qwazse

SPL is glue that sets the tone for your PLs. That can be good or bad. It gives the boys the opportunity to experience different styles of management. Ideally, they will watch a boy who is rather rough at management improve over his tenure. Sometimes it gives the boys the opportunity to learn how to succeed in spite of poor management! If all goes well, it also gives a scout confidence that what he learned as a PL can be generalized to a larger setting. If not, well, there is the next six months! In general I've seen more good then harm from it. (Of course having been one b

We just hand out a below 0F certificate if we have a tenting weekend that falls in that range! We don't go looking for the coldest day of the year to go out in, but sometimes it happens. We are VERY meticulous about gear in those conditions. My preference: synthetic bag + Korean war wool blanket (handed down from my father-in-law). Boys are trained to check for frostbite, hypothermia, etc ... In general I've found the smaller the body, the harder it is to recover - even from early stages. (Glad I never had to deal with advanced cases.) So, no, not for cubs if you can help it!

Bring a boy as close to his Creator as you can without making it a permanent stay?

Dh, I could make the same statement about our VOA, except our crew has provided four officers in the past two cabinets. It would be a self-condemnation! VOAs should be fun things to be a part of. Ours isn't as fun as it could be. It's a problem we need to fix. When we do, I'll let you know. But I can tell you that one of our professionals has been very kind in pointing out what doesn't seem to be working. Regardless of what it will take to fix things, I'm fairly certain that walking away from the table isn't it.

You just described most church youth groups that I know. Except for the McAdventure's. There are lots of churchy youth gatherings that fill bill. (Creation Music Festival, for one, involves a few nights of camping.) There is less emphasis on citizenship and more on duty to God, but they promote mission tourism, which when you do the math can tap a parent's wallet just as readily as Jambo. (All that plane fare for a two week jaunt that could feed a village for a year!) I'm not entirely negative on the process, because I have seen it set the compass for quite a few young lives who as adults a

I heard a survey of teens showed that sexting behaviors are extremely rare. Maybe we should think of it as an abnormal psychology? Get the kids help, not lock-up.

Yep, that last bit of information is a game changer. You do need to discuss with the boy what the boundaries of his invite are, that you will call him out if he crosses them, and if he is uncomfortable with that then he should tell you now and consider staying home. Remind him that you make an effort to keep a number of adults including yourself off his back, you now need him to pay it foward. Now be sure to listen because maybe you didn't get the whole story. Maybe Mr. PL did give him a call and wasn't entirely pleased with the plan and asked for some help at the last minute. Eve

We stink at patrol method so take this with a grain of salt: Our SPL is always a member of one of our patrols. (He may or may not be a past PL.) If our patrols actually planned their own outing, he would be expected to only participate in the excursion his patrol planned. That said, our patrols are so doggone amicable that they keep inviting each other to their campsites, etc... Forget about what "might" have happened. The kid is on the roster now. Teach him a little "come-along-side" leadership. Ask him to cover the SPL patch, put himself under the PL's leadership, follow

Good questions KC! Our units don't "count" stuff. They accomplish goals. They will tell me in no uncertain terms that fun had better be a major goal or the deal's off. School of Hard Knocks has taught me:Covering the same material twice is not fun.Being separated into different units for no good reason is not fun.(Like C21 mentioned, unruly 11-13 y.o.'s may be a good reason.) So yeah, I'm thinking of one course from which a young man could earn trained patches suitable for both uniforms if he desired. (My young women seem not to care about patches, BTW. Nevertheless, if she's motivat

I can only judge by the youth coming into my crew. Most GS come in with strong organizational skills. Maybe that's because there is no CO to provide some things a lot of our boys take for granted. With their peers, they know how to generate fun. They are the ones who pack in speakers so we can have a dance party on the beach. Around the campfire, they are the ones singing until midnight! Most non-GS (male or female) think way out of the box. They have big ideas, make friendship with strangers, and could care less about fitting in molds. Age differences don't phase them much. They

Our cabin weekend is usually one with a lot of slack time. The boys sled. We do a little business. The sled. They play cards. They sled. We help some first-years with some basic instruction for advancement. Sometime in all that they make food, keep the fire going, and clean up.

