THE ROLE OF ADULTS IN THE BOY SCOUT TROOP

Boy Scouting is absolutely different from Cub Scouting or Webelos! And while parents (and sometimes whole families) may sometimes accompany the Scouts on campouts, the Scouts camp with their patrol and not with their parents and family members. Troop 555 utilizes qualified dads to fill its Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster positions, in order to provide positive, male role models for the troop youth. Assistant Scoutmasters are appointed at the discretion of the Scoutmaster.

Following is a summary of our troop (and BSA) policies:

Scout Tenting & Meals: Scouts tent with their patrol in a patrol site separate from the other patrols. Patrols plan their own menus, and cook and eat together as a team. In general, adults do not eat or tent with a boy patrol.

Adult Tenting & Meals: Adults tent with the other adults in a patrol site separate from the other patrols. We plan our own menus, separately or together.

Adult/Boy Tenting: BSA youth protection policies forbid an adult and a boy sharing the same tent. While youth protection policies may not apply to a father and son tenting together, with rare exception it is troop policy that boys tent with boys and adults with adults. If a father tents with his son, it has been our experience that the boy will lose out on many opportunities to make decisions and be part of the patrol team!

Smoking/Drinking: Drivers may not smoke while Scouts are in the car. Adults may not smoke or use tobacco products, nor drink alcoholic beverages during a Scout activity. Although is it preferred that tobacco users abstain, adults who must smoke or chew must do so discretely out of sight of the Scouts. Alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited on outings

Boy Leadership: Adults should not interfere with the functioning of boy leaders, even if they make mistakes (we all learn best from our mistakes). As advisors, it is our role to step in only if it is a matter of immediate safety or if the mistake will be immediately costly. Always consult with the Scoutmaster first.

Boy Growth: Never do anything for a boy he can do himself. Let him make decisions without adult interference, and let him make non-costly mistakes.

Adult Training & Resources: The Boy Scouts of America provides an outstanding handbook for adults, and excellent training to help us understand the goals of Scouting and how to attain them. The adult manual is called the Scoutmaster Handbook. Much of the remedial training is available online (see the section "Leader Training" on our website) but some aspects require classroom and field instruction. The troop pays for all adult leader position-specific training and half the Wood Badge course fee.

Why all these rules and policies? Boy Scout camping activities center on the patrol, where boys learn teamwork, leadership, and most camping skills. It is important that adults not be in the middle of patrol activities such as site selection, tent pitching, meal preparation, and anything else where boys get to practice decision-making. A key difference between Boy Scouting and Cub Scouting/Webelos is leadership. Look for the word "leader" in a job title, and you will begin to appreciate the difference. The responsible person for a Cub/Webelos den is the adult Den Leader. The responsible person for a Boy Scout patrol is the boy Patrol Leader. This isn't token leadership (like a denner). A Patrol Leader has real authority and genuine responsibilities. Much of the success, safety, and happiness of six to ten other boys depends directly on him. Boy Scouting teaches leadership. And boys learn leadership by practicing it, not by watching adults lead.

So what do we adults do, now that we've surrendered so much direct authority to boys? Here are our guidelines on the indirect, advisory role adult leaders have:

The underlying principle is never do anything for a boy that he can do himself. We allow boys to grow by practicing leadership and by learning from their mistakes. And while Scout skills are an important part of the program, what ultimately matters when our Scouts become adults is not whether they can use a map & compass, but whether they can offer leadership to others in tough situations; and can live by a code that centers on honest, honorable, and ethical behavior. Boys need to learn to make decisions without adult intervention (except when it's a matter of immediate safety). Boys are in a patrol so they can learn leadership and teamwork without adult interference. Being an adult advisor is a difficult role, especially when we are advising kids (even worse, our own sons).

*Thanks to BSA Troop 97, Fort Collins, Colorado.

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