{"id":942,"date":"2011-04-24T08:53:08","date_gmt":"2011-04-24T12:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=942"},"modified":"2011-11-14T08:54:08","modified_gmt":"2011-11-14T13:54:08","slug":"issue-252-april-24-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2011\/04\/issue-252-april-24-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 252 &#8211; April 24, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"justify\"><span><span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Andy\u2019s Rule No. 1<\/span>: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800000; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: medium;\"><em>Stupid has no cure.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Andy\u2019s Rule No. 2<\/span>: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800000; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: medium;\"><em>You show up at \u201ctroop volunteer night\u201d and after ten minutes you still can\u2019t figure out who the new Scoutmaster\u2019s gonna be\u2026 It\u2019s gonna be <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">you<\/span>.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><span style=\"color: #008000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Andy\u2019s Rule No. 3<\/span>: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800000; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: medium;\"><em>Don\u2019t try to teach pigs to fly\u2026 It wastes your time and annoys the pigs.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Dear Andy:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>I&#8217;ve been an avid reader for years and many thanks to you for being an invaluable source of information.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>I&#8217;verecently assumed the role of Scoutmaster. For whatever reason, and not necessarily Scout-originated, our troop seems short on Scoutsshowing any interest inleadership positions. The PLC (\u201cPatrol Leaders Council\u201d) is barely if at all engaged in planning troop meetings andactivities, perhaps in part because these meetings have historically been led by the former Scoutmaster-as-PLC Chair. Maybe it&#8217;s a chicken-egg thing, but the genesis is actually less important to me than figuring out howto turn things around, so that the troop\u2019s run by the Scouts, using their own (guided) ideas. Besides, when I try to fill in and plan troop meetings, they usually wind up pretty boring for the Scouts. It all ends up being a more-or-less closed-loop thing and I\u2019m not sure how to break us out of it\u2026 In short, I\u2019m stumped.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Early on, I even \u201cthrew out the calendar\u201d and started from scratch, taking the time to describe to the PLC members what they should be trying to accomplish and what their goals should look like. But this doesn\u2019t seem to be gaining any real purchase and the ensuing meetings have been lackluster as ever. I&#8217;m now applying some gentle prodding on our Senior Patrol Leader, with some quiet coaching on how to get things moving, but it\u2019s time-consuming and sure isn\u2019t producing any visible results quickly.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>I\u2019m trying to keep from just jumping in and starting to plan and run troop meetings myself\u2014I do know it\u2019s not how we grow boys and besides, it\u2019s not in my &lt;grin&gt; \u201cjob description.\u201d I&#8217;m willing give it some time\u2014at least until the next PLC meeting\u2014to see if there\u2019s any spark of life here, but, frankly, I don\u2019t see any celebration parties happenin\u2019 anytime soon!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Maybe I just bide my time\u2026 We&#8217;ll have a new crop of Patrol Leaders and a new SPL elected in just a couple of weeks, and that\u2019s an opportunity to start off the new terms with a TLT session for the incoming PLC, to show and \u201csell\u201d how we should be operating.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Well, that&#8217;s my story. I\u2019m open to anyideasI could use to turn things around\u2014The goal is a Scout-directed troop operating in the mini-democracy model. Thanks! (Name &amp; Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>Back up and watch yourself as if in a mirror\u2026 As Scoutmaster, when you&#8217;re coaching the SPL, who&#8217;s doing most of the talking? If it&#8217;s you, and it&#8217;s about 75% to 80% or more, <em>this<\/em> is the first behavior you will want to change. I&#8217;m going to guess that, like most good guys trying to help a Scout, you have the tendency to do the talking&#8230;all about what the troop needs and what to do and how to do it and it\u2019ll be OK if we just try a little harder, and on and on till Bob\u2019s yer uncle. Stop this. Instead, <em>only ask questions<\/em>. That&#8217;s right: <em>ONLY ASK QUESTIONS<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Here\u2019s a sample of the new dynamic you\u2019re going to establish with your Senior Patrol Leader, beginning the very next meeting\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>&#8220;Hi, SPL, are you all set for tonight&#8217;s meeting?&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>Answer: \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>&#8220;Great! Say&#8230;who&#8217;s bringing the ropes, for the lashing demonstrations?&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>Answer: \u201cI dunno.