dfscott

So, my take-away is that I have destroyed this troop and I should step down. I'm running a "a lip service, boy-led program that is really adult-led bailouts". I don't teach leadership skills and I should have my feet "held to the fire" (sorry, not familiar with that expression but it sounds bad -- is it some sort of torture like waterboarding?) Stosh, you talk about all this stuff that "your boys know." You said your boys cancel events when they didn't have property food and equipment. Are these the events your go on yourself and take pictures? That just sounds little strange to

To clarify, the parents of the older boys weren't the ones on the white horses. Two of the 8 boys in the patrol are 12, and it was their moms jumping in. (Both former Den Leaders -- sometimes I think think it's easier when the parents were not in involved in Cub Scouts!) Even a year in, they're still having trouble going from ringleader to spectator...

First, an update: Just got back from the grocery store (where in addition to the adult patrol food, I bought a bunch of boxes of Mac and Cheese, just in case). Checking my email, my inbox was on fire -- mostly parents of the patrol members trying to figure out how to bail out the boys. > Then I was pleased to see the last email in the thread, which was from the PL: Good Evening Everyone, As patrol leader, I've decided that I will create a new menu for this weekend's camp out, and I will bring the food/drinks tomorrow. If every scout in my patrol who will be attendin

One of my patrols (made up of mostly older boys 14-16), consistently has problems with the grubmaster role. The PL is very forgetful and laid back and doesn't follow-up. As a result, grubmasters often forget about grub until the last minute, and on the last two occasions, forgot completely. In the first instance, I picked up their food for them since I didn't want to "punish the boys that didn't screw up." After warning them that this was their last bailout, things went ok for a while, but then a couple of campouts later, again, no food (actually partial food -- only enough for two meals)

Not sure what your "missed opportunity" is. I did speak with him and without going into the gory details - he was eventually removed. My point is that I've already seen one Troop shut down for this sort of thing, and I'm not going to let one loose cannon take down the whole troop. Sometimes, the adults have to take some responsibility, particularly where Youth Protection is concerned.

So as long as you're Catholic, you should be fine since technically, there is no alcohol present. The Episcopalians, now, they're in trouble...

I answered #3 because that was the closest. It really doesn't have "problems", but it doesn't have an online payment system. You reserve it online, then either send a check for the reservation or call and give a CC number.

Not having read any of the content, I certainly can't judge, but I agree with NJCS. In fact, at first I thought this was a joke post. The fact that it says "for Parents and Scouts" indicates to me that this is a team effort, and I disagree with that. While scouts need the *support* of their parents, it needs to be the Scout first. Quaze, I completely agree: a "Guide to First Class" would be great. Hopefully by the time they get there, they won't need a guide to Eagle.

Hopefully this isn’t straying too far off-topic, but… I fought the Stosh’s idea that an SPL isn’t needed for a long time. I wrote off the ineffectiveness of our SPL to inexperience and immaturity (we had a very young troop). Then, we had a 16 yo boy transfer in from another troop (his family moved). Suddenly, we had a boy with age, experience, and drive. He was quickly elected SPL by the boys (who practically worshipped him) and suddenly PLCs were snappy, I could step back during Troop Meetings and just watch them run, and all was right in the world. Wh

Thanks, all. These are really good suggestions, especially the ones from Tahawk. I've had to use the "ASM as Coach, not player" metaphor to keep them from swooping down and saving the day during campouts and I like your "The patrol is the team. The troop is the league." My biggest challenge is the 100 yards. So many of the "Pioneer Campgrounds" at the State Parks are way too small to accomplish this. We're going to try to camp more at Scout Camps this year, which generally have more room so hopefully we can spread out more.

So, one of my PLs came to me yesterday and said “I don’t see what the PL does – all I do it fill out duty rosters and meal plans for campouts.†I had a hard time answering him because in fact, based on recent history he was right. See, we have always had young, inexperienced SPLs that never got much done (and I don’t want to make this a discussion of the benefits or drawbacks of an SPL – I have suggested removing the position before and the boys always say they want to keep it so I’m not opening that can of worms again). But this term, a ne

I started to relate my own story, but I’m going to keep that to myself for now. Suffice to say that 1) my wife and I founded a Troop with me as SM and her as CC/COR, 2) it caused tremendous amounts of conflict in our family, 3) after almost resigning as SM, she ended up finding a CC and she’s now COR only. And for the record, no drugs or alcohol were involved – just trying to make the point that I completely agree with Fred: having a husband and wife as part of the Key 3 is really a bad idea. If I knew then what I know now, I’d never have done it. It’s b

One of my sayings is “Sometimes, it’s ok to break a rule, but make sure you know why you’re breaking it.†For example, at summer camp this year, they offered a “Chaplain's Award.†It involved saying grace at a meal, holding an in-camp devotional, and participating in the scout's own service. One of our Webelos Crossovers told me he wanted to do it and I encouraged him to go for it. The first wasn’t a big deal, but standing in front of the whole troop and reading a devotional (he choose from some I already had) took some courage. Even more so

Last post here: CC and COR are already involved and have contacted the DE as well. For reasons mentioned, I won't add any more comments until this is all resolved. Thanks for all the advice.

