Summer Camp Options For Cub Scouts

Well I guess before I get too carried away with "Why Scout Camp Is Important" posts I should probably move beyond that subject. So for Summer Camp so far we have introduced the planning process of arranging the details for Scout Camp but we really only focused on when we should start planning and how you can use the previous Scout Camp experience to evaluate where the Troop should go or take things next based on the most recent camp experience. Actually not just the last previous year of Scout Camp should be used to evaluate what works and doesn't work for your Troop when it comes to holding the best Scout Camp Experience you should include any years that the scouts, leaders, or parents in the Troop went to Scout Camp as a Boy Scout.

After that we focused on the importance of Scout Camp. This series of posted focused on the excuses parents commonly use for not letting their son attend camp and how the Aims of Scouting tie into the Summer Camp purpose and program. also at the end of the first post and the first part of the second post in this series we focused on what the purpose of Scout Camp is and some of the common mis-conceptions about the purpose of Scout Camp. Finally we come to the third and final post about the importance of Scout Camp in which we focused on giving a brief introduction to the Patrol Method and then we tied the Patrol Method back to how it relates to camp and why the Patrol Method which is the only way to run Boy Scouts has a impact on the importance of Scout Camp.

So now that we have briefly reviewed what we have covered in these recent posts about summer camp we can move onto a new subject. That new subject is defining and exploring how Scout Camps are typed or a easier way to say this is that we are looking at the general categories in which Scout Camps can be labeled as. For the sake of sanity and trying to keep these posts from getting so long I will first be covering Cub Scout Summer Camp categories. Wait I thought your primary focus was on Boy Scout Camp, yes it is and it will continue to be that way but before we discuss Boy Scout level Types of Scout Camp facilities we really should focus on the Cub Scout Camp types. Im doing it this way to help people understand some of the primary differences between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts which is something that is not clearly understood, accepted, or known to all the various parties in your Scout Unit. Differences in Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts and the transition from one program to the other program is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Its also a subject that tends to be very complicated and is easily turned into something its not intended to be.

One quick thing to mention is that this is most definitely not a official system used by the Boy Scouts of America National Council to categorize Summer Scout Camp facilities. The idea though is to get people to start thinking about the fact that there are many different ways to run Scout Camping facilities. In general for Cub Scouts there is usually two major groups of Camp facilities which include resident camping and day camping programs. Many people are probably wondering why I did not start out the Cub Scout Camp typing flow chart with family camps and non-family camps. The reasoning behind this is because either we would have family and non-family at the top under which each would have resident and day camp types or vice versa. So yeah it could go either way but that really isn't a very important topic or item to discuss.

Well now we will take the time to define Resident Family Cub Scout Camp, Resident Non-Family Cub Scout Camp, Family Day Camp for Cub Scouts, and finally Non-family Day Camp for Cub Scouts. To make this a simpler process the two category of terms will be resident or day camp and family or non-family camp. Resident Camp as it names in implies is a type of Cub Scout Camp that has a over-night component to it. On the other hand we have Non-Resident Cub Scout Camp or as many more know it Day Camp for Cub Scouts is a program that spans over multiple days where the parents drop-off and pick-up their Cub Scout each day repeating the process until the end of Cub Scout Camp. Resident Camp for the majority of Scout Councils usually only has a Webelos Scout Component to it but it can also include resident camp where Webelos and Bears and Wolfs Cub Scouts. The only group that can not do resident camp is that of Tiger Scouts. For Tiger Scouts the decision of whether or not to let them participate in Day Camp or not is left to the Scout Council based on the facilities, resources, and staff availability. Generally speaking Tiger Cubs are usually allowed to go to Day Camp but remember that the parent of the Tiger must attend all portions of camp in order for the Scout to be allowed to stay at day camp.

Family camp and Non-Family Camp Cub Scout Camps are the next two terms we have to cover. Family Camp as it name implies is a camp program that encourages the Cub Scout and the rest of the family to come to camp. With Non-Family Cub Scout Camp family members are not encouraged to bring other kids to camp. Finally one thing to mention is that Day Camps for Cub Scouts can be held by Districts or by the Council, no individual unit may have or do a residential or day camp program. Remember the only group outside of a District-Sponsored or Council-Sponsored that can go camping is that of Webelos Scouts. Webelos Scouts even then are only granted the opportunity to do weekend overnight campouts with the preferred length being only 1 night or two days.

