qwazse

Anyone ever sew their pocket shut accidentally?

Although I'd like to think I was able to convince my wife to take more camping vacations because she trusted my experience as a scout -- I'm not buying it. Nice graphs as usual, though.

It's kinda sad. Most boys would volunteer -- party or not. And the Salvation Army folks would be a little bothered that a boy was missing out because he didn't ring a bell. You're probably in the right that it should not be called a troop activity. But, it's your son's problem not yours. If he thinks it's unfair he can bring it up with his PL or SPL. If nothing changes he can bring it up at his next board of review and tell the adults just so. If he works hard he can become PL and SPL and make activities on his own terms. He can also vote with his feet. Although I'd hold off on giving him that option until you're sure it's really eating at him.

Sounds like your crew is at the tough spot of trying to define themselves. But, they have good people who'll help them when they are ready. I'd tell them they should say they are a general interest crew. When they get sick of calling themselves that, they can make the effort to be something different. Bottom line: a crew is a group of kids who shape themselves. If every other crew in your area is some troop's venture patrol, then they probably should break the mold and be a little independent. Have your crew's officers completed ILSC (used to be called VLSC)? It's a good training tool that sets a standard for them follow.

Stosh, I agree that time is your friend in many cases (be it a well cared-for patient or a well built PWD car) so part of the "competition" must be recognition of the things that required time to achieve. That applies to sports as well. When I coached soccer to cub-aged kids at the Y, I reviewed the goal count (and goals given up!) after each game, but more importantly I expected a better quality of game than the previous week. Even if they won, kids could be pretty honest about if their play was better than the week before -- and that improvement in quality often had a lot to do with the time put in practice (or running laps around the house dribbling a ball, driving their parents nuts kicking against a wall, etc ...). Kids want to hear you say, "That was the best kick/car/splint I've ever seen from you. Way to step it up!" Oh, and adults like hearing you say that to their kids!

Good idea if the boys are willing to buy-in. I can think of lots of practical uses. The boys grab their totem and present it before pulling out for camp. They can be used for make-shift rosters. The life guard in me likes the notion of pre-built buddy tags for when you go swimming or boating. (When canoeing, I literally put tags in buddy pairs on a stringer in my kayak. I make the boys fashion them out of tongue depressors and permanent marker. It would be nice to have those tags pre-made.)

Competition gives you the opportunity to build character. And it's not just about shaking hands after the game. "Do your best." Well, if someone just like you scored higher (had a faster car) than you, that may be an indication that what you thought was your best actually wasn't. Those tears -- if they're sincere -- may set you on a journey to do better. "Help the pack grow." Well, if you came in first (or came in dead last, but everyone thought your car was the coolest looking), maybe it's time to show other scouts how to do their best. Maybe your dad or mom's shop is better, or they taught you some skills, or you just put down the video game and devoted more hours to your task. Time to share those. That's the basic role of competition (including rank advancement): to give boys a crude scale to let them know where they stand. And that's why as the youth get older, they get more diverse requirements, to let them know their strengths and weaknesses and to discover who has what gift. It sure beats waiting for a teacher to grade your paper!

I had a conversation yesterday morning with a young lady who wanted to join a crew. Her sister was in our crew! She was at the table as well, and I gave her the cold stare! Of course the challenge remains the time constraints put on our culture. For example this young lady just passed up the opportunity to go hunting with her dad because she went shopping at 5 AM with her sister and my daughter. These girls could have been shopping as a crew activity. Or hunting after having trained as part of the crew program. But neither activity is something that one automatically thinks "Hey, why don't I get my crew in on this?" Point is you can rethink ages 'till your blue in the face. Rethinking culture is the bigger challenge. E707 - When I was in college, I got "back into" camping, etc ... through my college fellowship. The ministry made an effort to provide an outdoor program at an age appropriate level. As with most Christian ministries, that fellowship had it's own network. Scouting would have to offer something above and beyond what is already out there.

Yep, like BDP said, I'm just speculating. From what I've read on the forums, instructors have stuck to their old formats, and have not had to run the course with a new demographic (older, co-ed youth). I don't see a high demand for NYLT among the Venturers I know (who, for what it's worth, have a wide array of cooking skills). I don't suspect any new anecdotes to be available until a summer or two. But, I do suspect BP's hypothetical concern about boys being more stuck in their shell are overblown.

Ej, I think you're set for the SMC in spirit. Different troops have different levels of paperwork anxiety. But generally we work with whatever the boys bring to the table and identify any steps that must be done. If there's something simple like signatures or letters of recommendations to nail down, we won't ask for a do-over on the SMC. If it turns out you didn't complete your Eagle project, for example, we'd probably have you schedule a conference after after you got that done! Our troop invites several ASMs on the conference so that we make sure we've covered everything. Sometimes one of us will make a phone call to someone do double-check a fact that we're not sure about. Anyway, congratulations. You and your folks should be proud of your hard work.

