{"id":2411,"date":"2019-02-12T17:21:46","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T22:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=2411"},"modified":"2019-02-12T17:21:46","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T22:21:46","slug":"issue-586-february-12-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2019\/02\/issue-586-february-12-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 586 \u2013 February 12, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

________________________________________
\nDear Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a former Boy Scout (Life rank) who got back into Scouting with my oldest son seven years ago. When he graduated from his Cub Scout pack three years ago, I allowed him to pick the troop of his choice, even though I knew it was poorly run\u2014and still is\u2014but that was his choice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turns out I\u2019m now about to become Scoutmaster. I\u2019ve been reading your column for years and taken training at every opportunity, and read a ton of BSA guidebooks and handbooks, but I still have a couple of interrelated questions I couldn\u2019t find answers to, so here goes\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Troop Leader Guidebook (Chapter 2, \u201cThe Scouts\u201d) indicates that small troops may not be large enough to divide into patrols. So, how many Scouts does a troop need, to form more than one effective patrol?<\/strong><\/p>\n

After several \u201cage-out\u201d in a few months, our troop will have eight remaining Scouts. I know that, with this number, your standard answer would be to have a patrol of three, a patrol of four, and a Senior Patrol Leader, leaving room for further recruitment by the eight Scouts. But here, two current Scouts were already recruited by two others in the troop, with the common denominator that they all went to the same grammar schoolK-8 school together. As for the remaining four Scouts, they each go to a different school, each one some 25 miles from here. So, all-in-all, I don\u2019t foresee much additional recruitment possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, if we do decide to organize our troop into a single patrol, what would the \u201corganizational structure\u201d look like? Would it be Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, Scribe, and five Scouts? Or Patrol Leader, Assistant Patrol Leader, and six Scouts? Or something else? (David, incoming SM, Sam Houston Area Council, TX)<\/strong><\/p>\n

One patrol can operate by itself, but there’s no such thing as a “troop” until there are at least two patrols. Multiple patrols make up a troop; without patrols, there’s simply no troop! This is why Scouting is based on The Patrol Method<\/span> and not “the troop method.”<\/p>\n

If you have a single patrol, you have no Senior Patrol Leader; you have one Patrol Leader, elected by his own patrol members. Then there’s a PL-chosen Assistant Patrol Leader, patrol scribe, patrol quartermaster, patrol grubmaster, and so forth. You also have no troop.<\/p>\n

If you want to deliver Scouting as it’s designed to be, then you absolutely must use The Patrol Method<\/span>, and this demands at least two patrols.<\/p>\n

So my recommendation is obvious: There must be at least two patrols for there to be a troop. So, as you predicted, the Senior Patrol Leader is elected by all, and then the remaining Scouts are asked to divide themselves into two groups\u2014one of three and one of four Scouts apiece, with no stragglers. (Yes, the Scouts themselves do this; they’re never “assigned” by anyone except themselves!)<\/p>\n

The troop now grows by being a *magnet* for the Scouts’ friends who’d like to be part of the adventure and fun! (Besides, one of the requirements for First Class focuses on exactly that!)
\n==========
\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

My son has just recently finished up his first full year as a Boy Scout, and is a First Class Scout (about to be Star rank). Back when he crossed over and into the troop, he was assigned to a \u201ctemporary patrol,\u201d whose \u201cleader\u201d was a Troop Guide. A while later, after his first months in the troop followed by summer camp, he was placed in a permanent patrol. Now, the Scoutmaster and his assistants want to re-shuffle the patrols again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The troop\u2019s committee members thinks this is a bad idea, and suggested that the Scouts who are in \u201cstrong\u201d patrols move to the \u201cweaker\u201d patrols, so the patrols are \u201cleveled,\u201d and that doing this will provide more opportunities for Scouts\u2019 leadership experiences.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was tried once before, and the Scouts were asked to pick what patrol they\u2019d like to go to, but none of them budged, so I\u2019m told. Now, the Scoutmaster is considering putting all Scouts\u2019 names in a proverbial \u201chat\u201d and assigning them to patrols as their names are drawn.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We could use some insights on how\u2014or even whether\u2014to shuffle Scouts into different patrols. Help! (Name & Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nobody\u2014NOBODY!\u2014has the “authority” to shuffle patrols. This has been in every Scoutmaster\/Troop Leader training course, handbook, and guidebook for decades.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the patrol is the essential unit of Scouting… not the troop! The troop is merely the “umbrella” under which patrols operate. Although a boy registers with the troop, this is for paperwork and administrative convenience. He actually joins a patrol, and that patrol\u2014along with other patrols operating collaboratively\u2014form a troop. Patrols can function just fine without a troop, but there’s no such thing as a troop unless it’s comprised of patrols. This is why The Patrol Method<\/span> is called just that, and why there’s no such thing as “the troop method.”<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t take a genius to know that boys can and will form natural groups (we used to call them “sidewalk gangs” till “gangs” as a word got a bad rap) and will even select their own natural leader\u2014all by themselves if we adults just leave ’em alone to do what they’re entirely capable of!<\/p>\n