Well that pretty much covers Cub Scout Camp programs there are exceptions and changes to these categories or terms based on a Council by Council basis but in general all of these terms are pretty much universal in nature. Cub Scout Camp during the summer is a essential part of the Cub Scout experience with all Packs being highly encouraged to participate in this part of the Cub Scout Program. In the next post we will introduce Boy Scout Camp Types but due to the longer and more complex nature of Boy Scout Camp Types this will require more than one post. During the first post the focus will be a introduction to Boy Scout Camps. In the next post Boy Scout Camp Types for Younger Scouts will be covered while the final portion covering Boy Scout Camp Types for older Boy Scouts. Usually the dividing line used to divide older and younger Scouts is that of 14 years old.

Just another quick note about this post is that my signature block has been change slightly to update recent changes in what I am participating in.

Yours in Scouting Service

Mark West

Assistant Scoutmaster/Summer Camp Chairman 2012

Troop 1316, Troop 1616(aka 669)

Tustumena District & Eklutna District, Great Alaska Council

NSJ '05 Youth Participant NSJ '10 & '13 Subcamp Staff

WSJ '07 Youth Participant WSJ '11 International Service Team(IST)

Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Honor Big Horn Denver Area Council NYLT QM Philmont AA '08

If you are paid to do Scouting, you are called a professional. If you are not paid to do Scouting, you are called a Volunteer. If you pay to do Scouting, then you are called a Scouter.

Scout Hours Update 1

As you are hopefully aware I have taken on the task of trying to accurately record the number of hours I spend on any project, event, meeting, or activity related to Scouts. I have not posted the grand total for hours spent in January 2012.

The number of hours that I spent on Scout related stuff came to:

96.50 Hours

Or put another way the daily average of hours per day is:

3.11 Hours

Over the upcoming weekend I will be posting the total number of hours spent on Scout related stuf for the month of February 2012.

Yours in Scouting Service

Mark West

Assistant Scoutmaster

Troop 1316, Troop 1616(aka 669), Troop 125

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

NSJ '05 Youth Participant NSJ '10 Subcamp 7 Youth Staff NSJ '13 Subcamp Staff

WSJ '07 Youth Participant WSJ '11 International Service Team(IST)

Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Honor Big Horn Denver Area Council NYLT QM

Philmont AA '08

If you are paid to do Scouting, you are called a professional. If you are not paid to do Scouting, you are called a Volunteer. If you pay to do Scouting, then you are called a Scouter.

Why Scout Camp Is Important Part 3

I realize that many of you would think that I have gone overboard about the subject of "Why Scout Camp is Important" but I still have covered this topic in its entirety. Basically what I am doing is that I am trying to give you as Scout Leaders, Youth Leaders, or parents enough information in order to fully be able to explain as many reasons as possible about the importance of Summer Camp. I know that using all the information from all these posts about the importance of Scout Camp would overwhelm the average person but the purpose behind this much information is to give you as much information as possible to be able to have variety, meet the of the different levels of understanding, and finally its to show that Scout Camp is one of the MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE BOY SCOUT EXPERIENCE!!!!!

So now that we got that problem out of the way lets take a moment to mention what has already been covered in this series of posts. For our first post we focused on the common excuses that parents use to explain why they aren't going to let their son go or theirs already a complication in the family's plans. Also the other major point we covered in the first post was the one statistic that is almost always pretty much guaranteed to make the parents pay attention or even possibly cause them to rethink their decision about whether or not their son is going to camp. During the second post we moved on to explaining the purpose behind Scout Camp is. The one thing I have noticed about one of the very common mistakes people make about their understanding of Scout Camp is the real purpose of what Scout Camp is about. After defining the purpose we showed how the purpose relates to the three Aims of Scouting. Again those Aims include Character Development, Citizenship Training, and finally Personal Fitness.

Now this is the place where the post really begins to cover new material. So for this post we are going to briefly describe the Patrol Method and then instill in you how Scout Camp is one of the best times to see the Patrol Method in action as it was meant to be seen. For those of you who are not aware or for those leaders that have taken training recently that have been with the program for a while now is that the PATROL METHOD IS THE ONLY WAY TO RUN A BOY SCOUT TROOP. Plain and simple failure to use the Patrol Method means that you are not using the Scouting Model for Boy Scouts as it was  originally designed when the Scouting Movement was just beginning to take shape.

