Scoutmaster Podcast 319

I am Daniel Desjardins, I'm Brian Bluen and I am a Scoutmaster. We threw four, two, six in london Derry, New Hampshire, And I am a cut master with pack three, two, eight, five out of Rockford, Michigan. This edition of the Scoutmaster podcast is sponsored by backers like us.

And now see you, Scoutmaster. We try to do our best to keep you up on the quantum physics of scouting, and You know the frontiers in scouting philosophy.

And here's one that that has come to light recently: a schrodinger's Feast. You might be familiar with Schrodinger's cat, But Bill McFarland, who is the Scoutmaster of true pavement, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, pointed out that food cooked by scouts can be What we would call a schrodinger's feast. It may be burnt or raw, It may be in one of those two conditions, but that condition is not always observable, because the food is Covered with ashes or leaves or some other foreign matter.

So it remains in a superposition, being both burnt and raw, until someone dares to eat it.

Alright, yes, Hey, this is podcast number 319. Welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green.

Let's take a look in the venerable mail bag, Shall we? Oh, this one is kind of an anonymous message. I contacted you some time back about a serious bullying issue in our troop. In the end, We decided that the parents would handle the punitive aspects of the situation involving their sons, And we focused on the fact that they're both young and they're allowed to make mistakes And and we didn't want the troop to issue any kind of punishments or anything like that. You'll be glad to know that our district unit, commissioner, pretty much shared your philosophy and was instrumental in guiding us to a Resolution that we all thought was appropriate. Thanks for all you do.

For a scouter, It's great to have resources. It's great to have a resource full of wisdom and experience. Wisdom and experience, I mean, I don't know, maybe not as much wisdom as just experience. Here's another reply.

I think when we first talked about this on the podcast, I made an anonymous, so the reply remains anonymous as well. While back, I got in touch with you to tell you our scouts did not seem to be at all interested in positions of responsibility, That they got out of them as soon as they've satisfied the advancement requirements. After we corresponded, I decided that I would take your suggestion and do some modeling. I became the senior patrol leader for a couple of meetings. I didn't just take over a talk to my scouts ahead of time, Told them what I was up to and what I was hoping this experience would give them.

I had a patrol leaders council meeting immediately following and there was some good feedback. One parent relayed that their son told me there was something different about that meeting. It felt like a good meeting and I had fun.

Thanks for the advice and I'll let you know how things turn out in a couple of weeks After the scouts have had a chance to follow some of the behaviors I modeled for them. So yeah, that was an interesting situation, if I remember correctly and at sometimes to get things moving, You have to model some of the behaviors you want to see in your youth leaders.

You have to actually show them how it works and talk to talk them through it, in the same way that you would show Somebody with your own hands how you would tie a square knot and then you would hand them their open, say: okay, Show me what you can do with it, Showing them by example how things are supposed to happen. That can be very helpful. Every week we try and have a live chat session or two. These are usually Tuesday and Wednesday mornings over at scoutmasterscgcom. If you'll keep an eye on our Facebook feed and our Twitter feed, You'll see an announcement that we're there and we're having a live chat and lots and lots of people show up And we talk about all kinds of things.

So watch for those announcements. Come over and join us at scoutmasterscgcom for a live chat.

We didn't have anybody new to the chat show up last week, but we have plenty of people come and sign in. Come on and join. It's a lot of fun.

Now, if you're a regular reader and listener, and the resources that I've created have helped you, Here's how you can return the favor. You can support the podcast by making a one-time payment and become a scoutmasterscgcom Backer, or you can make a subscription payment via patreon by pledging five dollars or more a month. There are special premiums available to anybody who becomes a backer or a patron. It's very simple to do and this is what I need you to do this week: Go to scoutmasterscgcom, Right at the top of the page.

You'll see a menu and on that menu there's a support link and there's a be a patron link. Try them both out, see which is going to work for you. And while I'm on the subject. Let me personally thank David Pesic and Bill McFarland, who both have become patrons since last week's podcast. Become a patron or a backer this week and I'll thank you personally on next week's podcast. I hope you enjoyed the last couple of podcasts with author of the troop leaders guide, volume 1 and 2, Mark Ray and Our pal Walter Underwood and myself.

I had a lot of fun talking with those guys. I think Mark has created some really Cornerstone resources that you want to make sure to get ahold of.

So check out podcast 317 and 318 and Catch up on that if you haven't listened to it already. Those discussions filled up both of the last podcast And that means that we've got some email questions to answer this week and that's going to take up the remainder of this podcast.