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>&#8220;Hmm&#8230;So what\u2019s your plan for what you\u2019ll do if they don&#8217;t show up?&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>Answer: \u201cI dunno.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>&#8220;OK, so, do you need any help, here?&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Answer: \u201cYeah, maybe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>&#8220;So&#8230; Who are you gonna ask for help?&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>Answer: \u201cI dunno.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>&#8220;Well, good luck. And if you need some help, come find me.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>(Then walk a little bit away, with a friendly smile that lets him know you do mean you\u2019re there for him if he\u2019s willing to risk reaching out. And don\u2019t disappear, either. Remain nearby, so he knows you\u2019re there, but don\u2019t interfere or even speak unless he specifically asks for you.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> At some point, he&#8217;s going to wake up, and when he does, you&#8217;ll be there for him. But, in the meanwhile, you&#8217;ve not only stopped the &#8220;lectures of impending doom&#8221; (You know: No ropes = the end of the world&#8230;) but you&#8217;ve stopped the &#8220;rescues,&#8221; too (&#8220;No ropes? You&#8217;re lucky, because I, in my infinite wisdom\u2014with the sad implication that you knew he\u2019d forget\u2014have some in my car! I&#8217;ll go get them for you&#8230;&#8221;)<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Next, right after the closing ceremony you ask the SPL to ask the PLs to stick around for a quick &#8220;Roses n&#8217; Thorns&#8221; session. (BUT, this one you do only after you\u2019re comfortable remaining 100% in the question-only mode:) It will go a little like this\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> \u201cOK, some roses. What went well tonight&#8230;? What else&#8230;? What else&#8230;? Anything else&#8230;? Good!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>&#8220;Were there any thorns? What didn&#8217;t go so well tonight&#8230;? What else maybe could have gone better&#8230;?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>THEN: &#8220;So, what can you do next week so that (first thorn) doesn&#8217;t happen anymore&#8230;?&#8221; And so on&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> This is called directed discovery&#8230; This is a powerful form of teaching-without-teaching that beats the lecture and demonstration techniques hands-down, every time!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Try these&#8230; After you&#8217;ve used them for a week or so, let me know what&#8217;s going on and we&#8217;ll talk some more about converting this bunch o&#8217; boys in tan shirts into a real kick-ass troop!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>I\u2019m kind of going back to your last column, where you spoke to someone about an inarticulate Scout\u202612 years old\u2026who was brought before his board of review for Life Scout rank. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>He had just returned from his Order of the Arrow \u201cOrdeal weekend,\u201d but when asked directly, he was unable to state what the purpose of the Order of the Arrow is. (This is despite the fact that he\u2019d just been appointed Troop OA Representative\u2014a position of responsibility qualifying for Eagle rank!). When asked, further, what the importance of the citizenship merit badges is, he indicated ignorance. When asked how he would make a decision between sports, a camping trip, or homework, he was unable to do so. When he did answer, he used single words wherever possible, and any subsequent words needed to be dragged out of him. Some question were even met with total silence. Yet, in school, he\u2019s an Honor Roll student.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>The committee members sitting on his review didn&#8217;t want to pass him on to the rank of Life. While I almost understand this, my suggestion, instead, was that it would be kinder to point out that he really didn&#8217;t complete the time required toward a Scoutmaster-approved service project, rather than tell the Scout that he can\u2019t seem to answer many of the questions asked. Others, I suppose it should be mentioned, just didn\u2019t feel comfortable with the idea of a Life Scout who, at 12 years old, sort of stares his way through a board of review.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>My own thinking is that they shouldn\u2019t have failed that boy. Yes, his lack of maturity in expressing his thoughts is glaring, but if he\u2019s completed the stated requirements, then he\u2019s earned the rank. At least that\u2019s how it seems to me. Do you have any thoughts on this? Thanks! (Name &amp; Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Ever notice how, when you open up a can of worms, it always takes a bigger can to get &#8217;em all back in?