Court of Honor

[dlearyous]

I am confused as to how courts of honor are to be conducted. After reading the guidebooks and attending several poorly planned boy led COH we (my husband and I) have broached this subject with two different troops and have been met with resistance. I believe, and I thought the guidebooks backed us up, that they should be planned by the adults with the participation of the Scouts. Even reading some of the posts on here it seems people don't do it that way either. Thoughts?

 

 

Committee Responsibility: Serve on courts of honor

 

Advancement Coordinator Duty: Arrange courts of honor

 

"Courts of honor may be chaired by the head of the troop committee or the troop committee member responsible for advancement. The planning of the program also should be handled by these individuals, along with other members of their committees."

 

 

[moosetracker]

dlearyous - In a truely boy run group you let the boys run it, most have their SPL & ASPL run it.. Same as the meetings that don't look well run or organized if truely being boy run.. Who cares, if it is not up to the specs of how an adult would organize it.. After the COH, your SM could have sometime with the boys who ran it to do a review of what went right, and what could be improved..

 

If your SPL & ASPL have enough on their plates, and you have a large enough unit, then I don't see anything wrong with assigning a different youth to organize & plan the COH, still I would have the SPL & ASPL be the MC following the order on the program set up by the other youth..

 

If an adult plans it then it definately would be more organized.. But that isn't the point, the point is to teach the youth to do for themselves. This is a time that you can showcase what boy scouts is all about to the parents that are not Adult Leaders..

 

[shortridge]

This is one case where the literature is flat-out wrong and complete rubbish.

 

What possible reason would a troop have for wanting the committee to plan and run a COH? To guard against poorly planned boy-run ceremonies?

 

By that same logic, the SM and ASMs should be planning and running all outdoor activities, to guard against the boys screwing them up, too. After all, if you can't trust the boys to run a simple ceremony, why trust them to do anything?

 

In Scouting, we teach, we coach, we counsel. With the exception of health and safety, we adults should not be taking over the program because something doesn't meet our standards.

[ScoutNut]

Actually, a recognition ceremony is not strictly "program".

 

Boys plan, and lead, the weekly meetings. Boys plan, and lead, their activities, and outings.

 

Awards should not be held until COH's. They should be awarded at the next weekly meeting after they are earned. Since the boys plan, and lead these meetings, they also plan, and lead, these award ceremonies.

 

A COH is a formal recognition ceremony where the Troop (and it's Charter Organization) recognizes the Scouts for their accomplishments in front of their friends, family, Charter Organization members, and the community as a whole. BSA recommends that a COH be planned/chaired by the CC and/or the Advancement Chair, with input from the Scouts.

 

 

 

 

[shortridge]

ScoutNut,

 

The best definition of "program" I ever heard was in the context of summer camp: "Program is everything that happens at camp." That includes everything from latrines to lunches, fishing to flag ceremonies. The same principle applies to units. Everything that touches a Scout's life - most decidedly including a COH - is program.

 

The committee's role is to support that program, decided upon by the PLC with input from the SM, not to take it over because a Scout stumbled over his words or the SPL lost a page of the script.

[dlearyous]

As ScoutNut said, the COH is a formal time to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the Scouts. I probably shouldn't have commented on how the ceremonies are conducted, that wasn't my point other than the Scouts deserve a proper recognition by the adults for their accomplishments. Outside of Scouing we don't ask others to plan and conduct their own award ceremony, wouldn't it make sense that others assist in planning and conducting the COH for the benefit of all Scouts?

 

The rest of these two differnet Troops have all their activities planned and conducted by the Scouts. Plenty of opportunity for them to plan, lead, and conduct their program.

[ScoutNut]

I never said that the Committee should take over a COH because a Scout stumbled over a word.

 

I said that the Committee should take the lead in a COH because a COH is a recognition by the adults.

 

The Scouts recognize their fellow Scouts at ceremonies held during each regular Troop meeting.

 

I see no problem with working with the PLC on planning a COH, however, in my opinion (and it seems BSA's), a COH is the ADULTS taking time, a few times a year, to formally recognize, to the community, the accomplishments of their YOUTH.

 

You, and others, of course, are free to handle COH's as you see fit.

 

 

[qwazse]

COH's are sacred to the troop.

 

If the committee has decided that the boys should have a lot of lattitude in planning, and the boys agree, then the committee's job is done. If an adult comes to this kind of committee and says "you need to step in, these boys are doing slip-shod work", the adult can expect to be ignored.

 

If the SPL comes to the committee and says "we want to make the COH a little more special" then the committee may be compelled to respond. They may appoint an adult who is skilled in probing the boys to figure out what to tweak, but this type of committee will probably not appoint an a adult to write, produce, and direct "the perfect COH".

 

Why? Because the members of this kind of committee have probably sat in on one or two such COH's and found them to be wretched miserable affairs that do nothing more than delay them and the boys from the cookies and punch afterword.

 

Now, if it's a matter of disrespect during presentation of the colors or something of the sort, then yes, you should let the SM know that you found that offensive. He'll probably talk to the boy(s) at the next meeting and you won't see that behavior again. Otherwise, telling adults who are quite pleased with their boys that they aren't "going by the book" will get you nowhere.

 

But, if there is something you would like added to the program, your best bet is to politely and respectfully ask the SPL if he would consider incorporating a particular element or inviting an adult leader or someone in the community to briefly address the troop.