We have to direct our parents to their boys, saying "the first requirement is that your boy needs to know his requirements." Second, we tell the parents that their boys are doing just fine and we love having them around. (We don't have many slackers. Or, rather, their slacking matches their age.) Thirdly, we point them to Joe eagle scout who had a girlfriend (sometimes two, the low-maintenance one had a Rocket 350 engine) and advanced; therefore, we are in no rush to push a boy before "the fumes" set it. If Joe could juggle everything and make it, so could little junior. We do this respectfully and patiently over repeated conversations. Regardless if the next step is a skill, a POR, or Scout Spirit. The goal is to get parents to stop feeling like they are pushing a wheelbarrow uphill all the time and start appreciating their son maturing and climbing the trail on his own.

Some older venturing youth were in my WB class. Did just fine. No idea how they are doing with their tickets. No clue about NYLT. I know younger boys in our crew are no less goofy around the older girls. If that's your fear, I haven't experienced any problems with it one way or the other. (Of course boys in the crew have signed on to the co-ed thing, so that may make a difference.) My suggestion, if you do have to deal with it, is ask the older girls what the ground-rules should be.

I really like the broader concept of "Outdoor Ethics." It gives folks the perspective that LNT is part of a bigger picture of collective responsibility. It also should cover the concept that not everyone understands "the rules", so part of our responsibility is education.

BD - Piggybacking on what Stosh said, you have some specific experiences that can add to the life of your crew. First, your recent experience on the AT and that whole discussion about outdoor ethics could be a meeting topic. Second, let your daughter know that you'll be going on the hike in the near future and would like the crew to come along. (The challenge there is finding a female chaperon who's willing to do the miles.) But, they'll need a meeting or two to collect gear and prep. Hopefully if you're available for one thing, another half-dozen parents will be available for different activities. That "spreads the love", and pretty soon the youth catch on that they can call you for hikes, Ms. so-and-do for whitewater, etc ...

jb, Your model really resonates with me because that's about where I saw my kids want to interact with their world. Thanks to college and military hauling away most of my 18+ y.o.s (and one 17 y.o. who got early admission) that's about all I have to work with. I wish the T2FC were accessible to Jr. High Girls. It would make the venturing program so much easier.

BD: choosing a focus or interest. I am not going to interject my desires or thoughts on what they should pick, but we got a list of possibilities from nationals site and offer that for suggestions. Well, we hike and avoid cabins. So I guess that categorizes us as general interest outdoor crew. But, the only reason is because that's the path of least resistance. If any one of them wants to plan a conditioning program for a backpacking trip, there are four adults (one female) who can serve as consultants. We love it and will make it happen. Their's nothing keeping us from being all about shooting sports except the NRA instructor, although as willing as I am, is a phone call away. That seems to be enough to slow them down. One youth might step up and make that call once every other year. I am going to bet another of our problems is our group is really young too. I've experienced that as well. Especially since 90% of my group leaves for college by age 18. Another 5% go to boot camp about then. So our program is shy of that expert awards track that the manual describes. My president needs a lots of coaching. That said, the officers seem to be quite proud of the work they do. Emb YES, there is advancement, but its something each venturer chooses to do. The advancement is on one hand tougher (because we are dealing with older youth) and more flexible. Recognition is not exactly advancement. The awards do not qualify you for anything. (Whereas First Class qualifies you to take your patrol hiking and camping. Or, at least it should.)

All of these, descriptions, although true, miss the point of Venturing's place. Yes, youth can do anything they want ('cept sky-diving, ATV's and paintball). But that's not the point. Yes, boys and girls can operate in close proximity while safely chaperoned. But that's not the point. Yes, yes a crew can be specialists. They can work closely with a troop, or be very independent. But that's not the point. Yes, they can help a council's recruitment/retention stats. But that's not the point. Awards are optional, but they demand skills in their category at roughly the level of what would be demanded of any First Class scout wishing to advance. If your troop considers advancement beyond FC to be gravy -- and not part of the Eagle mill, that's pretty much the same thing. The point is this: Young men and women at this age are ready to take their place in society. They are ready to sit together, look around, see how the youth in their community can be served. They are ready to call us old farts with time on our hands to help them make program that would otherwise not exist. If they've been scouts, they are ready to return favors to their charter organization and councils by feeding them creative ideas for service and program that may not otherwise exists until these youth go off to college or war, come back, find jobs, have kids, and sit around a committee of formidable adults and finally dare to say "you know, when I was a kid, I wish I had a chance to ..." Now that my crew is seasoned (to the point I'm starting to call the founding members and ask if they want to be my co-advisors), I don't waste time asking my officers "What do you want to do?" They'll tell me that, eventually. I pose them a tougher question "What do your friends/classmates/troopmates who aren't in this room want to do? How can we offer it to them?" Not sure how well that will work, but I figure that until your crew is sufficiently "other centered" to carry meaning with these kids, you can count on it fizzling in a couple of years.

