Buddy System!!!

[West]

While there are places that scouting gets a little silly with it's rules (cameras for hunting MB, I really hope they forget the badge instead of doing that, it makes the whole program seem a joke to kids around here). But the buddy system is one that should never go away. It's just good sense.

[BM_Crawford]

Once again (I do tire of repeating myself) I did not say that the buddy system was bad or should be ignored I did say that there are times that it is impossible for you and another to go to gether at one place or another. Like I said face facts, thats life. There are cases when everything isnt perfect and at that point you'll have to deal with it. Thats all I'm saying on this post.

[evmori]

Once again (I do tire of repeating myself) I did not say that the buddy system was bad or should be ignored I did say that there are times that it is impossible for you and another to go together at one place or another. Like I said face facts, thats life. There are cases when everything isn't perfect and at that point you'll have to deal with it. Thats all I'm saying on this post.

I would agree wholeheartedly!

[West]

I really can't think of a time when that would happen, it it does happen you need to simply look harder. Maybe if your buddy gets hurt and your best option is to go for help on your own. That could happen, but really that's still useing the buddy system.

One of the weeks I was at Gerber one of the kids in at our campsite (not my troop, I was there with S.W.A.T. (scouts without a troop)) had to go to waterfront for rowing merit badge. This was all of about 100 yards, and the trial went right past our camp so you couldn't really miss it. Somehow he did, and was lost for 4 days (he was even smart enough to keep moveing to make sure we didn't find him). MB classes were cancelled so that staff and older scouts could spend their days looking for him. Basicly since he decided not to wait for his buddy (his brother) the whole camp had to shut down. Not cool. Yes this is an extreem case, but extreem cases happen and it would have been very easy to prevent.

Remember for MB classes parents can even serve as your buddy (or even a brother or sister really (I'd have to check offical policy though)- just have someone else there.)

[optimist]

I was curious about the "it's the policy at every Scout camp" claims so I did a quick survey of leader's guides for about a dozen camps and only one even mentioned it (and they mentioned it over and over and over again so I'm guessing that at some point in the recent past it was an major issue).

Regardless, mentioned or unmentioned, the buddy system is part of the Scouting program and we're supposed to teach the Scouts this right off in Tenderfoot requirement #9. It may take getting used to but once you start using it, my bet is it becomes old hat in no time.

[Lynda J]

No we don't start teaching it in Tenderfoot We start teaching it in Tigers.

When I was directing Day Camp. If I caught a boy roaming camp without a buddy I always stopped him and ask him where his buddy was. Then at flag at the end of day. I would have him read what the buddy system was and why it was important to always have a buddy.
Yes some of them were very young. But I would stand up there with them.
I had it typed off on a sheet of paper and would go over it. Know something by day 2 we had very very little with boys roaming around without a buddy. And the second, third, and fourth years I did camp we had almost no trouble from the beginning because the boys that had already been to camp made sure the new boys knew about the buddy rule.

[Woodbadgegirl]

No we don't start teaching it in Tenderfoot We start teaching it in Tigers.

We do too! At day Camp last year my husband would hollor out, "Where is your Buddy?" and ALL the boys would grab their buddy's hand and raise it high in the air! I have taught this in my den from day one! My oldest is in Boy scouts now and he has heard it year after year, event after event, on how important it is to have your Buddy!

[optimist]

hehe Sorry for leaving out the Cubbies, I was just discussing the thread in the context it was created in

[Lynda J]

Brian. Would you prefer the hassle of the buddy system or try to explain to a parent why her son is missing or was lay at the bottom of a rock for two hours before someone found him because he didn't have a buddy with him.

Yes is can be a hassle. But if you set the example and demand that the boys abide by the SCOUT BUDDY RULE it isn't. So much of how your boys act depend on the example you set. If you act like the rules aren't important and shouldn't be followed if you "don't like the rule" then you are teaching your boys that breaking rules and laws is on as long as you don't agree with them. Sorry that isn't the scouting way.

So how your boys abide by the rules is directly connected to you.
Yes Merit Badge College can be a hassle. But guess what. I have work ours for two years now and there have been very few times that there wasn't at least two boys going from one class to the next together.

