Addressing a poor counselor

[optimist]

Messages moved from MeritBadge.com

wendas
Tenderfoot

Joined: 01 Jul 2004
Posts: 11
Location: NH
Posted: 02 Jul 2004 02:54 pm Post subject: Addressing a
poor counselor

You have heard from one scout that a counselor is unfair? What
would be policy to fix the problem?

After first scout & trying to fix the problem (lets say you
give the counselor the ability to try again.) You hear from a
second scout same counselor is unfair? What would be policy to
fix the problem?

Is there a time that you would remove the counselor.. When
would that be? And what would be enough of a paper trail to
show you gave them fair notification, and advice to help him
improve?

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CyndiA
Tenderfoot

Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Posts: 10

Posted: 02 Jul 2004 05:46 pm Post subject:

Hi Wendas--I would start with the Scout. I would ask some
questions, listen, give some suggestions. If the Scout can
work through it, then that would be a good learning
experience. We want them to learn to troubleshoot and to solve
problems. I would check back with the Scout to see how things
were going and hopefully he was able to work together with the
counselor to solve the problem.

If the problem was not sorting out and especially if a second
Scout complained, then I would invite the counselor to lunch
or to shoot basketball or something one-on-one. I would ask
how things were going and see if he or she mentioned any
concerns. If no concerns were mentioned, I would express
concern about boys not finishing up on the badges and draw the
person out on the reasons (without mentioning that the Scouts
complained).

I would try really hard to encourage both the Scout and the
counselor. Around here, we are new, and we don't have but a
handful of people to be counselors.

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wendas
Tenderfoot

Joined: 01 Jul 2004
Posts: 11
Location: NH
Posted: 06 Jul 2004 02:18 pm Post subject:

I would agree with you, provided the problem is
miscommunication. Definitely by the 2nd incident someone
should talk to the counselor, But who? Who does this
responsibility fall to ?

I have learned that you have to listen to a scout seriously.
True they are one side of the story, but do not discredit
their view because of their age. They rarely take the courage
to speak out for fear that they will not be taken seriously.
So you can not condemn a counselor on their story alone, but
even in the first incident some action should be taken that
makes them feel you have taken them seriously.

My initial statement of “unfair” could conjure up a minor
problem. But what if the story shows mental abuse.. Examples :
“Counselor ripped up their work and told them to redo it,
Counselor told them it was the worst job they had ever seen,
Counselor called them stupid, etc..” I would remove the scout
immediately, then investigate. If the scout is not being
encouraged, or loosing self-confidence, it is not a good
environment.

If Complaint sounds like miscommunication, work with the scout
& counselor to get over the rough spot, and hopefully teach
the scout something about working through problems. If
Complaint is more alarming work with it quicker.

But, how do you start the process? If you are a scout, who
should you report a problem with a counselor to. Is it a
different person if you are an adult who wants to report it?
Who would talk to the Counselor to get their version? Who
would try to guide the counselor so that they can improve? Who
would remove a poor counselor? Does the committee or the
Committee Chair get involved as it escalates.

Would you recommend talking to the buddy of the scout (scout
must have buddy), or investigating by talking to other scouts
that worked with the counselor, as long as you made it sound
like more of a routine question about their past counselors.
Who would do this type of investigation?

Now here is a kink, what if the poor counselor is the
scoutmaster, Committee Chair, Advancement Coordinator or the
spouse of one of these people. This is a true problem, I can
name 3 separate troops that have had one of these problems.

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CyndiA
Tenderfoot

Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Posts: 10

Posted: 06 Jul 2004 05:12 pm Post subject:

Hi Wendas--Yes. I was thinking of smaller problems. What came
to mind would be a case where the counselor goes too fast and
assumes the Scout knows things that he doesn't know. Sometimes
adults do that--not intentionally. They just don't remember
the skill level for younger people. That's where I would talk
to a Scout (or one of my kids) about asking questions and
asking the couselor to go over material again.

I can't imagine anyone working with the small group here
tearing up a Scout's work or calling them names. Typically,
we're all together in the same room. But, I know that some
things would be more one-on-one as we go along. In our case,
it's parents that have worked together a lot an know each
other really well.

With this group, I think the Scout would tell a parent. The
parent would know the other adult and would talk with them. I
don't guess that's very organized or official. And, it would
be different with a large group I'm sure. We're more like
family I suppose with only 5 Scouts and then the parents and
grandparents being the main ones involved. When we've worked
with other people on skills, then parents go along too. I know
the other parents would watch out for my boys if I did not go
along, and I would watch out for the other boys like my own
when I'm the adult along.

I'm sure that doesn't help on your question.

If I found out that a counselor tore up a Scout's project or
called them names, then I don't know what I would do. My Dad
is the advancement review person and was a ScoutMaster for 10
years or so back in the 70s/80s with my brothers. I would
probably ask him how to deal with that. I would also check
with someone in that area or field to get another option and
then pick the new person for my boys and let the other parents
know. If the area was one where I know a lot, then I would
offer to work with the boys.

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ScoutmasterBob
Counselor

Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 79
Location: Woods Cross, Utah
Posted: 09 Jul 2004 10:12 am Post subject: Merit Badge
Counselor

MBC are usually the responsibility of the Scout Committee,
specifically the advancement chairman.
If there are concerns with the way a counselor teaches or
passes off a MB, then these concerns need to be addressed by
the committee.

Ideally, the scout can voice his concern to the SM and the SM
can pass them along to the committee, but if the counselor
with the problem is a member of the committee, then concerns
should be taken "up the ladder" to the COR, or even to the key
three for your district. If you have to take it that far to
get a problem resolved, then I think the structure of your
Committee needs to be revisited and rethought out.

The best solution is training. There are several training
resources for MBC. Have a training class for you counselors,
send them to roundtable, I have even seen some online training
and Powerpoint presintations.

If you provide proper training for your counselors, when they
are asked to be counselors you can avoid the "bad" counselor.
_________________
Bob Torkelson
Scoutmaster Troop 538
www.wx5troop538.homestead.com
Live The Oath!

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[Bob White]

Council/District advancement committees have the sole authrity to accept, deny, renew or maintain merit badge counselors (see the Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures manual) .

Hope this helps,
Bob White

[mom4-2eaglescouts]

We have a MB counselor, also a parent and leader, who jumps in to do everything including merit badges. This happened and a class was taught. It was recently discovered that this counselor used worksheets and misread or misunderstood one of the requirements. A format contained in the worksheet was completed but it was part of the requirement, not the whole thing. The counselor claims it is good enough. The parent claims the work was done because the worksheet was filled out. The counselor is not an expert in the field. The counselor will not engage in conversation about the work that was done for the troop in the class. I do not believe the counselor ought to be used again for this subject. Now what? The troop advancement person agrees with me.

[ASM-142]

You would need to contact distric/council to have this person removed as a MBC

[riverwalk]

Train them if possible first. Or control what MB's they teach, which is the standard practice. Only prevent them if nothing else works.

Like any volunteer thing we participate in, their heart may be in the right place. Perhaps their skills aren't used in the right places, but find a way. If someone is a problem and can't/won't be trained to comply, then that's another kettle of fish.