So let's get started, shall we? Send it by me

Email. That is folks.

And here's an answer to one of your emails. Well, the first couple of email questions will remain anonymous, at the sender's request. The first one reads this way: When our Scoutmaster has a conference with a scout, They tend to run from 30 to 60 minutes because the Scoutmaster is testing the scout on the requirements. He's also failed scouts who weren't able to demonstrate the different skills like not tying during a Scoutmaster's conference. From my understanding and what I have read and heard you say, this is not the right approach.

How should we correct what the Scoutmaster is doing with these conferences? Well, you're quite correct. Scoutmaster conferences are discussed very clearly in the guide to advancement. I'll have a link to the guide to advancement reference in the podcast notes, But under the heading four, point two, point three, point five: unit leader or Scoutmaster conferences. The guide reads this way: quote: the unit leader or Scoutmaster conference, regardless of rank or program, is Conducted according to the guidelines in the troop leader guidebook. Note that a scout must participate or take part in one.

It is not a test. Requirements do not say he must pass a conference. While it makes sense to hold a conference after other Requirements for rank or met, it is not required that it be the last step before the border review. The conference is not a retest of the requirements upon which the scout has been signed off. It is a forum for discussing topics such as ambitions, life purpose and goals for future achievement, for counseling And also for obtaining feedback on the unit's program Unquote.

So one of the first things you'll read in the guide to advancement is this quote: No council committee, district, unit or individual has the authority to add to or subtract from advancement requirements. So the nature of the conference is explained unambiguously and Changing it into a retest is adding to the requirement and as a Scoutmaster You can't do that because no council committee, district, unit or individual can add to or subtract from the advancement requirements. There's a lot of good reference material in the troop leader guidebook, that first volume about Scoutmaster conferences. That is where it would be explained in more detail exactly what goes on at a conference. But, as you can see very unambiguously, it is not a test. You don't sit down for 30 to 60 minutes and retest a scout on the requirements.

So the second question is: how do you get the Scoutmaster to conduct conferences as they're supposed to be conducted? And the answer depends on what your role is in the troop and your relationship to the Scoutmaster.

If they're Reasonably approachable and you have a friendly relationship, You might want to try sharing the information that I've sent you with them, as well as pointing them to the guide to Advancement as a resource for making sure all of the troops advancement practices are aligned with the policies and procedures in the guide. It makes sense, right? The committee chair and the chartering organization Represent, however, are the folks in the administrative structure of the troop who are responsible to direct the Scoutmaster to align their Practices with national policies.

Now, in my experience, I'd guess, if the Scoutmaster conferences are being conducted as you describe, There may be any number of other things that need to be examined and aligned with the guide to advancement. So just to be clear, none of this is a matter of opinion or a differences style or anything like that. This is a very clearly delineated policy with specific instructions about how we conduct the program. Scoutmaster Conferences are simply not a retest. I'll end this answer by reminding everybody There are four steps to advancement: a scout learns, a scout is tested, a scout is reviewed and a scout is Recognized. Scoutmaster conferences are a part of the review process.

They're not a part of the testing process. The testing process happens When the scout demonstrates the requirement and gets it signed off in his book once again. This next email question- No question- remains anonymous.

It says this: we have a large troops. Our Scoutmaster is having difficulty getting through a large number of Conferences and signing merit badge cards.

Can an assistant Scoutmaster do both of these things? Well, I did a quick check of the resources.

So the guide to advancement, the troop leaders guidebook, and it doesn't shed a lot of light on this particular question. I don't see any absolute statement that this must be the Scoutmaster.

In either case, I think if you look at the function of the conference and the blue card- and both are simply a personal review With the scout of the applicable issues- I think this could be delegated to a well-trained assistant Scoutmaster in times when the load is heavy and Scouts are left waiting now, that being said, an average Scoutmaster conference should last maybe five to ten minutes, and Signing a blue card has never taken me more than, you know, a couple of minutes. So you might want to do a little audit of exactly what's happening during a Scoutmaster's conference or signing a blue card And once again make sure you're aligning your practices with what the directions are in the guide to advancement, And maybe that solves the problem.

Okay, our third email comes from Rob Keane And he said: is it customary for a committee chair to require the senior patrol leader to attend committee meetings. We have a new committee chair whose older son was a member of a different troop. That required the senior patrol leader to attend Committee meetings. Our past practice has been to have the senior patrol leader submit a report through the Scoutmaster and Only to invite them to attend if there was a specific purpose for them to be there. I have a couple of concerns about Requiring the senior patrol leader to attend all committee meetings because sometimes the committee discusses sensitive issues That should not be overheard by a youth member and the senior patrol leader is already got a pretty heavy schedule of troop meetings, The patrol leaders council and outings.