Well before I give the brief introduction to the Patrol Method I would just like to say that in order to truly even begin to explain and develop the method laid out in the Patrol Method would take at least ten plus posts to develop this method even to a basic level of understanding. A Troop that truly uses the Patrol Method is the Troop that to the best of its ability gives the majority of the leadership responsibility to the youth leaders in the Troop. All direct contact adult leaders which include the Scoutmaster and the Troop's Assistant Scoutmaster's. These adults are their to ensure the safety of the youth and then their role is to be a guide and a enabler of the youth leadership in the Troop. The other group of leadership in regards to adults is that of members of the Troop Committee. The only job of the Troop Committee is to support the Scoutmaster in covering certain support aspects of the Troop that require attention of adults in order to be completed. Any other adults left over are only given assignments by the Troop Committee, the Scoutmaster, or Assistant Scoutmaster's on a as needed basis.

So thats pretty much it that needs to be covered in regards to the roles of adults in the Patrol Method, now we will focus on the roles of the youth leaders. Youth leaders in the Troop should be given as much responsibility as the adults feel comfortable with. This level of trust for the majority of adults is unnerving and does not seem like a appropriate thing to do. That just isn't true because it has been proven again and again that if the youth are given the opportunity without the adults watching every move over their back they will step up to the challenge. When stepping up to the challenge they will take their new level of responsibility to a new level. For youth overall the Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader plus a few other youth that has leadership responsibility in regards to the covering the entire Troop make up the Senior leadership core. These other youths usually include the Scribe, Troop Guides, the Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, and possibly the Instructors for the Troop. Beyond that the other youth leadership positions that have Troop level responsibility usually are put into Patrols but the youth that are part of the Senior leadership team usually are divided among the different Patrols or possibly even form their own patrols. Below the SPL and the ASPL's their are the other Troop Youth Leaders and the Patrol Leaders. Patrol leaders cover a subunit of the Troop known as the Patrol which usually includes between six and nine Scouts. 

Well before we get a too long post or bore you to death with a off subject topic we should probably show why the Patrol Method is the best developed through the Scout Camp experience. Scout Camp is one of the best times to see the development of the Patrol Method besides weekend campouts. Basically the major reasons why development works the best during this even includes one to several of the following reasons:

1. Length of Scout Camp: Since camp is a five to seven day plus event where a group of Scouts that come together and live, eat, work, hangout, and sleep in close quarters. Developing and learning about leadership is best done in long term events. Learning about leadership requires skills to be repeated on a regular basis because of the fact that these are not just physical skills but are skills that require great mental effort. 
2. Raised Level of Leadership Responsibility: During Scout Camp there's a expectation that the youth leaders step up and take on more responsibility. This increase in responsibility leads to more opportunities to learn various leadership skills. These skills are complicated to develop because a skill that works for that situation has a high likely-hood of not working in a situation that is very similar in nature.  
3. Living Together: Putting a group of teenage boys together in close quarters even if they are best friends is bound to cause relationship issues. Learning to overcome and resolve these issues isn't something that will be resolved after just one incident they tend to take multiple issues before the parties involve can understand the root of the problem. For Summer Camp after the first couple of days when Scouts are reaching the low point in the Scout Camp Experience good leaders tend to notice the beginning of relationship issues. Since that is only just the middle of Scout Camp the problem can go in two directions. First which is the worse possible outcome is that the relationship issue won't be resolved and the activities and meetings in the future will become more intense and either explode or will eventually be resolved but the damage to the relationship will be harder to fix as time goes on. Second the other outcome is that the Scout's resolve the issue at camp. Learning how to deal with these relationship issues will benefit the Scout because in life there will always be issues like these no matter how close the parties are to each other.

Well even though some of the reasons listed above may not seem directly related to the Patrol Method they really are related to each other. Without spending further time explaining what, how, and why the Patrol Method works the way it does these connections probably won't totally make sense. But the basically it comes down to the fact that the Patrol Method is all about developing leadership and learning to use your skills to deal with the various types of relationships you will need to learn to deal with.

Yours in Scouting Service

Mark West

Assistant Scoutmaster

Troop 1316, Troop 1616(aka 669), Troop 125

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

NSJ '05 Youth Participant NSJ '10 Subcamp 7 Youth Staff NSJ '13 Subcamp Staff

WSJ '07 Youth Participant WSJ '11 International Service Team(IST)

Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Honor Big Horn Denver Area Council NYLT QM

Philmont AA '08

If you are paid to do Scouting, you are called a professional. If you are not paid to do Scouting, you are called a Volunteer. If you pay to do Scouting, then you are called a Scouter.

Why Scout Camp is Important Part 2

So we have now covered the four major reasons that parents use when they don't want their son to go to Scout Camp. Again the most important reasons why parents don't send their Scout to camp is because of:

1. Its too expensive.
2. Its too much like school.
3. My son gets homesick
4. We can't accommodate Scout Camp into are schedule because of.....

