nd<\/sup>, in refute of what I thought at that time was a blatant error, provided this link: https:\/\/www.scouting.org\/programs\/boy-scouts\/youth\/awards\/noa\/<\/p>\nTurns out, the BSA has indeed decided\u2014for the first time in the 88 years we\u2019ve had the Cub Scout program\u2014to allow Cub Scout activity credit toward a Boy Scout (only) award.<\/p>\n
As a boots-on-the-ground commissioner, and therefore my council\u2019s representative for the BSA at large, of course I\u2019m obliged to uphold and support this decision. It does, however, concern me. This seems to be a hole punched straight through the boundary between Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting. As for why a decision like this would be made, I\u2019ll admit that I\u2019m completely without a clue.<\/p>\n
==========<\/p>\n
Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\nWe have some serious issues going on with the new Committee Chair at our son\u2019s troop, and we\u2019re about to get our chartered organization involved in a resolution here. One of our former Scoutmasters has given me some guidance on BSA policies, and suggested that I reach out to you. I\u2019m hoping you can point us in the right direction.<\/strong><\/p>\nJust the other night, my wife and I, and our 12 year-old son, were \u201csummoned\u201d to a private meeting with the new Committee Chair (I\u2019ll use \u201cCC\u201d for short), the current Scoutmaster (SM), and a new Assistant Scoutmaster (ASM). Their agenda was to talk with us about our son\u2019s alleged \u201clack of respect\u201d toward the CC in particular at a troop camping trip about four days earlier. They informed my wife and me \u2013 in our son\u2019s presence, which didn\u2019t seem right to begin with \u2013 of several incidents in which he displayed \u201cdisrespect\u201d and \u201clied.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nIt was the ASM who accused our son of lying, which he did out loud, in front of the other Scouts; this proved false, as we were able to prove on the spot, but it didn\u2019t take away the stigma of the public accusations the ASM had made. Next, the CC made several allegations about our son\u2019s \u201cbehavior\u201d toward her at some unspecified times in the past (i.e., before the campout) that required \u201cdiscipline\u201d\u2014even though, just a couple of days ago, she\u2019s told my wife that our son was \u201cdoing just fine\u201d and, when we asked for more specificity on when these purported \u201cbehavior incidents\u201d occurred, the CC \u201cjust couldn\u2019t remember quite when they happened\u201d (pretty convenient to this father!).<\/strong><\/p>\nIt gets worse. Although about two weeks earlier, our son successfully completed his board of review for Second Class rank (the CC chaired the review), the CC declared that she\u2019s \u201crevoking\u201d (her exact word) this rank and \u201csuspending\u201d him from the troop for the remainder in 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\nNow, in this meeting, while revoking his rank and suspending him, she did so by literally yelled at my son and slamming her fist on the table for silence when he attempted to speak to her in his own defense. (My wife and I immediately intervened when he began to cry, and told her to back off or we\u2019re all leaving.)<\/strong><\/p>\nMeanwhile, if the SM said twenty words during this entire melee, that would be an exaggeration. The CC was clearly running the show with an iron fist.<\/strong><\/p>\nHere\u2019s what our former Scoutmaster told us.\u00a0Can you confirm any of this?<\/strong><\/p>\nA rank is earned the minute a successful board of review is concluded.\u00a0No one is authorized to revoke any rank, once achieved, for any reason.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe normal procedure when there are behavioral issues with a Scout is for the Scoutmaster to sit down individually with the Scout, at least as a first step.<\/strong><\/p>\nAny meeting with parents, regarding behavioral issues typically don\u2019t include their son, and it would again be typically held between the Scoutmaster and the parents.<\/strong><\/p>\nIf in the judgment of the troop\u2019s adult volunteers, a Scout will be suspended (i.e., he can\u2019t attend troop meetings, campouts, etc.), this can only be considered if the Scout has or is on the edge of harm to himself or others and the parents should be consulted first, so that they can do their part in rectifying their son\u2019s behavioral issues.<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s not the role of a committee member, including a CC, discipline Scouts.<\/strong><\/p>\nYelling at Scouts and threatening them via aggressive behavior is not acceptable behavior by Scouting volunteers.<\/strong><\/p>\nNo Scout should ever be \u201clabeled\u201d (i.e., \u201cYou\u2019re a liar,\u201d etc.) and certainly never in public.<\/strong><\/p>\nThanks for your help! (Glenn Massarotti)<\/strong><\/p>\nYour son’s Scoutmaster is correct on all points, and this troop definitely has folks that are completely out of line (the CC tops the list). This isn\u2019t my \u201copinion\u201d\u2014this is according to the policies and procedures of the BSA and is included in the TROOP LEADER GUIDEBOOK as well as in the BSA\u2019s Youth Protection Training.<\/p>\n
