This video cast explores how the program can support youth development in different way than sports or academic programs.
Show Notes:
- Facing and Overcoming Challenges (Scouting Wire)
Photo by whereslugo on Unsplash
Transcript:
The scouting program is not like what you see on the Norman Rockwell poster.
Boys enter the program for many different reasons. Some love the camping experience, some are there because their friends are there, and some join because they are not part of organized sports.
But while boys are all there for different reasons, there are some that need the program more than just another activity in their young lives.
I’ve had boys over the years that came into the troop who were unsure of themselves. Couldn’t look at adults, or even other kids, never mind speaking out loud to them.
And for some boys, their family life is filled with transient role models, and parents that berate them to such an extent that it borders on child abuse.
Most of these boys are not going to be your superstars. They aren’t going on to military service, or even in some cases college.
But what the scouting program gives to these boys is immeasurable.
This is one area where the scouting program is unique. In sports, there is a great culling, as kids get older, the slower, weaker, meeker children simply drop out of the program. This can also be true with educational programs, and other extracurricular activities.
Scouting can give these boys a home where they can grow. If guided properly, they can do this through effective use of the patrol method. They contribute by being part of a goal-oriented team.
Giving these boys a non-confrontational space to learn to do for themselves, and sometimes do for others.
As scout leaders you can help this journey by giving them troop positions that enforce servant leadership. Scribe, Webmaster, Quartermaster, Librarian, Historian. These are great positions to contribute. Not everyone is a leader, but everyone can contribute if given the opportunity.
This can also be assisted by the forming and crafting of patrols, building on the strengths of some and the weaknesses of others.
While we generally like to keep core patrols together, sometimes it’s not possible. A patrol cannot work effectively if it has only 3 boys or has grown to 10 boys.
Every few years, this affords us an opportunity to move some boys between patrols in a thoughtful way. At first, the boys might not be happy. But after a campout or two they always adjust.
Moving some of your A – players around, and letting your B and C players grow makes the troop stronger. The same is true in reverse. If you have boys that always butt heads or have a different temperament, this is a good opportunity to normalize the group for the greater good. But this is what works for us.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together.
I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this was Boys the need the Scouting Program.
