I get lots of email questions about… … troop conflicts. It may be volunteers arguing with each other, parents arguing with Scouters, volunteers arguing with Scouts, they all have a common thread, and most have a common answer. I also offer my simple advice for welcoming girls into troops, so simple you may not like it very much! I also talk about w…

Create shared expectations and you’ll have a happy troop. In this week’s podcast I answer an email question about a behavior problem. A problem that would never happen if those involved shared expectations. Ask Scouts to analyze their behavior in light of the Scout oath and law. Listen carefully, ask questions, listen more, share your thoughts, and…

When thinking about Eagle Scout advancement … .. we ought to ask “what is an Eagle Scout?” rather than “who deserves to be an Eagle Scout?” The answer to the question “who deserves to be an Eagle Scout?” is easy; any Scout who completes the requirements. That’s it. No more and no less. There’s no Eagle-plus, and no Eagle minus, only Eagle. When you…

Webelos dens as patrols and more older Scout issues … Catching up on email questions this week I’ll talk about Webelos dens working the patrol method and discuss the causes of at least some older Scout problems. (If you listen very carefully you may detect a rant this week). Over thirty years ago I had 18 Webelos in my Webelos den. I survived that …

Working with older Scouts between the ages of 14-18 … … is both challenging and rewarding. What interests keep them involved? Simply turning up the ‘wow’ factor doesn’t do much to keep them engaged, because they are looking for much more than fun. Respecting and understanding what older Scouts need takes patient observation and an open dialogue. Ou…

Email questions! I’ll answer email questions concerning patrols and planning in this week’s podcast. I think what most of us want is patrols with long storied histories, stable membership, and high functioning Scouts. It’s my suspicion these kinds of patrols only exist in the pages of handbook. I had a dog eared copy the 1940’s era Patrol Leader’s …

Scouting discipline is constructive… … because it builds character through applying the Scout oath and law. When we think of discipline we often think of systems of rules and punishments. These things are more familiar to our Scouts than open-ended situation where they follow principles. Asking them to judge themselves rather than issuing judgments…

Why is Scouting designed around youth leadership? Most Scouters think a youth led troop is the brass ring of Scouting. What exactly do we mean when we talk about youth leadership? There’s much confusion and misunderstanding of this than nearly any other aspect of Scouting. Our perspective is often narrowly focused on things that aren’t all that imp…

How does Scout advancement achieve the main aim of Scouting? Todays talk about advancement continues our foundations series. I’ve written extensively in detail about many aspects of Scout advancement, but this is different. In this podcast I ask how Scout advancement fits into the overall game of Scouting. You’ll hear me read from Baden-Powell’s Ai…

What’s the difference between Patrol system and Patrol method? I have never found any actual difference between those terms in Scouting literature, but I will share acouple of thoughts to differentiate between patrol system and patrol method in a way you may find helpful. Over the next three podcasts we’ll continue our foundations series by examini…

Some aspects of the Scouting game look like flaws… … but they are features we must not alter. Games restrict or constrain play through rules, the laws of physics, or human limitations and Scouting is no exception. We Scouters often expend lot of effort trying to fix things that don’t need to be fixed, or smooth over things that are intentionally ch…

Thinking of Scouts as players … … fills out the analogy of Scouting as a game. Players volunteer to participate in the game. The most important volunteers in Scouting have more power and influence than the highest official. Without their participation, Scouting would come to a complete halt. They bring endless energy, resources, and real transforma…

Thinking of Scouters as coaches … … can help us understand our role in the game. These are just analogies – we aren’t actually coaches, and Scouting isn’t actually a game. Analogies are not exact copies, they only resemble what they represent. What a Scouter does may be similar to coaching, but Scouters hold an unique role in a young person’s life.…

We’ve heard this before, right? Baden-Powell employed the “Scouting is a game” analogy long before anyone else, and it is the best analogy I’ve found for explaining the wonderfully complex, intriguing, idea that is Scouting. We have to be careful because analogies break down at some point. While Scouting is a game in many ways, it’s actually someth…

Thank you for being a Scouter! Today I have a short story to share (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore) I first read on Podcast 248 to wish readers and listeners happy holidays. The story includes Scouters in neckerchiefs, silence imploring, settling ourselves for a long winter’s snoring. Next week is Christmas and the following is new year’s, …

Imagine two Scout troops, troop A and troop B. Both troops have “average” Scouts (whatever that means) who do what average Scouts do. Both have a well defined procedural approach to discipline and misbehavior. Troop A publishes a guide that defines the rules, how they are enforced, and penalties for breaking them. Troop B has no written rules, so t…

Scout advancement is not adults judging Scouts… … it’s Scouts meeting requirements with the support of adult volunteers – in Scout advancement we are all on the same side. We did not write the requirements. We don’t personally embroider patches to present to them. It’s tiresome and self-defeating to devise our own hoops for Scouts to jump through o…

Kevin Callan is here, it’s time to go winter camping! Canada’s Happy Camper, our friend Kevin Callan, author of the new Complete Guide to Winter Camping joins us on this podcast with his welcoming way of sharing his knowledge of the woods in winter. You’ll see right away how Kevin has earned the name “happy camper”, he’s a passionate, devoted outdo…

Expertise and experience are overrated Scouts need Scouters with energy and vision more than Scouters with expertise and experience. Scouts don’t care what you know, they respond to who you are. In this podcast I answer three email questions. The first (begins at 1:05) comes from a new Scouter contemplating becoming a Scoutmaster, but is concerned …

What do I do now? A Scout misbehaves, makes a mistake, or even consciously does something wrong, and things spin out of control, now what? If you hang around long enough your Scouts misbehave, and you’ll will be confronted by this sort of incident, so what is your plan? I’ll discuss an incident shared with me some time ago to illustrate some core i…

Should gender define Scouting? This week I want to discuss responses to a post I published last week about gender in Scouting: Girls in the BSA. The post garnered lot’s of responses both for and against the idea of the BSA becoming a co-ed organization, and I’ll discuss some of the objections in this podcast. The question of gender and Scouting can…

I’ll be brief, well, kind of… … join me as I talk about two key ideas for Scouters I hope you find helpful . This podcast condenses into one talk the answers I wrote to several common email questions I had this summer. I want to share two key ideas I have talked about many times before, but I think are always important to emphasize. You can’t talk …

Hey! I’m still here, are you? My summer break stretched into the fall a little! Spend some time catching up with me in this briefer edition of the podcast, lots to talk about! We had a great trip to Kandersteg International Scout Center in Switzerland, the troop had a great week at summer camp and have laid the foundations for a great year of activ…

Some Scouting problems are just nettlesome… … they aren’t discipline problems, or particularly disruptive, just nettlesome, irritating, like stinging nettles. Everyone thinks it’s the Scoutmaster’s responsibility to fix nettlesome Scouting problems, truth is it isn’t, at least not directly. Most Scouters run into a situation like this, it bothers t…

Who “owns” the pack, troop or crew? Scouting Charters are held by a chartering organization owns all of the assets of a Scout unit. As for whether or not they will dictate how the money is spent; the chartered organization is responsible to make sure finances are administered properly. In practice most chartered organizations do not get very involv…