Thinking Ahead 2

[Beavah 205]

This is a continuation of the Thinking Ahead thread that seems to be "down" with a database error.

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Original Post from Cubmaster Randy:

 

Sometime I get ahead of myself, but I wanted to be ready. As a former Boy Scout and now a scouter (A scout is prepared)

 

My son crosses over next March and I just finished up the last part of my SM/ASM training by attending our district's ITOLS course this past weekend. It was a blast. We got to learn, relearn or in my case remember all of the skills needed for a Boy Scout to get to First Class.

I did SALT last spring so I am now a fully trained ASM. I did committee training last spring too, but don't think I want to be on the committee. I would prefer to work front line with the boys.

Any suggestions for a new Boy Scout leader?

 

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uz2bnowl replies:

 

Randy,

I am about one calendar yr ahead of you as a Dad/cub Scouter turned Boy Scouter. imho do the following:

 

1. Take Wood Badge

2. Spend the first year on the troop committee. Attend a few boards of review. Enjoy some camping where you are not vital to the trip. Observe. Observe. Observe.

3. Learn the new program you are joining with your boy.

4. Improve your skills(camping,outdors, dutch oven cooking etc.)

 

 

Enjoy. Learn from the TRAINED Scouters that are doing a good job. Read the Guide to Safe Scouting. Read it again.

 

PS> Take Wood Badge is #1 for a reason.

 

Good Luck.

 

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Eamonn replies:

 

Hi Randy,

Glad that the training went well.

If you are going to read anything twice, please let it be The Boy Scout Handbook and the Scoutmaster Handbook (When I think I need something from the G2SS I look it up on line.)

Two really hard things for an Ex-Cub Scouter are to remember that the Lads you are now working with are no longer Cub Scouts, they are Boy Scouts. When they ask you something you need to practice saying "Have you asked your Patrol Leader?"

The other hard thing is to keep in mind that you serve the Troop the whole Troop and nothing but the Troop.

One sure way of ruining the Boy Scouting experience for your kid is to treat him as something special. He will always be your son and you can take pride in what he does, but he has to do it.

If you start treating him differently than the other Scouts, they will resent it and he will become "The Leaders Kid".

I had a hard time, when a group of Lads were doing something that maybe the oughtn't to have been doing I tended to yell at my kid. OK part of it was I could remember his name!!

But over time I did learn that he when he was at Scout functions was a Scout and just like all the other Scouts.

Some other things I learned are.

Be careful what you say when your son can hear what you say. While you might think that the COR walks like a duck, when you say on the phone and he over hears you saying it, you are not setting a very good example.

Buy and wear the full correct uniform, even if no one else does -Who knows you might start a trend?

Training and training's are good and wonderful, but it might just be that the Troop you are going to serve, might not do everything as the training said it should be. If you try and change everything. Chances are that it's not going to happen. This will leave you feeling frustrated, upset and looking for a new Troop, which isn't going to go over well with your son. Change takes time. One day when you are the SM you can remember all the great stuff from the training's and really make changes, but no one likes to see a new guy trying to change everything all at once.

The real big thing to remember is that this organization is fueled by fun. When it's not fun the kids quit and all the good stuff and all the differences and character building we might have been able to do are lost.

KISMIF.

Eamonn.

 

 

[Beavah 205]

Yah, what da wise old Owl said.

 

Good on yeh for gettin' training. Keep it up. But remember that trainin' ain't the same as experience. Training only moves you from a raw beginner to a beginner. If yeh think that a couple of parlor sessions and a weekend make you competent, you don't belong in a leadership role.

 

When you enter a troop, you are a beginner. Be humble. Watch and learn. A good troop won't even consider you for an ASM position until they spend at least a year gettin' to know you, and you gettin' to know them. You need to step back, be an observer, and give your boy some room to make it his troop before you become more involved. You need at least a year as a quiet supporter to get yourself out of thinkin' like a Cubmaster. Really. You've spent years as a CM, eh? It's hard to break those habits overnight.

 

So your job is to attend committee meetings, but not speak for the first year. Keep a diary to write down all the things you think they're doin' wrong, rather than sayin' anything. You'll be amazed how silly some things are in your diary when you read it a year later. Go on no more than 1/3 of the campouts, as just a visitor and quiet helper. Spend your time with the experienced adults as a student, not with the boys as a leader.

 

Training is your learner's permit. Now listen, watch, and learn.

[SWScouter 34]

Cubmaster Randy,

 

Like Uz2bnowl, I'm one year ahead of you. I was a DL and WL for two years each. My son crossed over to Boy Scouts last February. I've had all the training too, including wood badge (like Uz2bnowl, I highly recommend it).

 

When my son crossed over, I had a talk with the troop committee chair. I told her that I would prefer to be an ASM but would serve any position that she and the CO felt would be most beneficial to the troop; I'm an ASM.

 

It's been seven months now. The first several I did very little. I helped out on outings but other than that, outwardly I didn't do much. Inwardly, I was watching, learning, and getting to know the troop's dynamics and how the adults work together and how the scouts interact. It's been great, I've really enjoyed it! After being a DL & WL it's been a great vacation.

 

The troop has several very active and dedicated scouters. That is such a great change from the pack I was a member of where there wasn't enough scouters. The SM is a wonderful man. The way he interacts with the scouts is great. He is very charitable and unselfish and goes out of his way to help the scouts as best he can. The troop is blessed to have him and I pray I can develop that same kind of interaction and selflessness with others.

 

I can continue raving about the SM and other scouters with the troop. Does that mean the troop is running the ideal program? No, it doesn't. I can see several ways to improve or things to change to be more inline with the Boy Scout program. I can see several things that are missing and should be added to more follow the Boy Scout program. There are lots of changes I would start to make if I were SM, but I'm not the SM, I'm an ASM. What I will do, is work with the SM and the other scouters. If I see a weakness in the program I may make suggestions, but I will continue to defer the the SM. I'm with Beavah on this stuff. I and da othah scouters need to work togethah, eh, not against eachothah to give da Scouts da opportunity for a great program, eh.

 

I'm not really sure where I'm going here. I guess that I feel that it's best to get involved with the troop as needed and then to work with everyone. Don't try changing things right away just because they may not be what you percieve as ideal. You need to earn that respect from the other leaders and you need to let them know that you respect them too. Enjoy yourself and the transition you will journey through from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.

 

SWScouter