[Philmont] Paint Pails and Micro Management

One more thing. Our scouts had permanent jobs for the
 entire trek, so our cooks became very proficient at the process.

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  Change is inevetible, but some of the change I see taking place in Scouting is not in the best interest of Scouts.
   
  My old Scoutmaster would have called these "goofball ideas" and he was right.
   
  Without getting personal here, I'll use the above post as an example.
   
  Yes, that does lead to proficiency, but what about the other skills that each and every Scout missed? Is the proficiency they gained worth the absence of all the other experience they missed? They solidly miss the oportunity to learn by doing anything but their one job. That is wrong!
   
  Why go to Philmont to learn that? Just drop out of Scouts and get a job at McDonalds.
   
  While I'm on my soap box, the whole idea of micro management is counter to the values of Scouting.
   
  Forget the turkey bags, your OWN cooking pots and "the best" tent. Take the crew to Philmont and let them LEARN how to use the pots and tents that are at Philmont. Let them learn the responsibility of cleaning the pots and tents before turning them in. So what if they don't have time to go ti town for Simple Simons pizza. They got more or "Philmont" than a pizza and they will be far ahead of those who don't clean pots because they use turkey bags.
   
  One of the thigns our youth is missing out on is how to work with others. They learn proficiency with Play Station and all the other computer generated games, etc. Let them learn by doing at Scout camp and at Philmont.
   
  Bill Sheehan touts that some of you need to try AA and he's right. He and I both went with people we had never met before except learning them through this list. One of the skills I used for about an hour is cleaning some burned food out of a pot. I learned that at Philmont in 1959 because we did not use turkey bags, we cooked ina pot and cleaned it up afterward.
   
  I made a fruit cobbler and i burned a part of it in the pot. Yeah, if I'd been paying a bit more attention I would not have done that but you try paying attention to a pot while the sun is setting at Miranda.
   
  So I cleaned it out using old fashioned skills I learned the hard way in Scouts. That goodness our leaders let us make the mistakes and learn how to fix them on our own. Thiose are skills I use every day.
   
  I could go on and on and on about this, but you as a leader do a dis-service to your Scouts when you micro manage a camping trip or a Philmont trek.
   
  Let them learn by doing another way besides what's in the "online Philmont bible" on how to do Philmont the easy way.
   
  As Sheehan posted about a week ago, forget all this micro management stuff and stick to the basics, team building and acceptance of a new idea from a PhilRanger or PhilStaff member.
   
  You Mr./Ms. advisor need to do what's important for them to succeed and not necessarily what's easiest.
   
  John LeBlanc
   
  PS For gosh sakes don't use plastic paint pails or any otehr non food grade plastic container for food, water or anything else going into your mouth. This is just asking for trouble.

       
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Received on Fri Oct 12 16:48:48 2007