Scoutmaster Podcast 199

Hi, I'm John Webke and I'm a Scoutmaster with 2.358 in Signsville, Indiana. This edition of the Scoutmaster podcast is sponsored by backers like me.

And now to you, Scoutmaster. A fire in San Francisco was growing so fast that it had taken over a city block and the whole city was at risk.

Many of the city's fire units responded, but the fire was so intense none of them could really get close enough to pour water on the fire. The situation seemed hopeless until one fire engine appeared and sped down the hill past. The other units screeched to a stop close enough to get out their equipment and spray water on the fire, And all of the other firefighters were inspired by the courage of that crew and they joined them to help put the fire out. And later the mayor presented a commentation of bravery to the fire crew that had sped down the hill and he asked what else the city could do to show their thanks. And the station chief told him that they could really use a new set of brakes on their fire engine.

You know good leaders, they respond as expected, but great leaders are prepared for the unexpected. Thanks to Barry Runnels for that story. Thank you, Barry.

Hey, this is podcast number 199.. Hey, Welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green. Let's take a look at the mailbag. Oh, we heard from a lot of wonderful people this week. Francisco Leyva wrote in to say I am just in the situation you spoke about on last week's podcast.

I've recently restarted the scout life. My son wanted to be a scout and guy got drafted as an assistant scoutmaster. It's tricky not to be a parent and to convince him that he should have other scoutmasters sign his book. Thanks for the advice. I'm catching up on all the podcasts and all your advice.

Well, thank you, Francisco. I'm glad this is useful to you And yes, it's tricky, isn't it? But you'll get by. You'll make it work. James Chaplin wrote in and said about podcast 198. Another great podcast with adult volunteers.

I've always said there are two types: Ones that believe in scouting and the scouts themselves, And other ones who believe in their own sons. Yeah, James, sometimes it's difficult to draw that line between being a scouter and a parent And we hope that the last podcast helped everyone with that. Barry Reynolds, who supplied our little Scoutmaster minute there at the beginning, is from Edmund Oklahoma with Troop 386.. And he is a retired Scoutmaster, if there is such a thing And he said: I enjoyed your how scouts listen post And it reminded me of a couple of things I learned during my tenure as Scoutmaster. First, I was taught by some behavior professionals that we humans learn up to 90% of our behavior simply by watching our role models, not listening to them. That means scouts mostly learn by watching us walk the walk rather than talk the talk.

Good rule of thumb for talking to scouts is that less is more. The second lesson was that the best Scoutmaster minutes are only two minutes long. Wait a minute, Barry. They're only supposed to be a minute long. I'm never very good at that either. I never managed to get it.

I usually never managed to get it all done in a minute. Two minutes is really hard to do, Barry says, And it forces us to practice getting to the point quickly. Have a great scouting week. You too, Barry, and you're right. Somebody years ago, with a great deal of wisdom, said that the Scoutmaster should have one minute. It sharpens your skills.

You got to work hard at it. Rob Arons wrote to us from Adelaide, Australia, And he said: a great website initiative. I have yet to take a really good look at your website, but including online discussions and assistance online for scout troop issues, et cetera, is a great idea. I'm an Adelaide and have been in scouting for over 30 years. I am currently an assistant branch commissioner for the scout section. Thanks, Rob, for being in touch.

It's always great to hear from folks from Australia And I will not try to entertain you with my really good Australian accent. And Brother Mark wrote to us and he said I am an active chaplain for Scouts Canada, working out of the regional municipality of Waterloo and the Paris of St George's of Forest Hill, Kitchener, Ontario, And I've been enjoying your material immensely and I have recommended the site to others. Thanks you for sharing your skill and expertise. Thank you, Brother Mark, for getting in touch and for your kind words.

And you know, Ontario is one of my favorite places in the world. That's where Algonquin Park is And we take our Scouts up there for canoe trips during the summer. Just a wonderful, wonderful place. Heard from Larry Green, who is the author of scoutpioneeringcom. Make sure you go check that out. Larry knows pioneering and he has great useful information at his website.

Once again, it's all one word scoutpioneeringcom, But Larry wrote in about a post this past week about scouting games rediscovered from our friend Enoch Hysie in Texas, And he said: Hi, Clark, those are great games. Incidentally, for many years we've been referring to the whirling jack stay game as jump the shot and occasionally using it as a gathering period activity.

