ParkMan

You probably already know this, but... I'd just make the conversation positive about what you and your sons want to see in a troop. This change is not really about what you dislike in the current troop. This move is about what you all want to get from Scouting and the difficult realization that you need to go somewhere else to get it. In an ideal world, the current troop would be providing this. It's only through painful reflection that you've realized you need to seek that elsewhere. If he asks why you cannot get that here, then by all means, give examples of how the move towar

I'm reminded that Wood Badge, like all training, is merely an opportunity to acquire knew knowledge and skills. The beads, neckerchief, and woggle are merely symbols presented to someone who has undergone the process of attempting to acquire more knowledge & skills. We can debate eternally whether 6 days of training and 5 projects over 18 months warrants special symbols. To me, the beads are more a recognition of completing the ticket than sitting through some classes. A simple ticket really just cheats one person - the Scouter. Sure, it seems like the Scouter gets by easy.

Great choice @Eagle94-A1. While I fully get the desire to help improve a troop, at some point we all realize they often don't want to change. Your son's time in Scouting is just way too short to struggle with a troop that doesn't share your son's vision of how a troop should work. Your time as a parent is too precious to have the level of frustration that this troop has caused you. All my best in finding the right troop for you all!

You don't get the beads for sitting through the course. You get the beads because you demonstrate the application of the knowledge by completing the ticket.

I use a new unit as an excuse to buy a new shirt. I figure I'm involved in a unit for several years, so might as well have a new shirt that will last the duration. It's a minor thing as it lets me "retire" my old shirt when I leave a unit.

I agree with @Sentinel947. I've been a CC for about 5 years and watched the SM role closely. Here's take: 1) Your family always takes priority. 2) As Scoutmaster, you set the tone for the troop & the ASMs. The tone and your direction is significantly more important than whether your on every trip and at every event. 3) If you don't create space for others, they will never fill it. In other words, if you do it all - then the opportunity is not there for others to step up. 3) Failure is OK. You're job is bigger than an event or a camping trip. It's ok to let thi

We had some success one year where the DL took out the calendar and figured out that there were 26 den meetings in a year and that there were 20 requirements that have to get done. She called a parents meeting on den meeting. At the meeting she had the Cubmaster spend an hour with the boys. While that was going on she brought the calendar and the list of requirements to the parents and told them "I need each of you to sign up to teach two activities." What I learned from that experience is that a being a den leader is not about the drudgery of planning field trips or coming up with cra

This seems to be a pretty good summary of what I'm reading too. My take here is: Brow beating, acting superior, etc - this are not good tactics for any of us to employ. They don't seem to serve Wood Badge well. Maybe you'll get one or two more people for your course, but in the long run do a lot more harm than good. Efficacy of the course - Out of this topic, I've realized that it's a mistake for Wood Badge to simply label itself as "leadership" training and most certainly not the "best leadership training ever". Lots of us take leadership training in other places - especially at

Understood @desertrat77. I'm reminded of a interesting Wood Badge fact I learned along the way. The National Wood Badge director in any country is entitled to wear five beads. As I understand it, in the United States the last person to wear five beads was Green Bar Bill. Every person since him who has been entitled to be a five beader has refused the recognition. I always thought that showed a lot of respect and class. Your experience, unfortunately like others, clearly shows that not everyone who has completed Wood Badge understands class. You'd like to think the three and four

@desertrat77 As a supporter of the program, I'm embarassed to read that there are those that make those claims. On their best day they are ridiculous exagerations. Trying to say that Wood Badge training is superior to other management or leadership type training is the wrong approach. Rather then saying it's better than someone else's course, we'd be better served by describing it as it is. Making grandiose claims is really not needed. There's more than enough good reasons for someone to attend without making those claims. Anyone who tells you that you're lazy, not up to snuff, or do

Around here, the ceremonies typically follow a pretty typical flow. A small group of Wood Badge staff attends the event. It includes the Scoutmaster and usually the Troop Guide, ticket counselor, and a couple of other folks who were able to attend. It kinda depends on the event and availability of the staff. Event emcee introduces the course director. Course director does a brief intro and explains what Wood Badge is. The other staff introduce themselves. The other staff who are there present the Wood Badge items: the neckerchief, woggle, & course certificate. Th

I've thought a lot about the recruiting aspect of Wood Badge. As a Troop CC, I have seen a lot of benefit in having leaders attend, and so try to encourage it. Sorry to make this all so long - but over zealous recruiting was described as a major complaint, so I thought I'd start by sharing what I tend to do. Why I recruit One of the biggest benefits to our troop is the ticket process. For us, it has encouraged leaders to get more focused in their involvement with the troop. I have seen it transform a volunteer who is present, but waiting for guidance into someone with more confid

Another thing came to mind One of the single best Scouting courses I've taken was a two hour University of Scouting session on Troop annual planning. What that thought me was to focus for a small amount of time on your big goals for the year. Is it a trip to Philmont, a three day canoeing trip, a beach camping experience, or something else that's new and exciting. From there, start planning your monthly camping trips. If your troop is going to Philmont, it will need some warm up hikes, so plan that into the calendar. From there the Scouts then need to start figuring out what has to h

