Keeping Older Scouts Engaged on ScoutmasterCG Archive

B.P.'s Blog - Retention of Older Scouts

Fri, 01 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

At the age of fourteen out boys finish their schooling in three R’s, and are then supposed to be sufficiently grounded educationally to specialize for a particular line in life and, after making their choices, to take up the required form of training in the continuation or the technical school. But how many of them do this? Less than half. The remainder take up some occupation that gives them immediate pay, without regards to what it is going to hive them later on. This is not economizing out country’s future man-power or mind-power, nor does it help the boys’ personal prospects and happiness later on in life. If we are going to win the war after the war we have got to put into practice the strictest economy in the prevention of human waste.

Ten Practices for Retaining Older Scouts

Wed, 09 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Put a few Scoutmasters in a room and eventually the talk will turn to retaining older boys. They will speak ruefully of how they are loosing their older Scouts to car keys and girl friends, how Troops struggle to keep them interested and involved. Not every Troop has this problem though – what keeps their older Scouts actively interested?

The older Scouts run the Troop. They have real, uncoerced, independent responsibility for the welfare of the Troop’s program. They own their triumphs and failures.

B-P's Blog - Transition

Sun, 10 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

I HAVE lately been renewing my youthful experiences in seeing my boy pass up from his Preparatory to his Public School, and it brought back memories of half a century ago when I left my happy nest in the small school where I was a somebody to find myself a stranger and a worm under the foot of a mass of bigger boys in the big community at Charterhouse. The Master and Dame whom I had left had been father and mother to me; the new masters were many, and in an orbit far above me, overlooking a crowd of boys, assisted by energetic but unsympathetic monitors. Had my translation to the bigger school been optional to me I should never have gone there, or at any rate I should not have stopped there long. Well, I can’t help thinking it is rather like this, in some cases, where Wolf Cubs go up into their Scout Troop. For very similar reasons too often they have no desire to go up, or if they go they slack off and leave the Troop. It is a point which Scoutmasters and their Assistants and, particularly, their Patrol Leaders should study; and they should aim to make things easy for the young Tender-foot. A little extra sympathy and help to him just at first repays itself in stopping leakage, and is after all part of their job as brother Scouts.

What is Scouting Fun?

Sun, 09 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

We can all agree that Scouting is fun, right? What is Scouting fun, and what isn’t?

Young people are in Scouting because they crave an honest challenge. They don’t need any more “bread and circuses” (benefits or entertainments intended to placate discontent or distract attention).

Scouts love to learn, but don’t like to be educated; Scouts like to work hard, but dislike being driven; Scouts strive to achieve, but at their own speed. An “honest” challenge isn’t a canned experience or spectator event.

Fun

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“We want to make our program fun.”

I hear this repeated often by adult and youth leadership in Scouting; fun, fun , fun. If the Scouts don’t have fun they won’t stay in scouting. But what kind of fun are they really looking for?

I contend that boys are in Scouting not because they want more bread and circuses ( benefits or entertainments intended to placate discontent or distract attention) but because they crave an honest challenge. They love to learn, but hate to be educated; to work hard, but dislike being driven; to achieve, but despise regimentation.

Scoutmaster Minute - Fuzzy or Focused?

Tue, 08 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a Scoutmaster minute idea for your notebook: If you visit the archery range at camp this summer (and you should!) you’ll get the opportunity to shoot an arrow at a target. If you shoot six arrows at the target how many do you think will hit the bull’s-eye?

Before you answer; an archer shooting in Olympic-level competition gets about 70-80% of their arrows in the bull’s-eye. How many of you will aim your arrow at the upper right hand corner of the target? How many of you will aim at the third circle in the target? How many of you will aim at the bull’s-eye? Of course you are going to aim at the bull’s-eye on the target! And you will keep aiming at the bull’s-eye whether your arrows hit it or not, right? By a show of hands how many of you are aimed at becoming an Eagle Scout?

Webelos to Scouts

Thu, 14 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Successfully transitioning Webelos into a Scout Troop is a perennial process that merits some discussion. This transition is one of the more administratively overwrought subjects in Scouting – lots of heat and little light. Our success in bringing Webelos into our Troop is based on some simple concepts; The transition is the responsibility of the Troop in general and the Scoutmaster in particular.

Maintain an ongoing relationship with Scout Packs and Webelos Dens; Providing Den Chiefs, supporting outdoor events and inviting Webelos to one or two Troop Outings over the course of the year.

Webelos Retention

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Webelos, or any boy for that matter, who join a Troop may leave within the first year for any number of reasons.

While the shifting alliances and interests of adolescence are beyond the control of any Scoutmaster; there are some important steps one can take.

