Sign-offs

[Stosh 3452]

I think a HB like Stosh's would be very helpful for the 2C's troop to see. .. - .----. ... / -. --- - / .- -... --- ..- - / - .... . / .-. .- -. -.- / .- -.-. .... .. . ...- . -.. --..-- / .. - .----. ... / .- -... --- ..- - / - .... . / ... - --- .-. -.-- / - --- .-.. -.. .-.-.-

 

I had trouble when I was 13 with Morse Code, because of it, I actually did well at learning it.

 

That Walking Scout still haunts me, though.

 

Stosh

 

[AKdenldr 33]

2C if I was the typical parent of a new scout 9 months into the year and my scout wasn't advancing (but a few were) I'd be frustrated with the program also. Nothing worst as a parent than not knowing what is going on.

 

We tend to assume that new parents know nothing when they come in. However I would not bore Webelos parents at open house with the administrative issues of our troop's advancement process -- just that it is individual paced and scout directed.

 

Signoffs in handbooks yes! Go over it with the boys multiple times and their parents once verbally and once in writing.

 

[Stosh 3452]

Well, this happened 50 years ago. I did make 2C, but only after 4 years. I didn't have parents that stepped in and made things all nice and easy, we just lived with the cards that were dealt. I did get one MB... Stamp Collecting, which I haven't done since I got the MB. I had a good time with my buddies, but eventually none of us were progressing. I don't think any of us made FC. Well once we got to HS, Civil Air Patrol became an option and BSA was a thing of the past at that point.

 

The Morse Code thingy did pay off. I was a Radioman First Class by function and organizationally, Crew Chief.

 

Some things in life work out, others don't. I can assure you that in the 4 years I was with the troop, no one got Eagle.

 

And it was the only troop in town so going somewhere else was not an option.

 

Stosh

[SSScout 1615]

This is all about the change in culture we are experiencing. I have seen many (Scoutson included) that have no idea HOW to research anything. " Dad? What does [x-y-z-] mean?" " Do you have your textbook?" "yeah, but it doesn't explain it very well". "Let me look at it..."

"Here it is..." "Oh, I didn't see that..." "Did you look?" "Ummm, no, it's easier when you tell me". "And I will be in class for your test, when?"

 

I was at summer camp when a Scout came up to me and asked if I would give him a note attesting to the fact that he knew CPR. He said he needed it for his Emergency Preparedness MB, and he had not thought to bring his CPR cert with him (it was listed in his Camp Prereq's list).

I told him I didn't know what he knew, I hadn't given him his CPR class. I said, get your BSHB, we'll review things. He said he didn't bring it with him. I had him borrow one from his tentmate. When he returned with his buddy's BSHB, I asked him to turn to the CPR section. He said, where's that? I said, find it in the index. He said what's that?

This is a 7th grader, who is by all reports a "good student". He is now a PL, and (finally) passed his FC rank. but that episode gave me pause.

I showed him the index, found CPR, page number, and made him read the section to me. We reviewed the techniques and timing. I made him promise to take the CPR class later in the week (which he did), and signed off a note to his MBCounselor.

It is becoming "normal" for youngsters to EXPECT to have the answers handed to them, without doing more than ASKING for them. Looking it up in a paper book? Even doing the Google thing is too much trouble. I see it in the classes when I sub teach. It is the exceptional student that will seek answers , rather than wait for them to be given to them.

This is one of the things that leads to war. Having the answers GIVEN to one, rather than trusting your own sense in interpreting what one finds out for yourself.

Allowing a parent, or even a PL to automatically , impersonally , advance a Scout without that personal connection is bad. The Scout needs that personal connection. He needs to feel that intimate "I acted to YOUR satisfaction" eye to eye view. Does that make the Scout uncomfortable? Good. He needs to be uncomfortable every so often.

 

Email will never have the same historic value or personal satisfaction that a handwritten note has. How can I value the letter my mom wrote me at college more than the email? Wait, There was no email then. Will the soldiers' emails home from Iraq and Afghanistan have the same cachet as the letters collected in WW2? Can we learn the same from them by studying the "hand" of the writer?

 

Insist the book be used. Give them examples.

 

Good Scouting to you!

[packsaddle 753]

TwoCub, just shrug it off and remind them more often about personal responsibility. I like the paper handbook too. They refer to my old one as the 'yellow pages'.

