Earning all 20 Webelos pins - caution

[Mike F]

Since we were on the topic of special recognition for earning all 20 pins, I feel compelled to share a cautionary note. Yes the boys who make the effort to earn all 20 can and should be recognized, but be wary of putting so much emphasis and effort into earning all 20 that the Webelos burn out on scouting and dont want to continue.

 

I saw this happen in both of my older boys dens. Den Leaders seemed obsessed that they all must earn all 20. They talked a lot about the importance of earning that little trophy how it was the crowning glory of cub scouting. Every meeting was chock full of advancement activities. They even scheduled extra meetings toward the end to allow catch-up and to finish the last few.

 

Commendable, perhaps, but Den Leaders forgot about having fun and preparing them to move on to Boy Scouts. By the end, the guys were sick of scouting most just hanging on for that little $5 trophy.

 

In my older sons den, less than half joined a Boy Scout troop and only 1 remained in boy scouting beyond his first year. (Thankfully my son but with great resistance.) When #2s Den Leader started with the same pressure, I tried to convince DL that it wasnt really all that important, but to no avail. So I had several talks with my son to make sure he understood that there was no pressure from us to earn all 20. If he wanted to work that hard, fine, but it was more important to have fun and make reasonable progress without getting all stressed up over it. My son and one other Webelos were embarrassed on the night of the last Pack Meeting when they werent up there with their buddies getting the 20-pin recognition and trophy. But they were also the only 2 who joined Boy Scouting and they are still active 3+ years later.

 

Bottom Line: Special recognition for earning all 20 pins is great, but dont get the kids burned out in the process. In the big scheme of things, its more important for them to have a good time and to be really excited about moving up to Boy Scouting.

 

-mike

 

[Eagle74]

Thanks Mike. Well written. I was thinking about a similar reply when I read the original thread, but was waiting to find a way to carefully craft my response. Experienced the same with a few dens a number of years ago while my sons were still in Cubs and early in Boy Scouts. My question was ". . . is this for you or your boys?" I believe that most of these boys burned out before reaching Boy Scouts as you mentioned - few joined Boy Scouts; most that did dropped out within a very short time. It seemed like it was a struggle to get these lads interested in continuing the scouting trail even though I would consider our troop's program well-rounded with a variety of activities. At first we were looking for a sudden problem within our troop program, but found it odd that it involved the boys from these dens. Prior to and since, bridging and retention were and are good.

[OneHour]

Hi Mike,

 

What I have done in the past with my oldest's den and currently with my second son's den is that we work on a group of pins that are required for Webelos and AoL advancement and a few that I think that are worth emphasizing with the whole den that prepare them for scouting (ie. Readyman, Aquanaut, and Outdoorsman). Each pin usually takes a month to two worth of den meetings to do, because only 40 minutes per den meeting is devoted to advancement, 15 minutes worth of games, and 5 minutes for the business section.

 

For the rest of the pins, the boys can work on it at home with his parents and turn their work in to me, or they can attend a number of webelos pin day/opportunity at our district, summer day camp, nearby museum of natural science or with other pack(s), pins such as traveller, handiman, and scholar can be done at home; engineer, scientist, handyman, athelete can be done at pin day, etc. I usually point out these opportunities and offer to drive (with another parent of course). I also offer to work with them on a few of these other pins on the weekends throughout the Webelos year if they want. All of these are strickly on a voluntary basis. If they have the drive and the initiation then they deserve the recognition. With this format, here is the tally:

- 7 out of 8 of the boys in my oldest's den got the 20 pins.

- With 1 moved, 1 opted for soccer): 6 out of 8 webelos continued on with Boy Scout

- With 1 opted for baseball, 1 dropped because of divorcing parent: 4 made it 1st class

- With 1 dropped because of sport and 1 moved: 3 are currently Life Scouts

 

 

As for my second son's current Webelos 2 den, it looks as if we will have 5 out of 6 boys continue on with Boy Scout and 2 will receive the 20 pins award.

 

I don't believe in setting up the 1.5 years of Webelos program around all 20 pins. It can't be done without boys' having fun (as you have pointed it out very well). We also need to point out to a lot of the new leaders the fact that these kids have been in school for 8 hours. They don't need another 1 - 1.5 hours of lectures and work.

 

I'm with you, Mike ... do the 20 pins but don't over do them. Work the Webelos years to prepare them for scouting and not burn 'em out.

 

See ya, Mike.

 

1Hour(This message has been edited by OneHour)

[Lynda J]

I think in many cases it is how well the DL and parents motivate the boys. When Kevin was a Web, I was the DL. We had 7 boys. All but one earned the Super Achiever Award. All but one of those are still in scouting. There is no reason that earning all the Pens can't be fun. We had a ball. And the boys were the ones that did most of the planning. We were really trying to get them geared up to be Boy Scouts.