Recognize Relationships. Don’t assume that because Webelos join a Troop as a Den that they should all remain together as a group. A discussion with the Den Leader and or the Den Chief will help decide which Webelos will work well together and which will do better if they are separated. The Patrol Question Many Troops use the New Scout Patrol plan successfully. We have adapted some of the concepts of the plan with a few changes.

Webelos Visits to Troop Meetings

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

When Webelos and their parents visit one of our meetings we send the Webelos to our Senior Patrol leader who sees that they are welcomed and join in the activities. The parents meet with myself and a couple of Assistant Scoutmasters.

I used to have a set program for visiting parents.

I would sit with them and go through some standard information and answer questions. Then I would ask the ASM’s to do a pre-arranged talk about some aspect of the Troop program. We even did a couple of multi-media presentations last year.

Webelos Crossover - Every Scoutmaster Should Read This

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

This email about one Webelos crossover to a troop needs little introduction or explanation, but one part bears repeating; Clarke – I recently stumbled across your podcast and blog.

I have been listening my way through the podcast archive.

I just listened to one show about visiting Webelos. As a new assistant Scoutmaster and patrol advisor I wanted to share a story with you.

I was never a Scout but my two boys (age 11 and 9) joined Cub Scouts as Tigers and have enjoyed the experience almost as much as I have. My oldest just received his Arrow of Light and crossed over into Boy Scouts. In fact his whole den (8 of them) selected the same Troop and I think the story behind how that happened is worth telling. We come from a healthy Pack (nearly 100 Cubs) in Southern California with three Webelos II dens ready to move into Boy Scouts. We have about a dozen troops in the area. We went to lots of meetings, some outings and a Webelos roundtable that reminded me of a job fair. At one troop we visited the Webelos got to try out a catapult the Scouts lashed together and enjoyed some good old-fashioned dutch oven cooking. The impression was positive with the exception of my son who overheard an older Scout refer to the Webelos as their new “slaves”. The Scout was joking of course but my son was put off by the remark. Our den went on a campout and slept out in tents with another troop. They met with this troop several times and the meetings were mostly boring. One troop with a tremendous reputation and alumni from our Pack was high on the parents ‘wish list’. But they did little to welcome our Webelos. When we asked if they had anything planned for visiting Webelos they said “well, all our meetings are open house events and you can show up anytime”. The Webelos who did meet with that troop said they mostly sat around and watched as the Scouts tied knots. They weren’t impressed. The troop who put on the dutch oven/catapult event invited us to a campout in January. My son wasn’t too thrilled since his last experience with them wasn’t very positive – but his buddies wanted to go so naturally he did too.

Keeping Older Scouts Active

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Scoutmasters wring their hands over losing older Scouts and many troops do have a problem keeping them around. The standard response is amping up the ‘wow’ factor of the program but I have never been very fond of the ”bread and circuses” approach to Scouting. (If you aren’t familiar with the metaphor ‘bread and circuses’ refers to placating real concerns with superficial means of appeasement like diversions or distractions without getting to the heart of the matter.) We are under constant pressure at our summer camp to add yet another ’older boy program’ to entice them back for another year.

Webelos Bridge Crossing Ceremony

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

A good discussion of most common questions about Webelos to Scouts transition at Ask Andy: The Webelos bridge crossing ceremony is to publicly show the transition, or crossing over, from a Cub Scout pack to a Boy Scout troop. At one side of the bridge is the pack he’s leaving. On the other side are the representatives of the troop he’s chosen to join (always the Scoutmaster and most often the troop’s Senior Patrol Leader—the highest-ranking youth leader of the troop—too). They usually present the new Boy Scout with his new troop’s neckerchief and slide, and often his BOY SCOUT HANDBOOK, too. The paperwork’s already been done, and the new bond is sealed with the Boy Scout handshake. Then, at his very first troop meeting, this new Boy Scout (and, hopefully, his entire den of friends as well) are recognized in an investiture ceremony and shake hands with every Scout in their new troop. A new adventure has begun! Link; “ A bridge to Nowhere ” at Ask Andy A couple of my own thoughts and hints on the logistics of a Bridge Crossing Ceremony; For Cubmasters There is no official ceremony that must be used- the content of the ceremony is at the discretion of the pack. A real bridge is nice, but not terribly important – any representation of a bridge is just fine. The ceremony should be meaningful but not excessive (general notes on this here and ) Don’t leave the arrangements till the last minute – make sure that the Troop participating understands their part and the Webelos understand theirs.

Should I Make My Son Stay in Scouts?

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Many Scouts will, at some point, resist going any further in Scouting. When does a parent intervene and make him stay in Scouts? Just about every boy will reach some impasse along the way that will make them reluctant or downright adamant about participating. If you are a Scouting parent it’s more than likely that this is going to happen to you; don’t be surprised. Your son is probably not much different than the millions of other Scouts who preceded him.