Yes, that's the way I knew that game too, But I think I am going to start calling it whirling jack stay. Just sounds more adventurous, doesn't it? It certainly is good to hear from people, And you can get in touch by emailing me at Clark C, L A R K E at scoutmastercgcom. Let's take a look here, Boy. It has been a busy couple of months. The new book, The Scouting Journey, is published.

It's available on Amazon both in paperback and Kindle edition, So do make sure to check that out. The app, the Scoutmaster CG app, is now available in the Apple App Store, on iTunes, And I've got it on my iPod touch and I've checked it out. I really don't know what I'm doing.

I made an app and now it's on iTunes and it's on Android. Now I was able to offer the Android version for free because the costs associated with publishing to Android. They're very minimal. The iPhone and the iPad apps are going to cost you 99 cents. I don't think that's going to break anybody's budget.

I needed to do that because the cost of publishing on the Apple platform is considerably higher And I'm also paying to maintain the app on a monthly basis, So I charged a minimal amount just to try and keep those costs at bay. I hope you understand. If you have any difficulty with the app, if you have any comments on it, if there are things that you would like to see on the app, get in touch. Clark C-L-A-R-K-E at scoutmastercgcom.

Our backer program keeps growing and I am so appreciative Backers. I sent out dozens of packages of autographed copies of the books this past week And I ran out. I actually ran out.

I didn't anticipate that this would take off the way that it has, So I ran out of books. There are more slated to arrive within the next day or so. I will autograph them and I will send them out and you should have them, no matter where you are, by the end of this week.

So thank you for your patience with that And I want to welcome those who have made a one-time payment as a Scoutmaster CG backer And they, by doing that, qualify for premiums, which are autographed copies of the books And there's also an ebook edition- special ebook edition- for backers of both of my books, both the scouting journey and thoughts on scouting. So here are the new backers since last week: Mary Jo Jones Pack 460 from Fort Erie, Maryland. Justin Feld, Curtis Dorwart, Ray Britton, Frank Murphy, Chuck Green, Brian Snyder, Douglas Dorr, Jim Patrick, Michael Arliss and Frederick Lorenzen.

Once again, thank you so much. It means a great deal And the money that you have sent keep the Scoutmaster blog and podcast moving forward.

In this week's podcast I have a reflection about the passing of Nelson Mandela this past week And we have some email questions to answer. So thank you very much for listening.

And let's get started, shall we? The Scout movement is forming a personal tie between the different foreign countries, a living force, a great brotherhood of service. A joyous work.

Now it would be hard for anyone to have missed the news that former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, passed away at the age of 95 this week. I have always looked at the story of his rise from prisoner to president as an exemplification of the triumph of good ideas and compassion. Mandela's tenacity and persistence catalyzed not only the transformation of a nation, but it spread around the world as an inspiration to all of us. He said this, for to be free is not merely to cast off one's change, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy, and then he becomes your partner. I always remember the axiom: a leader is like a shepherd: He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they were directed from behind. Nelson Mandela, to my knowledge, was never a scout, but upon becoming president of South Africa in 1994,, Dr Mandela recognized the pioneering role of scouting in integrating South African society and he accepted the role as the association's patron. And under that patronage the scout movement made tremendous progress as one of the largest youth organizations in South Africa. You may not know it, but it was the South Africa Scout Association. In 1976.

That's 1976. Long before apartheid ended, they took the courageous and really unprecedented step of defying that unjust system and they opened their doors to all young South Africans in a single United Association, The South African Scouting Association exemplified brave, exemplified those points of the scout law that encourage us to treat everyone with dignity and to support the freedom of all people. Dr Mandela was awarded with the African Elephant Award, the highest scouting award given by the Africa Scout Committee on the African Continent. Scott Tier, who is the Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scouting Movement, said last week he is and will remain a great inspiration for all scouts around the world. Today, over 40 million scouts join the rest of the world in mourning for this great loss and we pray for his soul to rest in peace. Nelson Mandela's singleness of purpose under impossible odds has long been an inspiration for me and, I know, to many of you.

Born into a system that considered him a second-class citizen and denied him a voice, he spoke out. He rose from 27 years of hopelessness and indignity as a prisoner to the presidency of South Africa on the wings of a simple idea: Treat everyone fairly and make the world a better place. If anyone could have been bitter and vengeful, it would have been Nelson Mandela, but he exchanged bitterness and vengeance for an unprecedented program of peace and reconciliation. He's shown us, as scouts and as scouters, that one person's powerful potential can make the world a better place.

He's gone home now, but the fruits of his labor and his ideal of service and his commitment to peace and reconciliation will always remain with us. In 2000,, he was interviewed by Neil Mitchell and here's some of what he said: Children are the most important asset in any country. Any country that does not care for its children is not worth to be called a country. Sir, millions of people around the world regard you as their hero.

