Leadership

As a leader in boy scouts, knowing that I was in charge of a massive group of boys with a wife range of ages, I knew that I was in for a hard time. I was constantly on edge, always looking over my shoulder to see if anything was going wrong, and I was extremely aware of which boys were the problem children and who they were most likely to picks fights with. This was especially true when I was leading summer camp, because even though it was a smaller group, they were in much more contact with one another, and they were spread around a much larger, more obstructive area.

There was one boy I remember especially well. He was a smaller kid, still pretty new to the troop, and it was apparent that his parents had signed him up with us in the hopes that he would learn to control his temper. Quick note - don't do that. Boy scouts is not the place to learn to control your temper. That is marital arts.

I was speaking with my adult leaders about how the week was going, what was coming up, what kind of things we needed to focus on, when I had this shiver go down my spine. Something was going on - I instinctually knew this. And I was not mistaken. I looked over my shoulder to see this small boy lifting a shovel above his head, face pointed very distinctly at one other boy who I knew he had been growing irritated with. This kid was about to slam a shovel into someone's head.

I muttered a quick "I'll be right back," as I was already throwing myself onto my feet, sprinting as hard as I could at the boy. Fortunately I was not the only one who had seen him, because I was not going to make it to him in time - another boy came up behind him and quickly pulled the shovel from the boys hands. It took him a brief moment to realize what had happened and turn around to try and fight for it, and by then I had made it in time to grab him in a bear hug. The adults were on their way behind me - an issue like this was beyond my ability to take care of.

As the kid changed hands and was lead away, head hanged in shame, I thanked the other boy for acting as he had and asked him if he knew what had happened. Evidently, the kid was very upset that this other scout had been poking holes in the ground. He had been trying to cover the holes, but he was slower at covering them than the other was at making them.

Kids.