encouraging them to not be timid with their talents. Do the best you can with what you have because the BSA needs you. I know for a fact that those adults not only improved the quality of their unit with their work, but they helped hundreds of other scouts by working in their district. They made changes that helped many other adults provide better quality programs. I have many more personal stories, but I think the point is made and I would certainly invite more stories from the forum because they are encouraging, expecially when so many folks think it hopeless. You know it doesnt take all that much effort to be a cheer leader or recruiter. Most of the time, adults are just waiting to be invited to help. I remember once our District Commissioner was complaining that he could not find any commissioners. I sent him a list three days later of 12 volunteers that wanted a DC job. I used my talent of recruting to help improve the program. We can make a difference and there is a noble honor helping adults build better programs. There are hundreds of Scout stories of role models and mentors making a difference for boys, but there are many hundreds more stories of making a difference helping adults. I always preached that we can help hundreds more boys when we work at outside our unit. That is not to say our first priority shouldn't be the unit, but it doesnt have to be limited to the unit when we have additional time to share. I personally didn't take on any outside troop task while I was a SM because I wanted all my energy directed to the scouts. It also saved me from a divorced. But after I retired from SM, I was in high demand. If you dont like the way things are being done at District or Council, dont hold back because YOU can change it. At the very least you can be the one person with a different idea. You can make a difference. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

Eagles are at a disadvantage from my observations. You only have to read the last few post to see the pedestal Eagle are put on just from the title. If an Eagle does well, then all Eagles do well. If an Eagle did bad, then all Eagles are bad. You have to feel sorry for Eagles because once they are found out, everyone tells them they should be the leader. It doesnt matter if they have the time, experience or enthusiasm for the job, theyre an Eagle, and they should lead. I once tried to talk an Eagle Tiger dad out of being a Tiger leader because I wanted him to save his enthusiasm for Webelos. But the pressure was too much and sadly he was gone by Webelos. He wasnt the superman folks think of Eagles. He burned out just like many of the other men and women who started at Tigers. I have watched several Eagles reluctantly step into a position they couldnt wait to leave just because of the pressure to be a leader and the left with in the year. Just like anyone else, those with enthusiasm do better than those without it. And I cant count the number of Eagles that were expected to take over the SM job as soon as their sons crossed over only to not join at all because they didnt want the SM job. Give the Eagles a break. I have worked with hundreds of adult leaders and the reality is you cant peg the future performance of most adults by their past experiences of life. Oh there as some basic principles that hold true. Ive already mentioned I observed that all other things being equal, an adult with no scouting experience will struggle to lead a quality program equal to an adult with a youth scouting experience. I have personally worked with and trained several female scoutmasters and honestly none of them were very good. But I have also worked with and trained several male SMs that didnt have any youth scouting experience either and they were just as bad. I dont think it was a gender thing. Im know there are a few good female SMs out there because I have met them here on the forum, but I have not met one in person yet. Our Council does have good luck with quality female Wood Badge Coordinators. Maybe thats because they are well experienced by that time. I have also worked with some really bad SMs who were Eagles. And I guess a couple folks on this forum think quality Scout leaders are determined by how much money they earn, but I never saw that. Rich or poor, quality was in the soul, not the pocket book. Im sure there are a lot of other personal experiences out there to propose opinions, but I would hope it was based more from many experiences instead of the one. Truth is we are more a like than we realize and we dont know how well we will perform as BSA scout Leaders until we get in the middle of it all. I think most folks are surprised. Barry

>>So if a parent wants to know if his boy is safe, it depends on the boy, not the program.

