Troop Life - The Patrol Inside the Patrol
| Category: | Troop Life |
|---|---|
| Notes: | For when cliques are forming inside a patrol or the troop, or as a general minute before it becomes a problem. Address it to everyone, and don't single anyone out. For newcomers and for teasing, see inclusion and when-scouts-hurt-scouts. Part of a Troop Life series - see the other minutes in this category. |
Let me describe something that happens in almost every troop sooner or later.
Three Scouts become really good friends. That's great. That's one of the best things about Scouting. So they always share a tent. They always sit together at the campfire. They always pick each other first. They have their own jokes that nobody else gets.
Nobody is trying to be mean. Nobody is teasing anyone. But slowly, without anybody deciding it, there's a patrol inside the patrol. And the Scouts who aren't part of it start to feel like guests in their own group.
Here's the tricky part. If you're on the inside, you probably don't even see it happening. It feels normal. It feels like just hanging out with your friends. It's the Scouts on the outside who feel it.
I'm not asking you to stop having best friends. Keep them. But a patrol only works when everyone in it feels like they belong. So once in a while, look around. Who hasn't been asked to share a tent lately? Who always ends up on dish duty with whoever's left? Who's sitting a little bit outside the circle?
Then do something about it. Swap tents. Invite someone new to cook with you. Explain the inside joke. It costs you almost nothing, and it might be the reason somebody decides to come back next month.
A good friend group is great. A good patrol has room for everybody.