[Hedgehog 334]

A lot of it comes down to explaining and selling the program. When we have Webelos visit, our SPL talks to the parents about the program while the Webelos get assigned to patrols for the night. When we have crossovers, the SPL or Guide explains advancement to them. I'm around talking to the new parents about what it means to be boy lead, the coffee cup style of management, how the shift to Boy Scouts mirrors what the boys are doing in school -- taking more responsibility, how scouting is a safe place to fail, how scouting is about leading and leading is being responsible for others -- and how being responsible for yourself is the first step in becoming a leader and why I think all of that is important to today's kids. I've never had a parent disagree - most of them are fully on board with pushing their children to be independent.

 

I've had parents approach me about advancement. I simply tell them that their son should talk to me or their patrol leader or their patrol guide. I also explain why -- part of advancement is learning how to meet goals without being told what you have to do. When the boys approach me, I pull in a PL, the SPL or ASPL and have the leaders work with them -- that way I get a two for one bonus -- the leaders get to show leadership and the younger scout gets put on the right track. I also explain to parents that the boys advance at different speeds and I'd rather have a boy advance slower on their own initiative that being pushed to advance before they are ready.

[SSScout 1615]

Troop planned a camp out with a Space theme. They made rockets and launched them. I provided a telescope to view Jupiter and such with (weather permitting). Prior meetings were spent talking about astronomy, passed out Astronomy MB requirement sheets and star maps and schedule of sky events coming up (google is your friend). The week before the campout, I received an email from a Scout's mom saying he could not attend the next Troop meeting due to his sports team, and could I send her the requirements etc. I emailed back that the info packet was available at two previous Troop meetings, would be available at THIS meeting, and at the overnight. The Scout, if he was interested in the MB should call/email me direct, I would be glad to speak with him. That was two weeks ago, I have heard nichts. I do not know which Scout he would be, no one spoke to me except two, who had spoken to me previously, and they will eventually earn the Astronomy MB.

The SM is eager to pass anyone who came on the overnight with the MB. My attitude is, the Scout should at least ASK to earn it., and the requirements do mention observations made and charts drawn.

Jupiter would have been above the horizon about midnight. A group of us went out into the field and discussed Orion, Polaris, Ursa Major (Mizar is really a multiple star) and Minor and Cassieopia, among other things. It was good. It then misted up, and about 11:30p we gave it up and went back to the campsite.

Much chili-mac and peach cobbler was consumed. The boys had a good time around the campfire, funny skits were composed and performed. Survival shelters were built and slept in.

[Twocubdad 665]

Coming kinda late to my own party. Just back from a long weekend in the woods.

 

I don't really see this as a paper vs. computer issue, although that's a component. The problem is the pack is stealing from the Scouts. They are stealing an opportunity for them to learn responsibility, an opportunity to accomplish something for themselves and have the sense of satisfaction which comes from both.

 

I've since had a dad explain their process a little more. Apparently the boys can participate in a den activity -- knot tying, for example. Maybe, maybe not they are aware there are requirements related to the activity. Whether the boys actually meet the requirements or just attend the activity, either the DL or a parent enters the completed advancement into the Scout's ScoutTrack records. When enough requirements are met, he gets the advancement. According to the dad I spoke with, the boys frequently aren't aware they've earned an award or why.

 

I've always said the way adults ruin the program is by applying adult organization and efficiencies to things the boys can do. This is a prime example. Sure books get lost, pages fall out, they forget to remember to get things signed, but all are life lessons the boys miss if out of the sake of the adults ideas of better or improves "systems" and convenience.

 

Yes, we're going to have to back up and train the new Scouts how advancement should work. .

[Hedgehog 334]

With my son's Cub Scout den, there was a progression. For Tiger, Wolf and Bear, the boys didn't know about the requirements, they were just having fun. For Webelos, the boys were given a list of the requirements (showing which requirements we were going to do) on a separate sheet of card stock and they checked off each requirement as we did it. It seemed like a good transition.

 

Despite what the Pack does for advancement, the crossing over to a Troop is a good time to explain "you've leveled up, things are done differently here..."

 

One other suggestion, is to put Den Chiefs in the Pack, especially around the Webelos level -- they can provide a good role model to the Cubs and can help them be more aware of how they are advancing and how it works in Boy Scouts