<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Seems like a whole bunch of wheels fell off of this wagon&#8230; Let&#8217;s start with the conference, where the Scoutmaster is supposed to be preparing the Scout for his board of review. What happened there, that the Scoutmaster allowed this Scout to move to the next step knowing full well that the Scout&#8217;s borderline inarticulate? If I were chair of the review, or the troop advancement coordinator, I&#8217;d be asking the Scoutmaster why he sent us an unprepared Scout. But there&#8217;s more. What is the thinking behind asking a Scout, in a review of this type, what he thinks the &#8220;importance&#8221; of the Citizenship merit badge group is? Other than the answer, &#8220;They&#8217;re all required for Eagle,&#8221; what else were you all expecting. If the Scout had, instead, said something like, &#8220;These help me better understand my community, country, and world, so that I can be a better citizen when I&#8217;m of age,&#8221; would you have been comfortably satisfied? Or would you have figured that this is a pretty smart Scout, because he&#8217;s shinin&#8217; us on and givin&#8217; us what he figures we want to hear. So my question to you would be: What was your point? Maybe some better questions might be more along the lines of how much he enjoyed his field-trip and how did he go about selecting a charitable organization to work with and what was that experience like? <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>On the other question, you mentioned, about decision-making between sports, Scouts, and academics: what were you looking to learn from him, other than trying to balance these three along with other extracurricular activities like band, theater, clubs, and so on, plus church and its youth group, plus family obligations and dealing with brothers and sisters and maybe another generation in the house can get overwhelming at times. So, when <em>you <\/em>are feeling overwhelmed, you&#8217;re telling me you&#8217;re a regular blabbing Cyrano De Bergerac, oui?<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>Then, who in the world told him that his OA ordeal would provide sufficient service project time to meet req. 4? If his Scoutmaster did, ahead of time, then you&#8217;re obligated to take the Scoutmaster&#8217;s word on this. But if not, where did this come from? And, in this regard, if the reviewers don&#8217;t believe it&#8217;s sufficient, you <em> SUSPEND<\/em> the review until a specific later date, at which either the Scout produces evidence that he did, indeed, put in a full six hours of service (the hours can be accumulated, BTW, they don&#8217;t have to be all at once) or he adds to his ordeal service time with additional service time elsewhere, so that the new total is now six hours. Now do you truly believe that this Scout &#8220;doesn&#8217;t know what the OA is,&#8221; or was he avoiding spilling the beans to non-Arrowmen? Are you absolutely sure you know which dynamic was operating? The central purpose of all boards of review is to determine <em>how well the troop is meeting the needs of the Scouts<\/em>, as they pursue the advancement trail we so encourage them to. A board of review gives the Scout the opportunity to tell us what&#8217;s working, in our troop, and how the troop needs to improve, for the Scouts who come after him. All of this is described in the <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Scoutmaster Handbook<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> My recommendation to you all is that you get your hands on the materials you need to read right away, give yourselves fast refresher crash-readings, have a pre-conference with the Scoutmaster and ask him to prep this Scout better, and then reconvene the review following the new insights you&#8217;ve gained about what you&#8217;re all supposed to be doing. Don&#8217;t let any grass grow under your feet, here. This is a Scout you don&#8217;t want to lose.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Meanwhile, don&#8217;t ignore or try to duck the boy&#8217;s advocates (his Dad and his Scoutmaster). Tell them that we&#8217;ve talked, you&#8217;ve listened, that you have some quick reading you want to do, and then you&#8217;re going to do a &#8220;re-set&#8221; and make this happen the right way&#8230;for this Scout and for <em>all <\/em>Scouts from now on! You can do this! Go for it!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Just so everyone\u2019s clear here: If this Scout indeed completed all stated requirements, the reviewers have <em>no choice<\/em> but to congratulate him on reaching his next rank. Some of you are interpreting his monosyllabic answers as being &#8220;immature&#8221;\u2026 Are you absolutely sure that that&#8217;s right? Scouts don&#8217;t typically get elected to Scouting&#8217;s Honor Society by their fellow Scouts because they&#8217;re &#8220;immature.&#8221; Are you sure he wasn&#8217;t buying where you all were going, and clammed up because he was legitimately annoyed? <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>For the Cub Scout Academic and Sports Belt Loops and Pins, can the Cubs complete the requirements at any time, or do all the requirements for the loop\/pin need to be completed within the &#8220;Scouting year&#8221;? I have several Cubs who completed two of three belt loop requirements. Will they need to repeat them to earn the belt loop when they move from Wolf to Bear? (And yes, I tried really hard to get them to complete that third req., and to impress on their parents to complete the step with them.)