Eagledad

Shouldn't be a problem at night. Barry

I agree with the adult as a PL (works very well) only when the adult uses the youth handbooks in front of scouts and along with the scouts, (ie. Patrol Leaders Handbook, Senior Patrol Leader Handbook, and Scout Handbook). Adults with out guidance have a number of different ideas of how a patrol should function, but the youth handbooks direct the adults and scouts toward basically one picture of a functioning patrol. Also, a new unit needs the kindling of fun for growing into the fire of "Game with a purpose". Inexperienced adults more often than not focus to much on purpose. 5 scouts doesn't allow the adults any margin of error to learn from their mistakes. The adults who are willing to give the time must run the program at a pace they can keep their energy high. So, if that means only two meetings a month with one camp out every two months, then so be it, with the intentional goals of getting to the fun meeting each week and camp out each month. Focus on quality, not quantity. Focus on the game until everyone gets their feet underneath themselves, then they can work toward advancement and quality meetings. Barry

Both post are well said. I went into scoutmastering with the objective of AltadenaCraig's quote, "A leader is most effective when people barely know he exists". But, I found MattR's thoughts, "The best Scoutmaster is the one that does a great job motivating our kid". So, I believe both traits are equally important for a good Scoutmaster. And both, require practice. Parents by nature are active teachers of their young kids, so standing back and letting scouts make choices (bad choice) requires an intentional thought process. And practice. Learning to motivate the many different personalities of scouts and PLCs is an art all by itself. How does one motivate "one step forward" without commanding "Hey! Take one step forward"? Reminds me of my kids; Bless his heart, my oldest is the product of anxious nervous parents often using the swat of a hand for motivation, while our 3rd never knew sting. Practice, practice practice...........while barely existing. Barry

I believe the two fastest bonding scout activities are laser tag and treks. They each force the team members to deal with each other weaknesses and strengths quickly to have fun and success. Laser tag is out, so that just leaves treks. Barry

Pretty cool story. Has anyone consider displaying those old flags permanently in a protective case? They are very powerful mementos of a great era of scouting. Barry

I've said before that the two most challenging methods for the adults (and scouts for the opposite reasons) are Uniforms and Advancement. Both are challenging to the adults because each adult has a personal opinion or interpretation for how the scouts should apply the methods. However, I have said many times I don't agree with mixing girls into the troop program because Boys are different than Girls and mixing them together will diminish some growth opportunities from the boys. Learning to pay attention to "Details" is one of those opportunities. The natural instinctive nature of a boy is thinking in the big picture. They detest details and would be willing to work 10 times harder to reach the same goal without dealing with the details that is so natural for girls. As Latin Scot points out, Patrol method is all about details. So practicing the details of planning, assigning tasks, and follow-up actions are skills the scouts practice in their patrols to develop habits for the rest of their lives. Uniforming is just one more simple action that is a practice for turning details into a habit. I like how Latin Scot shows how the practice of many little details leads to servant motivation of actions. That is what is being missed so badly in men today. And our mediocrity culture promotes it. Where I find the valuable skill of uniform (details) a challenge is, as you are pointing out, with the adults. Your apathy toward the uniform isn't with how the scouts use he method, it's with the many different adult opinions of how the scouts should apply it. The scouts have a simple guideline for uniform in their Scout Handbook, the adults just need to let them follow it. Barry

Our PLC approached me with the proposal to turn jeans into the official uniform. My response was, "What does your handbook say". Their response was, "WE KNOW WHAT IT SAYS, WE WANT TO CHANGE THE IT". Long story short, 6 months later after doing some research, the PLC proposed of the Olive Drab Military Field pants, or BDUs our official uniform. In those days, the BSA pants didn't have usable side pockets and the fabric was uncomfortable in hot climates. The BDUs were exactly the same color, they were adjustable through 4 sizes, several fabrics to choose from, durable, lots of pockets and a 3rd the price when purchased in quality. I love the idea because they were so practical. But, me being stuck with scouts making good decisions, I said I would give their proposal to Council to make the BDUs official at all BSA activities. I didn't think they would say yes, but they did. Anyway, my son told a few months later that many of the scouts were wearing the BDUs to school because they were cool. So yes, mimicking the military uniform might help. Barry

I didn't imply anything. Your quotes are quite clear. The moderator said not to disparage the scout, but the the quotes you are taking out of context are opinions of motivations. Motivations that some of the posters here say are NOT wrong. All that being said, you're the one using words like sinister, which come under the context of disparaging. The only reason the mods don't call you on your posts is because your disparaging remarks are toward adults. I personally don' t agree there should be line drawn, which was the motivation for my comments. Barry

Some believe that self-servingness in the desire to be first does not represent the noble image of the Eagle. You may not agree, but is that opinion sinister? Is agreeing to disagree agreeably really so hard? LOL! Silly me, I already said that. Barry

Shesh, even you admit that your context of his words is out of context of his intended opinion. So, are you suggesting he should re-post his words differently so you don't (can't) take him out of context? Is agreeing to disagree agreeably really so hard? Barry

My wife was surprised to see "Fire Ring" ads on her Facebook after requesting I build a fire ring in the back yard for the grand kids. Apparently the digital gods don't trust my fire ring building skills. Try never to forget that The Man is always lurking. 🙄 Barry

