{"id":2267,"date":"2017-11-21T09:59:07","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T14:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=2267"},"modified":"2017-11-21T10:34:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T15:34:17","slug":"issue-551-november-21-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2017\/11\/issue-551-november-21-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 551 \u2013 November 21, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

________________________________________
\nIn this column\u2026<\/strong><\/em>
\n \u2022 \u201cCo-\u201d Senior Patrol Leaders? Really???<\/strong><\/em>
\n \u2022 Under-age drinking. What would YOU do?<\/strong><\/em>
\n \u2022 Eagle project gone sideways?<\/strong><\/em>
\n \u2022 How to be smart about Eagle references.<\/strong><\/em>
\n=============================
\nDear Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a Troop Guide and I\u2019m getting ready for our troop\u2019s elections. Last time I ran for Senior Patrol Leader, two other Scouts ran together as co-SPLs. They won. Now again there are two Scouts running together and I\u2019m the only other Scout hoping to be elected to SPL. Is this okay, to run as \u201cco-\u201d SPLs? What do I do? (Scout\u2019s Name & Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/p>\n

“A Scout is brave” and that’s YOU when you decided to reach out and write to me. Thanks!<\/p>\n

Two rules apply here\u2026<\/p>\n

Rule No. 63: \u201cCo-leaders\u201d who agree to share 100% of the responsibilities will each accomplish 10%.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rule No. 18: Beware any Scouter who\u2019d rather be wrong than take the time to look it up.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m guessing nobody\u2014not even your Scoutmaster\u2014has checked and realizes there’s no such thing in Boy Scouts that\u2019s “co-” anything! I hope you’ll show our conversation here to your Scoutmaster, because we’re not supposed to diddle around with what the BSA established 107 years ago.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, one person needs to be responsible. That’s why there’s no such animal as “co-Scoutmaster,” for instance. In aviation, there used to be a position called “Copilot” but there was only one of these, because there was also a Pilot, and the Pilot’s always in charge. (In the past, \u201ccopilot\u201d meant \u201cassistant pilot.\u201d Today, the names are Pilot and First Officer, to emphasize this distinction.) Same thing with ships: There’s only one Captain. In football, there’s only one quarterback on the field. In basketball, there’s only one center. In U.S. government, we vote for only one President (and usually a Vice President too); that’s why there’s no such title as “co-President”! And this list goes on and on…<\/p>\n

Yes, there can be one or more Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders, but ASPLs are hand-picked by the SPL; they’re not the Scout who got the second-highest number of votes. (In early America, the president the one who got the most votes and the vice president was runner-up. But we figured out that this didn\u2019t work, and changed our national presidential election process to eliminate this\u2014and that was back in the 18th Century!)<\/p>\n

This is something for your Scoutmaster to fix, and right away!
\n==========
\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Scout in our troop, Life rank and working toward Eagle, was detained by police at our high school\u2019s home basketball game for under-age drinking. The incident was very public, and has become a running \u201cchatter-point\u201d among both high-schoolers and their parents, a number of whom are troop members and adult volunteers. I did check with the Police Department: What happened is fact; it\u2019s not a fabrication.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there ever a situation where a Scout\u2019s behavior permanently puts his Eagle rank out of reach? Is this one of those? I\u2019m asking because, as Scoutmaster looking at a conference with this Scout sometime in the next six months, I\u2019m just not prepared to sign him off on \u201cScout spirit\u201d in light of an incident of this significance and recency.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would, however, like to give him an opportunity to redeem himself by demonstrating that he lives by the principles of the Scout Oath and Law in his daily life. I\u2019m planning to ask this Scout to propose how he\u2019d make amends, but it\u2019s not at all clear to me what that would look like either to convince me he\u2019s straightened out or to send a clear signal to other Scouts\u2014particularly those in his own age group\u2014that underage drinking is a problem. Whatever thoughts you may have on this would be appreciated. (Name & Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Life itself is sometimes like learning to ice skate\u2026you\u2019ll eventually figure it out, but along the way you\u2019re gonna fall down a lot!<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s start by getting something critically important out in the open: Scouting doesn’t and never has endorsed “punishment” for Scouts screwing up. Yes, there are always consequences to all actions, but there\u2019s never anything of a punitive nature. With that Scouting principle established, let’s take a look at our young imbiber…<\/p>\n

First, we need to recognize that this didn’t happen at a troop, patrol, or other Scouting event. This means the troop has no jurisdiction. Second, the officers who handled the matter detained him (\u201cdetain\u201d has a very specific definition in law enforcement); they didn\u2019t arrest him. Third, in all probability this young man’s parents have followed up with their son in their own manner. Fourth, we need to keep in mind the exact language of the Scout Oath, particularly the first sentence, starting at “\u2026I promise to do my best\u2026”<\/p>\n

