brazzin

A off the wall method. Elect a SPL to run the troop during meetings and be the turn to person at camp. For each camp have the scouts elect a patrol leader for that camping trip to be in charge for that outing (Planning, staging and running). This will help in many ways, Each scout will develop a understanding of leadership roles, As your troop starts to grow the scouts you have know will have the basic skills to be patrol leaders, Your SPL will learn how to support and lead different scouts as patrol leaders. Your SPL should help each new scout get ready for the campout.

BRAZZIN

Over a year ago I was informed a new troop was starting in our area. This may sound like good news but our school has less then 900 students and the cub pack averages 4 to 6 second year webelows per year. The troop had 12 scouts at the time. So why start another troop? The mother of the boy didn't understand or like the current troop methods. I have earned my wood badge beeds and thought I was following the spirit of Scouting. But as with any public position there are many aproaches to each task. So did the distric or council talk to me or the troop committee to improve the question area this mother had? No, they were more concerned with incresing the number of troops in there area. Its my understanding is the distric rep. yearly performance is based on creating on new pack and troops in their area. It has no consideration the number of scouts in each group or if in two ywears they lose any. As of todays date our distric has lost two troops and are on the verge of losing two more. Some of these troops were 30+ years of tradition lost. Is this happening in other areas?

For the last 12 years We have been suppling our small counity with a active Boy Scout program. Last year the cub master and his son crossed over. The son did not like our troop or any of the neighboring troops. I beleive the boy had no intrest in scouting. But the parents did. I tried to get input from the parents on what we could change to keep him in. The reply that I received from the parents was he won't say anything besides he doesn't like it. So in responce they deceided to start their own troop in our town. This was the only their son would stay in. Our troop was up to 18 boys at best. (The school has only 900 students K-12) Council did nothing to stop or consider the impact on our troop. Their goal was to add a troop number. No one from distric or council contacted our troop untill I heard from the grapevine and then they said nothing could be done to stop them. Now our troop is in danger of folding in three to four years. Due to the drop in leadership down the road. It was hard enough to get 6 adults involved with 18 boys. Now that we will be splitting the webelows or one troop will get the webelow den and other troop will get none. the adults will follow. At present time our troop has 4 trained leaders in basic leader trainning and one Wood Badge trained soutmaster.

My questions are,

1 Is it more important to national to see new troop numbers at the cost of losing troops down the road? (our area has lost 3 troops under the lets start a new troop banner)

2 Is the scouting movement lowering its standards? This new troop leader ignored 5 points of the scout law and council was aware of it.

3 Where is scouting going to be for our community when his son deceides he had enough and his parents quit with him? Our troop may or may not make it.

Thanks for your responces.