Scoutmaster Podcast 188

And now the old scoutmaster: I'm Dean Amader. And here's another weather fun fact from ScoutmasterCGcom. After extensive study, it's been determined that the chance of precipitation increases in inverse proportion to the proximity of rain year. Research also shows that there's a direct relationship between the probability of precipitation and the number of moisture-sensitive items exposed to the elements. Statistics indicate that the probability these items will be put away before precipitation begins is in inverse proportion to their monetary value. Researchers have published a statistical table called the picnic table and, in practical terms, a loaf of bread left on a picnic table increases the probability of precipitation by 20%, While a digital camera left on the same table increases the probability of precipitation by 60%.

I'm Dean Amader. Thank you for this.

Well, thank you there, Deena. I'm always trying to bring you the most up-to-date, current research and useful information. I hope that helped. Hey, this is podcast number 188..

Well, welcome back to the Scoutmaster Podcast. This is Clarke Green.

Hey, have you been over to the blog this week? Go to ScoutmasterCGcom. This past week we included a video review of Tomahawks and a little information about Tomahawk throwing.

You want to make sure to check that out? That's also at our YouTube channel. Our next Scout Circle is Sunday, October 13th, between 9 and 10 pm Eastern Standard Time. Our guest is going to be Joe Jacaruso from gossamergearcom, And we're going to be talking about backpacking and scouts- Not just backpacking in general and backpacking gear and things like that.

But how do you take a group of scouts out backpacking? You're going to find out that Joe is a very experienced scouter and he's led many scouts through many, many miles of backpacking trips.

So tune in on Sunday, October 13th between 9 and 10 pm Eastern Standard Time at scoutsircleorg. You'll be able to watch the presentation and ask Joe the questions that you have about scouts and backpacking In this week's podcast in just a moment, in Scout MasterChip, in seven minutes or less, we're going to be discussing five patrol method fundamentals And we've got some answers to email questions and that's going to take up the rest of the podcast.

So let's get started, shall we? Scout MasterChip in seven minutes or less?

In 1920, Baden Powell wrote a booklet called Aged Scout MasterChip And within that booklet he lays out these five fundamental things for applying the patrol method. They're just as true now as they were the day that he wrote them, So let's take a look at them. The first is the formation of patrols.

Now Baden Powell said six to eight, and that's still a pretty good rule of thumb. We scouts, although, have fallen into the habit of assigning scouts to patrols according to our idea of what best serves our concerns, Almost to the exclusion of the scouts' own choice. Scouts ought to choose their patrol, And we're going to talk a little bit more about that in one of the email answers that's coming up in this podcast. The second fundamental is real free-handed responsibility, And that's exactly the way Baden Powell put it: Free-handed responsibility. Patrol leaders have to have actual responsibility. They have to be allowed to think and plan for their patrol.

This is a delicate business. Too much training and mentoring and oversight from adults is going to smother the flame of initiative that we want to see in our patrol leaders. Feed that fire slowly. Partial responsibility only brings partial results. Number three is that patrols are independent, distinct and autonomous. They have to stand on their own.

They need their own identity. That's why we have a patrol name and a patrol flag, a patrol yell and all that kind of great stuff.

Now this extends to every aspect of the program. When they're camping together, each patrol has their own area, their own food, their own leadership and you know, they can follow their own program Elsewhere. In his writings Baden Powell, when asked if patrols could go camping together, said that he was a little skeptical about the idea because it would tend to make scouts into one big, giant group to be administered.

He said that if a couple of patrols went camping together well, he wouldn't necessarily say that it was a bad idea, but he'd want them to be at least a quarter mile apart. In practical terms we're not going to be able to do that in most of the places that we go camping. But giving patrols their own distinct area, letting them decide what they're going to eat and go out and buy the food and prepare it for themselves, and exercising their own leadership, their own oversight and even their own program during campouts, is a great idea. The fourth fundamental of the patrol method is emulation and competition between patrols. Spirited good nature competition amongst patrols helps that patrol spirit grow and flourish.

