The Transition

[bowhunt120 10]

We did "it" last night. We had the Scouts sort themselves into new, integrated age patrols. During Patrol elections, all of the older Scouts promptly elected the youngest Scouts as Patrol Leader/APL etc.

 

Now, The SM and I have to figure out how to make this work. We are pretty well set up to do it: he has been to Woodbadge...I have not, but then I probably won''t. My background and current family/work situation make it difficult for me to justify. However, my previous career (20 years in Navy Nuclear power - Surface Warfare) gave me a large number of leadership tools to use. Not just the "Go do it NOW" variety of tools, either!

 

So here is our basic plan....

-Conduct a Troop Leadership Training weekend camping trip very soon. We are planning on two weeks from now...

 

-Engage our new PLC in planning a year of Scouting. Currently, we have a hard time getting them to plan more than a month. Plus, adult priorities always seem to override their plan.

 

-Support the new youth leaders. This will very likely involve coaching and mentoring the older Scouts who have effectively abdicated any formal leadership role, and preventing them from undermining their elected leaders. We will also need to protect the boys from those "adult priorities" I mentioned above.

 

Wish us luck!

[scoutldr 732]

So, the older scouts are willing to forego any further advancement (no POR)?

[Gunny2862 11]

Using your toolbox DO NOT allow this to happen if it means that the Older Scouts are abdicating and not intending to do any skills training or be actively involved with the younger Scouts. We are currently attempting to recover from that particular malady.

 

The older and more advanced Scouts should NOT be allowed to segregate themselves from the younger less advanced ones. Hopefully the older Scouts are planning on training from above and from below but I''m somehow not holding my breath on that.

 

Did they hold on to the SPL/ASPL positions? If so that, at least, is a good sign, if they are planning to lead/train the PL''s.

 

Work and rework your calendar, attempt to ensure that OA and Council activities are included. Look at last years calendar and see what and when it was done by council last year they will probably be on or near the same plan this year. This should help somewhat with the adult overrides on their plan.

 

Fair seas and following undersea currents, and let us know what is going on as it develops.

BZ

[Eagledad 2781]

>>So here is our basic plan....

-Conduct a Troop Leadership Training weekend camping trip very soon. We are planning on two weeks from now...>-Engage our new PLC in planning a year of Scouting. Currently, we have a hard time getting them to plan more than a month. Plus, adult priorities always seem to override their plan.>-Support the new youth leaders. This will very likely involve coaching and mentoring the older Scouts who have effectively abdicated any formal leadership role, and preventing them from undermining their elected leaders. We will also need to protect the boys from those "adult priorities" I mentioned above.

[bowhunt120 10]

scoutldr - They very likely already have what they "need", in the form of ''credit for a job not done''. None of the older scouts does anything they don''t need to do. Our SM''s Life scout son stood around, not in uniform, doing nothing and texting on his cell phone, at a service project last weekend because "I don''t need the service hours." Yeah - Mom and Dad (the SM) were there, and let him do nothing. It was very frustrating.

[bowhunt120 10]

Gunny - It has been a few years since I said that! My last ship was USS BOXER - LHD 4. Six months in the Middle East with an embarked MEU-SOC...thanks for your advice. I will be working to guard against the older boys separating themselves too much.

 

Eagledad - I like the way you think...we will put some of that into the TLT campout, especially how to plan the year.

 

Keep it coming, everyone!

 

 

[Stosh 3452]

I read the post and immediately I saw a problem.

 

"We had the Scouts sort themselves into new, integrated age patrols"

 

This means the young boys were "setup" by the adults to be the PL and APL.

 

Why didn''t you just form patrols according to what the boys wanted?

 

The older boys would flock together and have their own leadership, work at their own interests, plan activities that would interest their age group, etc. etc. I for one would automatically assume the young kids would get dumped on under the opening line of your post.

 

This process makes about as much sense as wondering why your foot is sore after you shot yourself in the foot.

 

Stosh

[Beavah 205]

Yah, bowhunt....

 

Yeh don''t say how old your new PL''s/APL''s are, eh? But thanks for da description of your older boys.

 

I''m with EagleDad here. I''d pull your lunkhead older boys "up and out of the way" into a Venture Patrol temporarily if yeh can''t co-opt them. They''ll only undermine yeh otherwise.

 

Da alternative is to have appointed the best older boys as PL''s in each patrol, and use the TLT session as a high-adventury advanced stuff that appeals to the older guys. If you''d have asked first, I would have suggested this way. Do it Navy style - identify the real leaders and give ''em real responsibilty .

 

 

[BrentAllen 10]

I know an old SM who would pull the PLs out of their patrols as soon as their leadership term expired. They could be elected to serve two terms, but at the end of their term, they moved into the Troop Junior Leadership Corps. As members of the JLC, they would fill positions as SPL, ASPL, Troop Guides and Instructors. They have responsibilites in the Troop - they don''t just sit around and make fun of the younger Scouts.

He felt it was a bad idea to leave those previous PLs in the patrol, that they wouldn''t really like being in the patrol any longer, serving under another PL. This also gave encouragement to the slightly older boys in the patrols to try to get elected PL so they too could eventually move up into the JLC with the older boys.

I think this method would go along way toward preventing the situation you are looking at - the older boys dumping all the responsibility on the youngest Scouts.

 

Another idea - only allow boys who are at least First Class to be eligible to be elected PL.

[eolesen 10]

Second the "only first class can serve as PL" requirement...

 

If you have a new-boy patrol, appoint a troop guide to lead them for the first year or until you have a quorum who have earned first class, at which point they can elect a PL.