Scoutmaster

Tag - You Are It!

My youth leadership sometimes plays a game of tag - for some sudden reason they cannot make a meeting or event and dump their responsibility on another youth leader; tag, you're it!

Most of the time they do this with a phone call or a quick word at school. They imagine that this is adequate - after all that's how a game of tag works. Sometimes they just don't show up; then we play another game called 'talk to the Scoutmaster'. By now you should be wearing a grin of recognition, this is not an uncommon problem, right?

No policy, leadership contract or procedural writeup will help, and a good stiff talk with an angry Scoutmaster is only marginally effective. So what is the answer?

First accept that this is a typical obstacle in developing leadership - not a punishable offense. Second ask the youth leadership if they think this game of tag is acceptable. When they say yes have the guy who got dumped on explain what it felt like and what he had to do to make up for their caviler attitude; this usually works. Scouts have an acute sense of fairness, if you appeal to it they will often solve the problem for themselves.

Hitting the Wall

Marathon runners sometime experience a sudden loss of energy that they call 'hitting the wall'. The race is going well  until one seems to pass through an invisible barrier and get-up-and-go gets up and leaves.

Scoutmasters and their youth leadership may have a similar experience when communication breaks down, goals become fuzzy and nothing seems to work. Otherwise capable and energetic leaders may encounter a simple setback that drains their enthusiasm - a common experience; especially for developing youth leaders.

Given the responsibility for an aspect of the Troop program youth leaders (and adults for that matter) often find that what seemed simple becomes hopelessly complex. Youth leadership is especially susceptible to growing frustrated, feeling inadequate, and subsequently giving up. They have hit the wall. Normally their first reaction is minimizing the importance of the task they were given and making only a token effort.

When the inadequacy of their preparation comes to light (more often than not at a point too late to do anything about it) the reaction of their fellow leaders may make them reluctant to take on any other responsibility in the future.

First the wall, followed by frustration, disappointment, and topped off by a negative reaction. Such a course of events will discourage even the most energetic leadership.

We can't avoid the wall - we are all going to hit it. We can minimize the resulting troubles. First we have to recognize that the wall exists and have some idea of where it is- forewarned is forearmed. Unlike a marathon runner Scout leaders aren't running on their own; we have a team to support us. When a youth leader takes on a responsibility it is incumbent on the Scoutmaster and his assistants to help them define the task, point out the resources and offer lots of support. We mustn't do it for them, but we need to let them know that there are walls out there and be ready to lend a hand when they hit one.

Lost Scout

From the CNN website:

A 12-year-old Boy Scout missing for four days in North Carolina's wilderness wandered away from his campsite because he was homesick and planned to hitchhike home, the boy's father said Tuesday.

Michael told his father he slept in tree branches during the night, drank river water and prayed he wouldn't get sick. He said he got homesick because some of his closest friends had not gone on the camping trip, so he planned to walk to a highway and hitchhike to his home in Greensboro, North Carolina.

For three days, searchers combed the forest for Michael, who disappeared from his troop's campsite on Saturday at Doughton Park, along the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Virginia state line.

Michael, who is from Greensboro, North Carolina, had remained with an adult at the campsite Saturday while other Scouts went for a hike, said Bauer of the park service. Michael was one of four boys and seven adults on the trip.

Dave Craft, assistant scoutmaster, said Michael stayed behind because his feet got cold after playing in a creek. He was tired and wasn't feeling well, said Craft, who left the group Saturday afternoon on business.

When the other Scouts returned, they ate lunch with Michael, who later disappeared from the camp, Bauer said.

Once Scouts and their leaders noticed that Michael was not in camp, they began a search and, within a half-hour, called the park service, Bauer said.

What happened here?

How is it that a relatively small group of seven Scouts accompanied by four leaders could allow a Scout to get lost?

I am not interested in assigning blame or making judgments about a harrowing incident that could happen to just about any Scout Troop. There is some merit, however, in examining the story to prevent repeating it.

Trained Scouters will immediately raise the red flag at leaving a Scout in the campsite with one leader. That is a big no-no. But the boy didn't get lost because he was in camp with just one instead of two leaders.

