Obstacles to Involvement

[scoutdad]

I am a leader in a local troop. I would like to know what I can do to encourage more parents to stay during the meeting and become involved with their sons.

[bsa4all]

My impression of the meetings is that they are skills related and taught by boy leaders not parents. Parents handle committee work, drive to activities, and serve as merit badge counselors but the boys run the troop.

[Mungo from the Shire]

Why would you want alot of parental involvement anyway. Remember the Troop is boy run, boy lead, adult supervised.

[scoutdad]

Yes the troop is boy run and led. What better way for parents to understand the program than to observe. It has been my experience that the more parents understand the program, the more they can help their son. Boy led does not mean hands off for parents, quite the opposite. The more a parent is involved the better the scout does in scouting!

[CCScouter]

The question of who can attend committee meetings has been a recent 'issue' in my sons unit. Parents were directed to the Troop Committee Guidebook where the following is written - "The committee meeting is attended by all committee members and the Scoutmaster. Occasionally you may want to invite guests such as your chartered organization representative and unit commissioner." It doesn't mention parents attending the meetings. Aren't parents supposed to be encouraged to participate in the scout program with their son? Did the BSA, when writing the Troop Committee Guidebook, mean to imply that units should exclude parents from meetings?

[tomcat]

ALL parents should be welcome. Are they trying to hide something?

[COR Trainer]

As pointed out by CCScouter, the Troop Committee Guidebook states that the committee meeting is attended by all committee members.

I don't think that the writer of this passage intended it to be interpreted as being "exclusive" in nature. On the contrary, it should be accepted as "inclusive", so as not to leave out any potential member. Remember, there may be some very valuable assistance that can be achieved by inviting non-parents to become members of the committee, people who may not be parents.

Your unit may not have someone who is good with finances. As such, you may want to recruit a bookkeeper or accountant to join the committee and become the unit treasurer. In our troop our treasurer is an accountant who's son has no longer been involved in Scouting for about seven years. We neither want, nor can we get rid of him. He is too valuable. Like many of Scouting volunteers, he is one of those "lifers" that stays around.

Family members, such as aunts, uncles and grandparents, as well as community members, can also provide much needed experience and advise that is not otherwise available within the group of strictly just parents.

However, on the other hand, I do not believe that the writers of many of the publications that come out of national always show the best understanding of what helps a unit to operate succesfully. This is where the experiences of other volunteers is of great help.

As an example, the Chartered Organization Representative should always be present at unit committee meetings, as his/her schedule permits. Not being present is like being an absentee landlord. They will have little idea of what is going on with the unit. On another thread on this site a parent mentioned that they seldom see the unit's COR. What a shame.

If you understand the "Key 3" concept, you also understand that the COR represents the "owners" of the unit. As such, they are the Chairman of the Board. They are the only one, beside the institutional head (IH), that can approve adult registrations; and are the only ones who can inform a volunteer that their services are no longer desired.

I like to use the analogy of a manufacturing "plant" to describe the role of each of the "Key 3" on the unit level. The boys are the "product". They enter the "plant" as the "raw material" for the organization to work with. Our goal is to have them leave the "Shipping Department" as competent young adults and good, functioning citizen who are capable of making ethical choices and decisions.

The Cubmaster or Scoutmaster is the "Production Manager". They are responsible for the production department and applying the program or "tools" of Scouting to the "raw material" and seeing that the "raw material" is effectively and efficiently advanced through the "plant".

Paying the bills, collecting funds, ordering outside resources, and keeping records of everything is the responsibility of the administrative department, managed by "General Manager", also known as the Committee Chair.

The "Chairman of the Board", or Chartered Organizatin Representative, is responsible for seeing that "corporate policies" are followed and that the "company" is made aware of any changes or new developments available. That is why they are, be virtue of the position, a voting member of both the district and council committees.

Invite the chartered organization representative? I should hope so! How else is the unit to be asured that it is complying with the policies of the chartered organization and/or B.S.A.?

Sometimes I think that the air gets too thin in headquarters. Maybe it's the heat in Texas. These are the same people that describe the national organization as the base of the pyramid of Scouting. The way national see it, See attachment, COR Pyramid 1.jpg. Boy, and I thought that it was about the youth, the way that parents see it, See attachment, scoutorg.jpg. Oh, well. I'm only a volunteer.

[Flaxin]

The Troop committee is made up of parents. The Troop committee is the PRIMARY place for parents concerns to be heard. The Troop Committee meetings should be PACKED with parents. The Unit committee is NOT a place for youth but it is definately a place for parents.

The Troop committee guidebook says so when it says that it is attended by the Troop Committee. All parents should be encouraged to join the Troop committee as registered members as only registered members of the Troop committee are allowed to vote. The Scoutmaster and assistant scoutmasters, and unregistered adults, and guests are NOT allowed to vote on issues but they are allowed and encouraged to attend and be heard.

