Differences or Dysfunction?

Scout units,like families, have their traditions.

Visit ten different homes at Christmastime – each one will have some interesting family tradition peculiar to themselves yet, most likely, there will be several common threads. Like making coffee the exact method is not as important as the result – whether prepared by perking, dripping, steeping in a French press the result was a cup of coffee.

Packs, Troops and Crews all play by the same rules and use the same program but each has a unique character.

There are benign differences in style or emphasis that may suit one Scout and not another.

Indeed these differences are the genius of Scouting – a decentralized movement adaptable to local conditions.

There are also dysfunctions. When clearly expressed policy is ignored, when safety or propriety is routinely compromised, when the the program is altered to suit someone’s warped idea of Scouting action should be taken to correct the situation. How does one judge a difference from a dysfunction?

Perhaps a good place to start is testing the unit’s program against the promises of Scouting see Building a Program . If something is seriously amiss action is required.

Discussing the difficulty among the unit’s leadership is a good start. If resolution can’t be reached it may be time to involve the chartered partner or Unit Commissioner.

Given enough time we will all encounter something in the way Scouting is presented by somewhere that rub us the wrong way. At that point we should count to ten and ask if the offending practice simply a benign difference or a dysfunction that requires intervention.