FScouter

So Ed, tell us about your thought process as you contemplated your choice? Hmmm... I cannot recall having made a choice. It just happened. Anybody else make a choice?

BSA guidance may be found in the Troop Committee Guidebook. There is a good discussion therein about the qualites a that make a good Scoutmaster. Your answer may be found there. Anyone that professes the "rules" should be prepared to back it up with the written BSA publication.

The "buddy system": It's more fun to do stuff with a buddy. That's it, nothing more! Yes, so tenting alone can be fun too. No prohibition against it. "Rules" must be cited, else it's only personal opinion.

There doesn't seem to be much value in a letter unless you're preparing documentation to support a court case or such. Why not just call the kid up and have a chat? Invite him to the next campout. Ask the PL or SPL to invite him.

I cringe every time I see or hear of that stunt. Laying a guilt trip on parents really isn't much of a recruitment method. It ranks up there with waving a sign-up sheet in front of the group and hoping some one will "step up". Hows about approaching the person you want and asking, face to face? Is that really so difficult?

Duplicate topic in the Cub Scouting forum.

18-936 is the obsolete version.

The value of a commissioner is as a disinterested third party whose knowledge and insight the unit can draw upon. So what's the point if she's already a member of the committee? May as well make all the committee members "commissioners"!

The council doesn't get involved in the selection of adult leaders, barring a negative background check for a new member. If the chartered org and troop committee select and approve an adult leader, the council will not interfere with that choice.

Everything one needs to know about HIPPA and Scouting may be found in the Guide to Safe Scouting. (Hint: ain't nothing there)

The purpose of the court of honor is to HONOR. No patch or paper is required for that. Hand out milk and cookies instead. Recognize the boy for his accomplishment no later than the next meeting and give him the patch at that time. He sews it on his uniform or sash and can proudly show it off at the court of honor. Not convenient? Don't know what to say to that problem!

The Cub Scout Leader Book has some thoughts about the denner.

If Tenderfoot skills are "moved" to Webelos, the rank should be moved there as well. It would be absurd for a Cub to "learn" skills in Cubs, and get an automatic "cross-over" rank.

It is impossible to cover 8 hours of material in 6 hours. You just have to decide what parts you don't want to cover. Of course there is no shortage of folks that can tell you the parts that aren't needed!

Helping a kid with his Eagle project is surely a good and noble thing to do. What is wrong is advising (suggesting? opinionating?) 10,000 forum members that giving money to the kid for his project is a charitible donation within the intent of the law. And to further tell us to not worry about claiming a (illegal) deduction because the average IRS auditor isn't likely to question it is just plain wrong. Certainly not in keeping with our mission of making ethical choices.

"Just da right thing to do, eh?" No, it's not. Yes of course support Scouting and Eagles and kids and all that. All well and good. But support adding an unfounded assertion of tax deductiblility in a donation letter? No, not trustworthy. A donation is not deductible just because you want it to be. Folks just don't get the option to decide what is "charitible" and what isn't. Otherwise the law would simply be "if you consider it charitible, deduct it".

Duplicate topic.

Don't look to the TLT syllabus for any explanation about EDGE or how to teach it. The only thing there is the definition of the acronym.

The CPSC press release is dated over 4 years ago.

Part of a good debate is to relate facts that support ones position, and to state those facts using words that are most efficient for the job of convincing others of the rightness of one position and/or the wrongness of the opposing position. Some debaters do a good job at this. It does seem ironic to lament that one side twists facts and plays word games, and to use the same approach in making the lamentation. But that too is a good technique of persuasion, no?

"This to my mind is all just adults tryin' to twist things around and play word games. " And you're the master at that tactic, eh Beavah?

MyScouting is in bug mode. Try again in about a week.

Yes, we do have a forum, the Issues & Politics forum, set up specifically to discuss things like God, gays, the Torah, philosophy, ideology, politics, and the like. This forum is set up to discuss the Boy Scout program, yknow stuff like how to react when a kid bring a porno mag on a campout. Discussions tend to get cluttered up and confused when we change topics in mid stream so to speak. The spin-off button works well, or its easy to start a new topic. Lets feel free to do so, in the appropriate forum, and leave this discussion to the topic for which it was opened. Frank the moderator

"The only other question is BSA policy states that parents can teach family memebers but only in a group setting ..." Be careful about believing "stuff" you hear. BSA policy is found in BSA publications. All else is hearsay, opinions, and "should-be". This forum included. Troop bylaws mean squat.