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong> Also, I can&#8217;t figure out how to search your columns to see if my question\u2019s already been answered, which is a shame! I read through a year\u2019s worth of articles, and I see what seems to be the same questions asked and answered over and over again. (Dan Fehler, Wolf Den Leader &amp; \u201cCubmaster-Elect\u201d, Northern Star Council, MN)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>First, we do understand that this is a supplemental enrichment program and isn\u2019t designed to be any sort of &#8220;replacement&#8221; for the Cub Scout advancement program as laid out in the Tiger-through-Webelos handbooks, yes? And we get it that this is the Cub Scout equivalent of those old &#8220;Whitman Sampler&#8221; boxes of assorted chocolates, yes? And you&#8217;ve bought and read the <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Cub Scout Academics and Sports Program Guide<\/span><\/em>, yes? So you already know that, if a boy (or his den) chooses to stop a particular activity after having earned the belt loop (only), that&#8217;s considered OK.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> And you also know that belt loops and pins can be earned by Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos, and Arrow of Light Scouts, and that Webelos Scouts may earn a belt loop or pin a second time, in order to qualify for certain Webelos activity badges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> To find stuff in my columns, use Google&#8217;s &#8220;advanced search&#8221;&#8230; Put, for instance, &#8220;belt loops and pins&#8221; in the &#8220;all these words&#8221; dialogue box and then put &#8220;Dear Andy&#8221; in the &#8220;this exact wording or phrase&#8221; box. Not perfect, but pretty close! Try it! Or, simply write to me if you can&#8217;t find an exact match to what your question is! That\u2019s what I\u2019m here for, and it\u2019s the only reason I\u2019m here!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span><strong>Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>I\u2019m trying to gain an understanding of what an Eagle mentor or coach\u2019s responsibility should be. We\u2019re looking at the idea of having a troop Eagle mentor or coach, and we seem to have some differences of opinion on what the responsibilities should be. I\u2019m hoping you can give us some guidance. (Joni Hougan, Cascade Pacific Council, OR)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>An Eagle coach or adviser is an adult; an Eagle Mentor is a pin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Many troops have a committee member (who&#8217;s taken YPT of course) whose sole responsibility is to guide (with a feather; not a cattle prod) the troop&#8217;s Life Scouts, meeting with them from time to time to see how they&#8217;re coming along on their trail to Eagle, helping them resolve problems of logistics or personalities, finding a Merit Badge Counselor (because the one in the book moved six months ago) and also to just \u201cbe there&#8221; for questions, concerns, and so on. He&#8217;s sort of the Life Scout&#8217;s &#8220;friendly uncle who you can talk with about anything.\u201d Got it?<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Eagle Mentor is a pin that the Eagle Scout can choose to present to a person who he believes helped him along the trail to Eagle in a most significant way&#8230; This pin may be presented to anyone except a parent, and it&#8217;s done at a court of honor when the Scout receives his Eagle medal. <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Does the Assistant Scoutmaster have a vote in a committee meeting? I\u2019ve looked in lots of books to see if I could find this, but the only thing I can find is that the Scoutmaster can&#8217;t vote; it says nothing about the Assistant Scoutmaster. (Shawn Spratt, ASM, Katahdin Area Council, ME) <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> First: Only registered members of the troop committee have &#8220;voting rights.&#8221; Neither Scoutmasters nor Assistant Scoutmasters are registered as committee members; consequently, they don&#8217;t \u201cvote.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>But more importantly, troop committees have virtually nothing to &#8220;vote&#8221; on&#8230; The troop&#8217;s annual and monthly programs, and weekly meeting content, are all developed by the Scouts themselves, in the Patrol Leaders Council (Chaired by the Senior Patrol Leader, with the Scoutmaster covering the SPL&#8217;s &#8220;6&#8221;), and then shown by the Scoutmaster (or ASM in the SM&#8217;s absence) to the troop committee for their input and suggestions (but <em>not<\/em> their &#8220;vote&#8221; or &#8220;veto&#8221;\u2014the committee isn\u2019t the ultimate decider of the troop&#8217;s programs. They can make suggestions, which the Scoutmaster takes back to the PLC for their consideration, but that\u2019s it. (And we also know that we don&#8217;t &#8220;double-register&#8221; as some sort of &#8220;loop-hole&#8221; way around this, because that sort of thing violates BSA policy.)