Responding mainly to Fred, but addressing some of the others' points as well. Trailer Access: Yes, we could have scheduled special times to bring it to the meeting. However, we didn't other than having it available after campouts. On the other hand, the scout in question never requested access to the trailer. In a follow-up email relayed by his father he said that the SPL "interfered with his ability to do the job." He did not elaborate beyond that and I have seen no evidence of that. POR Attendance: This was taken from some boilerplate POR descriptions and discussed with the PL

Update: No surprise -- Dad contacts me last night and says son said he's not going to get credit for his POR and wants to know why. I explain that he hasn't done anything towards the position. A he-said/she-said conversation ensures (with me copying the COR and CC on it for documentation) where he claims that the SPL was sabotaging him and wouldn't let him complete the duties. (I should also add that this parent is already on "probation" for getting into huge argument with an ASM at a campout in front of the boys and being disrespectful for the Troop Treasurer at a parent meeting). To ad

He doesn't have the POR anymore. I think the key part of the Guide to Advancement is: When a Scout assumes a position of responsibility, something related to the desired results must happen. I asked him what he had done as QM and he said, "nothing really." To clarify, when I said "offering" the scout Scribe, that was misleading. When the SPL indicated he wanted the scout gone as QM, I suggested that we ask him do Scribe, and he agreed, since we had lost our Scribe. I was going to have the SPL speak to him but the SPL was sick the night the QM came back and I didn't want to

So, I have a 1st Class Scout that I (and the SPL) feel like not been meeting his POR for Star. Part of the problem is that he hasn't been around much lately due to sports, but part has been that we haven't really given him much access to the Troop trailer, which is where most of his duties "live." The SPL has been pushing to remove him, but I asked that I be given a chance to talk to him to give him a chance to be successful. Two questions: 1) Since I haven't yet removed him from the position (since I wanted to discuss it with him first) am I correct that I should still count his time s

Thanks, all. Misery loves company, so that does help a bit. I have used the "nuclear option" once: I resigned, and that brought about the COR/CC split. The CC is the mother of one of my scouts and is also the wife of the local Venture Crew advisor (who is also just getting that unit off the ground). They have 4 kids so she really has her hands full. She really just needs some guidance, imo, but I feel like I'm overstepping trying to coach the TC. Also, two campouts ago, my ASM couldn't go due to a sudden family emergency. I announced it a week out, but no one stepped up and we

I'm the SM of a 2 year old troop. Our troop has been growing rapidly over the past 2 years, going from 6 scouts to 13 scouts in the 2nd year and now up to 22. We've been adding more adult leaders, but most are volunteers in name only and they're not contributing at the level we need. Our existing volunteers (i.e., me) are starting to burn out, and I don't see anyone stepping in to fill the gap. As a result, I fear the day is coming when we're going to crash and burn. A little background: when my wife and I started this troop it was just the two of us (she served as both COR and CC) an

Same here, although I bet some of our parents would've loved it. I constantly got greif about not taking enough pictures. And when I did, I got fussed at that they didn't "look very happy." My reply of "that's because I'm making them be in a picture" did not go over very well...

I'm the SM of my Troop and am registered as a MBC for several MBs. But I never teach those directly -- it's only so I can help guys finish up that last bit that they couldn't complete at summer camp. For example: We had 12 boys take the swimming merit badge this summer. The last requirement they needed was #4 (show how to inflate your pants, etc.). They were all getting ready to do it on the last day of camp when a thunderstorm came up so they weren't able to do it. So now I have a dozen boys that need to find a swimming MBC just to do that one thing (which is getting removed next ye

I know that Webelos have to be under the supervision of an adult (G2SS-Camping: In most cases, the Webelos Scout will be under the supervision of his parent or guardian. It is essential that each Webelos Scout be under the supervision of a parent-approved adult.) I can't find it now, but I thought I remember seeing something that said that an adult can't supervise more than two scouts, and a uniformed leader can't supervise more than one (since presumably s/he has other duties as well). Not sure if that's was a Pack policy or something I read elsewhere. Does it ring a bell with anyone?