Eagledad

What made the laser tag restriction a really big deal was that Laser tag was a very popular scout activity when the rule came out in the mid 90s. The Laser tag game centers were big rooms with large objects placed around so that players could hide and strategize their attacks on the opposing players. Pretty much a Capture the Flag in a building, only more intense and faster because the room limited where players could hide. As a patrol method Scoutmaster, I really liked it because it forced patrols to come together quickly to win. It was a fast way to bond patrols. And it was such a popular scout activity for scouts of all ages that our Council even found and gave discount tickets to the units. Council didn't even discourage the activity for a couple years even after the restriction. Barry

For me, I feel teaching make-believe shooting as a practice for violence in the future is like zero tolerance policies. Such policies force a negative moral aspect to a neutral or innocent motive. We read stories a lot of violators of a zero tolerance policies with innocent intentions. A person who is never in a situation of thinking of their actions never get to judge the intentions of their actions against any kind of measured consequence. In fact, prohibiting thoughts and actions can actually encourage a person toward the action. I experienced this when I've introduce adults to hunting. They are difficult hunting companions because their desire to hunt has turned into an obsession to kill their prey. There are many aspects to hunting that attract people into the outdoors besides the act of killing, or even using their weapon. Hunting for many is just an excuse to be alone in the outdoors. Adults who were restricted from innocent play of those weapons as youths are more mentally dangerous in my experience. I have always felt that Scouting is a safe place for boys (youth I guess now) to not only learn physical safety of tools, but also mentally learn the balances of their motivations to their desire consequences. A boy learns to play aggressively at his maturity level learns the consequences of the tools being used for play. I have never heard of a serial killer or school shooting where the shooter is mentally normal. Same goes with knives, with the recent trend of knife attacks, is the BSA eventually going to be blamed. Is a knife a tool, or a weapon? Is a squirtgun a toy, or a weapon? If adults call it evil, is it really evil, or just a tool? As for video games, the problem we found with our kids growing up is that too much play can turn into obsession. A video game is just a video game if played for entertainment. Entertainment turns into obsession is where harm starts to come into play. A squirt gun is just method of getting wet. Anything more is just helicopter parenting. Barry

Thorolos are good too. Expensive, but good for scouting socks. Be sure to push the sock tops down to the boot to keep the dust out. Barry

coolmax or Smartwool socks with liners and hiking boots. Much more comfortable than running shoes and cotton socks. Barry

Oh, well, um, not me. OK, there was that one guy, but he isn't around anymore. The rumor about the other guy isn't true.

Oh no, ya'll are great. It's Mrs. Barry, she is a great balance for my minimal energy style, but that doesn't mean she's always a willing participant.

That's an every Saturday night activity for our troop after camp fire. They love it. If we ever camp within a mile of another troop, our SPL challenges them. Barry

Yes, call it what you want, these things go under the header of political correctness. To me, fearing the scouts will develop an unhealthy habit of pulling triggers from a squirt gun is at the very least, "silly". Our scouts play a lot of games, but they always end the campout with a game of Capture the Flag. That game is everything boy. So, does adding a laser tag gun change a boys perception of guns or violence? If anything, laser tag develops fairness of competition with a better respect for how to accomplish the game from other means. When I was a scout, we used flour wrapped up in toilet paper as the means of tag. My wife will tell that I won't step within 10 feet of a bag of flour in a kitchen. There have been times I was frustrated enough to throw some flour, but the risk of being pulled in to help fix a salad has kept me balanced. Barry

First, you kind of suggest that this is the first time that we are speaking what we "think". Really? Second, I shouldn't have used the words "silly guidelines". I meant ""ridiculous guidelines"". I can see risk management for rappelling and climbing, but ""laser tag"" and ""water guns""? Barry

Calico, it's a well rumored theory that the women at National lock the conference room entrances and kitchen back door as they discuss these things. Pay more attention, will ya. Barry

Yep, I agree. God bless the moms.

I think they are doing it to accommodate female troop leaders in scouting. There is all kinds of evidence that they have had some influence on the program. I personally feel some of the silly guidelines in the Guide To Safe Scouting are a female influence. Barry

Ask your DE about other units. They may know of adults who run a safe program. I know personally the DE helped bullied scouts in our district by advising parents of more accepting programs. Two of those very awkward scouts are now Eagles. Barry

Not a chance. Great idea, but you are talking about the group that doesn't allow little red wagons, water guns and lazar gun games. I guess there could be some discussion for the lazar guns, but that is still too much on the helicopter parenting side and should be left up to units. Barry

Good article, of course as you pointed out, we are the choir. Still, I didn't see a little red wagon, so there is still some risk management to prevent permanent injury. This reminded me of a article I read yesterday, apparently some famous movie star posted a video of their family swimming and her husband throwing their young son out of the water into a flip before he landed back in the water. Just the day before my son was telling his 2 year old daughter about how grandpa threw him in the air and flipped him and her aunts and uncles in the pool when they were around her age. She isn't too far from it herself, maybe this summer (me or her dad? I hope, I hope...). But, the point of the article was the number of parents (moms) who posted (or Tweeted?) that they were bad parents. Thanks RememberSchiff. Barry