<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>I\u2019m an active Scout andVenturer. I\u2019m 17 and will be turning 18 in about a month. I know that in Venturing you\u2019re considered a \u201cyouth\u201d until you\u2019re 21, but in Scouting it\u2019s up to age 18. I really want to stay involved in trips and in educating my younger Scouting friends, as well as have a good time, but what are the rules? I looked online, but couldn&#8217;t find much on my specific issue. Another problem is our summer camp. I really want to go to summer camp this year, but summer camp takes place one month after my 18<\/strong><sup><strong>th<\/strong><\/sup><strong> birthday, so I\u2019m not sure how that would work. I have a strong desire to continue my Scouting experience without having to separate from my friends or worry about having to train myself and be restricted from traveling or beingwith them. My troop has been unclear and says I may be restricted. If you could offer any advice or information, I\u2019d very much appreciate it. Thank you so muchfor your time! (Scout\u2019s Name Withheld, Yankee Clipper Council, MA)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Yes, there are two sets of rules here. If you remain registered in your troop beyond your 18<sup>th<\/sup> birthday, it can only be as an Assistant Scoutmaster. This means that, as an adult leader at summer camp you&#8217;ll have a very different set of experiences than you did when you were a Boy Scout! You now get to guide and oversee the Scouts in your troop and, in particular, quietly support and guide the Senior Patrol Leader as he runs the troop through the Patrol Leaders. This can be fun and rewarding, but make no mistake: It&#8217;s very different from anything you&#8217;ve ever done before. Your &#8220;buddies&#8221; in camp will be staffers and other guys your own age and position, and that can be cool, or not, depending on your own &#8220;come-from.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Now if you want to still hang with the guys, then go to camp as a member of a Venturing crew instead. You&#8217;ll get to do other stuff and you&#8217;ll be hanging with guys you like, but you&#8217;re a &#8220;camper&#8221; now; and you won&#8217;t be hanging with staffers your own age.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> So, what do <em>you<\/em> want to do? Frankly, if I were in your shoes, I&#8217;d go get myself a camp job on staff\u2014for Scouting, fun, fellowship, and making some money with free room and board for the summer! But that&#8217;s me. You&#8217;re you. You can figure it out\u2014You&#8217;re a Scout!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>When should troops allow and encourage Scouts to begin working on merit badges? I\u2019ve been wondering at what age or rank troops should begin encouraging Scouts to work on merit badges. We have several different opinions on this matter. I seem to remember that First Class rank was when merit badges started, but other adults don\u2019t agree; they think that Scouts can be doing merit badges as soon as they cross over. Any advice would be appreciated. (Thomas Fitzwilliams, MC, Grand Canyon Council, AZ)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Here&#8217;s the good news: You don&#8217;t have to rely on either opinions or past history for the answer to this one, because the BSA already has a policy, and it&#8217;s that any Scout can go for any merit badge any time he wants to! Yup, it&#8217;s a policy, and it&#8217;s in the handbook and the requirements book. So take a deep breath, relax, and encourage your Scouts to seek out whatever interests them and learn more about it (that&#8217;s what merit badges are for, after all)!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> That said, yes, your memory\u2019s intact: There was a time when merit badges couldn\u2019t be started until a Scout was a specific rank. But that was changed quite some years ago and now it\u2019s wide open!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Thanks. We have a Scout who&#8217;s not even 11 yet and he\u2019s earned seven merit badges. This seems so wrong to me. He got his Arrow of Light and then crossed over into our troop as soon as he\u2019d earned it. At this rate he&#8217;ll get his Eagle before he&#8217;s 12, which somehow seems like it&#8217;s not right. Anyway, thanks for the input on this one. (Tom)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>In Cub Scouts, each rank is grade-specific, so that a boy earns the highest rank (Arrow of Light) right at the sunset of his Cub Scouting &#8220;career.&#8221; Consequently, any number of fine Boy Scouters and Boy Scout parents believe that the Boy Scout ranks work the same way, and that the &#8220;proper&#8221; time to earn Boy Scouting&#8217;s highest rank (Eagle) is at the sunset of Boy Scouting: Right around the young man&#8217;s 18th birthday. <em> Nothing could be more wrong.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Because of tenure-in-rank, it&#8217;s unlikely that a boy can earn Eagle before his 12th birthday, but it&#8217;s absolutely not at all unreasonable to earn this rank by age 13, and more power to the Scout who does it! This is wonderful! What a fine example he sets for his fellow Scouts!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Now some would argue that a 13-year-old Eagle &#8220;isn&#8217;t mature enough.&#8221; But these people forget that the Scout must be pretty darned mature, to have completed all the necessary requirements and merit badges\u2014these aren&#8217;t &#8220;no-brainers&#8221;! Besides, having sat on a pretty substantial number of Eagle Scout boards of review, I can assure you that the best answer to the question, &#8220;Why do you believe you deserve to be an Eagle Scout?&#8221; is this: <em>I deserve it because I&#8217;ve done the work.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> So, relax, enjoy, and applaud any young man who decides to &#8220;go for it,&#8221; and then does!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> (I heard a completely mistaken Scouter once say to a Scout who had earned some 50 merit badges as well as Eagle rank: &#8220;Get a life!