[Scouter4321]

You've said a lot of what I've felt as a second-time Webelos Leader.

 

A worthy goal, yes, but not at the expense of burnout. Some of the more "academic" or "family oriented" pins really need to be done mostly at home. If not, they really can make a den meeting dull. I'm mainly talking about these four: Fitness, Family Member, Traveler and Scholar.

 

My oldest son, earned 19 of the pins (LOL, just couldn't get "athlete"), however, he's been in Boy Scouts two years now and I don't think I've ever heard boys discussing how many pins they earned in Cub Scouts! Just not worth losing boys over, especially when the Arrow of Light requires only 8 pins. As another poster mentioned, those who are so determined to have the boys earn all twenty pins IN DEN MEETINGS: are they doing this for the boys or for the parents?

 

Scouter4321

[Torveaux]

I am a Web I DL. I see my 'mission' as giving every boy ample opportunity to earn the AOL. I expect each of our 5 boys to be done with their Web Badge by year end or no later than February. There are variables that are simply outside my purview. Fitness is primarily a family pin and it is required for the Webelos Badge. The religious portion is also something over which I have little control. I can mention it, but we cannot do it as part of a den meeting.

 

I have no intention of aiming for getting all 20. If any of the boys mentions this as a goal, I will be happy to help him get there. When the whole group is accomplishing such a daunting task, I start to wonder about the quality of the work and the fun involved in getting there. That being said...There are about 20 months in the Webelos program and that is only one pin per month. We had a council camp that effectively covered all of Aquanaut, 90% of Readyman, and healthy portions of many of the other outdoor pins. The goal is attainable, but only for those who want to get there.

 

At this point, every boy in the den has at least one pin and a couple of them have 3. By the end of the month most will have Communicator and perhaps Fitness. A few are working on Traveller over the holidays.

 

My predecessor told me to get most of the AOL requirements covered in year 1, because 5th grade has so many more outside distractions around here...band, school sports, etc.

[Lisabob]

Torveaux I agree. When I was a WDL we had 3 boys get all 20 pins. Those three made a deal with each other as W 1's that they'd help each other "make it" so it was pretty nice to see them work together like that. One of the three was being seriously pushed by parents but I think he'd have done it regardless. The other 4 boys earned anywhere from 8-17 pins and they were perfectly happy with that, weren't ever really interested in aiming for all 20. All 7 crossed over to a troop last February and I've never heard another word about those webelos pins either. But, about a year later, only the three boys who earned all 20 pins are still in scouts. I wouldn't have expected that to be honest, and I'm not convinced it is a result of earning the pins, but it is still interesting that it worked out this way.

 

Lisa'bob

A good old bobwhite too!

[eagle90]

I too would be concerned about burn out. We had a recent Troop campout and were joined by 8 Webeloes from our affiliated pack. After a busy Saturday of helping them with a few activity pins, lunch, a 4 mile hike, etc. We got back to our campsite about 3:30 PM. Our schedule then called for free time for our scouts till dinner preparation. Our scouts (and adults) value this free time and use it to explore, take a walk in the woods with a buddy, read, relax, etc. The webelo leader would have no part of it and kept his Webelos doing other activity pins right up till dinner, as time is running short for them to earn all 20 pins. Down time is important, and we are hoping this will not be a problem after bridging.

[Eagle782]

I appreciate the advice given in this thread especially getting ready to be a Webelos DL in a couple months. The kids like to have fun and try new things. Not always sitting and listening right after school.

[Lynda J]

A good den leader can make earning all 20 pins fun. We had a ball. Personally I think that we should push our boys to do their best. To set goals and reach them. To not accept second best if they want to achieve. There are no "giv'me's' In the real world. Hopefully I will always expect my boys to reach for their best and not settle for anything else.

Kevin is Den Chief for a Web II den. Their Web I leader didn't feel it was important to earn pins. Well guess what. They are now Web II's and have just now received their Web Rank. They aren't close to Arrow of Light. Simply because doing Advancement wasn't important. They earned lots of fun patches like "Movie Night" "Tour a Fast Food business" But nothing that pushed them. Nothing that helped them learn.

 

Telling kids that it ok not to push and try, is like telling them that a C is ok, even though they are able to make A's.