In the 1980s, National set a goal of increasing the percentage number of Eagles, which at the time was around 3 percent. They made a number of changes that included New Scout Patrols and First Class in the First Year. I imagine that is still the motivation for home study type merit badges I imagine that your age was at least 14 years of age when you worked those badges. As I said earlier, these sit down types of advancement requirements are easier for older scouts to accept and digest. What makes this worse is because National is turning into a BSA into a more family program, the scouts will have less independence to choose how they want to advance because the parents will be more directly involved. As has been demonstrated for the last 28 years, National is out of touch. Barry

What! No! But we do encourage the scouts to make and use a camp gadget when possible. Barry

We are given further instruction from the Aims and Methods. Aims are the scouts part, methods are the adults part. The challenge isn't making sure scout is reaching the mission goal, the challenge is providing a program where the scout has all the resources to reach the mission goal. Barry

I wish more leaders would look at the mission "First", then build the program. Once in a blue moon, Calicoe and I agree. Still, we need to remember the program is for the average boy and the average Boy Scout does't get far enough in their advancement to require these badge. So, whats the point? We have been spending a lot of time lately discussing how the mind of a boy works, or doesn't work (according to Mrs. Barry). Honestly, most of that discussion is more toward scouts before puberty. I believe the subjects of these badges are appropriate for scouts when they reach a maturity where the material is thought provoking. And, I believe thought provoking exercises are important in the Mission. But where we adults miss on the types of exercises (all type of exercises or activities ) that develop scouts to make ethical and moral choices is their maturity. Our challenge is provide a program that challenges every scout in the troop at their level of maturity and experience. It needs to be a challenge that requires effort from the scout so he will grow from the experience, but not take away the adventure from the heart of the scout. Just like I don't believe the average scout is mature enough to grow from the experience of leadership until puberty, I believe sit down studies of subjects aren't really a big motivation for scouts to attend scouting activities until puberty. The adult mind simply doesn't work the same for scouts 14 and older, which is the main reason adults loose their older scouts. No adult likes to be treated like a kid, and that is what most adult leaders do to their older scouts. The older scouts are adults with adult drives and reactions. Adults like mental challenges and stimulus. That doesn't mean they will like the these kinds of badges, but they will have the maturity to understand that the material has value and worth the time to learn, or experience. Barry

And patrol campfires. We humans, or a least we males, are naturally attracted to fires (like females to diamonds ) and socializing around them. Our patrols today struggle a little with patrol campfires because it was a lot of effort for just a couple of hours of socializing, but boys being boys (of all ages) managed to find something to pull them together before hitting the sack. Patrol campfires were easy for us in the 70s because they were required for cooking and heating water for KP. As a SM, I encourage a fire all day in the adults camp site, so that they had a reason and a place to relax while staying out of the scouts way. State fire bans are the devil and one cause for disrupted patrol method. Barry

Thinking more on it, free time was even a favorite social time great time of day even on high adventure treks. I will always remember the boys intensely playing cards under the tarp blocking the Colorado afternoon showers. They even taught themselves how to make french-fries junk food with the potatoes we were carrying on the Northern Tier canoeing trips. Who doesn't need down-time after an intense day of outdoor adventure? Barry

Socializing is so important. I've told the story many times of the new SM of a six month old troop calling me to ask what else scouts could do on campouts besides advancement. When I mentioned free time, his response was "you mean let Scouts do what they want?". His tone was not accepting of the idea. We even bring a lot of games, balls and frisbies to summer camp so the scouts can socialize throwing a ball or playing chess. In many ways, the scouts are getting to do what they would like to do at home, but are too busy with sports and outside programs. As intense as camping can be, it can actually be more relaxing. Barry

Instinctively, boys like to be in groups until puberty. Girls are independent. While boys enjoy personal recognition or respect from their peers (group), they don’t like standing out from the group. Leadership isn’t natural until puberty. They like team play over individual sports. Boys like strategy, which is why baseball comes natural. Boys learn just about everything naturally by watching others; they might as well be deaf because instruction is just plain work. Boys would rather run than walk or jump than going around. Boys are naturally lazy and choose the shortest path to anywhere, even meetings. Boys only like doing things with a purpose like competitions or destinations. They hate practicing anything because they don’t see the point. Girls are independent and good with details. They like talking and are very good at listening. Girls aren’t lazy, but would rather walk. They don’t have purpose like boys, but are good at staying busy. They are cautious with things they don’t know and wait, where as boys will jump right in. I’m always struck by their instinct torward wanting to hold babies, even as toddlers. Both boys and girls are curious about changing a diaper, but for different reasons. Boys want to see what’s in the diaper, girls want to learn how to put it on. Boys like beer and contact sports while girls...whoops, next chapter. Barry

Agreed, which is why I think the BSA will resemble the present day Canadian Scouts, which is more of an after school family camping program than a scout program. Of what I could see, European scouting isn't family scouting like the BSA. Barry

We live in the more southern part of the states, so I didn't know that liberals say "eh" differently. But it makes sense I guess. Barry