Scouts and Other extra curricular activities

Lately I have been hearing from multiple different sources that I work with that it keeps getting harder and harder to attend Scouts on a regular basis. This lack of attendance can be attributed to many different causes and should not automatically lead the leaders to believe the Troop is putting on a boring program. It could be any reason, for example it could be a family emergency, being sick, participating in sports, or other commitments as required by the Scouts parents outside of scouting. My wish though is that the Scout communicates when he is going to be absent to the appropriate youth or adult leader, depending on how you run your Troop. Communicating this information gives the leadership a sense of how active your Troop is. Determining your Troop's activity level is a essential part of the Annual Planning Conference and your monthly Patrol Leader Council Meetings because it helps determine which activities and resources you have to use and consume in the running of your Troop.

Another problem worth mentioning that most cannot hope to change is that Scouts always comes secondary to other extracurricular activities. This is in part our own doing because of the fact that Scouts give the Boys the most freedom in deciding whether or not they participate in a activity. This flexible nature is a double edged sword because on one hand it is an easy way to keep people engaged in the organization but on the other hand it results in lower attendance levels during certains times of the year. Yes you can argue that since Scouts is a year round activity that varying levels of participation should happen but the fact remains that there should still be the expectation that you should make a effort to attend until a time when you decide to remove your name from the roster. This is just the same courtsey that any other extracurricular or sport would expect.

Yours in Scouting Service

Mark W

Assistant Den Leadeer/Assistant Scoutmaster

Troop 1316, Troop 1616(aka 669), Pack 100

Tustumena District/ Denali District/ Eklutna District, Great Alaska Council

NSJ '05 Youth Participant '10 Subcamp 7 Youth Staff WSJ '07

Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member

Big Horn Denver Area Council NYLT QM Philmont AA '08