So I'm asking your thoughts: Is this a standard practice? Well, Rob, I can't recall any advice in any of the literature I've looked at where it's recommended that the senior patrol leader attend Troop committee meetings.

I mean, I understand what the point would be, but I think maybe it's just taking things a little too far. My understanding has always been that the Scoutmaster is the go-between for the committee and the patrol leaders council. I don't really see any need at all for youth leaders to attend the committee meetings And I would echo the same concerns that you had about.

You know, at committee meetings Things could be discussed that are not necessarily for their ears, And they already have a pretty heavy schedule of stuff. Plus, there are parts of making sure that the troop is up and running and Facilitating things that are clearly up to adults, and that's what happens at committee meetings. Email number four is anonymous to, and it says: I'm one of the first camping trips I attended with my son's troop.

All the adults stepped away late one evening And then one of them took out a bottle and passed it around and everybody had a little swig. This also happened at a second camp out later on.

What's your take on this, Yikes? Well, I'll tell you my take doesn't really matter.

Here's what the BSA says in the guide to safe scouting, quote: It is the policy of the Boy Scouts of America that the use of alcoholic beverages and controlled Substances is not permitted at encampments or activities on property owned and or operated by The Boy Scouts of America, or at any activity involving the participation of youth members. Unquote.

So that should pretty much clear things up, right? Yeah, there's no judgment call here. There's no opinion here, very, very clear.

And if this is going on, if adults volunteering for a scout troop are bringing alcohol along on camp outs like this- and I don't care How much it is because it really doesn't matter- then I think it's kind of incumbent upon you to go to the sponsoring organization and let them know this is going on. If I was in their position, I would want to know that the adults I had entrusted with the care Of children on a camping trip were drinking. I'd also add that, as a former camp director And having dealt with this kind of issue in the past, if you're doing this on BSA property And it comes to light, you're going to get a one-way ticket out of that camp And the scout council takes these types of things extraordinarily seriously.

I mean, understand, okay, I'm no prude- but if you're in direct supervision of scouts, Beyond the idea that this is very specifically prohibited by policy, It's just a really foolish thing to do, isn't it Okay? So here is email number five, and it is guess what- anonymous.

Here's what it says: my stepson is a scout. We have a good relationship And I want to do what I can do to help him. His Scoutmaster told me that he's very good at scouting, But he seems to be a complete loner. I don't think he knows all the names of the other boys in his patrol. The other scouts avoid him. He doesn't really seem to have any friends.

So should I just leave things as they are or try to make him more social Or encourage him to leave scouts and go on to something not as group oriented Or what have you? What else?

What other advice would you have? Well, when I read your question, I guess I was thinking about how weird and difficult It was at times to be 11 to 14 years old.

Do you remember that? It was kind of confusing and difficult at times.

I know, for me at least and most of the other people that I've ever talked to, They had their moments and I think most guys start to kind of get over themselves once they are Around 15 years old. But between 10 and 15 there's a lot going on And it isn't all necessarily pretty. What you and his Scoutmaster think he needs, What he wants and what he actually needs are probably three different things From what I can tell. All of our scouts want people who care about them, Who aren't judgmental and really know how to listen.

Now, men are not usually very good at being non-judgmental or listening particularly well. I mean we care, of course, but sometimes we find that hard to express sincerely.

Now I'm a stepfather too. There were things I could do for my stepson and there were parts of his life that I really couldn't touch.

I mean we got along and we have a good relationship. Today, Being a stepparent it's very similar to being a parent, but it's there's there's some differences.

So I haven't really given you a real answer here, except to accept maybe your stepson is a pretty Normal kid, maybe going through a phase, maybe experiencing some angst or pain. I think if I was him, I would just want to know that you were in my corner, That you were willing to listen and maybe not say too much back That was either judgmental or telling me that I have to change.

I think if you show me how to be a friend when I'm that age, If you, as his stepfather, show him that in your relationship, If you reach out and you try to be a friend, he'll probably follow your example with other people. I've gotten the watch.

Two or three hundred boys go from 10 well into adulthood now, Those years between 10 and 15. You know, there's times in every parent's life Where you might just absolutely be in despair about something, about your child during those Years.

But I'll tell you something, almost without exception: it all gets better, they move on, So take a deep breath. I hope that helps everybody. Hey, listen, I'd love to hear from you with your comments and questions, And I'm going to tell you how to get in touch with me in just a moment.