Games and contests among patrols build individual as well as group character, as scouts realize that their individual contribution means something that it adds to his patrol's honor and spirit. And the fifth fundamental of the patrol method is the Patrol Leaders Council. The tone of everything the patrol does is set by the Patrol Leaders Council, exercising real authority and decision-making power in choosing and preparing for activities.

Now, naturally, they're making all those decisions and making all those plans in the context of the goals of scouting. We work with them to understand what those goals and what that context is and then we get them moving.

Is it really that simple? If you just follow those five fundamentals, do you have the patrol method? Yeah, it's really that simple. But a lot of things in life are simple but they take a lot of study and application and practice to master right Swinging a hammer or a golf club. I can show you how to do that and you can do that in 20 seconds. That's going to take a little while.

If we begin with those five fundamentals and we stick to them, we're going to see the patrol method do exactly what it was intended to do and that is to achieve the aims of scouting. Write me a letter, Send it by name. Email. That is folks.

And here's an answer to one of your emails. So I got this email from Robert and Robert said: first, let me say thank you for the emails that I've subscribed to, Love reading them for ideas and suggestions. I'm a Scoutmaster and I've taken over just a few months ago I'm a bit younger, I'm 30 years old. I don't have a child in the troop, but my nephew is a member. I'm an Eagle Scout and I was asked by the committee to step in and be the Scoutmaster and help out with our troop.

We have about 20 active scouts. Prior to my becoming Scoutmaster, siblings were permitted on campouts and I really don't approve of it- Both brothers and sisters, older and younger.

Then the scouts come along and they really become a distraction for the scouts and the adult leaders, as well as all the other issues and concerns you may imagine arise. When I talk about this, I'm getting a lot of pushback.

People involved with the troop right now argue that scouting is a family activity. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

Well, Robert, first of all, congratulations for taking on the Scoutmaster job. Of course, the next step, whether you're an Eagle Scout or not, is getting yourself trained. Go to training and that way you're going to have the answers to these questions before they're asked. When a scout troop goes camping, it's not family camping. I'm aware that some troops conduct a special camp out where family members are invited once a year or so. But scout camping is about scouts camping with their patrol Full stop.

What you describe as not scouting. It's not even remotely like no little brothers and sisters or unregistered big brothers and sisters or unregistered parents, unless they're required to meet youth protection guidelines, Then you only need one Scouts work with and share tents with the other scouts in their patrol, Not anybody else. If we aren't doing this, we aren't really doing scouting.

You were chosen to serve as a Scoutmaster, so it's up to you to be a Scoutmaster, not a family camping coordinator. When you're in your shoes, I would tell- not ask, but tell- the troop committee that you're going to take only scouts and registered adult leaders on the next camping trip because you'd like to actually do scouting. Explain that there is simply no provision anywhere in your training for taking anyone other than that.

Now they're going to push back and when they push back, explain that they've asked you to be a Scoutmaster. In order for you to be the Scoutmaster, You're going to be able to take a Scoutmaster program according to your knowledge and training and you're going to expect their support when you do so. Bring along a Scoutmaster handbook and the scout handbook and ask the committee to find where it says that scouting is a family camping program. They're not going to be able to find it because it's not there. Honestly, Robert, if they won't support you in this, tell them it's time to find another Scoutmaster. If things are this far off the rails and the committee is unwilling to change what we're being able to accomplish much of what a Scoutmaster is charged with doing- I also heard from Derek and he says: I'm a Scoutmaster with less than a year under my belt and I'm faced with a good problem.

We're growing. We currently have four patrols and we anticipate that we'll get another seven scouts when we blows crossover in February. That would mean a fifth patrol.

Currently we have one first year patrol and two second year patrols and one patrol made up of the remaining older boys. The third patrol is usually woefully understaffed during outings as those scouts are either committed to other obligations or working.