Did the Scout actually decide to run away from his troop and hitchhike home? I don't think so. Note what his father said: "He started walking, and at one point when he was walking he thought maybe he'd walk as far as the road and hitchhike home."

Reportedly he left the campsite to clean his mess kit and did not return. My best guess is that he got disoriented and could not find his way back. Search and rescue professionals report that lost people do some stunningly irrational things from panic (including hiding from rescuers). I think he panicked, ran around and (as was reported) lost his glasses and hat. Lost people enter into a disoriented state of shock and often cannot remember even the most basic details of the time they spent being lost.

I don't think the boy is willfully lying, I think he just can't really remember what happened.

In order for him to consciously decide to run away he would have to be unusually homesick. He would have to overcome all discipline and fear and be so adverse to confiding in an adult leader that running was his only course of action. Homesick boys don't run, they cling. Angry boys run. I have yet to see a boy angry and homesick at the same time.

A consistent use of the buddy system could have prevented the incident. If a Scout must do something out of sight of the Troop he should have at least one buddy accompany him.

Keeping the group together would make loosing someone less likely. I am not a big fan of the 'walk it off' school of medicine, but cold, wet feet get warmer and dryer if you exercise a bit and 'not feeling so well' is a classic symptom of homesickness. It is hard to figure out if the Troop leadership was being overly cautious about the boy's health or not, but my hunch is that they were.

We are all vulnerable to making mistakes and misjudgments.  When in doubt we should consider our training, policy and common sense - one of the three is sure to keep us out of trouble.

What is ACTIVE all about

An excellent treatise on the largely misunderstood 'serve actively' requirements at Ask Andy:

In the advancement arena, one of the BSA’s most practical, intelligent, realistic, compassionate, and youth-sensitive decisions was to not attach percentages, numerics, or any other sorts of rubrics to the term “active.” Instead, the underlying principle of “active” is simply “Do Your Best.”  In the same arena, one of the biggest mistakes a troop can make is to attempt to make up their own “rules” for this, and, further, to fail to understand that “active” extends well beyond mere troop and/or patrol meetings and outings.  You’ll see why in just a few moments…

Read the entire post below.

 

Ten Day Vehicle Survival Pack - $25.00

In Backwoods Home Magazine Jeffery Yago writes:

It seems like every winter there are news stories of people getting stranded for weeks in bad weather while driving through the many remote areas of our country. In fact, this past winter, our nation held its breath waiting for news of James Kim and his family who got lost traveling the snowy roads of Josephine County in Oregon, not far from where this magazine is published. While his wife and daughters, who stayed with their vehicle, were eventually found alive, he succumbed to the cold as he hiked through snow looking for help for his family. And there are also many cases of people trapped for days in their vehicles after skidding over a bridge embankment, even though they were only a few hundred feet from a busy highway. I have written many articles about how to prepare your home for a power outage or national emergency, but today I want to address how to be prepared for an emergency when traveling in your car or truck.

Read the full article here.

Developmental Disabilities?

I may have earned the equivalent of a few college credits related to the study of developmental, or cognitive, differences during my tenure as a Scoutmaster. What are cognitive differences? Autism, attention deficit, hyperactivity, Downs syndrome and learning disabilities of all stripes.

Before we go any further a quick distinction between disability and difference. Disabilities are, by definition, a condition that makes it difficult for someone to do the things that other people do. Difference is a way in which people or things are dissimilar. I am not attempting to be politically correct. I am using the term 'difference' advisedly to express a concept: those of us who are cognitively different from others are not incapable of thinking or doing, they simply relate to the world differently. Understanding this helped me help my Scouts

Scouting can be a wonderful, broadening, enriching experience for boys with developmental differences. Perhaps the greatest benefit is the growth and enrichment this inclusion has provided for myself and all the "normal" Scouts.

Don't treat these Scouts as patients - treat them as boys. Better yet open your heart and learn their language; you may be able to help them learn yours.

Here are a couple of resources that I have found particularly helpful.

