Hi everyone, LOTS of good advice and ideas. It is much appreciated!

 

I will talk with my husband about the %'s and not putting them down onto paper. I kind of thought that if he can ramp up the program and make it more fun, that the guys will automatically come more regularily. Right now the troop meetings are dry as the Arizona sun. Cant really blame them for not showing too much.

 

He has lots of ideas on how to make things more fun and challenging at the same time.

 

Also the code of conduct is due to a couple of instances this past summer camp, total disrespect to the SM and the Chair and also bullying and teasing of the new scouts to beat the band. One of the new five scouts has already quit, as of last week. He just wants something down to follow in the future until he can get the respect level to where it should be, between the scouts and the Adult scouters.

 

 

Thank you so much again for your help.

 

 

You're welcome, Robbin.

 

He just wants something down to follow in the future until he can get the respect level to where it should be, between the scouts and the Adult scouters.

 

Tell him that we do not behave well toward our fellow scouts because there is something written down. That would be a bad lesson to teach.

 

We behave well toward our fellow scouts because that is the right thing to do.

 

Teaching kids about doin' the right thing requires the adults to show great courage. It demands that we talk about right and wrong, and demonstrate right, and insist on right, without anything being written down. Without backup. Without the pretense of law or "policy" or a "code" to hide behind.

 

As a Scoutmaster, yeh stand up and do what's right and insist on what's proper because yeh are a man of conviction and courage. You do it no matter what is written down. Yeh do it because Honor demands it, and the Scout Oath compels it. That's the example of bein' a man that the boys need to see, because that example, and only that example is what really prevents bullying and other bad behavior. No nonsense written in some code somewhere will ever succeed where courage and honor fail.

 

Beavah

 

Scout Oath and Law are all that are needed. To deal with disrespect, bullying and teasing is a matter of knowing the scouts and dealing with issues in a timely way. The Oath and Law spells it out in a very simple way.

 

We had a new scout who pushed those limits this summer. Picking on new scouts. SM, an ASM and me (CC) sat with him at a picnic table on camp and said it was not acceptible. That it was a membership issue. It repeated. We repeated. One the next occurance we indicated the next incident would require notifying his parents. Any incident after and he would be going home. I can't say he was better, but he was much much improved. All we used was scout oath and law. Really all that's needed.

A Scout is Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, and Kind.

 

I ask the offender exactly bullying fits into those four point of the Law, and that usually is the end of it.

Agreed, the scout oath and law are all that are needed. What you might be looking for is an incremental approach to dealing with a troubled scout. Send me a PM and I'll send you some information. I also have an anti bullying program that we run once a year.

I've found that it is almost always the second year scouts who are the culprits in bullying.

 

When you have a set standard, and the scouts know you stand by it, they will toe the line. That's been my experience.

Our troop was rife with bullying when I took over. You address it head on and stomp on it hard when it occurs. Any wind of it was a quick ride home followed up with a parent conference. It took about a year to change the troop culture. But part of wiping it out is redefining it. When bullying is commonplace, a lot of the ordinary put-downs just become background noise. Some of the stuff the older guys were doing to the younger guys was "just a joke" to the older guys who didn't see (or didn't want to see) that the little fellows were hurt by it.

 

Example, right after crossover, I walked out and three 17-year-olds were assigning nicknames to the new Scouts, ala Animal House ("Uumm, you're Pinto. Ummm from now own you're Flounder.")

 

No, I told them, they could learn the boys' real names.

 

But nicknames are fun, everybody has a nickname.

 

Fine, I said, after you get to be friends with the guys and a fun nickname comes up organically, go with it. But randomly assigning nicknames is degrading and bully-like.

 

But it makes them feel like part of the group, they said.

 

Well you should have said so. Tell you what -- I'll come up with nicknames for you three. You are Dee F., you know, like on your report card (the other two thought this was funny as heck.) You, are Lardass -- obvious reasons. (The third guy is still laughing.) You, I said to the third guy, will be Dewey -- except that we'll spell it D-U-I. Now should I announce this to the rest of the troop, or are we just going to learn everyone's real names?

 

That was the end of that.