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FScouter

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Everything posted by FScouter

  1. It takes several adults to cover all the adult responsibilities in a troop. The Scoutmaster's primary role is to train boy leaders. He and his assistant Scoutmasters work with the boys. If the SM starts doing tour permits, buying rank advancements, and taking over popcorn sales, he can't be doing his best work in working with the boys. The committee primarily handles support functions and does not work with the boys except as defined for the particular job description. For example, the committee treasurer works with the troop scribe. If committee members are spending their one hour a week doing the jobs of the SM and assistants, are the support functions being adequately covered? There is no prohibition about committee members attending campouts. My feeling though is that if they want to function as an assistant Scoutmaster, they ought to register that way and turn over the committee duties to someone else. It is the responsibility of the SM to sign rank requirements. He may authorize his assistant Scoutmasters to sign, committee members too if that is his desire. He may also authorize specific boys to sign specific requirements. No person has any authority to sign unless authorized by the SM. This stuff is all covered in the Scoutmaster Handbook and the Troop Committee Guidebook.
  2. "... but it seems to me that if the father is unavailable, then the boy can't go on the outing." Maybe the boy should sue his father instead of BSA.
  3. The new pants come in mens sizes waist 28 - 50" and lengths 30 - 34". Plus 12 womens sizes and 5 boy sizes.
  4. I'm not so sure it is the troop that is in trouble. It is the parents that did not read the handbook, prior to accusing the troop, and BSA of not following it.
  5. I'll be buying my first pair of the new style tomorrow. It matters little what the quoted measurements are; frankly all manufacturers have their own size specs. More to the point is how do the pants I'm buying actually fit my personal carcass?? Try them on first!
  6. Venividi is on the right track. Take the time you would use cleaning your house and spend it on selecting a committee equipment coordinator. The Scoutmaster has other duties that don't include managing troop equipment! Simplify your life and build the troop at the same time.
  7. Please direct responses to the "Advancement Tracking" thread.
  8. There are several tasks each patrol must complete before leaving for an event. A menu must be planned, patrol equipment gathered, and duties assigned. Each boy must pack his personal clothes, water bottle, and other equipment. Fees and consent forms must be collected. It is the responsibility of the patrol leader and his appointed assistants to ensure that all tasks are completed. The SPL, outings coordinator, and myself (SM) have our checklists so we know everything is being completed. We are there to guide and assist. There is no part of the event preparation that gets completely turned over to an adult to handle. Blank consent forms are prepared by an adult, given to the SPL, who gives them to the patrol leaders, to distribute to the individual boys. The boy is responsible to get the form signed, and to turn it in to his PL. This method is not efficient. Boys forget, make mistakes, and can be agonizingly slow to complete the necessary tasks. The boys learn by doing, and by doing they are moving from dependence on adults to independence. Their personal growth from performing the necessary tasks, however inefficiently they are completed, is part of the aims of Scouting.
  9. Troopmaster has the ability to share the database with other leaders. The administrator can limit the degree of access for each user. Sensitive fields can be hidden.
  10. "... they want to talk to him and let him know he needs to protect himself from sex abuse charges by watching what he says. They are going to suggest that he take basic Scout Leader training before he is allowed on any future outings." Idle comments do not generate "sex abuse charges". Sex abuse generates sex abuse charges. Adult leaders should take the YPT training. Adult leaders should take leader specific training. Parent volunteers don't need training unless they are going to serve as leaders. The SM and/or the CC should talk to the parent volunteer, not so much about what he said, but that behavior by a boy yanking another's pants is totally unacceptable. It is the boy that needs the talking to more than the parent volunteer. Really, this sounds more like the committee members are the ones that need the training.
  11. It would be the committee chairman and COR that ensure BSA policies are followed and the program is being used properly. The unit commissioner is there to help answer questions and point to resources.
