Scoutmaster Podcast 124

And now it's the old Scoutmaster. Hey folks, I don't know if you heard about this Kind of sad news.

The energizer bunny, you know the energizer bunny, right, He's been arrested. He was charged with battery Creditor. Blame for that one goes to Larry Geiger, your choice.

Well, welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green. Let's take a look at the mailbag. Bryce Scott, in touch this week. He said I was listening to podcast 123, our last podcast. She stated the requirements happen because of things that scouts do, as opposed to requirements Driving.

What scouts do I exactly? How does that happen?

Do the scouts decide to take a hike that will require a compass work, or do the scouts read the requirements and lead the younger Scouts through a compass course They put together? Thank you for being an inspiration to scouts everywhere.

Well, thank you, Bryce. How does that happen? It happens in any way that it happens. It can happen one way or the other. My broader point, Bryce, is that instead of trying to quote-unquote do Requirements, let's just do the stuff that scouts do, You know. Let's have some fun out there.

Let's go out and do things. Let's not program everything to the nth degree. Let the scouts figure out what they want to do and Help and guide them and suggest ideas that will help them Fulfill requirements, but not by saying: all right, guys, It's time to do requirement number X.

How about let's go on a hike? Do you know how to use a compass? How would it be exciting to use a compass and a map on a hike and and learn how to do that. You see what I'm saying.

So It's a fine difference. It's a difference of approach, It's a difference of emphasis. But Thanks for being in touch, Bryce, Thanks for the kind words and I hope that helps. Terry Dutton got in touch. He says I've been a regular listen to your podcast for the past few months. I catch up during a long drive.

That I do periodically and I really appreciate the time and thoughtfulness you put into your work. It's really challenged me to think differently about my work with scouts.

Well, thanks, Terry. I'm glad that you're finding the podcast useful and thank you for being in touch.

Jody wrote in to say thanks so much. I love your blog.

Love your blog in all caps, So that means I needed to shout there just a little bit. Thanks, Jody, Thanks for being in touch and I'm glad. I'm glad- you're finding things useful. You can be in touch too. You're gonna find out how to do that towards the end of the podcast.

So it's summertime and what a great time of year it is. We're getting ready to go to summer camp. We just got back from a camping weekend last weekend. We've got some meetings planned that are going to be great coming up And I'm really looking forward to summertime and them. To top it all off, We're off to Canada for a week in August.

So the podcast doesn't take an absolute back seat, But the summertime podcasts are a little abbreviated, let's say, because there's just an awful lot going on out there, I'm sure you understand. And in this podcast We have Scoutmaster ship in seven minutes or less, and we're gonna talk about discipline, and that's gonna do it for this

Podcast. So let's get started, shall we? Scoutmaster ship in seven minutes or less. We start off by saying that Scoutmasters and adult volunteers in scouting, Our principal job is not to be a disciplinarian. We are volunteers in a game of scouting and our job is to mentor and train youth to lead themselves through this process of scouting, By which they grow into decent human beings. That's what we're there for whenever we're working with scout age boys.

They're going to be questions of discipline and accountability. I mean, that's accepted. But scout leaders aren't drill sergeants. Scout leaders aren't police. Scout leaders aren't judges and juries. Scout leaders aren't prison wardens.

Do we maintain discipline? Well, yes, but we do it in an interesting way, We do it the scouting way and we do that through positive things, not negative things.

When there's a question of accountability- a Scouts not doing what he's expected to do in his leadership position or something like that, Well, that's not a time for discipline. That's not a time to threaten him with punishment. That's a time for us to sit down and mentor them and work with them and speak to them, Encourage them to rise to the occasion. If they don't do this, it's up to the scouts to think about.

You know, hey, it may be time to change leadership and we'll work along with them and do that. It's not up to the Scoutmaster or the troop to discipline or punish a scout who's not working up to the expectations of a leadership position or something like that.

If it's a behavioral problem, Who do we go to to discipline or punish a scout for or correct a behavioral problem with a scout? Sometimes we can do this through positive reinforcement And a little bit of counseling, because you know, all behavioral problems are not big giant, difficult behavioral problems, But some of them are and when that happens it's time for his parents to step in and take the appropriate steps to discipline and punish their scout. And that's going to happen outside of Scouting altogether. They're going to take that in hand as a family and as a parent. We don't deal in negative reinforcement in scouting. We don't hold the threat of punishment over scouts.

That's not our job. We don't withhold advancement to teach them a lesson- quote unquote.

We have a very simple, direct, comprehensive set of rules of conduct and that is the scout oath and the scout law. We don't deal in systems of chances and demerits and suspensions and probations and you know all that type of thing. I've read these systems before and they only exist in guides That troops right up and they have disciplinary policies and things like that. I suggest that these are bad ideas.

We have two tools in our toolbox as scout leaders: positive reinforcement and constructive discipline. We can inspire, we can encourage, we can inform, we can exhort and we can support our scouts. It's that's that kind of positive Reinforcement and constructive discipline is the right tool for the job and it works every time for any boy Who wants to be a scout.

Now, if a boy is being a behavioral problem, You know we can't ignore it, but we need to go to the source that is going to deal with it most effectively, and that's going to be His parents and his family. Now, when I started talking about this on the blog, I got a lot of good comments back and one of them referred to an excerpt from the guide to safe scouting. And I just run through it with you here and it's youth member behavior guidelines- guide to safe scouting- really important piece of literature that you need to read and understand. And The youth member behavior guidelines state this: the Boy Scouts of America is a values based youth development organization that helps young people learn positive attributes of character, citizenship and personal fitness. The BSA has the expectation that all participants in the scouting program will relate to each other in accord with the Principles embodied in the Scout Oath and Law. It goes on to say: one of the developmental tasks of childhood is to learn appropriate behavior.