Who are your heroes? Well, my heroes are men and women, to whatever station in life they may be, who are committed to removing some of the most serious socioeconomic issues that affected the common people.

As long as there are men and women of Calibur who are sensitive to the suffering of the common person, this world will eventually be what we want it to be. In all continents, there are capable men and women, experienced, who are rising to the challenges which are posed by the numerous problems that affect humanity, And I'm confident that this world one day will be the type of world we all desire.

So it's up to you and I to be men and women of Calibur and to invest our time unstintingly with compassion to build the next generation.

That's what we do in scouting And the efforts that we make as scouters and what we will see the children who are our scouts now realize in their lifetimes will be well worth every minute we spend Music. Write me a letter, send it by name Email. That is, folks.

And here's an answer to one of your emails: Music. Rob Button is with Troop and Pack 46 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and he wrote in to say I love the podcast, blog and website chock full of resources, insight, wit and care. Can't even begin to count how many times in the last three months you've blogged or podcasted on the exact issue I was dealing with or thinking with about my troop. Let me stop there and observe that, yes, we're all in this together and these, everything that we encounter, somebody else's encountered before.

So it's not necessarily prescience or magic on my part, even though I do have agents everywhere. It's just that we are all in this together and there are always things that we're looking to know and problems that we're dealing with and challenges that we need to overcome, and you know that's why I'm here to help us all make that happen.

Rob went on to say: I do have a question: Have you talked about using the relationship between doing what scouts do and earning merit badges? I ask this because we're prepping for a high adventure experience this summer and it seems to make sense for the troop to incorporate earning backpacking, hiking and cooking merit badges into its planning.

Don't you think, If the boys are interested in doing this and can plan accordingly, is there any reason why this is a bad idea? Again, thanks for all you do and all the best.

Well, thanks, Rob, for being in touch, and that's a great question. Theoretically, it makes perfect sense to combine all this merit badge work with the activities that you have planned for the summer. But you need to be careful of putting the cart before the horse.

When you do High adventure, what does that mean? That's exciting and engaging. You're going to go do this great stuff. You're going to have wonderful challenges to overcome. You're going to have a great time. That's the horse, okay.

That's what's motivating the scouts. They're eager to plan and execute this adventure Merit badge work and advancement is the cart. Because they are participating in a high adventure trip, because they're doing the things that scouts do, They are naturally fulfilling requirements towards advancement. It's just a natural outcome of the activity and that's great.

Now if you announce that you are going to be- quote- doing merit badges- unquote- as a part of the adventure, then you're putting the cart before the horse. In my mind, Just let the natural course of this adventurous activity unfold. Tell scouts they may find it's a good opportunity to find a counselor and get a merit badge or two as they go through planning and executing this trip. But don't try to tie anything in the trip to doing requirements. Let the scouts sort that out for themselves.

Now, when I talk about this, it seems to be a very fine distinction. It doesn't seem to be all that important, but it is incredibly important. I'll tell you that this is not easy to get. It takes some thinking and it often takes changing the way that you approach things. Remember the cart and the horse.

We want the horse in front of the cart. The excitement, the engagement and the challenge of these adventures. The cart is the result of them.

Will they fulfill some requirements? Well, yeah, Are they doing it to fill requirements? No, they're doing it because it's a great thing to do. I hope that helps, Rob. This is not an easy concept to get. Once you do, things go sailing right along.

Scouts advance. They get merit badges and everything just in the same amount that they would if you started with the merit badge and you put that cart before the horse, It really really works. Rich Billion is with Apple Valley, Minnesota, Troop 298, and he wrote in to say this. I've been a Scoutmaster for about a year. I've been reading your blog and listening to podcasts for about a month.

We have a new committee chair and both of us feel we need to instill or install the patrol method more solidly in our troop. From what I can tell from your material is that this may be a several year process.

Is there any way to do it faster? I'll get to that. I'll get to that. Another question: Rich says it seems that boys go through a cycle.

The first years are exciting and then there's a lull which tends to happen when they enter high school. Then they seem to come back into it again. Any tips on keeping them involved would be much appreciated.

I think the patrol method would probably do a lot for this. Well thanks, Rich for being in touch, and I got to tell you as a new Scoutmaster. You're asking all the right questions. Implementing the patrol system is a never ending process. We never arrive, We just keep moving forward.

