captnkirk

Frist off, congratulations on taking on such a monumental task with limited support from your adult leaders. This is a task that adults struggle with (as many of the other posts here will show you) as well. I'm glad to hear you've had the success you've had. If you don't already have one, get a copy of the Patrol Leader's Handbook. (If you can convince the troop to buy several copies, then you can lend them to your PLs.) That will help you out, especially with planning Patrol Meetings and such. In my opinion, the best device for using the patrol method is during campouts. Have e

There was a question posed in another thread (JLTC, SPL, & dealing with older Scouts) as to the value of JLTC. Specificly, "So how does a SPL go to JLTC and then come back to deal with this real world?" SMs, ASMs, CMs and any adult volunteer should have a real understanding of what is learned at JLTC for several reasons. The first is to understand just what it is that the Scout has learned, and the second is to continue to help him learn it. JLTC does not end after one week. It doesn't end after the participant completes his LGA (Leadership Growth Agreement, similiar to the Woodb

Getting scouts to plan activities is one of the hardest things sometimes, especially when the scouts don't want to take the initiative. It seems like you don't have much precedent in your troop for boy-led activities. My first advice is to start small and work your way up. Make sure the boys are planning their own menus before they move on to weekend programs. As far as the older scouts, the only way to get their interest is to move the program to thier level. They'll never get excited over lashings and treating head wounds. Get them to find something that would be exciting for them. (

First off, I resent the implication that none of us on this forum (with the exeception of BW) had any idea that patrols could go camping. I think at least most of us knew that, and that patrol camping is encouraged as well. What has been a revelation to many of us is that adults are not required on these outings. Second, I know for a fact that we have been trying to encourage the patrols in our troop to start doing patrol activites for years now. Unfortunately, there is no precedent for it within the troop, and many of the boys are too busy (or in some cases too apathetic) to plan th

So in another thread, Mike F. was asking for lists of creative patrol names, and several of us supplied names that we had run into. This got me thinking. When I was a Scout, we were allowed pick whatever patrol name we wanted, and quite often we picked the strangest, silliest, or cleverest name we could think of. And every once in a while the SM would encourage us to change the name if he felt it was inappropriate. But a few years ago, the adult leadership decided that all Patrol names had to be a traditional one (Panther, Cobra, stuff like that.) Personally, I see Patrol Names as

While I don't know of any lists posted anywhere, I myself have belonged to several creatively named patrols. (Badger Patrol wasn't enough in my troop.) Among them were: The National Association for Disturbed Scouts (NADS, we had a great patrol cheer.) The Wunderbar No-Name Patrol, The Overused Lollypop Sticks, and my favorite, The Grand Mystic Royal Order Nobles of the Ali Babba Temple of the Shrine, Second Chapter International Membership Associated Counsel for the Advancement of Deviants.

I agree with Bob. Life has its risks. Even an adult's pressence does not guarantee safety. We can only try to keep Scouting as safe as we can. The difference of opinon is how to do that. Some say that the best way is to have an adult monitoring the situation at all times. Others would say that following the program and BSA guidelines is enough to ensure safety as best we can. It was pointed out in another thread along this same topic that the world has become a much more dangerous place since many of us were Scouts. But we also live in an age where we have things like cellular ph

I would not trust my son's safety to a group of 14- and 15-year-olds. If you wouldn't trust the safety of another person to a 15-year-old Scout, then an adult has not done their job. I would trust the safety of another person to A 15-year-old Scout. I would not neccisarily have the same trust in a GROUP of 15-year-old Scouts. It was not so long ago that I myself was a 15-year-old boy (6 years now) and I remember quite well the mischief we used to get into. I suspect even some of the older former Scouts out there can remember doing things in Scouting that did not reflect well on th

I see absolutely no problem with having "Patrol Coaches" assigned to each patrol. (Note: They should not be assigned to only one patrol, as this would be taken as a sign to the others that there's something wrong with that patrol.) The problem is, that those adult leaders (and even older Scouts, in my opinion) need to know how to point the patrol in the right direction, without becoming the Patrol Leader. In my experience, there are two methods that accomplish this. 1. Follow the chain of command. Never pass over any youth leaders, if at all possible. Observe the boys in their p

Scoutdad, The 11 leadership skills are presented in the council-level JLTC, which is the youth counter-part to Woodbadge (or is that vice-versa?). I'm not sure if they occur anywhere else in Scouting literature, but you can find several web sites that discuss them at http://www.scouter.com/compass/Training/Junior_Leader(JLT)/ *note: You'll have to type that link in because of the (JLT). Following the link won't work. Or you can just surf around Scouter till you find it.

So this may not belong in "The Patrol Method" and my deserve a new thread, but as long as we're on the subject of the rules governing the committee and such, perhaps you can help me out. Over the past several years, the ASMs in our troop (I'm one of them) have been accepted into committee meetings and the lines between the two positions blurred. While the ASMs realized we were not part of the committee, we attended meetings and voiced our opinions on what came up. In short, what was originally a "committee" meeting became more of a "leaders" meeting. A few months ago, a former SM r

Wow, there are a lot of things that have been brought up in this thread. As a new adult leader but a very old Scout, I'd like to comment from the perspective of the boys, if 20 isn't too old to do that. Our troop just switched over to this idea of electing the ASPL and then after 6 months he becomes SPL. I have to say, I don't like it. First off, it requires a whole year's commitment from the boy, which can be difficult if he's engaged in another activity that may take him away from Scouting for a while (swim practice, or in my troop the main culprit is marching band.) Often, when boy

As stated above, each troop sets their own requirements for Senior Patrol Leader. In our troop, we required that a boy be 13 and at least First Class to run for SPL, but these requirements could be changed if there weren't enough boys who met that requirement. (Unfortunately, this has been the case in the past.) The requirements in our troop are set by the Scoutmaster, but they must be approved by the committee. A few years ago, after electing an SPL who did a particularly poor job, (he didn't really want the job in the first place, but wasn't given a chance to really consider it

Unfortunately, in our council JLTC and youth training seem to be overlooked in favor of adult programs like Wood Badge and the training formerly known as Scoutmaster Fundamentals. As a result, very few units in our council actually do Troop JLT sessions, and the most training a boy is likely to receive is a week at JLTC. Even in my own troop, while I've proposed the idea before, the other adults say it's a good idea, but they never put their full support behind it, and many of the boys, especially the older ones, don't realize the need for it. I'm lucky if I can get anyone to attend the cou