Children are not born with an innate sense of propriety and they need guidance and Direction, and I want to take a break there. Guidance and direction, guidance and Direction, and that guidance in direction is the example, The positive example set by adult role models. That's a very powerful thing and it is what we stress in scouting: positive reinforcement, constructive discipline.

Now, of course, we know that that is not going to be the answer to every single Behavioral problem, and the guide to safe scouting says this: Misbehavior by a single youth member in a scouting unit may constitute a threat to the safety of the individual who misbehaves, as well as to the safety of other unit members. Such misbehavior constitutes an unreasonable burden on a scout unit and cannot be ignored.

So yes, We're cognizant that there are difficult behaviors out there that need to be addressed because they are Threatening the safety of the person who's misbehaving and, you know, the safety of his fellow scouts. So we really can't ignore those.

So what are the responsibilities of a member of the Boy Scouts of America? Not just us as adults, but also our youth members.

Well, all youth members of the Boy Scouts of America are Expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the principle set forth in the scout oath and scout law, That's the. That's the responsibility of each member.

Now physical violence, and this is back to the guide to safe scouting. It says this physical violence, hazing, bullying, theft, Verbal insults, and drugs and alcohol have no place in the scouting program and may result in the revocation of a scouts Membership in the unit.

So there's a list of unacceptable physical violence, hazing, bullying, theft, verbal insults, drugs and alcohol- no place in scouting and They could result in the revocation of a scouts membership in the unit if Conthrended by threats of violence or other forms of bullying or other from other youth members. Scouts that seek help from their unit leaders or their parents.

So that's the responsibility of our adult and youth members To obey the scout law Right and to follow the scout oath. Unit responsibilities are this: adult leaders of scouting units are responsible for monitoring the behavior of youth members and interceding When necessary. When I say that we're not disciplinarians I'm not saying that we stand by and say, yeah, boys will be boys.

You know, there's that guy kind of beaten up on his fellow scout. That kind of thing happens. No, no, no. We intercede when necessary, we make the behavior stop.

And then The guide to safe scouting goes on to say parents of youth members who misbehave should be informed and asked for assistance. So it is not our job to try and Punish or discipline a scout who is misbehaving. We stop the misbehavior and we refer him to his parents and that's the way that it works. Back to the guide to safe scouting. The BSA does not permit the use of corporal punishment by unit leaders when disciplining youth members.

I think that we're pretty all. We're all pretty cognizant of that right. The unit committee should review repetitive or serious incidents of misbehavior, in consultation with parents, To determine a course of corrective action, including possible revocation of the youth's membership in the unit.

Okay, there are going to be extremes in behavior That are going to need to be addressed. It going to come to the attention of the troop committee. Perhaps they're repetitive in nature or they're just very serious incidents of misbehavior and the troop committee is going to need to sit down with the parents and chart a way forward, a course of corrective action, and that can include the revocation of the youth's membership in the unit if Problem behavior persists. Back to the guide again. Units may revoke a scouts membership in that unit. When a unit revokes a scouts membership is promptly no, notify the counsel of the action.

So let's review. We're not disciplinarians.

We maintain discipline, Yes, but we're not disciplinarians in the idea that we have a system, a system and a code of. You know Demerits and punishments and things like that. If you have one of those, look at it very carefully and consider whether it's an idea that you Might want to do away with and get back into the scouting program and look at it that way. You have one code of conduct.

We have one very simple code of conduct- the scout oath and the scout law, and When behavioral problems arise- and we know what those unacceptables are, Right, when those kind of behavioral problems arise, We bring that to the attention of the scouts family and we say: look, you're gonna have to correct this kind of behavior because we Cannot have it in scouting. If he's interested in being a scout, He has to obey the scout oath and the scout law. You need to discuss this with him.

We've had our discussion and we need to be assured when he comes back To the next meeting or the next camp out or whatever, that we have this problem solved And then it's up to the parents to go ahead and end to take care of that. In cases of serious or repetitive Behavioral problems, it might need to go to the troop committee, who is then going to sit down and discuss it with the parents and say, look, You know, beyond a certain point We do not deal with bad behavior.

So you have these two options: You're going to work with your son to correct this behavior or we're gonna have to revoke his membership in the unit. Now these Contemplate these last couple of steps. Of course contemplate Some very serious or repetitive behavior that you know.

Just, we can't get the boy to respond to the positive influence of scouting. His parents may be at a loss to to put that kind of discipline on him, but You know that is so extraordinarily rare. I know of very few instances of that in my wider scouting circle and Of in the past 30 years, maybe one or two, And based on incidents outside of scouting where we had to revoke the membership of a youth member. That's over hundreds of scouts.

So this is an extremely rare occurrence and we shouldn't necessarily Jump to it. But we have to be prepared. Right, there's the motto: be prepared for things when they happen. I hope that helps identify the place of positive reinforcement and constructive discipline in scouting and Helps explain the way the scouting program works when it's dealing with behavioral difficulties. I would love to hear from you and love to hear your reflections on it, And you're gonna find out how to get in touch in just a moment. This is Bob Mazzucchi, scout executive of the Boy Scouts, and you're listening to my buddy, Clark Greene, on the Scoutmaster podcast, And he is doing a fantastic job.