I think the patrols need to be reworked a bit, but I don't want to break up any close friends or turn patrols into popularity contests. What I'm considering is splitting up the oldest patrol and putting those scouts into the other three patrols.

Based on your experience, is this a good idea or a bad idea, or maybe there's a better way? I must admit I haven't asked the scouts yet, but I would anticipate that the older boys would not really want to be split up. I should add that there is a two year age difference between the older boy patrol and the next oldest patrol. Plus, I really like the idea of keeping scouts together in their own patrol, for the first year at least.

Any suggestions? Well, Derek, I want to answer your question by asking a few other questions.

We have to think about these things. Why are boys in scouting?

Why do we have patrols? Are patrols just so that we have an efficient system to gauge scouts, or is it something more than that?

Does what a scout thinks is a quote-unquote good patrol look different to him than it would look to an adult? Boys are scouts because their friends are involved. If they don't get to work with their friends, they're not very interested in scouts.

We have patrols because basically, there's no scouting without them. 99% of the aims of scouting are met in the context of the patrol. Scouts working together encounter all kinds of challenges and they learn all kinds of things. When they go camping, they go by patrol. At meetings, they're preparing to go camping by patrol. Everything in scouting is about the patrol.

Once you understand this, you'll agree that scouts ought to be able to freely choose their patrol. They know who they get along with and who their friends are. To understand how your scouts are going to view you stepping in to make changes to their patrols, imagine the opportunity to evaluate your troop and the one next door. After studying both troops, I'm going to make a few changes to optimize the combination of adult volunteers. Both troops have adults with differing levels of experience.

I'm going to change some of them around so that both of them have equally experienced adults. Some adults in each troop have a busy schedule and that means they can't be there at times, and that leaves things woefully understaffed. I'm going to need to change them around, too, to even things out. Thinking about it, it's really a kind of a poor use of resources for you to have 20 scouts and the other troop to have 40 scouts.

So I'm going to even that out too, so that both troops have 30 scouts, And I need to make some changes to see that we have a consistent adult to scout ratio. Your troop has 10 assistant Scoutmasters, but it only needs 7, and so 3 need to go to the other troop. Finally, I'll be assigning the weeblows crossing over this spring between the two troops. I mean, it's only fair right, After all. We don't want this to be some kind of popularity contest.

So would you appreciate it if I made those changes? Of course not, Even though they make perfect sense on paper. I'm taking away your friends, I'm breaking up your team, I'm telling your scouts who they ought to be going scouting with. When we fix patrols, when we try to even out numbers and ranks and ages and experience, we're usually breaking up friends and teams. Scouts find this just as disheartening as you or I would if I made the changes in the scenario I imagined just a moment ago. Scouts really ought to be able to choose their own patrols.

Let me give you an example of why that works. About a year ago, when something went wrong in our troop, it usually led back to three of our scouts that we had dubbed the terrible trio. Our senior patrol leader decided that he was going to break them up and put them in different patrols, but it didn't work. No matter what patrol they were in, the terrible trio were fast friends and they gravitated to each other at meetings and at outings. This kind of thing caused their patrol leaders no end of aggravation. They were always chasing them down and trying to figure out where they were and making them be part of the patrol.

The next senior patrol leader decided that if these guys wanted to be together it was going to be useless to fight with them, so we let them form their own patrol. Our scouts wanted to be in that patrol, so for a few months there we had a patrol of three scouts. Once these three friends were together, they all showed up at just about every meeting and every camp out, and soon they grew from being the terrible trio to becoming a competent, well-behaved patrol. When it comes to patrols, let the scouts choose, accept their choices and help them solve any problems that their choices might create.

What's not nice and neat? But scouting is about the processes involved in making choices and the alchemy of working together with your peers to meet challenges and solve problems. Talk to your senior patrol leader, ask him some questions. Ask him if he thinks the patrols are set up the right way or if he would change anything. How is he going to incorporate the new scouts that are coming into the troop, as he's going to make. You may end up with patrols of 10 or 12, or patrols of 3 and 4 and everything in between.