All of the above, and ask yourself this question: What is the best way I can assist all of these boys in this troop around my son? Just as the one skill your son will be gaining is how to tap other folks besides Mom or Dad for assistance, there are all those other boys who need someone to call on for something, a couple of them may be best served if that someone is you. Example from my experience: on the campout after son #1 crossed over, I took for granted the SPL knew how to season a dutch oven. One melted oven later, I realized that this fine young man could benefit from a l

First, I show a boy where in the book he should list his activities. (Why it's not in the requirements page simply defies reason. So, I figure this is one case where I don't just give the kid the "There's this thing called an index line.") I encourage him to write down the one or two he's seen so far. Second, I encourage PLs to only sign that one off if the activities are listed in the scout's own writing. The point of this is in my opinion to teach the boy a basic discipline of reflecting on his scouting career - not to make sure his attendance is checked off and logged in some el

Don't think of it in terms of "for everybody." My jambo experience did two things: - give me a chance to meet new friends and operate under a different SM. Basically, taught me how to talk to strangers. - introduce me to minimum impact camping. (Not at our campsite, there was a demonstration of it a footpath somewhere.) Those were two skills that I've been sharing for the rest of my life. Never felt the need to go back. Some folks are born with a real convention mentality. So what if it's only 6%? That may mean just one of your boys is the in that number. Recommend him for

Wow, C21, it's like I have an evil twin! I have nothing against council-wide training. Two of my crew taught the council ILSC this summer and one is likely to teach it this spring. However, my youth are not interested in council training for lots of reasons (distance, timing, cost). But, like your youth, they haven't built up the discipline needed to organize a venue for their crew. Unlike yours, more than half of ours are multiples with one troop, so what one unit decides likely impacts the other. I'm just looking to make it a positive impact. Thanks for the encouraging feedba

'Cad, most churches don't hold the SM in as "high" a position as a pastor or youth minister. So, they aren't inclined to impose a code of conduct on volunteers who are orderly and respectful. It is a good idea to let them know that you are "their" outreach, not the BSA's. Sounds like you are willing to get any kind of kid to darken the door of the church for the sake of scouting. Most Christians are very proud to allow that to happen. It's also a good idea to let them know they have a say in the goings on in your council. There might be a church member who discovers that could be

Have any of you with hands in both Troop and Crew "campfires" held (or considered holding) Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops and Introduction to Leadership Skills for Crews simultaneously? The boys in my crew are good candidates for both, but training is a tough sell on a good day. They aren't going to spare two different weekends for two similar courses. The SM and I might be able to get a few key youth together if we pool resources. That could make it fun for everyone involved. Thoughts? Ideas? Parallel question for the patch-obsessed: if a boy gets ILST then mult

3/5 done. Expect shorter post from me for the next couple of months.

Ya, sure. Make the boys do more paperwork and table any real working independence. The boys will love you for that! If you are going to "ease" your way into more youth leadership. Give them a serious responsibility. Choose a real route to hike. Collect real money. Buy real food.

not afforded the opportunity to earn initials on these requirements so they did the right thing and lost The lock-in sounds like a lot of fun. The boys who went are winners. They'll get all the initials they need when they're good and ready. The other boys got helicopter-parented for the sake of a few check-marks, if that's winning it's a rather Pyrrhic victory.

I have one youth who is working on her venturing Bronze religious award and touches base every month or so as to her progress(who's helping her with what, etc ...) Keep in mind that each bronze award requirement is roughly as time consuming as an elective merit badge -- although the process of getting signed off is nowhere near as formal as the blue card system. It would be a much different award if she came to me saying "Here are affidavits that I did these requirements ... how 'bout some bling?" They may very well be letters from all of the people who I would have had work with her, but I

Fred, Just because something sounds like "aVenruring concept" doesn't mean it is. True, I expect more of my crew in terms of management. But the boys in the troop sometimes have moments of brilliance. Plus, the boys have a responsibility to tend to 11-13 year olds, whereas in the crew any such obligation is voluntary. Like jblake points out, you can only push as far as the adults can stand. I would also add that you want the boys to leverage their talents. One scribe might need more intervention from your Advancement Coordinator than another.

sorry, triple post.(This message has been edited by Qwazse)

Sorry, double post.(This message has been edited by Qwazse)

I'm with CP. If the boy held a POR for four months, and nobody questioned how he was doing his job at at the time, then he's good to go. If only other boys' parents would help them live up to their position! But I would ask the boy if he would like to do things differently for his next rank. Maybe he would like to do the position differently. More help from a friend inatead of a parent, for example. maybe a different position, like instructor which may challenge his communication skills. this information will help his new SM get him plugged in to troop life.