[jtswestark]

>> attending several poorly planned boy led COH we (my husband and I) have broached this subject with two different troops and have been met with resistance.

[Hawkrod]

I am with ScoutNut on this one, it is an adult recognition of the youth. I will tell you that our boys conduct our COH's but I do see it as more than the boys getting rank or MB's. It is a very public and special recognition of the effort the boys have put forth and they deserve to know that the adults consider it an honor to do it for them. Our troop has done it both ways but I really do see more positive reaction from the boys when the adults are the ones investing the time. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying it should be the boys on one side and the adults on the other, I am saying that a COH can have a heck of a lot of impact if the adults are handling it right and making it about the boys and not about the adults who organize it. I have organized several COH's where the PLC MC's the event but the adults took care of the food, the agenda and the recognition. Some of the adults will get up and give speeches (dignitaries, SM, IH or COR etc...) and some will be serving the boys food etc... but the whole while the SPL or whichever boy is MC'ing follows the agenda and/or program that has been supplied by the adults. The youth do have input and no planning should be done without the PLC's input, but dang, lets put them up on a pedestal for their efforts and publicly let everyone know we are proud of the boys efforts. JMO, Your mileage may vary

[Buffalo Skipper]

Wow. Polarizing topic. But aren't they all when talking about scout led.

 

We assign an adult to coordinate the scout leaders for the COH. The adult (often an ASM and or Advancement Coordinator) works with a scout who is responsible for the COH. Requirement 8 of Communications MB states: "Plan a troop court of honor, campfire program, or an interfaith worship service. Have the patrol leaders' council approve it, then write the script and prepare the program. Serve as master of ceremonies." Sounds like that should be done by a scout. The SM (me) working with our SPL works to identify a scout who is working on Communications MB and still needs this requirement, and he (SPL) assigns the COH to that scout. We have several experienced ASMs who guide and mentor the scout in the process, and the AC provides the list of advancements (and prepares advancement cards). The scout chooses the rank ceremonies and works out how to handle any presentations. Ranks and MBs are presented by scouts.

 

Typically the SM/ASMs will present one or two made up awards, and will address the parents and commend the scouts on any relevant accomplishements in the recent months. We may briefly review upcoming events as a way to get scouts fired up for the next few months. During refreshments, we have an adult organized slide show of photos from our events since our last COH. We are still a young troop; as we get older we are seeking out scouts to fill this role in lieu of the adults. That is our next step.

 

During the ceremony, the adults stay out of the way and let the scouts run with their plan. When it is done, we are always proud of our scouts for organizing and leading the COH.

[Oak Tree]

I attended some really awful courts of honor and eventually I decided that I wasn't going to just let the boys do anything they wanted up there.

 

In addition to being a recognition of the boys, it's also one of the main public faces for the troop. The parents are there, including the ones who aren't all that involved. The boys tended not to make much of a ceremony of anything (mumble, mumble, name, mumble merit badge).

 

We've reached what I consider a happy medium. The boys lead most of the court of honor, but there is a lot of active coaching behind the scenes, and the Scoutmaster gets to do the rank recognition and say a few words.

 

So we pretty much do as you say - the adults plan it with the participation of the Scouts, and the Scouts lead it.

[qwazse]

BS, I completely forgot about the MB requirement. I'll remind my SM of that one. (He's a real congenial fellow, but not the public speaking type. I had no clue his first COH as SM was his first time in front of a crowd! Anyway, he's pretty determined that the boys get their first speaking engagements before they graduate from the troop.)

 

dl - and I think that is your "in". Register as a Communications MBC, then offer your services as a coach to any boys who want to fulfill the requirement as part of the badge. This will give you the opportunity to share you vision with a "captive audience"!

[Eagle92]

Courts of Honor are like troops, every one is different. I've seen COHs that are very formal affairs, seen some turn into all out roasts, and some that are in between. I went to one where it was completely adult run, some where it was completely scout run, and again some that are mixed.

 

I was fortunate in that my second troop was an established troop, had lots of traditions with the COHs, and was mixed with youth and adult run. The December Christmas Party and COH was usually adult run b/c we were having a good time,plus it's hard for a youth to imitate Santa

 

Me personally I like mixed COHs where the youth run things, but adults have small roles. Growing up the SPL gave out all Skill Awards and Ranks up to First Class at the COH with the SM giving out MBs and Star and Life. Exception to this was Christmas where Santa gave out stuff. Also SM installed the new SPL, who then installed the PLs.

 

Now Eagle COHs were a formal affair. While the Eagle could do whatever he wanted, within reason, for his ECOH, there was a traditional script for the troop, and with minor variations, everyone tended to follow it. It did tend to be adult run, with the committee chair opening and closing the ECOH, a "roasting" of the Eagle usually an adult that the Eagle picked that would now be recognized as a Mentor (no such thing or pin in my day) and the Sm and parents presenting the award.

 

 

 

[mikecummings157]

We plan our COH agenda at our PLC meetings and the SPL runs it.

 

The Advancement Chair organzies all of the awards, which are presented by the Scoutmaster (me).

 

There is typically some time in the agenda for someone on the Committee to make comments on Troop business.

 

Does it run perfectly with the scouts planning it and the SPL running it? No, but so what? They own it and get their recognition.