For all you Scouts and leaders, I am ASPL of my Troop, how can we get more scouts to come to meetings?

Question

My SPL doesn't really do much so it is basically the leaders and I. Since forever we have been a boy run troop. Recently we have experienced less & less scouts attending the meetings. What do I have to do to save my troop? The scouts have the average age of 12-14. I do not wish to see my troop go under. Please help. Best suggestion gets 10 pts.

Answer 1

Well what I would do is call them up and get one of their parents and ask them why. Tell them that they need to start coming more. I know you might feel weird, but you'll have to get over it. It's the only way.

Answer 2

Hello Jacob:

Your troop is lucky to have an ASPL who is concerned about the health of his troop. Way to go!

The folks on the list can only guess why your troop members are not attending meetings, you will have to ask the boys who are not showing what are their specific reasons.

Is the meeting fun? do the boys enjoy themselves when they are there, or are they looking at the clock and wondering when it will be over? Is there a game or fun activity planned for each meeting? Does every boy feel like he is contributing to the troop, and getting recognized for his contribution?

Is it productive? Does the troop put on a program that benefits the boys in some way? Are they getting enough out of their hour and a half that they can justify missing 90 minutes of homework or (sadly) television? Does the program leave them feeling like they want to return next week, and look forward to the experience?

The SPL, was he elected by the boys of the troop? Was he voted into office to fulfill a leadership requirement for advancement, or was he a popular boy? Was he elected into office based on his leadership ability, and has lost interest, or has not been properly trained? Does the Troop Leader's Council meet regularly to plan meetings? Do the patrol leaders contact the members of their patrol to find out why some boys are missing meetings?

Does your troop have an active camping program with at least one outing (not necessarily camping, but some type of outing) per month? Do you have a theme for the month, and use it to promote advancement?

Is your adult leadership trained? I know it is a boy-led unit (which is the way it should be), but to help the boys succeed, the adults need to be trained. Does the adult cadre provide the unit with proper logistical support?

For additional help and information, you should stop by the Scouting forum at http://www.scouter.com.

Keep on Scoutin'

Answer 3

from my past expieriences with scouting for some reason there seems to be a decline of not only leaders but actual boys that are involved.  some of what im seeing here close to me is troops that have lost size merging together and reforming into 1 troop for the betterment of scouting  and with more opertunities for kids these days with more orginized sports and such it just seems to be in a decline which i was told happens from time to time but it does get  one down hearted when you put  lot of time and effort in and appear to get nothing accomplished.

  hope this helps some  and always do your best

                                                      tiny

Answer 4

you need younger kids to come along, otherwise the 12 -14 yr olds will grow out of scouts in a yr or 3.

What things do boys like in your area? (beach, mountains, sports ... )

See if a tourism hiring company would like to donate a bit of time to teach the troop their thing (kayaking for water side; rope bridges for mountains; archery or other for sports) and make it an "invite a friend"day for the troop - even place notices in local schools with that age range that the special day is coming up.

To encourage that hire company to donate (or discount) to the troop, they may be getting regular coustomers from families that send their boys.

Good luck