Now I realize that these reasons can be reasonable for certain Scout families but for the majority of families if they want their son to go to Scout Camp they will find a way to do so. It may mean sacrifice or a change of plans but out of the majority of Scouts I;ve taken to Summer Camp the majority come back and say that camp was the best part of their Scouting experience for that year. While there are challenges behavior issues, and immaturity issues for some Scouts at camp we as adults must realize that most problems related to developmental milestones pre-teen's/teen's into a young man. 

So the next step in showing the importance of camp is to explain what the real purpose of Scout Camp is. The purpose of Scout Camp is as follows:

"Scout Camp isn't defined by making progress towards progressing in Rank, earning merit badges or other advancements/awards, or even always having a structure out come of a activity. Scout Camp truthfully is about having a Scout take a moment away from the hustle and bustle of the real world and have a chance to be with nature at its finest glory. Nature gives our youth the time to figure out and learn many different skills that not only put you closer in touch to nature but also aid in the development of a youth from a youth to a young man."

Well based upon this purpose of Scout Camp you can see that Scout Camp isn't about the purpose most youth or adults realize. It really is much more complex of a situation than that. Truly when examined closely the purpose behind Scout Camp requires the use of a multi-dimensional model to accurately and fully describe the purpose. On the other hand the purpose of Scout Camp can be turned into several concrete items, subjects, ideas, or whatever else you want to call them. These ideas center around what the BSA or Boy Scouts of America has developed as the "Aims of the Scouting Program". Before expanding upon how the "Aims of Scouting" related to the purpose of Scout Camp we probably need to list the three aims of any age division in the BSA. These three dimensions include:

Character Development:"Refers to the change of growth of a young man in regards to moral strength and character."
Citizenship Training:"Defined as the learning, understanding, and acceptance of the obligations he has to other people, to society, and to the government that presides over that society."
Personal Fitness:"For the purposes of the "Aims of Scouting" fitness is a three tiered idea that includes development of physical fitness, development of mental fitness, and finally the development of emotional fitness."

Since we are now done defining the "Aims of Scouting" now we need to work on the development of how these three aims relate and connect with the purpose of Scout camp. One quick reminder about the importance of Scout Camp is that in no way is it purely about teaching the boys to be expert outdoorsmen but it is to help the young men develop good values, leadership, citizenship, fitness, and to prepare them for adulthood.

For character development we are talking about learning the skills of successful outdoorsmen and work together through the Patrol Method. Learning skills of those that are successful in the outdoors helps the scout to gain self-esteem, to gain confidence, and finally to develop a attitude of "Yes I Can Do This, No Matter What People Say or Think!" While on the other hand we help to develop the character of each boy through the use of the Patrol Method which allows the boy to see that to have a character or personality rooted in morality we must learn that we as individuals can't do everything ourselves.

Citizenship training help's the boys to understand their role in society and at the same time learn how other people society can help the individual accomplish more and act as a true citizen of earth. The individual boy develops better citizenship is through living in a group of young in approximately the same peer age group. On the other hand we have society's role to the individuals which allows for natural leaders to go from follower to leader and to have followers have better respect for other people in their life.

Finally theres fitness which again has three tiers including physical fitness, mental fitness, and emotional fitness. For physical fitness the purpose of camp is to show the youth that no matter who you are you can find a way to achieve a higher level of physical fitness. Next in regards to mental fitness Scout Camp's purpose leads to the Scout having and developing more cognitive awareness, creative problem solving, and more advanced rational thinking. Finally emotional fitness helps to accomplish the purpose of Scout Camp is that by using the Patrol method to work together as a team. This helps because as the team builds better teamwork people usually become a more accepting of person how to deal with the various levels of responsibility. Also emotional fitness helps the youth to develop better self-control, emotion management, and finally learning to deal with the emotions that young men have when put into a "gang" like structure. Instead of using the word gang we as Boy Scouts use the word Patrol. Even though people say that all gang's are bad if you look up the definition then you will see a gang can be of a positive nature or as usually used as a negative organization.

Yours in Scouting Service

Mark West

Assistant Scoutmaster

Troop 1316, Troop 1616(aka 669), Troop 125

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

NSJ '05 Youth Participant NSJ '10 Subcamp 7 Youth Staff NSJ '13 Subcamp Staff

WSJ '07 Youth Participant WSJ '11 International Service Team(IST)

Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Honor Big Horn Denver Area Council NYLT QM Philmont AA '08

If you are paid to do Scouting, you are called a professional. If you

are not paid to do Scouting, you are called a Volunteer. If you pay to

do Scouting, then you are called a Scouter