Reccomendations for Scout not compleating BOR

[Eagle309]

I just signed off on Scout Spirit and SMC requirements for Tenderfoot for a Scout last week. Since that time there has been a significant "Scout Spirit" issue. (The boy was at an outing this past weekend and slipped off with some spray paint, painted the snow and was caught attempting to light it. Also he was littering.)

 

I am of course going to make the board aware of this and reccommend that the Scout not advance at this time. The boy will most likely be told he needs to spend more time working on following various points of the Scout Law which he has broken.

 

The board will probably ask me how long I reccommend this Scout have a good record before they will continue his review. I was thinking one month. This would actually be only two meetings due to Christmas break. In your opionion does this sound in line and sufficient?

[evmori]

Make it until March 2008. That will cover a longer period & give the Scout a chance to redeem himself. This will also give you a longer time to evaluate the Scout.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

A blessed Christmas to all

[local1400]

I think a service project to redeem himself may be in order (scrubbing spraypaint off a school wall?) and a trip to the fire station (to work on Fire Safety MB, of course) is due.

[OldGreyEagle]

Attempted arson and all you want to do is slow down advancement? How about a return trip to a disipinary Board of Review where his fitness to be in the Troop is discussed with him? This shouldnt be just the scoutmaster talking, the entire weight of the Troop from Committee Chair down to the Asst Scoutmasters should show the boy and the troop that such behavior is not slap in the wrist time, but an actual offense that carries consequences. Now, I think the scoutmasters wishes should be honored, but also the boy needs to know its not just the socutmaster who is upset, its everyone

[SWScouter]

I'm confused; was the scout trying to light the snow on fire? Or was he attempting to light the paint on the snow? Or was he trying to light the paint spraying out of the can?

[Eagledad]

>>Also he was littering

[Oak Tree]

I'm with Barry. This Scout heard that you can light snow on fire and wanted to try it himself. Attempted arson? Kick him out of the troop? Not in my mind.

 

Now, admittedly, we don't want everyone doing this - so some service project clean-up work seems reasonable. Maybe a reprimand and a little bit of a delay in a BoR. But I do like the idea of conducting an official experiment and see if snow will really burn. That would be something fun.

[Lisabob]

Oak's and Barry's idea could fit nicely into a mythbusters themed campout too. But sure, I think postponing advancement for a couple of months while he engages in some attempts at reflection and improvement of his behavior is reasonable too.

[scoutingagain]

I like Barry's answer.

 

This sounds like an inquisitive scout experimenting a little. I'm sure he in no way considered his actions "arson". He's 11 maybe 12.

 

Littering? I might talk to him about the outdoor code and leave no trace and take his belt just in case he might think of committing suicide for his crimes against humanity. There have been other cases...

 

SA

[CalicoPenn]

"(Scoutmaster), you got a lot of (excised) gall to ask me if I've rehabilitated myself! I mean . . . I mean . . . I mean that you send . . . I'm sittin' here on the bench . . . I mean I'm sittin' here on the Group W bench, 'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough to join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug"

 

Denying or delaying rank advancement as a form of punishment is just bad form, in my opinion. And make no mistake, that is what is being talked about here - delaying advancement as a form of punishment. Had he already been through the BOR and approved for his Tenderfoot, would you take the rank away for a couple of months until he re-earned it? Frankly, this whole idea of hiding behind "Scout Spirit" to delay or deny rank reeks of adults playing power trips just because they can. The kid had a lapse - whats important is does he learn from it - and what can he do to make up for it. Delaying/Denying rank just tells a kid he has to be perfect all the time or he will never advance - and that doesn't serve the purpose of the program.

 

Give the kid his BOR and his rank (it sounds to me that he was ready before this little outing) and come up with some other form of "behavioral correction" for the lad - a service project of some kind would likely have a much more positive effect.

 

But, if you're sure that the proper course is to delay the rank advancement, then DON'T SCHEDULE THE BOR in the first place! Why bother to schedule a BOR if you're just going to suggest that the BOR withhold advancement? The only purpose would be to pass off the hard decision of appropriate discipline to another party - to let the BOR look like the bad guys instead of yourself. If you want to withhold the rank, then strp up to the plate, haven another SMC (you don't have to have them just for rank advancements) and explain that you - that YOU - are going to hold off on having the BOR scheduled for a set period.

 

I'd also be trying to figure out just how the heck the lad was able to get spray paint at a camp out anyway?

 

Calico

[Kudu]

"The boy was at an outing this past weekend and slipped off with some spray paint, painted the snow and was caught attempting to light it."

 

This is a minor violation of "A Scout is thrifty."

 

Advancement should be a measure of a Scout's mastery of Scoutcraft. The whole point of "Scouting as a Game" is that a Scout's eventual living of the Scout Law in his daily life is a byproduct of camping hard and well.

 

He completed all of the requirements for Tenderfoot including "Scout Spirit" and your Scoutmaster Conference. If you try to yank what he has rightfully earned away from him now, you certainly commit a far more serious breach of Scout Spirit than anything he has done.

 

Back in the olden days when I took Wood Badge, the purpose of a Board of Review was to evaluate not the Scout but the program (your performance in other words). So the business of the Board should be to understand why you signed him off. The only logical conclusion here is that you are a bad judge of character :-/

 

If I was your Committee Chairman I would make you spray-paint Scout Law in the snow until your Scouts can light it.

 

Kudu

 

[Gold Winger]

Who remembers the good old days when the Scoutmaster was admonished to speak with the Scout's parents, teachers, and pastor to see if he was living up to the Scout Oath and Law?