Our district put on a 5 evening, Cub/WEBELOS Scout (twilight) Day Camp last week.
- Yes, it was a lot of preparation.
- Yes, it was a lot of paperwork.
- Yes, it was a lot of (redundant) training.
- Yes, it a lot of risk assessment and liability mitigation.
- Yes, it was a lot of, what seems over-the-top restrictive, policy.
Lucky me, I was the Camp Director. A volunteer Assistant Scoutmaster, with an 18 year-old Eagle Scout, who works with the OA Lodge, District and Council, almost exclusively with Boy Scouts rank First Class and above, somehow managed to get himself placed in charge of a Cub Camp. Oh joy!
- Yes, it was fun for the boys.
- Yes, it was meaningful (to families of boys aged 6-10).
- Yes, it was personally rejuvenating and spirit lifting.
- Yes, it was...well, MAGICAL.
The gap-toothed smiles, of boys missing front teeth; the non-stop inquisitiveness; the boundless enthusiasm; the wonder in their eyes, when they see or do something brand new; the thrill of hitting a target for the first time; the opportunity to make new friends; the joy of simply being outside.
If I ever get too old and cranky to appreciate the magic of moments like these, please pull my BSA card and send my sorry behind home.
Lucky me, I was the Camp Director.
YiS,
Darrin Luksik
Congaree District, Indian Waters Council, Boy Scouts of America
Why, oh why, are so many Scouters, who are
otherwise exemplary people, downright rude when it comes to answering
others? Much like failing to register for events, in a timely fashion,
this too puzzles me.
Volunteers, who supposedly share in a set of
core values, can yet be so impolite. Many Scoutmasters
and Cubmasters in my district and council reply with such infrequency to
email, I have actually been told on more than one occasion, that I should know better, because "Scoutmasters don't answer email."
Well, that was a direct quote, but my
experience shows you could equally substitute Cubmaster, Committee Chair, or
almost any strictly unit position. Also,
it is not just a refusal to reply to email. Text messages and voice mails have almost the
same woeful success rate. Some individuals must be
tracked down. Unless you are
face-to-face, they will ignore.
If this pattern were to occur in a business environment,
these folks would be reprimanded, perhaps counseled, and repeat offenders
fired. Yes, FIRED, terminated, let go, parted ways with, or maybe permitted to ‘resign’
or ‘retire’ on their own. It is not just
rude to ignore communications directed squarely at you, it is bad business.
I mentioned “purely unit position”, and perhaps
this is key to, if not understanding, at least narrowing in on this strange and
un-Scout like behavior. There are more
than a few units, some quite large and having vast resources, with a myopic
point of view that borders on isolationism.
Their leaders do not serve in district or council capacities; the units
themselves are often standoffish. Quite
frankly, they view themselves as better than others and it is easy for outsiders
to see. These units, from top-to-bottom,
behave much like middle or high school clicks. They
are the ‘cool kids’, no one else need apply.
Well, these ‘leaders’ should look at the
behavior they are modeling for their youth.
I suggest they are doing a disservice, rather than serving. Blatant avoidance is nothing more than a form
of social cowardice. Or…is it social
Darwinism in action? Yep, I am calling
you out; you should be grateful I do not name individual names and unit numbers.
Newsflash, you are definitely not busier
than your fellow Scouters who do take up the mantle on behalf of Scouts who are
not our own children, or outside our specific unit. You just cannot be busier, because we repeatedly
have to pick up your slack.
You know who you are and should be
ashamed. Would your mother, or
grandmother approve of your behavior? What
makes you think you are so damn special?
So endeth the rant.