&#8221; The Scout\u2014who was no more than about 14 or so, by the way\u2014looked that horribly wrong gentleman coldly in the eye and said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve not only earned Eagle, but I&#8217;ve learned about 50 different subjects, from Aviation to Zoology, along the way, and you&#8217;re telling <em>me<\/em> to &#8216;get a life&#8217;?&#8230; I don&#8217;t think so, sir.&#8221;)<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Is there a rule book of Scouting? We\u2019re a new troop and need to know the Do\u2019s &amp; Don\u2019t of Scouting. Thank you. (Monico Alvarez)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> You need only three books: The <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Boy Scout Handbook<\/span><\/em>, <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> Scoutmaster Handbook<\/span><\/em>, and <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Troop Committee Guidebook<\/span><\/em>. Read them in that order. Be sure you read about what the BSA promises the boy that he&#8217;ll get, as a Scout. They\u2019re available at your Scout shop or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scoutstuff.org\/\" target=\"blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> www.Scoutstuff.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>How do you conduct a proper Cub Scout (and leader) uniform inspection? How do youencourage boys on how important the uniforms look? How do you deal with boys who don&#8217;t wear their uniforms correctly? (Art Aigner CM, Greater Niagara Frontier Council, NY)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Start with your adult uniformed volunteers&#8230; Get everyone in full uniform, including pants, culottes, or skirts for the women, and pants (not jeans or &#8220;almost look like Scout pants&#8221;) for the men. Then help everyone get the badges as close to in the right places as possible (but don&#8217;t allow grossly wrong stuff, like a non-Jamboree badge above the right pocket\u2014unless allowed on some but not all Den Leader blouses). Use the actual uniform inspection sheets! <\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> For all new, incoming Tigers and other age groups, as part of the parent orientation meeting that you&#8217;re going to hold for all new pack families, tell them that their sons are expected to be in uniform because Scouting is, indeed a uniformed movement. Tell them the uniform goes from head to toe&#8211;including navy blue pants as well as Cub Scout belt, and so on. Make it understood that if there&#8217;s a hardship and alternate brand of navy blue pants will probably work but that jeans and denims definitely won&#8217;t and any color but navy blue won&#8217;t work. Tell them that this is important because it helps their sons feel a part of and accepted into the pack!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Then, have rewards at pack meetings for fully uniformed dens (which <em> must<\/em> include the Den Leader, too!)\u2014Any den in full and accurate uniform gets to sit in the first row and gets a &#8220;treat&#8221; of some sort (cookie, string cheese, whatever boys of that age group are into, in your area), but <em>never<\/em> criticize or &#8220;put down&#8221; the dens that don&#8217;t succeed in this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span> Be sure the Den Leaders uphold the uniform thing in den meetings, too! Finally, after a few pack meetings, ask your Commissioner to come and do a &#8220;formal pack inspection&#8221; (Commissioners are instructed to do this at least once a year for the units they serve), with rewards for the best dens and the &#8220;top three Cubs.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Behind the scenes, let word go out to all families that the pack is sensitive to financial considerations and any family that would have a problem with the cost can speak with either the Cubmaster, privately, or the Committee Chair, privately, and help will be forthcoming. Concurrently, ask the families of older Cubs to please bring in uniform shirts, pants, and so on that their sons have outgrown, so that some other boy can share an &#8220;experienced&#8221;: uniform and then pass it on! (This is done all over, by the way!)<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Is that enough to get you going in the right direction? Once you&#8217;ve started, I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll come up with some ideas of your own, too!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>For the new National Outdoor Achievement Award, where and how is it worn on the Boy Scout uniform? I\u2019ve dug around the BSA site, as well as asked at the local Scout shop, and it seems that the medal would work like any other such medal, above the left breast pocket, but the placement of the badge remains a mystery. I have a couple of Scout in my troop who have earned the award and want to wear it correctly. (John Watson, ASM, Central North Carolina Council)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Congratulations to those Scouts! The five-faceted NOAA badge, with &#8220;rockers,&#8221; isn\u2019t an easy thing to achieve! Yup, the medal gets worn, on special occasions, where all BSA medals are worn. And the badge and rockers are centered on the <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">right<\/span><\/em> pocket\u2014they&#8217;re not a rank, so they can&#8217;t go on the left pocket; they&#8217;re not a Jamboree emblem, so they can&#8217;t go above the right pocket; they&#8217;re not square knots or the World Crest, so that eliminates over the left pocket. What&#8217;s left? The right pocket, where all &#8220;temporary&#8221; badges go\u2014one at a time (except in the case of rockers). And here&#8217;s the BSA&#8217;s little secret (as I&#8217;ve been able to figure out)&#8230;&#8221;temporary&#8221; really means &#8220;at the wearer&#8217;s discretion.