scout_sdad

Thanks for all of your replies, both here and privately. Your ideas and experiences are very helpful. Please keep them coming, the more specific the better.

getting more hopeful,

Scout's dad

My son crossed over into a Troop last March while I took a vacation from leadership after 5 years of cubs. I've been an active parent in the new troop and observing how things are done there while reading up (here and elswhere) about how its supposed to look. Now I'm ready to get back into leadership and have signed up for all the training that's offered.

I find our troop giving only lip service to the patrol method and barely even that to boy-led. Patrols are in-name-only; nothing is really done by patrol. PL's are there to get their leadership months checked off on their advancement requirements. In the first six months, not one patrol meeting, not one outing using patrols. Boy-led means the SPL stands in front of the troop meeting and , when he attends, leads the opening ceremony. Then the adults take over.

The adult leadership are long-time devoted Scouters, SM is well trained, either doing or intructing WB, father of an eagle, very devoted to the boys and the job, but seems to be doing it in a different way than described in the handbooks. There's a strong emphasis on making Eagle quickly. He has expressed interest in working on patrol method and boy-led. My question is how do you take a troop from where this one is to boy-led and using the patrol method. I can see how its supposed to work, but I have a hard time seeing how to get from here to there. For those who have made such a transition, how do you get there? which steps do you take first? How do you do boy-led when the older boys have never seen boy-led?

Hopefully,

scout's dad