As scouting deals with the corona virus, these 6 tips can help you keep scouting going for cub and ScoutsBSA.
Transcript:
While most of my Scoutmaster Dave videocasts are evergreen, meaning if you view them today or a year from now the general themes will endure.
I am hoping that when you view this video it will be woefully out of date. But as of right now, in March 2020, it is very much top of mind as all in person scouting activities have been suspended at least in the New York metro area.
Right now it’s a difficult time for scouting, as most of the work we do is in person.
That being said here are six tips that can help scouting keep going during this time, at least virtually.
- Troop communications
Leadership is an important quality at this time. Scoutmasters and cubmasters should be in regular communication with the troop or pack. Think of it like a virtual scoutmaster minute. This puts a face on scouting.
Scouting is a lot like any habitual activity. Very much like going to the gym, if you go every day you are more likely to go every day. If you stop for a week of vacation it’s that much harder to get back into the flow of doing it. The danger here is that with a chunk of time out of the cycle of scouting some scouts and leader may decide to break from scouting, which could negatively impact your troop or pack.
To combat this keeping in contact with your scouts and scout parents becomes essential. So send out weekly emails or even more often. Twice weekly is probably a good sweet spot. A weekly scoutmaster report, and another as a reminder for tasks scouts can do to keep scouting going would probably do the trick, and keep scouting alive during this time.
Don’t make the mistake that because you have no information then you don’t have anything to communicate. Leadership is not like that, you need to be a positive presence and drive forward.
- Virtual patrol meetings
As folks are stuck inside at this time there are many interaction tools that allow scouts to communicate. Skype, Facetime, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, and Zoom all have free versions and allow scouts to interact at a distance with videoconferencing.
Videoconferencing is much preferable than doing just text chat, as with text chat or emails you miss out on the visual cues, and can have real time communications.
I would encourage your patrols to have weekly patrol meetings at this time, work on requirements together and get items virtually signed off on to keep scouts involved and advancing.
This is a great opportunity for your patrol leaders to push forward and lead. Keeping all their scouts within the patrol engaged and be creative with keeping the patrol spirit alive.
Tell them today, do it today. The longer a time between interactions, the harder it becomes to break the bad habits. Who knows, after all this is over, maybe they will continue the trend of meeting weekly, and advancing as a functioning patrol.
- Merit Badge Work
A lot of merit badge work is going on at this time, as you check the forums the has become the go-to activity for badge work, and the rest of this tip should in no way diminish the thought of doing virtual merit badges. But.
The guide to advancement states The Merit Badge Counselor does not have the authority to add to, or subtract from, merit badge requirements, so be careful with doing merit badges virtually.
Now, this does not mean that a scout cannot hold a virtual campfire program via Google Hangouts to fulfill the requirement of running a campfire program for Communication merit badge, or view a museum virtually for the Art merit badge. You can get creative, but changing requirements is a no-no
While a lot of communication is going through email, it’s still important to follow the traditional pattern of a scout getting approval to start a merit badge, the scoutmaster assigning a councilor, and then the scout making a phone call to discuss.
I’ve seen a lot of merit badges being started via email, which really bypasses an important part of the merit badge process, that of interacting with an adult they might not know. I have been guilty of it myself during this time. But it does short change the scout.
Meeting with a scout can be difficult now, but you can still meet over the phone or better still meet via videoconference. And while some of the rules are relaxed, the scout should dress in uniform to meet if it’s traditional in your council and with your particular badge.
Remember however, two deep leadership is still important, so have a spouse or parent sit in on the conversation, and clarify all these expectations in advance so everyone is covered and safe.
- Requirements Presentations
Depending on the size of your troop will determine how you can accomplish big group presentations. A good one is through Facebook with someone moderating the chat for questions. But having leaders and scout program patrols do presentations on scouting topics, just like they do during normal meeting is a good way to also keep scouting going.
This actually might be easier as there is no one talking in the peanut gallery when presenting, and in helps build all the skills we are trying to instill.
As an added bonus it gives the patrol who is the program patrol something to do at their weekly patrol meetings.
- Virtual sign off
A big part of scouting is working on and signing off on requirements. While doing the EDGE method might be challenging via conference call, you can still do a lot of sign off work virtually. For the actual mechanics of signing off, you can assign a code for each scout when “signing off” for instance for each of the twelve scouts that can sign off on requirements in your troop assign them a number from 01 to 12, and have the scout getting the item signed off to get the code from the scout and mark CV-04 and the date in the book.
But like other requirements remember, it’s not sign off free for all. Sign off is for a reason, so the scout has learned the skill and retains it. So be careful and instruct your scouts on the expectations of virtual sign off.
For merit badge work, all the elements can be done electronically through ScoutBook. If the merit badge scout is outside of your unit you will need someone, usually the scoutmaster to invite you to connect on ScoutBook.
- Online Training
Our last point is a bit for your leaders. Now is a great time to go to my.scouting.org and catch up on all their online training. From YPT to hazardous weather there are lots of online training options to take advantage of.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together.
I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this was 6 tips for distance scouting.
