Handling physical fights between Scouts

? ‘What Would You Do?’ AKA ‘Front Line Stuff’ question for the next issue of Scouting Magazine ; During free time on a recent troop camp-out, a Scout from the Fox patrol thought it would be fun to steal the Rattlesnake patrol’s flag. One boy punched the other, and the fisticuffs continued for several minutes. In the aftermath, I want to know how other troops handle physical fights. How do they prevent them, and what actions do they take if one occurs?

Scoutmaster D.S.

Chicago, Ill. My Answer: Scouts who have engaged in a physical fight need plenty of time to calm down and think things out. They must accept that they acted inappropriately, renew their commitment to using words rather than fists to resolve problems and set things to rights by apologizing to all involved. This could take minutes or days but it has to happen before they can return.

Since a fight is a public spectacle so are the apologies. I’ll bet there were words flying before the punches were. When Troop leadership, youth and adult, are committed to an atmosphere of mutual respect and effective conflict resolution arguments will rarely escalate to physical fighting.