BOR - Opinions please ...

[fleetfootedfox 10]

I agree with Beavah that the BOR is supposed to be an enjoyable experience.

 

I looked at the Boy Scout Handbook, the SM Handbook, and the Troop Committee Guidebook. None of them say the boy has to bring his book to the BOR.

 

We've had people in our troop send boys away for not wearing their full uniform, and I think that's wrong too.

[Gold Winger 9]

There are expectations in this world and the sooner that boys realize that, the better off they'll be.

 

Ev, I did avancement for my son's troop for three years and I never bothered tracking individual requirements or partials on merit badges. With 50 Scouts, when was I supposed to do this? Follow each boy around and as he completes something, make a note? I guess that I wasn't worth my salt.

 

 

[evmori 11]

GW,

 

I was the advancement chair myself for a few years. We only had 15 Scouts so my job was a little easier than yours. I kept track of all partial MB's as well as completed MB,s, rank advancement, night camping, OA membership, etc. It was a bear to build but easy to maintain once it was built!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[NeilLup 13]

"It would be helpful if the BSA guidelines werent so ambiguous"

 

With respect, don't bemoan this ambiguousness, rather cherish it! It enables and empowers you and your unit do take actions and establish policies that are uniquely right for you and best meet the needs of your boys and leaders.

 

There are over 50,000 Boy Scout Troops. Any effort to establish rigid rules would require so many waivers and exceptions and clarifications that it would be incredible. Rather, you and your other Troop leaders are the people on the spot and you make the decisions for your unit.

 

Does this sometimes make for bad feelings and less than perfect decisions? Sure. But I suspect that any set of extremely rigid rules would be much worse.

[Kudu 186]

So why did Baden-Powell (the man who INVENTED Boy Scouts), NOT LIKE Boards of Review?

 

Because when you take advancement away from the Patrol Leaders in Council and give it to their parents it turns Scouting into school.

 

Baden-Powell said that Scouting should be the OPPOSITE of school.

 

Scenario 1

 

Proctor: Welcome to the SAT tests...

 

Your Son: Ever since I got failed on my Star Board of Review for not bringing my notebook I learned that small unpleasant experiences will prepare me for big unpleasantness when I get older...and that small unpleasantnesses are something that Scouting can deliver!

 

Here is a MUCH BETTER SCENARIO:

 

Scenario 5

 

Your Son's Friends: Hey! What are YOU doing at baseball try-outs? I thought you were too busy being a Boooy Scouuuut.

 

Your Son: Nah, you guys were right, Scouting sucks! They say its a game, but its worse than school. Hey, where did you guys get those T-Shirts, what do they say?

 

Your Son's Friends: Oh, its our new uniform: "Baseball is a Game with a Purpose!" Babe Ruth said that.

 

Your Son: Babe Ruth never said anything stupid like that.

 

Your Son's Friends: It sounds like you don't make ethical choices: If business manager experts say that it's true then it MUST true. That guy over there gave them to us. He's from Wood Badge and he's really nice. He says he always struck out when he was a kid so now he is going to help make baseball more MODERN!

 

Your Son: Modern?

 

Yours Son's Friends: Yeah. He says modern boys like to be indoors. So rather than wasting time playing outdoors, we are going to do "team building exercises" indoors that teach us "How to a Winner." I think he said it's "Raging, Staging, Engaging," or something.

 

Your Son: I thought baseball was a game.

 

Yours Son's Friends: Nah, that's old fashion! Come on, we are going indoors to study winning. Do you have your book?

 

Your Son: What do I need a BOOK for? I thought baseball was a game.

 

Your Son's Friends: Your book is your official record of attending classroom winner theory and practicing it with T-Ball. Our mommies and daddies then come here to make baseball "unpleasant" and test us. If we answer their questions with the proper due respect, they will add "Baseball Hall of Fame" to our business resumes!

 

Your Son: I thought baseball was a game.

 

Your Son's Friends: Hey! Where are you going?

 

Your Son: Baseball sucks! I'm going to play a REAL GAME like FOOTBALL.

 

In Scenario 5 EVERYBODY WINS.

 

1. You son wins because flunking a Board of Review taught him how to smell an adult con game. This helped him stand up to peer-pressure when theories about "Purpose," Aims," "Mission," and "Vision" killed a cool game like baseball just like they killed Scouting.

 

2. Wood Badge wins because when boys hate tests and schoolwork, it PROVES that camping is OLD FASHIONED!

 

3. Millionaire Scouting Professionals win because if enough boys despise Scouting, we can sell those "old fashioned" Boy Scout camps and IMPROVE "the program" with modern office buildings and modern millionaire retirement benefits.

 

Boards of Review are the opposite of Scouting. Supposedly they "provide valuable feedback about the program" to a group of parents, but BORs like those in this Troop and encouraged by Wood Badge experts like Neil are all about mommies and daddies demanding respect for turning the Patrol Method into Cub Scouts.

 

In Scouting, "Responsibility" is learned by the rigors of hardcore camping, not by learning how to bring the right book to SAT tests or how to dress correctly for job interviews.

 

Kudu

(This message has been edited by kudu)