There's never really a point where you stop and say we are now a youth led patrol system troop, because there's always another stop and another challenge waiting for you. This is usually the single most difficult thing for adults involved in scouting to figure out.

We tend to look for results, for something we can quantify or point to and call progress, but the target keeps moving. We also tend to look at things from an adult perspective rather than a scout perspective. The scale of challenges and accomplishments look different depending on your perspective. You have to look at what's going on from a scout's point of view and that's not easy to do at first. Rich also said- funny thing, by the way- sometimes I learn more from scouts than they learned from me. I've been thinking about the patrol method and all that for a long time.

I was talking to my son and asking him why he isn't excited as he has been in the past. He told me that there tends to be too much adult participation, especially on campouts. Rich, what your son is giving you is that scout perspective. He sees things that could be different. He has a pretty instinctual sense that there are things that he and his fellow scouts could or should be doing, but they can't quite figure out what to do next. You'll also see that when scouts reach this point, you found the same thing I have.

It happens when they enter high school around age 14.. They decide that they've had enough of scouts. It was fun, but there's really no challenge left. What your son and these older scouts are looking for is the chance to do something meaningful and to take on a challenge, and leading the troop is the challenge they're looking for Now. We adults are obviously better leaders and instructors.

We've been around longer, We have more experience and we're smarter. But when we lead and instruct the scouts, they just stand and watch, and that's what your son sees too much adult involvement. What you have to do is let them lead, Let the scouts lead. You have to get out of the way and keep all the other adults out of the way too.

There's so much to say about what you've asked, Rich, that I hope you'll keep listening. I hope you'll keep reading and keep asking questions. You're asking all the right ones right now. The next email question will be anonymous and it says: in this month's scouting magazine they talk about boards of review and it talks about who can sit on the board of review.

Now I can't seem to find the statement made in scouting magazine anywhere in the Guide to Advancement 2013.. For our boards of review, we usually have folks who know about scouting and at least one committee member. I'm sure there's been a time or two when no committee members have been available.

We can't see not conducting a board of review for a scout who's ready and making them wait just because we don't have it together and we don't have the right folks there. Do I go with what scouting magazine states about this Or with what the Guide to Advancement says? I can understand your confusion there.

I think, having read the statement in a scouting magazine about who sits on a board of review and reading what the Guide to Advancement says, they're perfectly consistent, Because you're not actually doing what the Guide to Advancement says. The scouting magazine statement seems to be a little out of sync or out of kilter.

So let's talk briefly about who's supposed to be a member of a board of review. It needs to have no fewer than three members and no more than six, All who have to be at least 21 years of age. By the way, this is all coming straight out of the Guide to Advancement 2013.. Unit leaders and assistants do not serve on a board of review for their own unit. Parents or guardians don't serve on a board for their son, The candidate, or his parents or guardians don't have any part in selecting board of review members.

So the board's made up of three to six unit committee members, and the Guide to Advancement 2013 says no more and no less. So three to six, And it does say this. In units with fewer than three registered committee members available to serve, it is permissible to use knowledgeable parents- not those of the candidate, of course- or other adults, registered or not, who are at least 21 years of age and who understand Boy Scouting's aims. Using unregistered adults for boards of review must be the exception, though, and not the rule. Registered committee members familiar with the unit program, who have had a background check and who are youth protection trained are preferred. Scheduling boards of review, when and where committee members can attend, usually alleviates this problem of not having enough committee members for the board.

In the case where you don't have enough registered committee members to sit on a board of review, yes, you can substitute some people in, but that should be. That should be the exception to the rule and most of the time, if we just fix the schedule a little bit and we plan those boards of review which I recommend you know you should have every month, you should have a date for those boards of review and get people signed up to sit on them, Then then we're making some progress and you're coming in line with the policies and procedures of the BSA. I would love to hear from you with your question that I can answer here on the podcast. You can get in touch with me. You'll find out how to do that in just a moment.

But I want to reemphasize: especially when I'm talking about policies and procedures like this, you need to check anything that I say against the official resources that are available to us all. The guide to advancement 2013 is freely available as a PDF document. Every single scouter should have it and should have looked through it. You're probably not going to read through it, but you should have it on hand to answer these questions when they come up. And as you go along, you'll get a little more experience, a little more familiar with where to find things and how to resolve these things and getting the kind of philosophy of how scout advancement works down.

So make sure that you test everything that I say against what it says in all of the resources that are offered by the scout association that you're working with. That's something that you want to make sure to do, no matter who you're listening to. Make sure that it's in the resources, then you'll be sure to get it right