You may have patrols with mixed ages or all the same age. It may look efficient or messy and you'll wonder if it's a mistake. But be patient, work with the patrol leaders council and watch what happens. It'll take some practice and some patience, but soon you'll see that those patrols are full of happy, advancing scouts having the time of their lives. And finally, I found this email in my inbox and I'm going to withhold the name on this one. It said this: I am a new assistant Scoutmaster in my first year.

I followed the blog and the podcast since I started and I appreciate the advice. After going through training and listening to you, I've arrived at the conclusion that our troop is led by adults too much. Our Scoutmaster is a great guy. He's a born leader and genuinely cares about scouting, but he just doesn't seem to be able to help himself. He hovers over the scouts at troop meetings and he frequently interrupts them. Instead of scouts making announcements at the troop meetings, it's always the adults.

At courts of honor, the adult leaders stand around the boys at the front of the room and hover over them and say things like: by the end of this, the scouts may just get it right. Troop meetings are lecture classes presented by adults, and the adults plan all the outings. I'm really not sure what to do.

Our troop has a lot of history, it's very active and we have a lot of great scouts and families involved. I want to support the Scoutmaster, but I'm having a hard time.

At first I thought I would just wait around and slowly influence, giving the troop back to the scouts, but now that my concerns are getting the better of me, do you have any advice? Well, I've always got some advice right first. If that's the situation you find yourself in, you're not alone. I get a fair number of emails just like this.

You know we have a great troop with a long history and wonderful people. But and then we have a problem. Based on years of observation of literally hundreds of troops and the emails that I get, I guess I would safely estimate that about 40 to 50 percent of scout troops are led by a 40 year old senior patrol leader that calls himself a Scoutmaster.

Now, this is nothing new. Baden Powell was combating this propensity of adults to take over from the day he founded the movement. The scouts in these troops are happy, they're fine, they do a lot of great stuff, they advance and rank and they get a lot of scouting. Despite the way the troop has run, it's difficult to advise you on what to do about this particular issue because as an assistant Scoutmaster, you aren't really in a position to make any changes.

Hoping you can slowly influence this change, I think that's an admirable thought, but it's not likely. As you said, this Scoutmaster just can't help himself, and that's probably because he's not even aware that there's any kind of a problem.

If, on the one hand, he's really committed to youth leadership and applying the patrol method, well, that's one thing. On the other hand, if he's been around for a few years, he's got this all figured out well, that's indefinitely another. What will happen eventually is you're going to have to bring your concerns to the Scoutmaster, and I know some Scoutmasters are going to be more approachable than others.

But if you go to him and you say something like I'm new here, but there are some things I think we're missing, would you be willing to discuss some of this and think about how we could change things. This can be a little bit of a gamble, but I'd leave it up to you to figure out if it's a good idea or not.

If the Scoutmaster doesn't want to change, you know, your face will living the way things are now or finding a new troop that's more to your liking. Now that sounds a little dramatic, but it really comes down to that. More importantly, it comes down to your son.

Is he happy? From his perspective, this is about camping with his friends.

Would your actions adversely affect that? If adults start arguing, scouts lose. But if you do things in the right spirit, you'll avoid arguments.

If you bring this up and the answer is no, you're going to pretty much have to accept the answer or change troops. If you keep hammering away at it, you're going to be branded a troublemaker and that's going to affect your son.

You know, sometimes we change jobs and friends and churches and even spouses, I mean- until we find the right fit. Scouting is kind of the same way. We calculate the losses and benefits of the change that we make and we may conclude that we're better off accepting things that rankle us rather than changing our situation.

Sometimes we can work towards making things better, but it's heavy lifting if you aren't in charge. In that case, you need a little serenity to change what you can and accept what you can. I hope that helps. If you have a question for me, send it to clark at scoutmastercgcom. C-l-a-r-k-e. Scoutmastercgcom.