I do provide these types of incentives, but always useful gear or a learning tool.
yes, that is the idea, start them with some basics, and add items or better quality items as they go, I am hoping this will spark their interest enough that they might take some initiative and add items of their own and show them to everyone at a meeting or outdoor activity with an explanation of why they included the item(s).
As I have known many of my scouts since they were born (I am referred to more often as "Uncle" than anything else), I give them these types of birthday and Christmas presents as well.
A small and tight knit group always seems to be the rule in scouting. The pack we came from was very much like that, and so is our troop. Our scouts (and adults) got a mini fire tinder kit for christmas: chunk of fatwood, some jute twine, and some char cloth, fun project for DS and I and all the scouts got something out of it too, I hope with the merit badge activities I can also show them WHY those items make key fire starting tinder.
Acknowledge and reward good behavior, strong effort, and successful work.
Wow, this could get expensive lol. Could I substitute some inexpensive rewards instead? When I read this I had an idea pop in my head about handing out some sort of awards or certificates, such as a firebug award for the first one to successfully make his three fires, or maybe a water bug award for the three water purification methods (methinks I am already leaning towards a bug oriented theme with this
). Would I rather give each scout who successfully does it a fire steel or water bag with purification tablets for completing these requirements? Sure I would, but neither I nor the troop can afford something like that for 8 or more scouts.
Do not reward unsuccessful work, but spend the time with that scout to make them successful. Be honest about failure, but show them in detail why it failed and how to do it better.
This part is very difficult, especially for me as I have OCD and some impulse control issues. Add to that the fact that myself and the other dad's all recently left cub scouts where we were used to being more hands in, so to speak. It is hard to just step back and let them fail. I had this problem with a recent fire starting session with DS at the fireplace, he had successfuly used his firesteel to get an ember started in his char cloth, but he was having difficulty getting the ember to catch his jute twine. Instead of letting him keep trying my OCD and impulse control took over and I took it from him and showed him how to get it started. In hindsight I realized what I had done, and apologized to him for taking over, and I am determined not to let that happen again.
In many cases, just showing the honesty of addressing failure, and the care to make them successful will win over the scout, without any reward.
Yes, I have seen this already, although I have also seen the early signs of teenage brooding, ugh.
I have had some scout complain to me that I spend too much time with the less successful scouts, and I just respond to them that they should be spending the time with them as well. The troop succeeds or fails as a troop, and it is in all of their best interests to make everyone successful.
I think it is difficult for the boys at this age to understand that, as they are becoming REALLY competitive with one another, I assume this has something to do with establishing the pecking order and the "I'm better than you are" complex that teenagers seem to have (I never understood that). But, as leaders, it is up to us to teach them.
Some parents are actually more difficult to manage with this though.
Amen to that
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