FScouter

Philmont and high adventure bases are not cheap. Maybe the CC is also trying to encourage other boys to attend by easing the financial hurdle?

Should, shall, must, guideline, policy, require, procedure, rule, bold print, interpretation. Discussions about the meaning of these words begin when someone doesnt want to follow what the written page is saying.

"If a kid can't go without his Gameboy for 48 hours then there is a bigger problem." In our church, the weekly news bulletin was being handed out with the order of worship as churchgoers entered the sanctuary. The minister was annoyed that the congregation seemed to reading the bulletin during the service instead of paying attention to the sermon. His solution was to "ban" the bulletin by withholding it until after the service was over. Now, his sermons are much more interesting, NOT. Yes, a bigger problem exists. What is the bigger problem? What is the best solution to the bigger problem? Unless the bigger problem can be identified and discussed, a ban on boredom-relief devices isn't going to solve anything.

If the tour permit is as worthless as you say it is, are you also suggesting that units not bother filing them? I wonder what would happen if I told the woman at the council office we quit filing tour permits because she was as stoopid as a cow pie?

The purpose of a tour permit is so the council can reduce risk by spotting potentially unsafe outing plans and suggest changes that will reduce risk. "WHAT? You mean we need TWO adults on our campout??" "WHAT? You mean the drivers must have car insurance?" "WHAT? You mean we can't play war games with live ammo?" "WHAT? You mean we can't load the boys in the back of the pickup truck??"

As with all judgments, we judge based on the information at hand. If and when more facts are learned, opinions and advice may change. One may choose to withhold judgment and thats fine. Its a little presumptuous though to expect others to withhold their opinions too.

is this SM the role model you want for you son? Nope. My judgment is that based on her behavior, she doesnt have the moral character to be my sons Scoutmaster. She may have good qualities in other areas, but she failed the morality test. For me, thats a big one. My neighbor works for Catholic Charities her job is to place kids in foster care, that will never be adopted, she has some real horror stories. A single parent would be better than that. Lets not confuse an adoptive family with foster care. Kids in foster care are usually there because what they had with their biological parent was worse. If the bio mothers and fathers of these foster kids had given their babies up for adoption from the beginning, these now unadoptable kids wouldnt be bouncing around between foster homes.

Some of you have mistaken my position on this issue. I jumped into this discussion in response to a opinion put forth by Dan Kroh where he said it was morally correct for a woman to make a conscious decision to have a child, with no father. My thoughts, then and now, are that a woman that makes a choice to bring a child into the world with no father is selfish and self-centered. There is no honor in a conscious decision to create a child and raise it as a single parent. Choosing to bear a child with no father is not morally responsible. The thing that makes this wrong is the self-centered belief that a child doesnt need a father, or that the womans self-gratifying desire to raise a child alone is more important than the needs of the child. An unplanned, out of wedlock pregnancy is a little different, assuming the bio father disappears. The mother either opts to keep the baby, or give it up for adoption. Even under the most ideal circumstances, keeping the baby still leaves one huge hole; there is no father. And it should take a lot of positive points in favor of the unwed mother keeping the baby to outweigh the huge negative of denying the child a father.

The right thing to do is what is best for the child. It doesnt matter one whit to the baby how its mother got pregnant. When a girl gets herself in a family way, decisions will have to be made. The honorable choices will be those that put the interest of the child FIRST. An unwed mother, working full time, dropping the kid at day care every day, and no father is not going to be a better choice than two adoptive parents, one of whom stays home raising the child. Selfish and self-centered is when the adult puts his personal desires first, and the childs interests second, or worse.

An adoptive mother and father will be able to provide a more nurturing environment for a child than a solitary mother. Adoption places the interest of the child ahead of the unwed womans personal desires. Giving up a baby for adoption to provide the best home and nurturing environment for the child and is an honorable course of action. The woman in this case got herself knocked up, then chose to bring the baby up with no father. There is no honor in what she did. She has placed her personal feelings and desires above the well-being of the child. That is selfish and self-centered.

There may be something on a web site called that goes by that name. Maybe it lists some of the resources one learns about in the real training. But BSA "New Leader Essentials" training is a 90 minute live presentation in a classroom setting. It is not available on the web.

A child needs BOTH a mother and a father. A child is not a womans possession. Having a child is not a womans personal biological right. Having a child is taking on a huge responsibility to the child. It is selfish for a woman to get pregnant because she simply wants to have a baby, or to feel whole, or to satisfy her personal wants. Having a baby is a responsibility to bring the child to adulthood in the best manner possible. Intentionally attempting to do so without a father causes a whole slew of difficulties throughout the childs life. There should be no stigma for a rape victim to give up the child for adoption. Biology does not a parent make. The parents are the ones that love, nourish, train, and raise a child. A DNA connection doesnt have anything to do with this. Unless a rape victim can provide a father for the child too, the honorable thing to do is to give up the baby for adoption. Things happen to break up families sometimes, including the father being killed in war. The mother carries on. That is not the same thing as starting a babys life from the start with no father. Its not the best way to raise a child. It matters not to the baby whether its conception resulted from a woman choosing to get herself pregnant without a father, an accidental pregnancy where the male has no intention of sticking around, or from an act of rape. The end result is the same: a child with no father. The honorable thing to do is give the child a chance to grow up in a loving family with a mother AND a father. Satisfying ones personal desires at the expense of the child has no honor. There is much honor in giving up a child for adoption to provide the child the opportunity for the best family environment.

