Course Correction

Sometimes...we all have to deal with things that are less than pleasant.  And over time, I've found with scouts that it's better to make a course correction in clear, plain spoken language. Generally, when the group understands what is in-bounds and what is not, and what is scout appropriate, and what is not, they rise to the occasion.  We had to make a course correction tonight.

Before our meeting one of the leaders of our sponsor organization asked if she could bring a situation to my attention, and see if we could fix the problem sooner rather than later. The individual described a situation, where another tenant in the building is a day care, and has a fenced off with a locked gate area in the yard upon which our scouts had been encroaching.  It turned out that the day care area was locked for a reason - it is out of bounds, off limits, no trespassing.  While the play area (which is quite nice and inviting) is on the same property, it has been reserved for the day care which is a separate entity altogether.

The elder mentioned they had found one of our scout's neckerchief slides within the restricted area, and when I asked for the slide, it was produced and returned to my care.  And yes, it was definitely one of our slides.  I promised we would fix the problem and thanked the representative for bringing this to our attention and  allowing us the opportunity for a teaching moment.

The next question was, how to present this?  I decided to bring it up at our circle before the meeting closed and put the slide in my pocket.  The meeting went on.  The Boy Scouts had their program, the parents had their committee training, the Venture Crew had their meeting.  I turned in my training certificates and went on to the Venture meeting.  I had assigned one of our 1st class scouts the assignment of signing off on new scouts rank requirements for those who passed last weekend's swim test.

The Venturers decided to have dinner at an India restaurant this coming weekend, and decided there was enough interest for the Venture Crew to go on a trip to Devil's Tower, WY starting 6/2.  Following the Venture meeting, I was invited to sit in on a board of review for a scout going for his Life Rank.  I'm always honored to be asked for a board of review, and this scout didn't disappoint.  He was confident, well spoken, and easily passed his board of review.

By now, it was time to retire the flags, and have circle time.  Several adults had information to pass to the general scout population, and then it was my turn to speak.

I mentioned that I had something unpleasant to discuss, and when I had the scout's attention, I launched into what had been reported to me.  All the while, keeping my hand in my pocket.  While I was prepared to produce the slide the instant someone in the group would try to deny they had anything to do with it, the scouts didn't offer any defense, or denial.  At the end of my description, I did produce the lost slide, and where it was found, and asked the scout who owned the slide to come up and reclaim it.  We actually had the owner of the slide come and reclaim it, and then go back to their place in the circle.  I made it clear that while the play area had some cool play things in it - that area was off limits - - period.  The rest of the circle ritual went on as usual.

After we were done, and clean up in progress, the particular scout who had claimed his slide, came up and apologized for going into the restricted area - he didn't realize it was off limits.  After accepting his apology, I mentioned now that he knows it's off limits, I was sure it wouldn't be a problem in the future.

Having had a chance to reflect on this, I had to smile.  The scout knew he had lost his slide, and it was a good guess on where he lost it.  He was brave enough to come and reclaim his slide, thus living the scout law - a scout is brave.  The same scout also made amends by apologizing after the meeting - a scout is courteous.  It could have been any of the scouts at any given time.  I would bet a lot of money that we don't have this problem with the play area for awhile. I'm hoping all that was needed was a minor course correction.  Time will tell.

It was a good day.