Im one of those who has made the point of leaders not having scouting experience. I could spend all day giving examples but my opinion is based from observing many units over several years. While some may have suggested it, I have never said that a non-experienced adult couldnt be good leaders. What I said is that I have observed that a unit of scouters with little or no youth experiences are typically about three years behind in developing the same quality program of a unit of adults who did have a youth experience. And I think you guys already pointed out part of the reason; "A non Scout leader who gets trained should do well, except that they MIGHT not have much background in outdoor skills like backpacking, orienteering, canoeing and such, and it takes a good deal of practical experience to be competent in those skills." It only makes sense that adults with vivid memories of camping and scout craft have an advantage over those who dont. They have experience that helps set priorities of scout crafts in the arena of camping. An example is the new Wood Badge trained SM who, was never a scout, that called me after his 6th campout with a new troop of 11 years. He asked me what else could they do on campouts besides advancement skills because his scouts were bored to death. Three years later he was a completely different Scoutmaster running a completely different troop. As for the question of why more youth experienced scouters dont step up, the answer is mathematically very simple, WOMEN. Almost 50% of the BSA adult leaders today are women and its reasonable that their added number of non youth experienced adults in the program dilute the number of adults with a youth experience. Im not sure why you feel the need to defend yourself Irsap, I praise you for your volunteerism and passion for scouting. But when we get into discussions of why scouting today isnt the same as it was 25 years ago, well its not hard to point out major differences like adult demographics. The difference is significant enough that National overhauled the whole training program to introduced a completely new training curriculums in 2000, much of which was a result of the demographic change of inexperienced leaders. Its not good or bad, just different and something to note. Barry

>>However, with that being said, what's the point of purchasing an instrument, practicing your butt off for many years, getting very proficient and then never having a concert?

>>Independence and self-confidence in a teenager is a major threat to parents in today's world. If my boy grows up to be independent and self-confident, he may leave home and make a life of his own. Seriously, there are a lot of parents that can't handle that idea.

You're ahead of me, I don't know what HWMBO is or means. I don't do facebook because that just too much information going out in public. I have to get a new phone only because technology has out run my 5 year old IPhone I. I hate that because my battery last two weeks, they me I can only get two days with new phones. I do text however, six text on last month's statement. It's not like I'm computer illiterate, I manage one of the highest technical research labs in the country, but I can only handle so much information at one time. I am also a creature of habit, I still enjoy reading the newspaper, its comfortable. I do enjoy the IPad, I know you will too Eamonn Barry

>>I am amazed at the popularity of patterned/colored duct tape among scout-aged boys. Just expect to see it on everything. My son currently has his entire hat duct taped in different patterns.

>>There are a few packs round here with great Tiger programs, year after year. In almost every case, their Tiger DL is a long-term leader and not a parent from that year's crop of Tigers. I believe a couple of folks on this board (ScoutNut?) have done that, too. Seems to work.

Its interesting that you dont really mention the Wolf and Bears. That is very typical with most packs because those programs are designed pretty well for getting maximum performance with minimal effort from the adults. However, Tigers and Webelos are the opposite in that they are heavily weighted on the adult side because they require more adult skills and adult time to get acceptable results. We approached the Tiger problem by giving the Den Leader Trainer the duties of monitoring the Tigers and help move it along where it slowed down or got stuck. Officially they were a trainer for all the ages, but in reality the bulk of their job (80%) was Tigers. Webelos is a whole different animal and quite frankly I think has to be approached case by case. We tried everything from finding the Webelos leader during the Bear year and training them then, to putting all the Webelos dens together to reduce the work load on the present leaders. But as for how to develop an easy routine for the Webelos to insure a quality program after you leave, its very difficult. The best we could do was leave a few traditions like special Webelos hats and special duties to assist the CM every meeting. I even tried some ideas for helping Webelos Leader at the district level when I was the District Membership Chairman. These ideas included Webelos program training for Bear leaders at district events like Webelos Woods, Camporee and MB College. But it was still a challenge to get adults to come because they were either not sure they would be the Webelos leader, or they were too busy as Bear leaders. I think it would have turned out to be a pretty good program if I could have hung around for a few more years to develop a routine within the committee. I had a few other ideas if you want to try new things, but as in most things new, success requires simplicity in the application and lots of practice to develop habits. Barry