"Scenario two (and this is the one we would disagree about), she made a conscious decision to have a child (possibly involving artifical insemination) that she is physically, emotionally, financially, and in all other ways, able to support." It is selfish, self-centered, and morally reprehensible to intentionally bring a child into the world with no father. AND ... the right thing to do for a baby conceived and born against a woman's choice is to give it up for adoption to a family with BOTH a mother and a father. There is no honor in raising a child with only one parent.

I dont know about fire and smoke. A troop with strong uniforming doesnt imply strong implementation of the rest of the program. And when a unit decides to depart from the uniform part of the program, who really believes that is the only departure?

"Weaker uniforming" is a direct result of the adult leaders, primarily the Scoutmaster, making a choice to weakly implement that part of the Scouting program. It seems safe to say then that there is a good chance the same Scoutmaster might have other personal opinions about Scouting that result in weakly implementing other parts of the Scouting program.

Lucy, pass on all this good logistics info to the troop committee outings and activities coordinator and remind him to attach receipts to his expense report when he submits it to you (the treasurer) for reimbursement.

Pay cents per mile; it costs more to run a car than to fill the gas tank. 30 cents per sounds good.

I don't know what a "disconnect" is but it doesn't sound very complimentary to BSA. Wearing the uniform supports the uniform method. So what if it's not "required". That doesn't invalidate the uniform method. Merit badges and rank advancements support the advancement method. But no boy is "required" to earn a badge or to advance. A Scouts' Own service supports the aims of Scouting, but its not required. Summer camp supports the Outdoor method, but its not required. So does that mean Scouting is all disconnected? Yeah, there probably are troops that minimalize or trivialize the uniform and the uniform method. So be it. Troops do lots of stuff that's not Scouting. It's not "local option", though it may be local practice.

If you want Scouts to wear the Scout uniform, the troop leadership must set the example and wear it first. The Scoutmaster must wear the uniform, as well as assistant Scoutmasters, senior patrol leader, and patrol leaders. They must wear the complete uniform all the time, every time. If the leaders wear it on a hit or miss basis, or skips parts like hat, neckerchief, belt, socks, or pants, so too will the boys. If the Scoutmaster is making excuses (you mentioned three) thats a pretty good indication his uniform philosophy has already been adopted by the boys.

Yeah, a patch is not a flag, its a patch. You may as well salute to an imaginary flag at the front of the room. I've been called upon a number of times at our district committee meetings to serve as the "flag", which I find highly annoying. Last time, I pulled a letter out of my back pocket that had a flag stamp on it and asked the committee chairman to hold that up in front of the group, because I wanted to be able to salute too. He didn't think much of that idea, but now we either have a real flag, or we skip the pledge.

My experience has been that boys plan activities they are familiar with or know something about. If they know nothing about backpacking, or dutch ovens, or open fire camping, or, they wont think to add them into the plan. There is nothing wrong with the SM suggesting and supporting activities outside the limited experiences of the boys. Ill bet the boys didnt think up an orienteering crime solving event, yet you say it is a huge hit. Advancement being one of the methods of Scouting, the SM can look at the ideas presented by the boys, and make suggestions to them that will include opportunities for advancement. Not to mean, OK boys, all campouts must include advancement check offs, but rather, Hey guys, I know a cool way to make biscuits on a stick and if you include open fire cooking in the campout Ill show you how to do it. At the end of the campout, guess what? Some advancement requirements have been met, without making that the goal. More important, the boys experiences have been broadened.

Some characteristics of a successful Scoutmaster: Commitment to the ideals of Scouting High moral standards Ability to relate to boys Ability to keep a cool head under pressure Good organization skills Ability to relate to and interact with adults Flexibility and the ability to compromise Good planning ability High energy level Good attention to detail

If you want the chartered organization to take an interest in THEIR pack (not your pack), then first take an interest in the CO. What has the pack done lately for the CO? Have any pack leaders attended any CO meetings or events?

The number one duty of the troop committee chairman is to organize the committee to see that all functions are delegated, coordinated, and completed. (Ref Troop Committee Guidebook). That does not mean for the CC to do those functions himself. Any successful manager in any organization knows you cannot be effective by doing everything yourself. The stories youve related prove that. If the CC is having trouble selecting, recruiting, and motivating committee members, there are BSA resources to help with that. If the CC refuses to perform his most important function, well, the troop has a big problem. The Unit Budget Plan #28-426 is a guide and worksheet the troop treasurer can use to help plan income and spending. Its available for no charge at the Scout office.

The easiest place to read about rank requirements is the Boy Scout Handbook, which on page 449 says Merit badges earned anytime since becoming a Boy Scout may be used to meet this requirement. As was pointed out, to earn a palm, the book also tells the boy 3 months must elapse from the time the Eagle rank or the last palm was earned. USScouts.org is usually more accurate than many internet sources simply because they copy direct from BSA publications and limit the amount of unofficial commentary and opinion. Some of their pages are out of date however. The Boy Scout Requirements book #33215 is the most up-to-date source there is for all rank and merit badge requirements. Its published in January every year. About $3 at the Scout Shop.