scouts behavior

[troop1illinoiscouter]

I am the assn. sr. patrol leader of my troop. My troop members get off subject and dont listen. Does anyone have any ideas to help me and my sr. patrol leader get them under control?

[emb021]

Its not clear to me what is going on.

 

If this is going on in troop meetings, your troop meetings really should be focus on program, etc, so there really isn't any kind of 'discussion' going on that one can 'get off subject', etc.

 

If this is a PLC, the only ones who should be there are the PLC members, and the SPL should act as a chair and keep those speaking on topic.

 

More info would help. This is basic 'meeting decorum' that should be followed, but that really is only applicaple at a PLC or similiar 'business' meeting.

 

 

[troop1illinoiscouter]

In our meetings, the scouts dont listen to us and they run off and do other things. The older scouts arent helping either they think they know everthing so they dont listen. So when we get new, younger scouts they look up to them and do what they do. I need help trying to stop this. Please give me ideas.

[OldGreyEagle]

You have one of the most powerful tools known to man. It's the scout sign. Use it frequently to get control. Up goes the sign, and dont talk until eevryone is quiet, if there is more noise, put the sign up and wait. yes, its maddening but it will get results you have to stick with it.

[Trevorum]

Keep talking to a minimum.

Prepare a written meeting agenda.

Post it on a black/white board so the whole troop can know what's happening and when.

Keep talking to a minimum.

Use the Scout sign when necessary.

Do fun activities that will keep the attention of the older guys and excite the younger ones.

Keep talking to a minimum.

[Lisabob]

Give some of your older scouts something constructive to do. Ask them to lead skill for example, or plan and run that night's game/activity. Look to your patrol leaders to help you. As a group (maybe at PLC), come up with guidelines you all agree to follow re: meeting behavior. That may be more powerful than you trying to demand a certain kind of behavior without their input. Maybe have some patrol competitions (first patrol formed up for opening ceremony and quiet wins, etc.) with small but fun rewards. Younger guys can be fairly easily motivated this way and older guys hate "losing" to the youngest scouts so that might be a motivator for them for next time.

 

Talk with your SM about suggestions he or she can provide - your SM knows more about the dynamic in your troop than we do here. Hang in there! It's tough to change a group's behavior.

[troop1illinoiscouter]

We do all that but nothing seems to work. They forget to bring things that are needed. They dont like working with younger scouts. When they do they just stop right in the middle of what they are doing.

They dont seem like they want to be there. Like they want to become eagle and leave.

[Stosh]

1) As ASPL or even SPL, you are not responsible for running the troop. SPL and ASPL run the leadership corps of POR people. If you do not train them to lead, your mass gatherings will be chaos, which is what you are now finding out.

 

2) Train your PL and APL to lead their patrols. Make them responsible for programing for their patrols. If they are POR Instructor or Troop Guide, they step out of their patrol and work with the new boy patrol who is under the guidance of their own PL and APL.

 

3) If there are patrols who lack leadership and wish to disrupt the other patrols, find them a space in the hallway where they can accomplish their disruption away from those who are wanting to learn.

 

4) Discuss with your SM his responsibility of approving Scout Spirit for those who only want an eagle rank and do not wish to show Scout Spirit. That's the SM job, after talking to him, let him do it.

 

5) You are not responsible for discipline or maintenance of order, you are responsible for training other scout leaders. Once that has been accomplished, much of what you are experiencing will go away.

 

6) Ownership of this problem is not your, it is the whole troops. If people are disruptive, invite them to leave and to come back when they wish to participate. If you do not get the backing of the adult leadership on this, then you will know what the #1 problem in the troop really is.

 

 

[oldsm]

A number of years ago we had a similar problem. We solved it by letting the boys identify the problems and come up with the solutions. What they developed over a period of 2 or 3 weeks was a sort of contract that every member of the troop - and their parents - was required to agree to and sign. It spells out basic expectations that the boys identified (such as decorum, having the scout handbook, wearing the uniform, a few specific discipline items) and a series of consequences (also developed by the boys).

 

Yes, putting up the sign, appealing to the Scout Oath and Law, training...none of them were effective. Since the "contract", the preferred methods have been able to work quite nicely. What I'm saying is that sometimes you need a single major impact to wipe out the many small things that get in the way - sort of to get everyone's attention and get everyone back on the same page.

 

If anyone is interested in seeing what our boys came up with, send me a PM and I'll forward it to you.