Follow
Frank Maynard has written brilliantly about the idea of ‘helicoptering’ Scouters:
Are you a helicopter Scouter?
Do you think it’s so important to have a well-run productive troop that you’ll get in the middle of the boys’ business to do it? Do you think you have to “keep the boys on task” in order to get everything accomplished at the troop meetings? To take over planning at PLC meetings to “make sure it gets done right”? To boss the boys around on campouts to get camp set up quickly so you can rush right into campfire and cracker barrel, up and at ‘em at oh-dark-thirty so the porridge will be ready to eat on schedule, or torn down quickly so you can get home in time for the big game or a round of golf?
If this is how you think – if you think the patrol method is the cause of all your problems rather than the solution to them, if you think your troop meetings are chaotic and unproductive because of not enough adult involvement in planning and executing them, if you think camp outs run more smoothly when planned and run by the adults – then you are likely a “helicopter Scouter” without any idea of what Scouting is. Your thought process is more like a youth sports coach than a Boy Scout adult leader, scheduling all the games, formulating and directing all the plays, and doing just about everything except play the games for them.
Frank is an experienced committee chair who writes the Bobwhite Blather blog, make sure you check it out.
