From <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Fri Mar 27 17:42:33 1998 Return-Path: <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Received: from tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (TCUAVM.IS.TCU.EDU [138.237.128.148]) by cap1.CapAccess.org (8.6.12/8.6.10) with SMTP id RAA15189 for ; Fri, 27 Mar 1998 17:42:33 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 3265; Fri, 27 Mar 98 14:29:56 CDT Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 1777; Fri, 27 Mar 1998 14:31:10 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 8334 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU; Fri, 27 Mar 1998 14:27:33 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM (NJE origin SMTP@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 8333; Thu, 26 Mar 1998 17:24:29 -0500 Received: from atl1.america.net by tcubvm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Thu, 26 Mar 98 17:24:25 CDT Received: from LOCALNAME (max5-57.america.net [209.17.204.57]) by atl1.america.net (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id SAA07882; Thu, 26 Mar 1998 18:22:55 -0500 (EST) X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0Gold (Win16; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: <351B1D55.19EE@waga.net> Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 19:30:29 -0800 Reply-To: Barry Griffin Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List From: Barry Griffin Subject: Re: Looking for Help w/ DisCOURTEOUS Scouts X-To: BARaver To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Status: RO X-Status: D All troops have problems from time to time. One question to think about. At your last troop comittee meeting, how many parents where there? Was the problem mentioned? Does your patrol leaders council fuction? Our PLC put out a set of rules that are catagorized by the points of the Scout Law. (I got this idea from the Koshare, Troop 232) The rules put in booklet form had places for parents and scouts to sign promising to follow the rules. The PLC approved the rules before submission. This worked well for a while then Christmas break came. After the new year things began to discentigrate. Parents stopped showing up at comittee meetings and scouts got rioter. One night the local paper came to visit our meeting to take a picture of our 12 life scouts. They were not suppose to be there until 8:00pm. The meeting started at 7:00pm. I had called all the scouts a told them to wear class 'A' for the picture. None of the Life Scouts where in class 'A'. All but one was in Scout shirt. I was not happy about this. Well, the paper came at 7:00pm. It was kaos. They took the picture and got some info and left. I told everyone to be seated, then I let them have it. The first thing I ask. "Are you a Scout?" Then told them how rude they where. Some of the scouts are very close to Eagle. I told them that there would be no Boards of Review until things changed. That patrol meetings were to be patrol meetings and not races in the hall etc. I wanted to see every scout in class 'A' uniform on every activity unless told otherwise by me. "You could have heard a pin drop", one of the parents said. My senior patrol leader said I couldn't hold us back for that reason. I told him: Scout Spirit is one of the most important requirements and they were going to show it to advance. I told our IH what I did, I figured he would get some calls, He agreed with me. At the next comittee meeting there were 10 parents there. Some weren't happy. The ones that were there every week supported me and by the end of the meeting they all did. O tis bliss now............... We may actually have 12 Eagle this year. 12 new scouts just joined, 10 from webelos, and things are going smooth. It's not 100% Class 'A' yet but close. Other adults are even wearing class 'A' now. Scouts that didn't care about advancement before, now do. YIS&B Barry Griffin |<--^--<| Skattek Eagle is not the badge, it's the person. Is it me yet? "A' http://www.america.net/~bgrif138/troop138.htm "Don't wait to be a great man. Be a great boy." Buck Burshears Koshare P.S. Thanks Joe Clay for the Koshare handbook. From <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Fri Mar 27 17:42:52 1998 Return-Path: <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Received: from tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (TCUAVM.IS.TCU.EDU [138.237.128.148]) by cap1.CapAccess.org (8.6.12/8.6.10) with SMTP id RAA15245 for ; Fri, 27 Mar 1998 17:42:52 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 3284; Fri, 27 Mar 98 14:48:30 CDT Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 1886; Fri, 27 Mar 1998 14:49:49 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 7741 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU; Fri, 27 Mar 1998 14:44:31 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM (NJE origin SMTP@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 7740; Thu, 26 Mar 1998 14:31:57 -0500 Received: from spot.Colorado.EDU by tcubvm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Thu, 26 Mar 98 14:31:44 CDT Received: from ucpd24 (ucpd24.Colorado.EDU [128.138.115.24]) by spot.Colorado.EDU (8.8.5/8.8.4/CNS-4.1p) with SMTP id NAA25998; Thu, 26 Mar 1998 13:29:49 -0700 (MST) X-Sender: amick@spot.colorado.edu X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980326133113.011874d0@spot.colorado.edu> Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 13:31:13 -0500 Reply-To: Bob Amick Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List From: Bob Amick Subject: Re: Looking for Help w/ DisCOURTEOUS Scouts X-To: BARaver