Old Eagle 73

I agree with you that Scouts over 14 quit because programs can be boring – and Scouting is competing with other High School activities. If their friends quit – there is even less of a reason to stay with scouting.

I would like to make 2 points: 

I don’t think that getting a new scout to 1^st class in a year to 18 months is the principle purpose of scouting for this age group.  I have always thought that the goal was for the scouts that are generally 14+ old to learn leadership by ensuring they train the younger scouts – and if the older scouts have developed an adequate training curriculum – the younger scouts should be able to reach 1^st class within a year to 18 months. Just as they will need to do 10-15 years from now when they are leaders in the workplace, older scouts need to begin to learn how to work with different personality types, scouts that don’t show up regularly at meetings, and what it takes to motivate different individuals to succeed and “do their bestâ€.  This is a lot of work for a 14-year old – and he may not view it as “funâ€.  My son is 11 and in a Friendship patrol.  At one of his first campouts with the troop, he asked his Guide if they were going to get their Totin’ Chip on this campout.  The Guide said “Don’t worry – you will get that at Scout Camp this summerâ€. Older scouts should not abdicate their training responsibilities to summer camp – or they are not learning leadership.

Scouting does a great job recognizing individuals that are being promoted – but may not do enough to recognized the older scouts that are doing the training.  It’s hard work and they don’t feel that they are recognized for their service – other than wearing a PL or SPL patch on their shoulder. I have suggested to our scoutmaster that during the court of honor – he recognized the PL, SPL, and other youth leaders who worked to help the younger scouts achieve success in their advancement.  Perhaps have the PL introduce the individual scouts in his patrol that are being promoted that evening.

Second, the other way to help keep the older scouts engaged is by doing new activities – going on the same canoe trip on the same river each year can get very boring. I suspect that under the concept of “scout led troopâ€, some troop leaders let the youth leaders initiate all the planning of outdoor activities for the coming year. But is it reasonable to expect a 14-15 year old boys to come up with new fun ideas, contact outfitters, judge how easy/difficult the outing may be for scouts of various ages and skill levels, etc.? It is just too easy for scouts at the planning meeting to just do what they did last year. I am not advocating that adult leaders do all of this – but without fresh ideas and outings a program can become stale and older scouts will lose interest. Given technology – it would not be difficult for a District or Council web site to have a “Best Outings†link – where they post summaries and reviews of outings submitted by troop members in the District or Council.  It could be a great resource page that the youth Scout Leaders in a troop could use to get new ideas for outdoor activities.

My nephew recently made Eagle – and the older scouts in his troop call the Eagle Court of Honor the “Eagle Retirement Ceremonyâ€.  That is most unfortunate.  Troops across the country have difficulty retaining older scouts and keeping younger scouts interested.  I think that forums like this can help generate new ideas to help scouting.

I agree with you that Scouts over 14 quit because programs can be boring – and Scouting is competing with other High School activities. If their friends quit – there is even less of a reason to stay with scouting.

I would like to make 2 points: 

I don’t think that getting a new scout to 1^st class in a year to 18 months is the principle purpose of scouting for this age group.  I have always thought that the goal was for the scouts that are generally 14+ old to learn leadership by ensuring they train the younger scouts – and if the older scouts have developed an adequate training curriculum – the younger scouts should be able to reach 1^st class within a year to 18 months. Just as they will need to do 10-15 years from now when they are leaders in the workplace, older scouts need to begin to learn how to work with different personality types, scouts that don’t show up regularly at meetings, and what it takes to motivate different individuals to succeed and “do their bestâ€.  This is a lot of work for a 14-year old – and he may not view it as “funâ€.  My son is 11 and in a Friendship patrol.  At one of his first campouts with the troop, he asked his Guide if they were going to get their Totin’ Chip on this campout.  The Guide said “Don’t worry – you will get that at Scout Camp this summerâ€. Older scouts should not abdicate their training responsibilities to summer camp – or they are not learning leadership.

Scouting does a great job recognizing individuals that are being promoted – but may not do enough to recognized the older scouts that are doing the training.  It’s hard work and they don’t feel that they are recognized for their service – other than wearing a PL or SPL patch on their shoulder. I have suggested to our scoutmaster that during the court of honor – he recognized the PL, SPL, and other youth leaders who worked to help the younger scouts achieve success in their advancement.  Perhaps have the PL introduce the individual scouts in his patrol that are being promoted that evening.

Second, the other way to help keep the older scouts engaged is by doing new activities – going on the same canoe trip on the same river each year can get very boring. I suspect that under the concept of “scout led troopâ€, some troop leaders let the youth leaders initiate all the planning of outdoor activities for the coming year. But is it reasonable to expect a 14-15 year old boys to come up with new fun ideas, contact outfitters, judge how easy/difficult the outing may be for scouts of various ages and skill levels, etc.? It is just too easy for scouts at the planning meeting to just do what they did last year. I am not advocating that adult leaders do all of this – but without fresh ideas and outings a program can become stale and older scouts will lose interest. Given technology – it would not be difficult for a District or Council web site to have a “Best Outings†link – where they post summaries and reviews of outings submitted by troop members in the District or Council.  It could be a great resource page that the youth Scout Leaders in a troop could use to get new ideas for outdoor activities.

My nephew recently made Eagle – and the older scouts in his troop call the Eagle Court of Honor the “Eagle Retirement Ceremonyâ€.  That is most unfortunate.  Troops across the country have difficulty retaining older scouts and keeping younger scouts interested.  I think that forums like this can help generate new ideas to help scouting.