The question of who can attend committee meetings has been a recent 'issue' in my sons unit. Parents were directed to the Troop Committee Guidebook where the following is written - "The committee meeting is attended by all committee members and the Scoutmaster. Occasionally you may want to invite guests such as your chartered organization representative and unit commissioner." It doesn't mention parents attending the meetings. Aren't parents supposed to be encouraged to participate in the scout program with their son? Did the BSA, when writing the Troop Committee Guidebook, mean to imply that units should exclude parents from meetings?

[Scouter1983]

After reading these posts the simple explenation is that Committee Members are Registered members of BSA. Parents are of course encouraged to attend Committee Meetings as with any Boy Scout activity. The only thing is that parents cannot/should not vote on issues pertaining to troop operations. Don't get me wrong they have a say they just can't vote on voting issues, the reason they have not registered as a member of the committee. Would you be allowed to vote at a City Council meeting? No, why because you are not a member of the city council. Same concept for Committee Meetings. A short and sweet response to hopefully clarify issues.

[ScoutmasterJerry]

First there are No Obstacles.. Obstacles require some work to get around. This is Scouting.
So here is my two cents...
When a new family comes into our Troop we have them fill our a skills inventory or survey. It clearly asks what they want out of Scouting and how they can help.
If they want to work with the boys as a mentor/teacher/Coach aka Assistant Scoutmaster, we have them meet with the Committee and they interview them. Other wise we ask for their help on the committee. If they do not want to register, we ask them to keep their options open for a later time.
Most join the committee (at large) this keeps the door open.
In our Troop the Committee has no contact with the Scouts other than Boards of Review. In some cases they are Merit Badge counselors, but that is more or less it.
We do not go out of our way and beg for help. We let the parent rise to their level of envolvement. This way we get the parents that want to be a part of the unit, not the parents that feel pressured.
Having them fill out the survey is a easy way for them to find the level.

A note on the Assistant Scoutmasters... We want a committment from them.
They can not do the job if they are not committed. We had a situation were one of the ASMs could not maintain an appropriate level of activity, so we simply asked him to change his position to Committee member were he could better serve the Troop. He had no problem with it, he knew what was expected and everything was up front and above board.

This program is all about the boys.. if an adult is focused in that direction, they are no help.

Jerry Schleining
Scoutmaster
Troop 664 (http://www.scoutingpages.org/us/or/troop664/)

[WB Bear]

Sometimes I think that the air gets too thin in headquarters. Maybe it's the heat in Texas. These are the same people that describe the national organization as the base of the pyramid of Scouting. The way national see it, See attachment, COR Pyramid 1.jpg. Boy, and I thought that it was about the youth, the way that parents see it, See attachment, scoutorg.jpg. Oh, well. I'm only a volunteer.

You know at first I had a little trouble understanding the pyramid too and thought it was backwards. Maybe the confusion was because the boy was the smallest portion? But when you think of the base of the pyramid, National, it is the foundation. It supports the Council which supports the District and so on with the ultimate end being the boy. So all those different entities are supporting the boy.

Just another Volunteer

[1st Mate]

I am not sure how but I did not see this thread until today. I think there is some misunderstanding of the unit structure and some misinformation that has been shared that seems to try to support it.

The Troop Committee Guide is correct. The Committee consists of the committee chairperson, registered committee members and the Charter Organization Representative and anyone they wish to invite. The Scoutmaster or his (or her) representative is usually there also to represent the program decisions and needs of the troop.

There is no requirement that parents be present. Bear in mind that neither the unit or the committee operate by majority rule. Nor are parents in charge of the scout unit. Any parent wanting to have regular input can apply for membersip in an adult position of responsibility with the Charter representative and the Committee chair. These two people are charged with the responsibility of selecting and approving any adult volunteer.

There are times when having open meetings would be inappropriate . If the committee chair or wishes they can invite anyone to the meeting they want.

I say the committee chair because the committee meeting is run by the committee chair.

AS far as the outdated pyramid of scouting mentioned by COR Trainer, it has the National and Regional offices are at the bottom base because they are the foundation of support services to other layers. You will note that at the pinnacle of the pyramid are the youth we serve and all others are below them, supporting them.

This pyramid however was replaced 7 years ago by a new diagram, A circular target which places the youth in the Bulls-eye or center of focus.

Both diagrams, when explained correctly, put the youth at the place of greatest importance and show the layers of support (both volunteer and professional), that exist to serve the scout.

In regards to the opening post, I agree with others, There is no purpose to have a lot of parents present at regular troop meetings. The goal of the program sequence in scouting is to move the youth from dependence on on adult leadership to independence.

The time to have lots of parents around is at courts of honor or other special events.