To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L In-Reply-To: Status: RO X-Status: Behavior problems such as this are often a youthful response to an unstructured and disorganized or boring environment which may be in serious need of repair if it is too appeal to their interests. Thus, such issues are often best solved by the folks who are perceived to be responsible for the problem. Some young folks lack some basic courtesies, and the awareness that they are even creating problems. This may be due to a variety of causes, where such behaviors are tolerated or ignored, or even encouraged; some at home and others at school or their environment in general. Some years ago, I observed a similar situation where there were a series of concerns about a troop and the way things were going. So the PLC & SM staff called a "town meeting" of all Scouts and posed the questions to them in a "roundtable setting." By this, I mean that everyone sat in a circle facing each other with a dynamic moderator (an assistant Scoutmaster who was well liked and respected by the scouts, and had great humor and communications skills; an older scout with similar skills could also fill this role). The roundtable setting creates a sense of equality and presence since there is no perceived "hierarchy" or anonymity that occurs in "rank and file" seating. The mood is enhanced by providing pizza (or other food) and beverages (this often makes a huge difference in mood improvement and stimulates positive involvement..We always use it for staff meetings at work,too; and I am amazed at the difference it makes in the attitude of those present). The questions are developed before hand by the PLC and SM staff posed in an "open-ended format" such as "what do you like about the troop and the way we do things?" (start on positive note) and then (still positive) "If you could change some things, what would they be, and how do you think they can best be changed?" You will probably get answers like, "the troop is disorganized" or "we don't do enough fun stuff" or the "meetings are boring." All of which may point to a possible problem of not having a dynamic and exciting program at each meeting which in turn begets horseplay and noisy distractions created by folks who do not have active roles. (Scouting should have as many "hands on" opportunities for each Scout as possible; It is not a "spectator sport." If a youth is busy doing something for fun, he will not have time to be a distraction or cause trouble.) The moderator asks each scout in the circle for input, and a scribe records the answers on newsprint. If someone does not have a comment, they say "pass." It is important to keep the input lively and fast, and allow the comments to act as a catalyst for other comments. There are "no bad ideas or comments," and the moderator should make sure that everyone understands the rules of participation and controls the group positively. When the topic is adequately addressed, or answers are waning, the moderator moves on. So, the process continues until everyone has had a chance to have input. The questions and answers are listed on newsprint posters and pasted up on the wall. Then the youth do a "straw vote" to see what the most important topics were, and pick the best solutions for the problems, that they feel they could live with and agree to. Essentially, by empowering the youth to assess their problems and to take ownership in dealing with them, you can effectively solve most issues. Those who are still creating problems, can then best be dealt with by their peers, because a majority has agreed as to what the desired behavior and procedure for conducting meetings will be. One of the really surprising developments was how vocal the new Scouts (former webelos) members were in the process. They had been reluctant to say anything until they were provided with this forum and then you couldn't slow them down! They had a lot to say and came up with some really good ideas that amazed the older Scouts and kind of "stirred them into action." After the process is over, you have to do periodic rechecks and keep your notes on the event to be sure you "stay on course." And if it isn't working, you may need to repeat the process to review what is and isn't working and make changes as needed. All of this of course takes "care and feeding" to remind folks of what was decided and to keep them focused on what they decided, but with positive reinforcement, often will be very successful in solving some problems. As an aid to developing a strong and exciting meeting/activity program agenda in Exploring we do a program interest survey and brainstorm with all members about things they would like to do; then we list those on newsprint charts, and let the youth vote on them in order of preference; then they pick the ones they are most interested in doing and calendar them for future events.This can easily be adapted to the troop program planning process. By publicizing each exciting meeting activity on the troop calendar, the youth can then look forward to activities and events they have had input on choosing and helping to present, so they again have the ownership and involvement as an active player in the program they are responsible for. This may or may not be a solution to your particular situation, but we had very good luck with it and use it whenever such concerns arise. Bob Amick, Explorer Advisor, High Adventure Explorer Post 72/SES 72, Boulder, CO Longs Peak Council Exploring Training Chair At 09:54 PM 3/25/98 -0500, you wrote: >> >> >Can you offer any suggestions on working this group of Scouts toward more >productive use of meeting time? >