Thanks for more details. The guy's a slug. You need some salt. First, remove him from PL before this goes any further. Tell him he can reapply to the SPL for the position (or any other leadership position) when he actually starts teaching and helping for a couple of months in a way that befits the POR he would like to be in. (E.g. for PL, teach a few scout skills; for QM inventory the troop's supplies; for Librarian measure shelf space or sort books.) Show scout spirit by doing stuff without looking for a reward. Second, make it clear that as he gets older, you will expect quality workmanship. No typo's on project workbook. Detailed accounting for everything, etc ... So if he want's to procrastinate, fine. But he'd better show the highest quality work for the extra time he's taking. Thirdly, make it clear that you consider part of Scout Spirit to be honing skills he already claims to know by virtue of the patch on his left pocket. That means if he can't "remember" 9 points of safe swim defense this week, you will expect him to be able to do it next week. If he is unfriendly at one meeting, he needs to apologize the next. An unwillingness to improve is a lack of Scout Spirit. Fourthly (and this is the tough one). Explain to mom, that the last step to Eagle is the hardest, and some life scouts are just not cut out for it. The only way we'll know for sure is if we take the "heat" off of him to get that Eagle, and help him to simply be the best scout he can be. Good luck.

Our crew and troop once served as victims in a triage drill at the local airport. They needed hundreds of volunteers. The youths' time and availability was greatly appreciated.

I think the boy has given you an "out" by proceeding slowly with his workbook. This is your opportunity to agree with him and say, "Hey, since we're not focusing on your project workbook this winter would you like to try some things that might make you a better patrol leader?" You could suggest teaching/communication skills. Planning an activity, building a tower, gateway, or (brace yourself for committee member backlash) trebuchet! Is he weak on all skills? For example, can he fold a flag properly? Does he know the parts of the badge well enough to host a Jeopardy game? You want to start by catering to his strengths. Point is, if he's going to be slow on his Eagle project, you want to make it clear that he has to be into scouting. Finally, it sounds like you may have to do as much listening as talking. Try to figure out what's going on in his life. Other activities, family, girls, cars, or friends could be playing a factor.

This past week, I had a couple of non-scouting youth on separate occasions if I've ever hiked the AT. Just goes to show how popular it is. We have to be prepared to "educate" on trail. Chances are the one's who need it will not have read this thread! In fact, the more I think about it. Most of the stuff I've learned about hiking, I've learned while hiking!

E92, I assure you even here in the "great white north" something of the sort would thrill the boys. Although it would take a special group of den parents to let it happen. One of my sons favorite campouts was in a survival shelter as the snow started to fall. Our crew has a standing rule that the kid who speaks up about wanting an activity runs point to make it happen. This is a little less formal than the "activity chair model", but it is basically a play stolen from the leadership manual. Depending on the maturity of the youth and the level of "must-do" the officers give the idea, I'll direct him/her to an adult who can help consult for it. Anyway, because it's a spelled-out aspect of the Venturing program, I can direct an adult to it and shield myself from a lot of skepticism. I'm goin "by the book" and if the crew folds, they can just blame National, a program that's only a decade old, or the brainwashing I got at VLST. What's really nice, then, is that if I behave the same way towards the older boys in the troop, folks just chalk it up to me "going all crew advisor" on them. Meanwhile the boys step up, and we get a little more "boy led" without using those two three-letter words.

M2C, there's no "kinda" subtracting. Either you are or you aren't. We discussed the 5-mile-hike at length in another thread (http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=327760). Applying a footnote is following a requirement. It enables a boy to prove his orienteering skills -- the point of the 5-mile hike -- by using means that compensate for his inability to walk distances.

The young lady is a Venturing youth, so it is not required for her to take it for any needs of her crew. That said, I would be thrilled to have a IOLS trained youth in my crew. I would ask her to throw the gauntlet down to other venturing leaders. Because IOLS is for leaders and she's doing this for her troop, she doesn't need a chaperon of the same sex. However, depending on the maturity of the individual (or the immaturity of the other students), you may want to ask around if there is another female adult willing to take the course. You may or may not know your district's volunteers well enough to discern that. But encouraging more female adults to take IOLS is never a bad idea.(This message has been edited by qwazse)

We have all kinds of pockets. No secret that we take donations and hand-me-downs. The Mrs. feels blessed with with a job and a love for shopping, so when she hears that Johnny or Janey needs boots or pack she'll get 'em for bottom dollar and have me leave them on their door step no questions asked. Every boy knows that gear just sitting in his closet is doing nobody good. As a result our place is a revolving door for gear. But, charity has its limits. We don't float anyone for high adventures. If they can't put up the cash through fundraisers or their own job, they're off the roster. (Obviously we'll find a donor for the one kid in every 20 who can't make that last payment due to unforeseen circumstances.) It's our units' responsibility to provide low-cost options for program while challenging boys to save aggressively. If a subset of those boys put their dimes behind an additional trip, we support it as best we can. Sometimes we're lucky and nearly the whole troop or crew fall for a big ticket item. Everybody pitches in to make it work. But those times are rare of late. Oh, and we do have a lot of movement in social class. Day laborers whose kids are professional/executives and vice-versa.