Sunday, March 15, 2015

An Essay Of A Structure

 

 

Everyone wants to help but not everyone is capable. Have you ever heard of the expression : There’s a flaw in the system? Well… you decide. I rather use this expression : SHOW ME A POORLY UNIFORMED TROOP AND I’LL SHOW YOU A POORLY UNIFORMED LEADER – Baden Powell. So lets start from the bottom, everything we do daily has a beginning and an end, waking up in the morning/eating breakfast/taking a bath/going to work etc etc, it’s like a cycle that keeps repeating itself over and over again.The beaver unit

Some countries recognize this unit as an official unit of the Baden Powell movement since 1986, in other countries it’s in its infancy phase and other countries do not even have a Beaver unit because they simply do not recognize it. The Beaver unit main focus is Sharing Sharing Sharing, but with this sharing there’s a catch, it follows like this :

1.We learn the beavers that everyone is equal ( boys and girls) but in reality we are not
2.We learn them teamwork
3.Play together
4.Scouting principles and activities
5.Beaver unit structure

 

I believe in the beaver unit, because you cant build a house without a home base. Point 1 we learn the beavers that everyone is equal and in reality we are not. Not only physically, but socially & intellectually and in many other areas we are different it’s just that our global societies has been trying to brainwash us with this ideology which is the root of all the chaos and conflicts in this modern age. Point 4 scouting principles and activities : there were times I thought I was going to a preschool garden, the only difference was that the beavers were not preschool children and you don’t go to Beaver scouting to become an painting artist or have a playtime date. Beaver scouting is about creating a little person help her/him to find out who she/he is by introducing themes which are practical, yes get dirty, discover, learn something new, do crazy fun educational practical things, I take for an example the beaver scout system in UK and Canada, beavers over there are very practical and you see it by the badges they get on their uniform. It’s time for the Interamerican Region to change a lot about Beaver Scout program policies, change the program or take UK beaver system as an example, instead of doing nothing about Beaver program because not all countries in the Interamerican region has one or simply we don’t want to accept it. Change the program! Introduce badges so that beavers can get the best out of scouting from a young age.  

Point 5 beaver unit structure :  in Cub scout, Scout unit, Rover unit there is one person who has a higher role as to which is responsible for the unit, in some countries the Rainbow or Hawkeye is the one responsible for the unit all other leaders are automatically assistant leaders, why? Well you need to have a structure in all units otherwise you will get war. But there is no definite structure in the beaver unit because of the Sharing sharing sharing motto and a lot of people and countries are lost or to idiot to realize the simple notion that in every unit there is a main responsible person, so you rather choose the logical one or you pick one WITHIN the unit. So my main question is : IF WE PROMOTE STRUCTURE IN ALL THE OTHER UNITS WHY NOT IN BEAVER?

All in all there needs to be a change in the beaver program in the structural part as well in the program part, Interamerican has to change it, because right now it’s not working and the countries in the Interamerican that do has Beaver unit, are not working entirely professionally because not everyone likes kindergarten or preschool system at a scouting.

 

The Cub Scout Unit

And then we are in the Cub unit well this used to be a flawless system an amazing scouting experience…. Until the changes. Baden Powell made a flawless direct program for children between the ages of 8 -11, it was meant to make these  cubs more practical but with the changes of modern society there came a lot of changes too in the Cub scout program. I still see that USA, is still stuck with the traditional scouting which is the crème of le crème program. The unit works if you push them or motivate them to get their badges, it gives them a sense of pride and motivation to push forward. A badge means : a recognition! A program or a system without badges is nothing, you don’t motivate a cub and you don’t give them the reason why  scouting let alone creating a better world. No one is the same every cub is unique in its own way. The interamerican region created a new program for the cub scout within the region and I have to say : It doesn’t work I prefer to stick to the traditional cub scout program, because you not only see results, you see them more proud of THEIR achievements and silently you are creating a better person and leader.

The troop unit

We landed in the unit of hard work pays off, in this unit to be sincere you can achieve a lot, in the traditional scouting you achieved a lot and others just enough. Baden Powell Association and Boy Scout of America still give these opportunities. The Interamerican region made some changes ….. in the past scouts where from the ages 12 – 18 because there were a lot of things you could have achieved, but nowadays scouts are teens in the ages of 12 to 15 so what happens is this : there’s a chance that you will not get all the badges you want, you wont be able to broaden your abilities because 3 years is not enough…. So picture this------- you worked hard for your first class badge, it wasn’t easy it was hard it had taken a lot of energy a lot of yourself and you make it, you get your first class badge …. 1 month later.. you land in the explorer unit and there you are, they inform you that you are not a scout anymore and that you’re an explorer so you have to take your 1st class badge of which you worked hard for…. It breaks you and demotivate you… why ? because you have to start from the bottom again, and its not a pleasant feeling. The moral of  this story is : instead of creating a self-confidence person we break them apart and let them start from the bottom, they rather be a scout than a explorer, celebrate their achievements instead of taking it from them. I believe every scout has a right to achieve their first class badge or merit badges and not cut their experience short where they end up to have to start from the bottom again, so I  personally don’t see the sense in the explorer unit, we have been teaching scout members responsibility since beaver but let every scout develop themselves individually they have the right to. In my humble opinion Interamerican region has to reflect on this because  I see more poorly uniformed members and leaders day by day and that’s why the movement is getting lesser and lesser members not only that but we are losing our purpose. An individual looks for paths that will ingrown him/her not belittle him/her. I personally feel that scouts should be from the ages of 12 to 18 to help them achieve their goals and prolong the live of not only the group in question but also the movement, right now with the unit explorer you are cutting off that individual growth / accomplishment and also the group itself.

The explorer unit

When I ended up this unit I felt like a child who has been grounded, there was a lot more that I or the others like me at that age wanted to accomplish, I personally find that this unit doesn’t work because accomplishing a lot to end up at the bottom is to harsh. I really didn’t and still now don’t see the point in this unit so actually there needs to be a revision of this unit or don’t use the system of the unit explorer anymore but let youth from 15 to 18 be in the unit troop and give them the chance to accomplish the things they want to accomplish still ( merit badges, 1st class, eagle scouts)

Conclusion

What I have to say is this : you cant let me reach the moon and then shoot me back like a fireball so that I break every valuable part of myself being, its humiliating and painful… are we then really creating a better world? Is the interamerican region and WOSM really doing its work? Like I said before Scouting in general is losing its essence, there are other types of organization out there doing keeping the traditional scouting of  Baden Powell and it works perfectly .. AHA YES IN THIS MODERN AGE ,they are keeping the essence alive they are helping scouts develop themselves individually they give the space to celebrate accomplishments instead of taking them away every time, they are becoming higher uniformed troops and leaders instead of WOSM continuously changing programs changing policies and more and more changing and when we sit quietly for an instant we can realize how poorly uniformed our troops and leaders has become, we are losing the path which is not the Baden Powell’s way. It is true we have become a more social organization, but what are we? A social club ? or a movement that’s suppose to promote personal growth & development, and at the same time creating a better world and youth leaders for tomorrow??  What has our emblem of fellowship become worthy of ? We have to reflect, what doesn’t work ---- throw away everybody makes mistakes but it takes a lot to accept and to change, demonstrate that the movement is really worthwhile, but you cant be proud with poorly uniformed troops and leaders worldwide within the movement…………..

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