  12. Im going to disagree. The only thing positive thing that has happened here is that the adult leaders have recognized the troop does not wear the uniform. What is counter-productive is making up a rule requiring all-the-same pants from the Walmart. This is a lazy approach to a solution. Walmart pants does not a uniform make. The rule is already written on pages 12 and 13 of the Boy Scout Handbook. When adults ignore the program they have sworn to uphold, what lesson does that teach boys? They learn that it is acceptable to use part of the book and ignore other parts. They learn that rules and practices of an organization may be ignored if we invent an excuse or reason that makes us feel good. What other parts of the program are the adults ignoring or short-cutting to make their lives easier? There are a hundred ways to lower to the barriers to correct uniforming; money-earning event, uniform closet, etc, etc. etc. Dont be fooled. All-the-same Walmart clothing may be uniform, but all-the-same Walmart clothing is not the BSA uniform.
  13. If boys are wearing dirty blue jeans or red basketball trunks to meetings, I'd say the adult leadership has failed to successfully implement the uniform method. This is an adult problem, not a boy problem. Writing a "rule" requiring identical street clothes isn't going to fix the problem.
  14. The Scout uniform is defined by BSA, not by a PLC, a troop, adult leaders, or by a chartered org. Kick up a fuss whenever the adult leaders make up rules and policies that have no BSA support. How hard they work is not relevant if what they work at is not Scouting. Kicking up a fuss in support of Scouting is always the right thing to do.
  15. Boys work together as a patrol. Adults are not members of a boy patrol.
  16. The reason you get conflicting answers is because everybody has conflicting personal opinions. The answer however may be found in the Cub Scout Leader Book. In a nutshell, the committee consists of the committee chairman, secretary, treasurer, advancement chair, P/R chair, outings chair, membership chair and FOS chair. The Cubmaster is not a member of the committee, though he works close with the committee. Den Leaders are not members of the committee either. The reason the Cubmaster is not a member of the committee is because he has plenty of work to be Cubmaster without taking on other people's jobs too. Committee jobs are delegated by the committee chair.
  17. Calico - you have a good understanding of the BSA merit badge program. We need more like you.
  18. Units don't move. Individuals may transfer their membership to another unit, but that is all. THe charter for a pack is with the chartered organization. The CO owns the unit number, the unit flag, the unit equipment, and the unit money. Members of a unit own nothing but their registration. The CO may choose to give the property to the new CO, or not. In this case why would the CO want to give away the property when the intention was to keep the pack going with new membership? The charter agreement makes it clear that the agreement is between BSA and the CO. There is no agreement with leaders, which by the way are selected/approved by the CO. Put the burden of proof on the leaders and CO of the new pack to show where it is written they can take the property of another CO's pack.
  19. If a counselor is going to run the boy through the previously signed requirements, what's the point of giving the boy a partial in the first place if it doesn't mean anything?
  20. Don't be fooled. There are shirts and neckerchiefs and such, but there is no such thing as a "waist up uniform".
  21. It is great to encourage boys to complete a MB in time for the fall court of honor. It is completely different to dictate to a boy that if he has not completed the MB by the fall COH that all prior work is void. Maybe a "tighter deadline" is better, maybe not. But deadlines imposed by unit adults (or PLC's) is not the BSA program. And our organization does not give us the leeway to cast off the parts of the program we don't agree with.
  22. Does anyone really believe that boys read up on the adult bylaws and mark their calendars to see when the arbitrary 1 year limit is up? This limit thing is really more of an adult demonstration of power to say NO. If a counselor refuses to recognize the completed requirements signed off by a previous counselor, that says more to the counselors distrust of other counselors than anything else. Im not sure that Joe Counselor ought to appoint himself to the position of judging the determinations of other counselors. Do we permit an Eagle board of review to review who signed off merit badges to determine whether they were properly completed? If counselors are improperly signing requirements, better to remove the counselor that invalidate all the merit badges they sign.
  23. FScouter

    WHY???

    A few years back I was handed the pack's by-laws Writing stuff in bylaws does not make it so. The uniform is defined and controlled by BSA. Nobody and no unit is permitted to fiddle with it. Wear it or not, but please dont tolerate bylaws written to justify what is not permitted.
  24. There likely are some troops that make up policies such as this. BSA makes it clear there is no limitation, but still ... Perhaps troops could make up a policy that the committee advancement person and/or the Scoutmaster shall encourage boys to finish up partially completed merit badges?
  25. "It sounds more like these are "suggested guideline" rather than outright prohibitions." That would seem to be right in line with our mission: prepare young people to make ethical and moral CHOICES by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
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