The buddy system is the ONLY way to do scouting.

[BM_Crawford]

Once again (I do tire of repeating myself) I did not say that the buddy system was bad or should be ignored I did say that there are times that it is impossible for you and another to go to gether at one place or another. Like I said face facts, thats life. There are cases when everything isnt perfect and at that point you'll have to deal with it. Thats all I'm saying on this post.

There's my answer Lynda, have fun with it.

[wagionvigil]

Brian I find this odd for you. You come from a troop that requires Fund raisers/mandatory fundraising,must have a minimum of a kazillion hours for your Eagle projects,a committee that runs the troop ,but you do not require the Buddy System? Just really wierd!

[BM_Crawford]

We require the buddy system but if there is a case where a kid cant make a merit badge meeting we'll allow him to go strait there and back without a buddy. The point I am trying to make is sometimes there are cases where you can't get somewhere with a buddy if everyone has things to do the same time in different places.

[commish3]

I'm sorry if I am misunderstanding you Brian, But it certainly sounds like you are saying that the buddy system is a good safety rule until it becomes inconvenient, and then it's not such a good rule. And that once it becomes personally inconvenient it can be ignored and that's Okay. Did I get that about right or are you meaning something different.

[BM_Crawford]

Only if you have persmission from the scoutmaster. You can't just decide "I dont want a buddy." The scoutmaster would try to find the person a buddy and if all else fails he would allow the scout to go directly to the merit badge and back and no where else.

[wagionvigil]

Is this at Camp or elsewhere?
If my guys are going to the shower house they take a buddy. If they wake up at night abd have to go to the shower house they MUST wake up their tent mate and take them along. No Questions.
On another note. Is the female committee member that gives everyone a hard time initials A.S?

[ASM-142]

Brian I find this odd for you. You come from a troop that requires Fund raisers/mandatory fundraising,must have a minimum of a kazillion hours for your Eagle projects,a committee that runs the troop ,but you do not require the Buddy System? Just really wierd!

It sounds like BM_Crawford expands upon rules to make it tougher, which is not allowed and cuts requirements (buddy system) when it is not conveinent.

[BM_Crawford]

****EDIT****

[ASM-142]

ASM-142 I would appreciate it if you dont try to put words in my mouth. You have no clue what I'm talking about so don't pretend to comprehend, thanks.

I may not understand everything that is going on in your troop, but from what I have read in postings it does not appear that your troop is completely following the BSA program. This is not a personal attack just an observation. If I am wrong with this I apologize.

[Woodbadgegirl]

hehe Sorry for leaving out the Cubbies, I was just discussing the thread in the context it was created in.

Hey, no problem!!

[Rick Tyler]

Now that the buddy system discussion is winding down, I want to throw in a little different perspective. Like most things in Scouting, and life, the buddy system should be applied consistently and reasonably.

When you are camping in an established group campground, do we really need a buddy to walk 50 feet from the kitchen area to the tent to get a piece of gear? How about going to the group campground head 100 feet away and in plain sight in daylight? How about at night? Does a boy need to get his tentmate out of the sack to pee on a tree right next to his tent? How about to go to the head at night? My answers would be no, probably not, yes, no, and yes.

When a scout is using a cat-hole on a backpacking trip, do we require a buddy to be in sight, or just within hearing distance? I think within hearing distance is enough.

Does a Scout need a buddy at all times at Camporee where there are 500 Scouts and Scouters in the area? To go from his campsite to the program area? To go to the portable heads across the field 100 yards away? How about 20 yards away? Are the buddy system guidelines identical on Klondike Derbies, Camporees, summer camp, backpacking, car camping at a county park, in grizzly country, at the beach?

My own opinion is that the buddy system is a core part of the safety rules in the BSA. The specific application is best left to the adult leader on a particular outing. This is a part of our standard briefing on each outing -- such as "You can go around the tent areas and kitchen area alone. You can go the head alone in the daytime, but if you go at night you must take a buddy. Anytime you go farther than that treeline, or past the parking lot, you have to let the SPL or an adult know where you are going and when you will return. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES are you to cross the river trail without an adult escort."

One buddy system rule does not fit all circumstances.