The “do my best” part is critical. It doesn’t mean “I always will…” It means “I’m gonna try to…” This recognizes all of us as imperfect, fallible, and sometimes capable of really messing up. In other words, we\u2019re human.<\/p>\n

So, did he “do his best” at that particular time when he engaged in consuming an alcoholic beverage of some kind? That question gets both a “no” and a “yes”\u2014”no” because he’s proven in other surroundings that he’s capable of more thought-through behavior, but also “yes” because, in this particular moment, his “best” was a pretty low bar (no pun intended).<\/p>\n

Does he “fail” in Scout spirit? I truly don’t think so, because we need to look at the totality of his daily life and not a single incident only. Should he be “punished” by his troop because, in this particular instance, he “failed” to live to perfection several specific points of the Scout Oath and Law? For this we return to the beginning: Scouting isn\u2019t in the business of punishment.<\/p>\n

Let’s consider that the public embarrassment he’s already endured, coupled with whatever his parents likely chose to impose on him, have been more than sufficient in this arena, so that the troop needn’t engage in further “discipline” (which would be outside the troop\u2019s province anyway).<\/p>\n

Let’s also remember that a Scout’s patrol and troop are intended to be his “second home”…a place that’s safe and accepting, and where he can enjoy personal growth and sense of responsibility. They\u2019re not Scouting\u2019s answer to Boot Camp.<\/p>\n

So, where to go from here? Consider that this young man has just learned a very important life lesson\u2014one that others can learn from. Here\u2019s an approach I’d personally recommend…<\/p>\n

Sit down with him (privately but in view of others\u2014effectively, this is his Scoutmaster conference) and ask him\u2014as would a kindly uncle\u2014to take you through not only what happened but\u2014more important\u2014how he was feeling as events unfolded and how he feels now. Assuming he’s feeling embarrassment and remorse, ask him if he’d be willing to share his experience with others like himself (that is, older Scouts of similar age and possible temptation) so that he can tell them what it’s like to “get caught” and how he’s not ever going to be this dumb again. If he agrees, pull an impromptu meeting together right then and there, and you take a seat in the corner of the separate room for the meeting, where he shares his experience with his fellows.<\/p>\n

Help him feel that he has valuable information and insights to caution his friends about\u2014because he does! Then let it go. Done is done, and it’s time to move on.
\n==========
\nDear Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an \u201cafter\u201d photo of a Scout\u2019s Eagle service project. He followed the town\u2019s instructions on installing the fence, but somehow this just doesn\u2019t seem right. Can he still qualify as having completed his project \u201csuccessfully\u201d? Thanks! (Puzzled Scoutmaster)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Project<\/a><\/p>\n

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Well, if the beneficiary signed off on it, I guess just go with the flow\u2026
\n==========
\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a Scoutmaster, I\u2019ve always contacted an Eagle candidates references and got the letters; Scouts never had to do this. But one point I think worth mentioning is that the Scout should definitely ask the person is he or she is willing to be a reference before he puts their name on the application. I remember contacting a reference once who declined to write a letter because the Scout hadn\u2019t asked him…kinda prickly but it happened. I also once had a reference write a letter NOT recommending the Scout for Eagle because, in her eyes, he didn’t push himself academically or take the full plate of “AP” courses available to him. Oddly enough, he got decent grades, played varsity football, was on the swim team, and played in the band. Yes, I gave that letter to the reviewers, and their response was laughter, with remarks like \u201cWhen did we have a GPA requirement?\u201d \u201cHoly cow, you have to take AP courses to make Eagle? There goes my own badge!” During the review, they talked with the Scout about academics and, in his senior year of high school, he did take several AP courses\u2026and flourished\u2026and still found time to be a great Senior Patrol Leader! (Jeff Stone, SM, Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Germany)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yup, it’s the wise Scout who asks his references beforehand if they’d be willing to provide a recommendation. (Heck, this is a “life lesson” that he’d better learn for later on when he’s career-hunting!)<\/p>\n

And, yes, when people don’t understand what their role is\u2014which sometimes happens\u2014a less-than-positive letter can come in… One of the reasons nobody but the reviewers ever sees these! You did the right thing by passing that letter forward, and I appreciate how the reviewers responded \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Happy Scouting! and Happy Thanksgiving!<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Andy<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Just to me at: askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you\u2019d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

[No. 551\u2013 11\/21\/2017 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2017]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

________________________________________ In this column\u2026 \u2022 \u201cCo-\u201d Senior Patrol Leaders? Really??? \u2022 Under-age drinking. What would YOU do? \u2022 Eagle project gone sideways? \u2022 How to be smart about Eagle references. ============================= Dear Andy, I\u2019m a Troop Guide and I\u2019m getting ready for our troop\u2019s elections. Last time I ran for Senior Patrol Leader, two other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2267"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2273,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions\/2273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}