Go Ahead and Ask

When a new Scout joins our Troop, we go out of our way to make it clear how Boy Scouts will be different from Cub Scouts. I think we sometimes throw the baby out with the bath water to some extent. In our effort to make it perfectly clear that Boy Scouts is boy run, we give the parents the permission to but out all together. Please don't! It's a tricky thing for us leaders to learn to balance on the fine line of letting them do for themselves (read: develop a sense of independence) and helping when needed. We learn, through both BSA Training and experience how to master this. There is a very effective model called E.D.G.E., which we teach to our youth leaders and adult leaders alike. E=explain, D=demonstrate, G=guide, E=enable.

As parents, we can EXPLAIN the importance of being on time to meetings (and demonstrate this by leaving home in plenty of time) and EXPLAIN that it is important to remember to bring home any information that you need.
You can DEMONSTRATE your support of Scouting by coming to an occasional Committee meeting or campout. Scouts with involved parents are most likely to stay with the program and even reach Eagle.
You can GUIDE them (especially for the first few years) by asking them if they have remembered to bring their handbooks to meetings and by making sure they get weekly calls.
Most important, you can ENABLE them by supplying them with proper uniform and equipment, by helping them prioritize their busy lives to include campouts. ENABLE in this case, means supply with the tools they need to be successful, whether that be gear or encouragement.

Ready, set, Yawgoog!

It's just over one week until we head of again to Camp Yawgoog for what I like to call "seven days away from reality". It doesn't have to be that way. Some Scoutmasters head down to the lodge every day to read the papers and chat about the outside world. If something really big happens, like a major blackout of the entire East Coast, someone will let me know, but usually, I just "skip" that week as far as anything outside Yawgoog goes. Sadly, this year, I will be missing most of the Olympics, which I really do look forward to, but that's why there's DVRs!

What comes of this for the boys is something different. It's a week away from TV, parents, scheduled activities, friends and , for some, work. But it's truly good for them. I enjoy watching the growth in each boy over the time we have them, but Summer Camp is a condensed version of that growth process. In one week I learn every boys name, their ability to plan and follow through, what makes them mad and what makes them laugh. By the end of the week, 30+/- boys go from being a random group of boys to a disciplined, focused and more confident team. New leaders get a crash course and will be much more ready to handle their respective responsibilities when we resume activities in September. Someone will conquer his fear of insects, another will experience his first week away from parents. Still others will learn to swim, use a pocketknife safely and others will just learn to get used to living in tight quarters with his peers, friends and otherwise, for seven days. but it's all good. I dread it every year, but I am always glad I went. Someone will meltdown sometime late Tuesday, but we'll fix it and by the last Sunday, all will return smelly and with smiles on their faces. I guarantee it!