The way to fix this troop is for the troop\u2019s committee and its chair to either educate the Scoutmaster and his assistants or\u2014if they still don\u2019t get it\u2014throw these jerks out on their ears.
\n==========
\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have some fairly serious issues with a new committee chair and\u2014related\u2014our son\u2019s Scoutmaster as well. We\u2019re about to enlist the aid of our chartered organization head, and are looking for some documentation that could help.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The background is that during a recent campout an Assistant Scoutmaster repeatedly called my 12 year-old son a liar\u2014later dis-proven\u2014in front of other Scouts. Meanwhile, the CC concocted imaginary\u2014also dis-proven\u2014instances where she \u201chad had to discipline\u201d our son, which conflicted with an earlier statement by her that \u201cshe knew of no untoward instances\u201d involving our son.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But, between these two people, they decided that the Second Class rank he\u2019d just earned\u2014including his Scoutmaster conference and successful board of review\u2014was to be revoked and that he would suspended from the troop for the rest of the year. In the meeting with his mother and me, when she told us what our son\u2019s \u201cpunishment\u201d would be, she resorted to slamming her fist on the table and shouting at him when he attempted to stand his ground. It actually reached the point where his mother and I stood up and demanded that she stop. Meanwhile, the Scoutmaster, who was in this meeting too, was basically silent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luckily, the former Scoutmaster\u2014a really good guy!\u2014was available and willing to give us some counseling and advice. Here\u2019s what he told us\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rank is earned the minute the board of review is concluded and no one is allowed to revoke or withhold an earned rank, for any reason.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Normal protocol for behavioral issues is for the Scoutmaster to sit down individually with the Scout, as a first step toward resolution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any meeting with parents about their Scout son should not include the boy and should be between the Scoutmaster and the parents.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the role of a Committee Chair to discipline Scouts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s improper at all times for any adult to yell at or slam a fist at a Scout.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s improper for any adult volunteer to \u201clabel\u201d a youth (i.e., \u201cYou\u2019re a liar\u201d), whether one-on-one or in public.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you could provide validation and\/or clarification, we\u2019d be most grateful. Thank you! (Name & Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your son’s Scoutmaster is absolutely correct on all points, and this troop definitely has folks that are completely out of line.\u00a0 All of what your Scoutmaster friend has advised you can be found in any Scoutmaster Handbook<\/span> or Troop Leader Guidebook<\/span>.<\/p>\n

This, 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 can act instantly. All it takes, with a witness present, is to meet eyeball to eyeball with those who need to be removed and say, “Thank you for your past services. They will no longer be needed, effective immediately.”<\/p>\n

This is important for all to know: 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 has this authority, and no one else.<\/p>\n

DON\u2019T try to fight this fight yourself\u2014You\u2019ll only be 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 that friendly (and correct!) former Scoutmaster and others currently serving on the troop\u2019s committee to do directly with this troop’s chartered organization head.<\/p>\n

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

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

Have 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

[No. 586 \u2013 2\/12\/2019 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2019]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

________________________________________ Dear Andy, I\u2019m a former Boy Scout (Life rank) who got back into Scouting with my oldest son seven years ago. When he graduated from his Cub Scout pack three years ago, I allowed him to pick the troop of his choice, even though I knew it was poorly run\u2014and still is\u2014but that was […]<\/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-2411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411","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=2411"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2414,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions\/2414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}