This current situation, however, is for the troop’s other leaders to solve\u2014not you. Since the chartered organization has complete “hire-fire” power, and since no “three strikes” or anything else applies (we’re not talking about employees here), the head of the organization or the Chartered Organization Representative (if it’s not the CC) can act instantly. All it takes, with a witness present, is to meet individually and in-person with those who need to be removed and state, “Thank you for your past services. They will no longer be needed, effective immediately.” The removed person or persons have no recourse for reinstatement\u2014if they appeal to the district or the council, they will be told that the chartered organization is responsible for this, and no one else.<\/p>\n
DON\u2019T try to fight this fight yourself! You\u2019ll wind up subject to further rancor, accusations, frustration, and tons of emotional and physical energy wasted…and your son will be lost somewhere in the melee. This is for the Scoutmaster (and others who agree with him) to do directly with this troop’s chartered organization.<\/p>\n
But there is definitely something you can do to help your son: Find a nearby troop where the adults get it right\u2014and transfer your son there immediately. Don’t hesitate. Don’t ponder. Don’t worry about “hurting the feelings” of someone who has no trouble running roughshod over the youth they’re supposed to be supporting and serving.<\/p>\n
Don’t engage with that abusive CC; get your son out of harm’s way!<\/p>\n
Do I know what I’m talking about? Your bet I do! Here’s a true story from my own experiences as a Scout…<\/p>\n
When I was 11 years old, I could hardly wait to join the Boy Scout troop at my family’s church. I’d studied my handbook and decided to get myself on the “advancement trail.” In going for Tenderfoot rank, I showed up at a troop meeting was fully prepared to do show my handbook said I needed to do. The Scoutmaster and Committee Chair told me that they will review me, to make sure I knew my stuff, so we proceeded. The other requirements taken care of, it came time to repeat the Scout Law and tell, in my own words, what each point meant to me. I started with Trustworthy and began to follow the \u201cin my own words\u201d part, as stated in the Tenderfoot requirements. The SM and CC stopped me.<\/p>\n
“In this <\/em>troop,” they told me, “we expect you to memorize <\/em>exactly what your handbook says about each point of the Law.”<\/p>\nI was puzzled. “But my handbook says ‘to describe in your own words’ and that’s what I was doing,” I said.<\/p>\n
“Well not in this <\/em>troop,” they told me. “In this <\/em>troop, we follow a higher <\/em>standard. And you just failed<\/em>.”<\/p>\nI left the troop meeting utterly disheartened, and spent the next couple of days in a blue funk. Then, I straightened myself up and made a plan…<\/p>\n
I returned the following week and, without a miss, provided the exact definitions of each point of the Scout Law, just like they demanded.<\/p>\n
“Good,\u201d the Scoutmaster said. \u201cNow you’ve passed. Here’s your Tenderfoot badge.”<\/p>\n
“Thank you,” I said, and pinned it (we used pins back then) to my shirt. Then I respectfully said goodnight to them and…I walked out of that troop meeting.<\/p>\n
By the following week, I’d found another troop and joined it.<\/p>\n
Now I was no “special” kid; in fact, I was pretty shy. But I had a spine, and I decided I’m not going to stay with a troop that doesn’t follow what my handbook told me Scouts is supposed to be all about.<\/p>\n
So, tell your son that you just got some advice from and 11 year-old, and help him find a better troop!<\/p>\n
Happy Scouting!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nAndy<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nHave a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to 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 <\/p>\n
[No. 575 \u2013 9\/18\/2018 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2018]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CORRECTION On August 2nd (Issue 572), I responded to Tom DiGuido\u2019s letter that said, in part, \u201cI\u2019ve discovered in an article that the camping nights from Cub Scouts are to be counted in the National Outdoor Camping segment. I can\u2019t see why this would be accurate. Why would a Boy Scout award count Cub Scout […]<\/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-2367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367","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=2367"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2371,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367\/revisions\/2371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}