Eagledad

Hmm, isn't their uniforms and activity shirts the same tie dye t-shirt? Barry

The GSUSA has a reputation of following the guidance of political activism and the BSA has a reputation of self-serving policy development with touch of my way of the highway follow thru. On the up side, I could see this an entertaining drama on Netflix. Barry

I can see the Leadership Corp coming back because this program requires mature scouts working the top level of program. They will have a closer working relationship with the adults as they grow with the experience. These are the kind of programs that keep the older scout because the program structure has continued maturity challenges that attract young adults looking for experiences to develop themselves. I like it. Barry

That's pretty good (impressive actually), but that puts a lot of responsibility on program planning at the troop level. Which might be fine, but because the Patrol Leaders won't be dragged along by the program at weekly Troop meetings, the program agendas will have to be more detailed and specific so they can follow the expectations. I don't think this is a bad thing, my troop was sort of this way when I was a scout. But, I remember that our PLs were very very mature (they all had drivers licenses), and we had good adult resources. Eight to ten scouts require more room that many homes can handle. It is important to remember that the Patrol Meeting must be fun enough for the scouts to want to attend every week because skipping a patrol meeting is easier than a troop meeting. Barry

OK, so what are the patrol agendas the other 3 weeks? I'm not criticizing, just wondering. The objective is the give the Patrols as much autonomy as their maturity can handle (and maybe a slight bit more). But from my experience of our patrols scheduling two patrol campouts a year, the challenge is actually coming up with a theme for the activities. I could see a young patrol struggling to have a reason for wanting to attend a weekly meeting. The BSA isn't going to be a help here, and paradigm shifts can end badly without a structure to develop habits. Barry

The drive to Eagle caused this trend. I encourage scouts to hold off on PL as long as possible. Youth don’t really get much from the until they are at least 13. Really 14. I also encouraged them to experience the position at least twice before moving on to other ambitions. Maybe not from each other,but they can from the adults. Our usually grabbed some distance or across the road from the patrols. It makes a difference. Barry

Ask each scout 3 things they learned at the course that they would like to try in the troop. Then sit down with them and develop a plan for working the ideas and goals. That way your are working as a team to improve the program with ideas and skills learned from the course. We asked the SMs to spend an hour with their scout before the graduation ceremony. Barry

I haven't heard they were going away and I'm kind of sad, a lot of Cub volunteers were very proud of them. I admit though, I have a box full of dusty knots that I don't have any clue what they represent. Since I'm your basic procrastinator, I haven't sewed them on yet. Maybe in a few years when my grand kids join. Maybe. Barry

Oh! That's what that taste is called. Barry

I've watch and worked with enough scouts to feel there really isn't a "best" ECOH. But, my favorites are the ones done on camp outs. The sun is usually low in the sky, the birds are chirping and the smell of nature all come together making it feel perfect. Barry

More often than not, this is the most learning part of these projects. I'm not sure it's a bad thing. Barry

Ah! A delegator. He'll go far in life. Barry

You’re observing hormones, give them a few years. Barry

As I said, our camp allowed nude swimming back in the 60's and 70's. What was acceptable (not a big deal) back them was modesty. Nobody cared if you did or didn't. I grew up near a lot of secluded fishing ponds and more often than not we ended up taking off our clothes and swimming in the hot Oklahoma summer heat. Our parents knew we did this. Would parents accept that today? There was an article not to long ago on the subject of professionals (teachers, psychologist, lawyers, so forth) pushing kids further into the confusion of transgenders because they would be committing career suicide if they bucked the culture of political correctness. One of the examples used in the article was the firing of a United Kingdom Girl Scout Leader who stood up against mixing transgenders with male biological bodies with girls in camp showers. She got absolutely no support. Convoluted responses? It's down right hostile activism. And it's going to get worse. Women rights organizations are already struggling with the situation of biological male transgenders competing directing against girls in activities where males clearly have the advantage. Innocence has been exploited for political leverage to the point of completely taking it away from our children. Barry

Well this part was pretty cool!

Must be having a bad day. You don't want to be around other people in the backwoods, I get it. But for someone who hasn't seen or experienced Philmont, "don't like being herded like cattle out to pasture" is disrespectful and unscout-like. To each their own and all that. Barry

You may cross paths with another group once in a long while, but there is plenty of room to get lost. Still, Philmonts not cheap, so there has to be more, and there is. Philmont's charm on the trial are many camps and programs. Remembering a couple programs off the top of my head, there is the mining camp, fishing camp, and a old west town with reenactors. Only time I ever got to try fly fishing, they provide the gear. Many camps have an adult only area with coffee and other treats, including a break from the scouts. Phimont adds more fun and adventure to the typical backpacking trek. Very Scouting. I have special memories of a Philmont trek where my older son and I were two of the adults in my younger's sons crew. It was perfect. Barry

That's not research, that is just a few volunteer experiences and opinions. I thought you had facts and data that would educate us as to why we shouldn't blame youth service organizations. Barry

Instead? We have choice? OK, please educate us on the history, delivery methods and failure models. Barry

Mistakes fuel the fire of growth.

It feel great doesn't it? But, I'm not giving up my Eagledad name. Barry

Your missing the key part, harm. The first three acts on that list could be, and many times would be, "kids' being kids". Someone who just happen walk by a group of boys calling each other names might assume the worst when in reality it is nothing more than kids trying to outwit the others, play. So, BEFORE anyone is accused of anything, a CLARIFICATION should be determined of the situation. I can also think of two situations where scouts were taken to the emergency room for an injury cause during play. No foul intentions, just play that went too far. We were taught back in the day that bullying is best identified when the perpetrator is purposely forcing their power on an unwilling victim. The first reaction is to gain an understanding of the whole situation. Barry

Well said. I will say that there is a step below even the consensus level, what happened? Anytime a scout feels harm, there has to be concern. But, reflecting on my wonderful marriage, sometimes it's just a simple matter of communication and expectation. My kids will tell you that they heard very little yelling in our family while growing up. They found themselves very uncomfortable in situations where yelling was the form of communication. The SM should be able to learn what exactly caused the harm. THEN, determine the reactions for changing the environment to be safe. Barry

Actually it does under discipline. It is the CCs responsibility. Still, the layer of dealing with it, (meaning identifying learning exactly what is going on) and determining how the unit should proceed starts with the SM. If the scout doesn't feel the SM is working to make the environment safe, then the next step is the CC. And when it gets this far, I feel asking for help from the parents or mediator is appropriate. Barry

I was a soccer coach at the same time as a Scoutmaster, so our troop was open minded with sports, and other outside activities like band and school plays. I would say that on average, we had 60 percent of scouts at meetings and 40 percent on campouts. Just when I started worrying that we weren't as fun a troop as we working toward, we would hit a month between sports and have a 95% attendance at meeting and campouts. If the program is worth doing, youth will fit it in when they can. But, that kind of a program is a challenge and patrols have to be developed with that in mind. We made patrols of 10 or twelve with the goal of 6 or 8 attending campouts. That was pretty close. And if you wonder if that kind of program would be attractive for new scouts, we grew from 15 to 100 scouts in 7 years. That was while loosing 40% the first year scouts for the first couple of years because we were still trying to get our feet under us. We were fun, but chaotic. We not only became the fastest growing troop in the district, we had the most scouts older than 14 in the Council. What I'm trying say is if you build it, they will come. You just have to build IT. Barry