Checking On Boys Progression For Rank Advancement

[pargolf44067]

Something came up tonight at our meeting and I am curious as to what the group's thoughts are.  I will preface this by saying that I know in a perfect world that PLs should be working with the boys to see how they are progressing along their advancement trail.  However, in the case of my troop that doesn't happen like it used to.

 

Anyway, I had a case tonight when I was talking to a parent of an older scout about Summer Camp.  She was talking about all the merit badges her son had earned including Eagle required.  I had just spoke with this scout and found out that he was still First Class.  In talking to the mom, it sounded like he had enough merit badges to be at Star.  So I went and had a chat with him and asked him some questions about the other requirements to see if he was ready to sit for his SM Conference and BOR.  He had accomplished everything, but didn't have anything signed off.  At this point we had a heart to heart discussion about how he needed to take responsibility for his own advancement.  He told me that he could be lazy and had a hard time self motivating.  After our discussion (both one-on-one and in his BOR) about how important it was for him to take ownership of his advancement if that was what he wanted I think he seemed to understand and be excited for the next steps.  Oh, and he advanced to Star tonight by the end of the meeting.

 

My question is, do you, as adult leaders, monitor progress of boys and have periodic discussions with them about how they are doing, or do you leave that totally to the boy leaders and the scout themself to do this?  The reason I am asking is this is the second scout I have talked to in the last couple of months that has been in the same boat, everything earned just nothing signed off and no motivation to talk to any adults and sitting at the same rank for over a year.  As I step back in as SM, I feel that this is something that I should be doing, at least until I can get the boys to start doing this, but I would value your opinions.

 

As an aside, I was very happy with our TGs tonight as they worked with our recently crossed over scouts to earn their Scout badge.  It was great to see them take the initiative to do this.

 

 

[NealOnWheels]

Does your troop hold board of reviews for scouts not advancing?

[pargolf44067]

No, sometimes as SM I used to have conferences or our Advancement person would talk to boys not advancing, but not a BOR.

[qwazse]

We do nudge boys a little. If they are first class (the concept not the patch) we want them to seek recognition for their accomplishments.

 

However, earned = signed off = the boy demonstrated his skill before a qualified youth. (Adults are last ditch.)

 

You've already recognized that your boys aren't taking care of each other as well as they should in this area. So, you need to get your older boys together and positively reinforce the good behavior of your troop guide.

[scoutergipper]

We primarily leave it up to the Patrol Leaders.  It's not completely unheard of for an ASM to ask a few leading questions of a Scout who has not advanced in a while, but that's mostly to find out if there's some problem we don't know about.  We put no pressure on the Scouts to advance.  Advancement's great and all, but it's not the most important thing happening in the Troop by a long shot.

[Gone]

Like most here we monitor. We encourage. We remind.

 

We do not drag them to the SMC or BOR. The PL should be doing rank checks, as should Guides and Instructors.

[qwazse]

One other thing to do is train an ASM to greet your boys who've advanced beyond First Class from time-to-time and ask "What's the plan?"

The boy is then expected to reply with the rank that he's working on, the number of merit badges he still needs to earn, the badge he is currently working on, and the counselor he is working with. Or, if the boy is not interested in advancement anymore, he is to say so plainly, and then explain what other good he's doing in the world.

 

Conversation ends with ASM saying, "If you need help with anything, let us know."

 

This should get a boy comfortable with thinking about (and hopefully making) his next move.

[Eagle94-A1]

My troop hasn't focused on advancement. We've been trying to get the troop up and running.  That's why we still have folks who have been in the troop 2-3 years and still Tenderfoot.

 

However, those guys are now getting motiviated to work on rank. With Philmont requiring First Class to go for Boy Scouts, they now have an incentive.

[Hedgehog]

We have Troop Guides assigned to each patrol.  At the PLC meeting, we encourage the TGs to touch base with certain scouts who should be advancing.  With newer scouts, we encourage them to talk to the guides about what they need for First Class advancement and how to get it.  When we see a scout is really floundering, the first question (as an ASM) that I ask is "do you want to sit down and talk about what you need to do?"  If the answer is yes, I tell them to bring their book next week and that we can come talk to me during the Patrol break out sessions.  If they don't talk to me the next week or forget to bring their book, we reschedule for the following week.  The sit down is usually includes the a JASM or TG or ASPL who are there to offer to help.  It is a combination and balance of boy-led and adult interaction and it requires the scout to take some responsibility in brining their book and approaching me at the next meeting.  The follow up is done by the TG and with an occasional "how's it going" from me.

[Gone]

As Frank Burns said, "Supervision is one of the most important parts of an operation. Someone has to be there to say, 'How's it going men?'"

[NJCubScouter]

In our troop, adults do check on Scouts who do not seem to advancing.  The PL's are asked to do so, but there still seem to be Scouts who fall through the cracks, or whatever, so we do it as a backup.  If that means that our patrol system is not working perfectly, well, that's probably true.

[Stosh]

If I have a boy that I think is not progressing through the ranks at a reasonable pace, I have a SMC.... with his PL.

[dfolson]

First Class is also a requirement to go to the National Jamboree (in case anyone needs another carrot).