I agree with changing the ending each meeting. In fact I changed the whole meeting agenda every meeting. Its more frun for everyone. But I also understand that is harder for some folks than others. So in what ever you do, keep the boys lauging, cheering and/or stomping their feet. Scoutmaster minutes took me years to perfect with the boys. But what I learned that works for both the cub and scout age is: 1. It really needs to be only a minute long. My better ones were between one to two minutes long. 2. It has to be entertaining for the age. For me that was usually through humor, but I also found Scouts like adventure stories. Remember only one to two minutes long. 3. Have some kind a point, but it can be subtle. 4. It has to be only one to two mintues long. Here are a couple examples; There was a fire in a neighborhood of San Francisco and all the Fire Engine companies were called to put it out. But the fire was so hot that the firemen couldnt get close enough to put any water on it. It was looking like the whole city was at risk of catching fire. San Francisco is very hilly and as everyone was standing up the hill wondering what to do when one fire truck came down the hill very fast passing all the other fire trucks. The fire truck finally stopped in front of the fire with the brave firemen jumping off to grab their hoses and pore water on the fire. The rest of the firemen standing back were so inspired that they all pulled their hoses down the hill to help put the fire out, thus saving the city. The mayor of San Francisco was so impressed with the courage of the firemen on that truck, he gave each one a special award of merit. When the mayor asked the Fire Chief what else he could do for their fire company, the fire chief said the only thing they needed was a new set of brakes for their fire truck. Its easy to brave when we can plan for it. But real courage is being prepared for the unexpected. Another: A new pilot of a float plane in Alaska landed on a small lake to pick up two hunters who shot a moose. As the hunters and pilot were loading the plane with the equipment and moose, the pilot told the hunters that he was worried the gear was too heavy and he couldnt take off. The hunters only replied that they took off out of this same place last year with the same gear and a moose. The pilot not wanting to loose their business took loaded up all the gear and moose. With the plane loaded the pilot taxied to the widest part of the lake to get the most room for taking off and he gave it full throttle to get over the trees at the other end. But as the plane approached the other end of the lake, it didnt have enough altitude and hit a tree eventually crashing in a meadow near the lake. As one hunter was pulling himself out of the wreckage, he looked around and said, Hey George, we are 200 yards farther than last year. Good leadership is always striving to improve and do a better job. >>>>> Boys like to laugh, cheer, stomp their feet and they like adventure. If you can get the boys to do that in whatever you do during the meeting, it will be fun and successful. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

>>Romney's problem is that as a Mormon he doesn't appeal at all to the Christian right, as a governor from Taxachusetts he doesn't appeal to the anti-tax crowd, and he has no national security chops to speak of.

To me it doesn't matter whether it is Boy Scouts, baseball, video games or riding a motorcycle, the parent has to stay consistent to the stated expectations and consequences. In other words, only threaten a consequence you are willing to perform. Now if you think that maybe you were wrong and the consequence is too harsh, then you have to approach the matter with humility and admit you expected more than they were able to perform. But, you can only use that out once. Parenting is the hardest thing responsible adults will ever do and none of us get it right the first or second time. Barry

Does it really matter Calico, you think Obama is a values choice and I think he is the worst wrecking ball to my kids future that this county has ever produced. Our core values are so different that an intellectual discussion would be impossible. Barry

>>Folks are missing Lisa's point. The Republicans deliberately campaign on a "traditional values" platform.

>>Stop compartmentalizing Democrats or Liberals as some vast, stupid, monolithic group. It is why folks keep talking past each other. Its like saying all Catholics think the same way--it just aint so.

>>What I don't get - is why are they jumping to NEWT, and why are they overlooking Santorum & Huntsman? I mean, really, Santorum seems like he's the guy with the "values" chops, and an evangelical Christian, to boot. Huntsman has the dubious quality (apparently - in the eyes of a lot of Christian conservative voters, not my judgment) of being Mormon, but he doesn't seem to have personal scandals of the same type that Newt and other front-runners do.

I don't see the difference between these and the motorboat or Water Sking MBs. I'm big into teaching safety at a youing age and I see a real positive impact for teaching safety here. My kids and I still use the Water Sking safety rules I learned earning the MB at age 13. Barry

We give a BOR as quickly as we can depending on availability of all the players. But the scout has to request it because they are responsibile for their advancement. They also have to schedule their own EBOR with the District and inform the SM the date and time to meet them there. Barry