BOR - Thoughts about having scouts as members of the BOR

[philpisch]

My son joined a troop that has senior scouts (youth) sit on the non-Eagle boards of review. Officially speaking, I know this is wrong. The "Advancement committee policy and procedures" book clearly states that BOR should be comprised of committee members. (Thanks Ask Andy for all the great training!) I fully believe we should be 100% compliant with the official BSA policies and procedures. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to change our troop practices.

Practically speaking though, what are the positives and negatives (other than violating BSA policy) about having a youth on the BOR? I can see some positives in that it promotes taking leadership seriously in the troop. It could be a point of pride for those youth who help run a BOR. It could also be a negative because it could make the scout under review be less open and defeating the quality control role of the BOR. For the same reasons that SMs and ASMs are not allowed to be on the BOR, it seems even more so that scouts should not be allowed on the BOR.

Is there a critical reason to push the envelope now to get this changed?

[smtroop168]

Welcome to the forum. The critical reason to get this changed was already stated by you...it's against the rules. What other things is this troop doing that are also wrong?

IMHO...the main reason not to have scouts serve on BORs is that it is not in the best interest of the Troop Committee whose job is to assess the scout's scouting experience and provide guidance back to the SM on impressions they get from the reviewed scout. Scouts generally are not in any position to understand the big picture here and would want to retest the candidate.

Since the BORs decisions are also unanimous, there could be some scout sitting on a BOR who has a problem with the scout and not vote for him. The scout can appeal and when it gets to the district and they find out you are using scouts on BORs, it will not be a good day for the Troop Committee.

Under the scenario of a different post where scouts are allowed to pick their BOR members and if you were going down this path, there could be a lot of favortism and the ripple effect within the troop would not be good.

[kwildman]

i agree w/ smtroop168. the BOR is supposed to be committee members. We get a lot of feedback from the committee after the BORs about the program, likes/dislikes, how the youth leadership is doing, how the SMs are doing, etc. I don't think you would get an honest assessment if the senior scouts are sitting in on the BOR. This is the same reason we dont let the SM or ASMs sit on the BORs.

[WeeWillie]

Phil

Welcome!

You are not helpless. "Our troop is conducting invalid BORs. We will stop immediately or I will call the district advancement committee to have the results invalidated."

A Scout is Brave. That means standing up for what is right.

Youth lack one critical component. They are not adults.

Mike

[Billiken]

Interaction with adults - One of the 8 key aspects of the Scouting program.

Take actions to fix this problem today.

[smtroop168]

A twist...Different kind of BOR, but for the Ad Altare Dei and Pope Pius Catholic Medals, the BORs makeup include scouts who have earned the applicable medal.