Scouts should "DO THEIR BEST" in everything they try.(This message has been edited by Lynda J)

[Kaji]

I missed 3 pins while a Webelos scout (Athlete and Forester because I didn't have time to finish their requirements, Aquanaut because I couldn't swim well enough). Sure, it leads to some wistful thinking now and then, but I never let it bog down the rest of my experience. Out of 6 boys in my den (3 of whom (myself included) had been together since Tigers), one transferred out, and one of my denmates from the beginning stayed in about 6 months to a year. One never even joined because he didn't want to have to camp without his parents. I stayed on the whole 7 years.

 

In the end, it's not so much what they achieve in Cub Scouting that determines whether they will continue into/be successful in Boy Scouting, though it may prove to be a strong motivator. It's how you prepare them for the evolution in how the program is structured (which is the whole reason for the Webelos program in the first place). The instant a den leader starts making the meetings a chore is when you start to lose the boys.

[funscout]

When my 12 year old was in Webelos, I didn't know about the award for earning all 20 pins. At last month's Pack Meeting, our Cubmaster made a big deal over the fact that his son had just earned his 20th pin. He made it sound like it wa a rare occurrence! I wanted to stand up and say, "All 7 of my former Webelos earned all 20 pins. What's the big deal?" I did not "push" the boys. They simply wanted to earn them all. All of them wanted to get all three of their compass points, and you have to do 19 activity pins to get them, so what's the big deal with getting one more?

 

I have a much larger Webelos den with my second son, and I can tell already that only about half the boys/parents are as committed as the ones in my previous den. That's okay, as long as they are having fun and learning something. Now that I know about the special award, I will make sure that those who earn it do get it. I will not make a big deal out of it, though. I believe Arrow of Light should be the BIG deal in Cub Scouting.

[vmpost]

This is my 3rd son through Webelos and the 4th time I've been DL for Webelos...I look over the material and "schedule" activities much like a teacher forms lesson plans. There a few badges which are to be done at home (i.e. Handyman and Family Member) IF the boy wishes. I present an opportunity to earn or at least work on each of the other badges at den meetings. I visit them once...twice if needed & it is a required badge. I routinely ask them to complete work on their own...like interviewing educators, etc. We schedule in LOTS of fun activities. Sometimes they count towards advancement and sometimes they don't. I regularly have most of the boys earn the award for all 20 badges and they aren't burned out. But this comes about due to scrupulous planning. It must stay fun and exciting. If we have to complete some dead boring stuff, I work it in while we are doing something fun like hiking, playing a game, or on the way to a movie or the YMCA. The boys also know it is not required to earn all 20 and there is no shame in not doing so. I also diversify...maybe working on the Artist badge and Sportsman badge the same meeting...with plenty of down time...

[anarchist]

to all webelos parents and especially Den Leaders:

 

As many of us have said and "vmpost" high-lights again if the 'game' is fun, if the lesson is interesting scouts will do the work (and not burn out). My eldest son Webelos leader was a gem of a guy (still is actually). He had the boy set their goal on the activity pins for AOL. Thats what they usually "worked" on in den meetings...But, this guy was willing to go the extra mile...he challenged the boys to earn the others 'on their own time" and he set aside a weekend or two each month where the webelos who were interested could gather in his garage and work on "extra" activities. Interestingly, there was no trophy, no extra effort certificate...just the challenge of doing something few others could or would do...Luckily, there were plenty of supportive dads and moms so he had help. Five of the six boys earned all twenty...Burn out?...Didn't see it.

One of the six webelo's family moved away just after crossover,one boy left after first class -because of "school grades/family/girl"issues... one boy was a multi-sport (4) high school athelete and dropped scouting after earning the Life rank, three boys aged out- after earning Eagles. Not a bad record...burn out is rarely due to the challenge...it is almost always due to the challenge not being fun anymore.

 

two cents...

Anarchist

[fling1]

One more data point...

I can't say any of my Weebs dropped scouting because of activity pin burnout, but I did make an effort to enable the boys to get one of those cool "20" patches with all the pins embroidered on it. (I got them from the council shop in Oklahoma). And they are cool patches.

In retrospect, we rushed some of that material at the expense of making it more fun. We probably had a 1-2 month period that would have gone better if I hadn't been trying to squeeze in "Engineer" or something.

In our case, we recovered from this period by diving into the construction of our Cub Career Arrows (often referred to as the arrow of light plaque). We spent several weeks on this and made everything from scratch (but we didn't hand-chip the arrowheads :-) and ran all kinds of neat tools and had a blast! That activity helped me realize how much more fun the boys were having and reflect on whether the effort to get all 20 pins was the best use of our den time.

I'll also echo that I've never heard any boy scout discussing whether he earned this pin or that pin. In fact, I had an extra patch (cool patch!) and tried to give it to a boy a year older, because I knew he had also done all 20 pins. He was politely interested, but didn't really want it. To a boy scout, it just didn't have any cache at all.