Accepting "Partials"

[Beavah 205]

In a prior thread, ScoutNut commented:

 

As for your Case #5 (a SM can choose to re-check a rank requirement like First Class CPR if the boy has not yet earned FC and the person signing was not approved by that SM)... I do not see it as the SM having the discretion to accept another SM's sign off on a rank requirement or not. It has been signed off. However, a good Troop will never let old skills sit idle. In order to remember & perfect our skills they must be used - often. In your scenario of CPR skills, all of the scouts who have had CPR signed off in their books should be the ones teaching it to the younger ones, running the CPR station at a Troop First Aid skills meeting, & helping Webelos earn their activity pin. Telling a boy you are not accepting anything you did not personally sign off is one way, making sure all of the boys are using, & perfecting, all of the skills they have learned is a much better way.

 

Yah, sure. Troops like yours, with a strong "culture of competence", are great, but lots of other units aren't there yet, eh? And some units get boys and families who may be turned off by the way your troop does things - folks you usually don't have to deal with. Those units need other tools in their toolbox. You might need 'em too, occasionally, when you get a boy from a different unit .

 

For example, junior missed the meeting the last time you did CPR, and on the campout where you tried a scenario he didn't help. He did try an ankle bandage, but it was completely ineffective, and in response to coachin', he said "I don't have to do that, I'm already signed off!". You had him try to teach CPR, but he was completely lost and all of the boys he taught got confused. He's now up for First Class, having finished his last two requirements with your troop, but for at least half of the FC requirements he clearly hasn't met the BSA policy a badge is recognition of what a boy is able to do, not a reward for what he has done.

 

Caring adults naturally balance issues of learning and motivation, how much to push without discouraging. We all need some flexibility to accomplish things with each boy. I'm not arguin' that every SM should re-check every partial, just that some SM's somewhere might need to on occasion. And they can, if they need to. Whether they should or not depends on a lot of things.

 

Same deal as MB's, eh? A new counselor does not have to accept a "partial" from someone else. In fact, in the BSA literature there's no such thing as a "partial." The MBC who signs off must be assured the boy has met all the requirements, period. Most of us accept 'em if we know the other counselor, some of us spot-check and repeat where needed, etc.

 

I find I have to always remind myself "just because I don't do it that way, doesn't mean that another scouter in a different unit with different kids shouldn't try it." Dat's why I like these forums, eh? I learn different tricks that might help a troop I'm workin' with in a particular case.

 

Beavah

(This message has been edited by Beavah)