In My Language is a short film by an Amanda Baggs explaining how autism shapes the way she relates to the world. Her blog is ballastexistenz.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a novel by Mark Haddon, is written from the point of view of an autistic fifteen year old boy. Looking at the world through as an autistic boy , seeing what he sees, thinking what he thinks reveals what seems irrational or odd to one is perfectly rational and normal to another.This revelation has better enabled me to work with Scouts identified with learning differences. It is not too much to say that attemting to understand and interpret differing points of view rather than condemning them as irrational or wrong would go a long way to solving most problems we encounter. Excellent reading.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Amazon

Rescue Carries Video

The Backpacker Magazine website features monthly video 'skill casts'.  This one on Emergency Rescue Carries is a good resource.

Extraordinary Uses for Vinegar

After reading these tips I am going to grab a couple of gallon bottles of distilled vinegar for our supply room and make sure to take some on outings. I'll also get a smaller bottle of apple cider vinegar to supplement the first aid kit.

There are a surprising amount of extraordinary applications for vinegar. Here are some that Scouts, or anyone who spends time camping, will find helpful;

First Aid

• Relieve the itch from poison ivy and reduce swelling by applying directly to the affected area.
• A cotton ball soaked in cider vinegar held to an insect sting brings relief.
• Soothe a jellyfish sting by dousing the area with vinegar.
• A quick dose of vinegar on a burn will prevent blistering.
• Apply directly to the skin as an antiseptic for cuts and abrasions; reduces swelling and promotes healing. Vinegar is a natural antiseptic.
• Mix equal parts honey and apple cider vinegar together to soothe a sore throat.
• Lightly rub white distilled or cider vinegar on sunburned skin. Reapply as needed.

Cooking

• A tablespoon of vinegar added to eggs before scrambling adds zest.
• A few drops of vinegar in pasta as it boils makes the pasta less sticky.
• Soak your favorite dried beans in apple cider vinegar overnight and rinse completely to lessen the gas they create.
• A little vinegar in the water will keep egg whites from running out if it cracks when boiling.

Cleaning and Deodorizing Gear

• Use a half and half solution of vinegar and water to clean up tough stains on plastic or on metal kitchen utensils.
• Clean and deodorize plastic coolers with vinegar and water. Follow with washing in soap and water.
• Remove stubborn stains in pots by soaking in vinegar for thirty minutes. Wash using hot soapy water. Another method; fill the pot with a solution of 3 tablespoons of vinegar to a pint of water. Boil until stain loosens and can be washed away with soap and water.
• Wash your hands with vinegar after cutting onions, peppers or cabbage to remove the smell.
• A cup of vinegar added in the rinse cycle will deodorize  clothing smelling of campfire smoke or other odors.

Insect Repellent

• Drink a couple of spoonfuls of vinegar daily to repel mosquitoes.

I have yet to try this but I will:

• Propane lantern mantles last longer and burn brighter on the same amount of fuel if they are soaked for several hours in distilled vinegar and allowed to dry before using.

More at the Vinegar Book and the Vinegar Institute

The Value of Scouting

B.S.A. presentation that showcases examples of the effectiveness of Scouting. Ashton Pruitt  (pictured above) used the skills he learned in Scouts to save his family when Katrina hit New Orleans.
The Value of Scouting

The Patrol System

A thorough, yet concise discussion of the Patrol Method available at the White Stag from the Handbook for Scoutmasters, Volume One. © 1936 Boy Scouts of America, Compiled by Bill Hillcourt.

We must keep constantly in mind, though, that "The object of the Patrol Method"—as Baden-Powell says"is not so much to save trouble for the Scoutmaster, as to give responsibility to the boy-since this is the very best of all means of developing character. The Scoutmaster gives the aim, and the several Patrols vie with each other in attaining it, thus automatically raising their standards of keenness and efficiency all round."

"Get an easy chair and place it in a corner of the Troop meeting room. If you [the Scoutmaster] can sink into it just after the opening ceremony and just sit throughout the meeting, without a worry for its success, without lifting a finger or moving a foot until time comes for the closing-well, then your Troop is run on the Patrol Method-your boy leaders are actually leading."

Related Posts on Scoutmaster
Patrol Method
Troop Organization Made Simple