That's the problem, many adults don't separate the difference in the group. Have you ever observed a patrol of adults standing in formation next to an unfocused Patrol? The adults can't helped themselves in showing their irritation. More often than not they will act on that irritation instead of waiting for the youth leaders to act. The adults belong to the troop, the scouts belong to the patrol. Youth behave differently with the judgmental adults in their space. We want scouts to behave from their character, not from adult intimidation. I am amazed at the number adults who sign up to be scout leaders so they can experience the youth part (patrol method) of scouting. I found getting them to imagine themselves as mentors waiting patiently in the shadows for the scouts to approach them somewhat challenging. They wanted to play boy scout with their sons. Our adults don't march with the scouts to assembly or activities, they either arrive earlier or later. They don't stand where the scouts can view them, but behind or away. Our adults never raise the scout sign before the scouts, instead they wait for the youth leader. The adults are just passive resources waiting for the scouts make a request of them. Barry

Depends on the Council, but they usually keep the old records. I've never heard a council removing any records. But, up until around 2000 when the councils started converting to digital, the records were all hand written. So, the accuracy of the records, at least until around 2000, is a different discussion. I know that our Council put a lot of effort into converting the hand written records into digital. We found that up until 2000, every scout submitting paperwork for EBOR had a least one major advancement error by Council, usually several. Surprisingly few errors, if any, by Council after 2000. If your friend did an EBOR, then his records are very likely at council as well as national. Barry

I ran into the same frustration. My logical engineering mind couldn’t understand how to explain the budget of a youth program dynamic of activities we couldn’t predict would occur. I took it personally. But it wasn’t personal at all. My CPA wife explained that the church has to account for all their assets and activities. The budget is a baseline to keep track of their performance. As far as they are concerned, your troop is just asset “D” on the budget list. They can’t even guess asset D’s cost to the church, so they are asking the operators of asset D. Your basic answer is Ds operation will take in this much and spend this much. It will show no cost to the church. The church will move on to asset “E”. Barry

Maybe this is what gender discrimination really looks like in the United States. Barry

The title "First Female Eagle" says it all. Politicking to bend the rules for her to be the first Eagle lessons the award. We live in a hostel political environment. Following rules and fairness have little to do with political correctness. It's going to come down to crumbling under the pressure of name calling. I've been saying for awhile that the BSA should give all girls in the BSA (including cubs) the Eagle right now so they can move on to the business of scouting. The Eagle has lost it's luster in the race to be first, so let them all be first. Barry

I guess that is a class B uniform (winter?).

Exactly. My experiences with scouts not getting past a BOR had nothing to do with testing, it was confusion with completion of the requirements. Murkiness of reality often challenges the idealism of stated policies and guidelines. Adding the SM in the mix, an agnostic scout could be dealing with four different opinions of Duty to God. If that weren't a real concern, then why would the OP even ask the question. Or rather, why would this OP be one of many who have asked this question over the years. The answer is more often than not a simple answer, provided everyone is on board. Barry

I've was told this by camp directors in 1995. I trust their word. I can see by your post that you don't understand or respect the effort of distributing food from the delivery trucks to the patrols. It is quite an effort. One fact I think even todays camp directors will pass along (give one a call) is that summer camps operate with a very very tight budget. Insurance cost alone determined some of the activities provided. Mountain bikes is one activity taken from a camp we used. Barry

True, but let's also not under-emphasize the importance of the scoutmaster in the process. When push comes to the pinnacle shove, the committee has the final word. But, for most parents and scouts, the SM carries all the weight because they are the scouts' personal mentor, guide, coach, teacher, and assumed authority on advancement requirements. I've seen scoutmasters refused the scout a conference just to make a point. That is why I suggest a clear understanding of expectations early in the scout's career. Barry

Well, I'm told the reasoning most camps goto mess halls is economical. And, I think most folks, including adults, would rather spend time with the fun stuff than the something monotonous that they do on every other camp out the rest of the year. But, I said before, nothing pulls scouts through the team building experience better than summer camp patrol cooking. So, if the adults are looking for scout growth in their decision making process, nothing does it better than patrol cooking. Barry

Does he understand what agnostic means? "A person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God". I agree, at this age and experience of life, living the "Do a good turn daily" is a good approach. I caution though, these things can become complicated when a scout is close to Eagle. This usually becomes an issue when the adults have let the question pass without clarity of expectation for the requirement. You may not be the SM and he may be in a different troop when he is ready for his Life or Eagle SM Conference. I would not make a big deal of it now, in fact I wouldn't approach it until his First Class SM conference. But, the scout should have some clarity of expectation that would appease most adults for an agnostic. I would also approach the parents to get some understanding. But practice your question so that it's not alarming, just informative. Likely not, but sometimes the sons are a pawn in the matter, so it's good to know the big picture. As I said, informative, not alarming. Barry

The problem is breathing, sometimes the sweat can be worse than the rain. Cheap jackets tend not to breath, but I think Frogg Togg breaths pretty well. Even motorcyclist like them, which is a pretty good endorsement. I've not purchased Frogg Togg because they don't have a good reputation for durability. But durability has a cost. I personally use Eddie Bauer because they have different weights of breathable jackets and are more durable, but I they cost more. Barry

The 35# limit would stop me. Of course the goal is to stay below that weight, but that would be an easy weight to bust. There are all kinds of situations that could force sharing the load of a crew member. Spend some time on Craigslist. What state are you located? Barry

Boys, LOL, men are by nature not detail people. Sometime they, LOL, we will assume the best and basically ignore injuries. I'm looking at a few scouting scares on my fingers as I type through the arthritis. Usually, with something like this, the adult leadership comes up with kind of a policy for everyone to note. Doesn't have to be a written policy, but a mental process that if an injury has bleeding or protruding bone, the responsible adult needs to be told so they can determine what, if anything, needs attention. I would make it a troop policy for everyone, not just the scouts. Barry