WashDad

Recognizing a good troop is pretty easy. Finding one can be hard. I don't have time to do this justice, but here is WashDad's guide to a first-rate troop:

1. Do they do thing "by the book" or do they believe "the BSA program is fine, but we have special needs so we only use the parts that work for us." Surprisingly, perhaps, the correct answer is "by the book." I've been involved in two troops that were on the way up in numbers of boys and in quality of program, and both of them did so by abandoning their own ideas and hewing to "the book." When you think of it -- it makes sense. BSA has been running a youth program for boys for nearly 100 years, and literally millions of adult leaders and Scouts have been contributing to "the book" over that time. What makes any given leader the idea that they are smarter than all those other experts?

2. Does the troop have an active outdoor program? Do they go camping at least once a month? Do they go on a high adventure trip AND to summer camp EVERY summer? If not, pass on this troop.

3. Who stands at the front of the room during meetings? If it's the Scoutmaster, pass. If it's the Senior Patrol Leader, give them a point.

4. Do the boys wear their uniforms? You can have a poor troop that wears the uniform, but I've never seen a good one that didn't.

5. Are there lots of adults at the meeting, but in a different room or sitting quietly in the back? This is a very good sign. It means that adults are involved (good) but know enough not to interfere with the youth leaders (better).

6. Do any patrols have the National Honor Patrol Award? This is a sure-fire sign of a good troop that follows the patrol method.

7. Do the boys clump into their patrols, or does the troop meeting look like one mass of undifferentiated boys? A strong patrol identification is a good sign.

8. Does the Scoutmaster have so many awards hanging from his shirt that he looks like a Chilean admiral? This is tricky -- some great Scout leaders have lots of fruit salad and wear it proudly, because they earned it as part of serving the youth. Some really lousy leaders are "award collectors" and don't really get the program. So, a Scout leader with lots of "stuff" on his or her uniform may be off-putting, but it isn't necessarily bad. (My uniform has medium stuff.)

9. Ask the Scoutmaster "what is Scouting about?" If he says it's about camping and the outdoors, that's bad. If he says it's about learning "leadership" that's OK, but not great. If he says it's about helping youth grow up to be mature adults who are equipped to make ethical choices in their lives, give him a gold star.

10. Ask the Scoutmaster what happens in a typical Scoutmaster conference. If the answer includes tying knots or showing first aid skills -- that's bad.

Whew. I wonder how many tpyos are in there?

2VU0609

Lafalum,
Your comments make me so thankful for the wonderful leadership my S had in his troop. He completed Eagle early in his freshman year of high school, as did 2 close friends. Their ceremony was in August just prior to the start of sophomore year. In his troop the boys are encouraged to finish early as the leaders are somewhat aware of the increasing pressures in high school of sports, driving (and girls), jobs, the college application process, etc. Hearing from some of you makes me remember that it is easy to take things for granted when there is no fly in the ointment!

Motherdear

S's ASMs call these distractions the 3Gs: Girls, Gas, Grades

Hunt

I think WashDad's list of criteria is very good. I would like to expound on his first point, though. I think what he means is that the troop does its best to follow the rules and programs that are provided by BSA. I agree that this is good. But don't confuse that with a troop that has its OWN strict book written by the adult leaders, and which is strictly enforced. The BSA program is quite flexible in a number of respects, and it really emphasizes letting the boys run the troop and make decisions. So you need to probe a bit into what a troop is really saying when it says it does things "by the book."

missypie

Washdad, I have a big problem with the "boy run troop" concept. Every year, the boys vote on what their outings will be. Without fail, they do an "electonics" camp, where they get a pavillion at a park and run a bunch of power strips in and play video games all night. There are annual overnights at the laser tag place. Frequent bowling outings and water park visits. I don't recall that any of these activities meet a single merit badge requirement. They have not done a "high adventure" outing during our 6 years in the troop. Never a trip to Philmont.

In my opinion, boys of that age need a bit more guidance on their outings. Perhaps the adults could come up with a bunch of possibilities-ALL of which meet the requirements for some badge or another-and then let the boys vote on those.

Also, having the boys select for the Positions of Reponsibility makes me insane. The most popular boys get the elected positions, then they appoint their friends to the appointed positions. My son had to wait a full year after he had fullfilled all of the other requirements to be a life scout, because he could never get a position of responsiblity. They had boys who had absolutely no interest in advancing taking the POR, leaving boys who needed PORs waitiing and waiting. Again, the boys need adult guidance-a list of boys who need PORs to advance, with instructions to slot them somewhere.

Hunt

Missypie, I'm sorry to say that it sounds like a very troubled troop. It seems to me that neither the adults nor the boys really understand what they are supposed to be doing. A good troop will be boy-run and have a good outdoor program...and the boys will elect people to positions of responsibility who can actually do the job, because they know how important it is. The solution is not to have the adults take over, but to get some training for everybody, both adults and boys.

missypie

I agree. As I think I mentioned, the parents of the 6th and 7th graders are pretty dismayed at current troop leadership....it wil change soon, I believe.

scansmom

Missypie, I really do have to hand it to your S for sticking it out so long in scouts! My S who also has Aspergers made it through cub scouts fine (my primary goal was to provide him with organized opportunities for learning social skills); he moved on to Boy Scouts after cub scouts but our district's troop was the opposite of WashDad's criteria for a "good" troop - and the lack of structure, organization and leadership at both the scout level and the adult level was a huge turnoff for both S and me. Which was of course very unfortunate for S since the teen years is precisely when Aspies need more practice in developing, not just social, but also leadership abilities.

missypie

I will say that my son enjoyed the video game and laser tag "camp outs", certainly more than tent camping. As an Aspie, it gave him an opportunity to do these things in a group where he wouldn't have necessarily been invited had a group of boys from school gotten together to do the same thing. But they do so many more of these type of activites than classic outdoor experiences.