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Can you please help to clarify our thinking about youth members with drivers licenses driving themselves to and from troop meetings and camping trips? The GTSS speaks about adult-to-youth ratios in the same vehicle, in the section on &#8220;Leadership Requirements for Trips and Outings&#8221;: \u201cIf you cannot provide two adults for each vehicle, the minimum required is one adult and two or more youth members\u2014never one on one.\u201d This seems to emphasize the prevention of one-on-one contact, but does it also prohibit a youth driving alone? The GTSS also gives very specific circumstances where a youth may be the driver of a vehicle transporting other members in the &#8220;Transportation&#8221; section, but this is about transporting others. Do we interpret this to mean that a youth member can\u2019t drive himself unless he\u2019s 18? (Name &amp; Council Withheld)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> The BSA has no &#8220;rule&#8221;\u2014YP or otherwise\u2014on how Scouts get themselves to meetings and events. YP training and the GTSS are both silent on individual Scouts walking, running, jogging, skate-boarding, roller-blading, cycling, motor-cycling, mopeding, driving, and so on to and from troop meetings, patrol meetings, or Scouting outdoor events.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> Where licenses are required, the state you live in has plenty of regulations. Stick with those.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Thanks, Andy. Our concern is that if a Scout has his own car, he may decide that he can come and go as he pleases, even when his parent or guardian thinks he\u2019s at the Scout event. (N&amp;CW)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span>I\u2019d say that&#8217;s an issue between the young man and his parents&#8230;and his own conscience. We&#8217;re Scouts; not watchdogs.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span><strong>Dear Andy,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span><strong>Where can I find a BSA policy on whether pets (specifically, dogs) are allowed at troop campouts? (Cliff Strat)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> I don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to have much luck, because the BSA tends not to have policies on what would be considered normal good sense. No pets on campouts, hikes, or any Scout activity, ever. Why? Simple, if the animal gets injured, gets lost, damages equipment, poops in the wrong place, tangles with a woodsy denizen, and whatever, all of a sudden there&#8217;s no more Scouting! It&#8217;s over. Everybody back to the cars, because the pet&#8217;s gotta get to a vet, or we have to go find Sparky &#8217;cause it&#8217;s getting dark, or whatever&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> If some bozo of a parent insists, then insist right back that there will be no pets and if that means their son doesn&#8217;t go on the trip because the parent\u2019s having a hissy fit, then their son doesn&#8217;t go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span> If some other bozo of a parent insists on bringing his or her own pet, on the basis that they\u2019ll take care of it; not their son, same answer: Not a chance\u2014Not on <em>my<\/em> watch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Happy Scouting!<\/span><\/p>\n<form>\n<h3><span>Andy<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/form>\n<p><span><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td width=\"100%\">\n<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"5\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table width=\"95%\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Got a question? Have an idea? Send it to <a href=\"mailto:AskAndyBSA@yahoo.com\"> AskAndyBSA@yahoo.com<\/a>. (Please include your POSITION and COUNCIL NAME or TOWN &amp; STATE)<\/p>\n<p>April 24, 2011 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2011)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span>Letters to AskAndy may be published at the discretion of the columnist and the editor. If you prefer to have your name or affiliation withheld from publication, please advise in your letter..<\/span><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andy\u2019s Rule No. 1: Stupid has no cure. Andy\u2019s Rule No. 2: You show up at \u201ctroop volunteer night\u201d and after ten minutes you still can\u2019t figure out who the new Scoutmaster\u2019s gonna be\u2026 It\u2019s gonna be you. Andy\u2019s Rule No. 3: Don\u2019t try to teach pigs to fly\u2026 It wastes your time and annoys [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942","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=942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":943,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions\/943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}