Hi @Jenn, I suspect that it's not that your troop doesn't want to improve. It's that the troop is a bubble. They don't know what they don't know and don't realize that there is a bigger world out there that is honestly a whole lot more fun. If this was a troop with a long time leader doing this, then I'd suspect the Scoutmaster doesn't want to change. But, in this case where there are leadership changes, I suspect it's a lot more about simply not knowing. I'm guessing that they figure they're going along just fine. There is an intro level course - ILST (Intro to Leadership Skills

@Sentinel947 I think that's a very good collection of the frustrations that I am reading about Wood Badge. I fully agree - feedback is a gift. I can't say that I see the same things, but I'm certainly fine in accepting everyone's word that they happen. I think that our national Wood Badge leaders should be thinking about and learning from this perception. I think Wood Badge should take the high road here. I think a big part of being a leader is in modeling the behavior you'd hope to see in others. So, as a Wood Badge community, lets listen, learn, and change. These things are curren

Clearly that was inappropriate and wrong. Scouters make bad choices all the time. Reminds me of a time we took our Cub Pack to the Council Cuboree. The OA folks decided that it would be great to have an hour long OA drumming demonstration at the evening Cuboree campfire. So, 6 guys came out and drummed for an hour in front of 600 participants. Needless to say our pack lasted 15 minutes. We did enjoy great sport that night back at the campsite "Hey Bob - are they still going? Yep". Classic. OA Call Out Ceremonies around here are kinda like that too. Ok, we have a great Campore

Then why do folks keep referring to WB'ers as a group - like they're all the same? The WB'ers ruined this, the WB'ers ruined that. Look at the WB'ers - they're messing stuff up again. It just feels like whatever personal frustration folks have grown into a sort of thing where "real scouters get to make fun of the WB'ers."

I just get the sense that there's a thing in the Scouter community where it's considered an accepted practice to make fun of Wood Badge and those that have taken it. I understand that many feel that they are justified in doing it. It really just seems that somewhere along the way it has grown into something bigger than being rightly frustrated with some Scouters who have taken Wood Badge.

Saying "Wood Badge is just another training course" is technically correct - but it misses some of the most important parts of the experience. Let me see if I can explain. First - It's a shared experience. A Wood Badge course is two very long three day weekends. During that time, the participants spend a lot time getting to know each other. The whole course is structured to encourage that - kinda like the patrol method can for Scouts. Some of the participants clearly have a "when can I go home and mow my lawn" vibe. But, many others embrace the experience. I'll admit - I enjoyed th

Sure - i get the Wood Badge isn't the pinnacle of Scouting knowledge. It's a leadership course set in a Scouting context. It's can provide you tools to be a better Scouter - but they are just that - tools. I'm 100% in support of an advanced course for Scoutmasters. That would be wonderful. A sort of Wood Badge or Powder Horn scale course about being a Scoutmaster. Scout skills, boy led, patrol method, etc. That would be an awesome course! I'm not looking to start up a debate here. I just think that the volume of negative Wood Badge comments are excessive.

I'm in favor of more and better training for Scouters. I've written about that before. I'd really like to see for each major position (SM, ASM, MC, CM, DL) a more significant program of training to get you ready. Not just position training -> IOLS -> Wood Badge. I would think that the programs need to be tailored to the role. i.e., as a CC it's only tangentially relevant to my role to send me through wilderness plant identification training. The Wood Badge topic I always find funny. About 90% of the Wood Badge comments I read are from non-Wood Badge Scouters complaining about

Our troop is the same. Our Scouts all own their own tents. When Scouts cross over from Webelos, they work as a group to see who has tents. Generally there are enough tents amongst them that we get 2 or 3 scouts in a tent. Over the first year or two in the troop most scouts acquire their own and then we have plenty. Occasionally we have to scare up a tent or two - but not that often. I like this model as troop tents are expensive and high maintenance. Scouts also tend to take better care of things they own and tents are fragile. Unless you come from an economically disadvant

Hi @shortridge, I've not been through this with a new unit, but have spent quite a bit of time watching unit budgeting and how we spend. For what it's worth, here's my thoughts. 1) your budget needs to cover awards, meeting supplies, training. If you need to rent a space, it would need to cover that. 2) ideally your budget would have enough extra money to allow you to cover campsite reservations 3) For the first year or two, I think you could forego equipment expenses. However, you need to assess if your troop families can provide the equipment. In our troop, many scou

Okay - uncle. I'm not looking to criticize or stir the pot. In threads like this, it just strikes me how negative they get. That national is trying to ruin the BSA through [choose one: girls, family scouting, YPT]. Yet, when I go look I just don't see it. I push back because it saddens me for all the Scouts, Scouters, and parents who come to this forum and read post after post about how awful the BSA is. Guess I just see the future of Scouting with a more positive outlook. I guess I'll just leave it alone and go back to avoiding Issues & Politics topics.

This forum has defined family Scouting as Dad, Mom, and siblings camping with the troop. Where do they describe that?