We set aside today to celebrate the United State’s 238th year of independence. Have you considered the individual “independence day” that is the aim of a Scouter’s work? It’s independence day when Scouts stand on their own two feet, overcome obstacles, best challenges, and take the initiative to set their own path forward. These strides forward into adulthood may look small to us, […]
Scout Leader Skills
10 Common Scouting Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Before you read these ten common Scouting mistakes, let’s agree that being a Scouter means always moving towards the ideal, but we never truly arrive. Ideals are like stars: you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the ocean desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them, you […]
Three Things Scout Parents Can Do
This infographic explains three things Scout parents can do to help Scouts with their gear (and save a Scoutmaster’s sanity). Put your Scout’s Name and Troop number on everything. If they are attending an event with dozens or hundreds of other Scouts and misplace a piece of clothing or gear there’s a much better chance it […]
How Scouters Deal with Disappointment
Perhaps you’ve asked for help, and folks let you down. Your Scout’s reactions to your efforts may be somewhat less than what you expected. You’ve tried to apply what you’ve learned and it falls flat. Welcome to the club! You already know what I am to write, you’ve read or heard it a thousand times […]
Scouter Training Do’s and Don’ts
I’ve headed up a number of Scouter training events, and been trained in several different volunteer positions. Scouters are typically gregarious, good-spirited folks; but the dedication and single-mindedness required to be a good Scouter sometimes makes us difficult trainees. Here’s my do’s and don’ts for getting the most out of a Scouter training course: Do Expect […]
Simple Versus Complicated Scouting
The steps in training have become so absorbing and important that in many cases the aim has come to be lost sight of. -B.P Take a moment and step back from all of your roles and responsibilities and observe how simple Scouting is. The aim is simple: Providing opportunities for the development of character, fitness, […]
Scouting, Sidelines, and New Interpretations
It is scarcely necessary for me to go over the old ground of our principles; they have been the same ever since the Movement started. But when it started it was on a very simple scheme, and with the growth of years many new interpretations and many new side lines have been added to it, so that there […]
Scouting as Craftsmanship
During the late Middle Ages the practice of a master craftsman employed laborers ten to fifteen years of age (apprentices) in exchange for food, lodging and instruction became a formal tradition. For a few centuries we passed our skills and knowledge of craft from generation to generation through apprenticeship. After the industrial revolution technology became increasingly complex and production was gradually centralized […]
The Overprotected Kid
In her Atlantic Monthly article, The Overprotected Kid, Hanna Rosin writes: It’s hard to absorb how much childhood norms have shifted in just one generation. Actions that would have been considered paranoid in the ’70s—walking third-graders to school, forbidding your kid to play ball in the street, going down the slide with your child in your lap—are […]
Scouting and Outdoor Leadership
Is there really a difference between outdoor leadership and leadership in other situations? To my mind just about everything we do in Scouting hinges on how you answer that question. We are familiar with business or management-style leadership in our professional and business lives. Outdoor (or Scouting) leadership is different and understanding this difference is key to being an […]
Scout Accounts
If your Troop, Pack, or Crew assigns proceeds from fundraising to individual Scout accounts you may have been taken aback by this statement in the Fiscal Policies And Procedures For BSA Units FAQ I shared last week Can my unit credit amounts from fundraising to an individual toward their expenses? No. The IRS has stated that crediting […]
Answers to Questions about Scouting Finances
Decisive answers to questions about Scouting finances can be difficult to find. While researching an answer to an email question I found this PDF document: Fiscal Policies And Procedures For BSA Units dated August 2013, that provides answers to most common Scouting financial questions. The short story is there are very specific policies that are applied in concert with national, state, and […]
Three ‘Secret Weapons’ Every Scouter Should Have
Every Scouter has been there. You’ve been there, and so have I. Your fellow Scouter, a parent, or Scout has a question. You think you know the answer. After telling them what you think there’s a little shadow of doubt in your mind;”did I get that right?”. That shadow grows, and you go looking for […]
How Should We Respond to a Scout Who Wants to Quit?
There he is, waiting for our reply; how do we respond to a Scout who wants to quit? Not every boy is going to maintain an active interest in Scouts, it doesn’t automatically mean that anything is wrong with them, the program, or ourselves. I expect that every Scout will have a tough time once […]
Assume Goodwill
Sometimes all we need to solve our biggest problems is a slight shift in attitude. What would things be like if our first assumption was goodwill? The patrol leader who forgot to do something may have honestly forgotten to do it, not just ignored their responsibility. I forget all kinds of things! Assume goodwill. The Scout […]
Wearing Too Many Hats?
Frank Maynard’s excellent blog ” Bobwhite Blather ” addresses one of the most common problems in Scouting: wearing too many hats! “An hour a week,” we were told, and soon found that it’s not always an accurate estimate, “but who’s counting?” we reason, because it’s for our sons and those of our friends and neighbors. … […]
Relentless Encouragement
Instead of worrying about what Scouts aren’t doing look for what they are doing. Exchange your expectations for their aspirations. If we look for problems, we’ll find them; there will always be plenty of room for improvement. If we look for effort and initiative we’ll find them too. Your encouragement of the good you find […]
Principles of Scoutmastership
A reader sent a link to a venerable work published many decades ago titled “Principles of Scoutmastership in Relation to Boy Development” prepared by a commission who set themselves the task of answering these questions 1. What is this development we seek for the boy? 2. What is the boy? 3. How does he develop? 4. […]
What Do Scouts Decide?
There’s a lot of discussion about who makes decisions about what activities Scouts put on their schedule. What do Scouts decide? Should adults be part of that process, or must we always allow Scouts to make these decisions? Some would argue that who makes these decisions is a good test of whether a troop is […]
Finding the Advisor’s Voice
If I could change one thing about Scouting I’d do away with the term ‘adult leader’. Leaders are directive, they tell people what to do and how to do it. Advisors and mentors , on the other hand, are motivational – they help people develop skills and find the inspiration in their work. The greatest […]
Are you Serving Scouts or Expecting to be Served?
As a camp director one summer, years ago, several Scouters complained that our dining hall steward was getting out of hand. We served all our meals family style and Scouts served as waiters. Waiters arrive before the meal to set the table, serve the food during the meal, serve their table during the meal, and […]
Cub Leader Questions? Read ‘For the Love of Cub Scouts’
Where do you go find answers to Cub Leader questions? During the years I spent as a Cubmaster and Webelos Den Leader formal training sessions helped , but the most valuable advice I received at the time came from those long talks in the parking lot with folks who had been there and done that. […]
BSA Membership Standards Implementation Resources
The BSA has recently released their initial implementation resources addressing the change to membership standards voted on at this year’s annual meeting. Membership Standards Implementation Resources Upon approval of the membership standards resolution in May of 2013, the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America began reviewing its policies and guidelines through the combined […]
What are Your Expectations?
I don’t think my friend Berk really cared too much about what other people had to say about the ceremonial campfires he built at our Scout camp (and they were some impressive campfires). What he really cared about was what he thought of them. I can recall some occasions where (at least to my eye […]
