iaeagle

AMEN BOBWHITE!!! Granted if you are providing the full program your unit should be growing! You should be proud of this. Your Scouts should be proud of this. Hopefully your Scouts are already talking to other kids to join. OR Are you one of these units that just survive on the local Cub Scout Pack and do no active recruiting yourself??? Many of these units, I have found, do nothing to help these packs out - they just stick out their hands in the spring and ask for more scouts. All the BSA is asking of a soon to be FIRST CLASS SCOUT is to do something, according to many of you it sounds, they are already doing- so whats the big deal?? If you are not asking your Scouts to go out and recruit their friends, you are not fulfilling your duties as a SM or Scout Leader. Scouting is preparing these young men to be ACTIVE citizens in their communities and organizations they belong in. I currently belong to 2 other civic organizations - we discuss membership a least once a month - who is new to town, who in town is not a member but should be, etc. - how is asking Scout to ask a boy to join Scouting any different???

In regards to the orginal idea behind these postings: The BSA offers its program to other organizations: Relgious, Community minded organizations, social and faternal organizations, etc. as a means to help the youth in their community. One of the largest areas of CO's are Relgious organizations. If the BSA were to allow atheists, or gays into Scouting as leaders, these organizations would pull their charter - thus providing no program for the youth in our communities. Without the support of the CO's there would be no Scouting. Recruiting vs. Retention I agree with the posting that Recruting numbers are remaing fairly constant or growing - especially at the Cub Scout level which obviously feeds the Boy Scout and Venturing Programs (the national Commissioner recently sent out a letter to all Councils expressing the importance of building stroger Packs as about 90% of all Boy Scouts come from Cub Scout Packs). I believe this because I was recently helping at a Cub Scout Roundup where a small town pack which typically recruits 5-12 boys a year, recruited 39 boys that night. These boys join Scouting to have fun - the program, if ran as close to the "book" as possible will keep these boys in it. If not we will never see these boys again or their friends. The "hole" with membership is Retention. Without a properly ran program at all levels the boys will leave. This loss is seen at rechater times, Tiger Cub to Cub Scout Transistion, and Webelos to BS transistion. Without the "BEST PROGRAM" in town, we wont keep the boys. The program is the responsibility of the local leaders and CO's. It is only at this level that Scouting happens, not what some office in TX says.

Thank you to all - great ideas. In response to the reregistering question - Once you are registered with the council you are registered - period. At the recharter time, it should be the Adv. Committees job to ensure everyone is up to date. Not an easy task I am sure - but fairly easy since MB Counselors are not required to pay the registraion fee. They should be approved by the District Adv. committee, the DE, and then the Council Adv. committee - if following the proper chain of command, however, I know our Council basicly rubber stamps any application unless something pops up during the background check. In regards to the shared MB list with other troops, has anyone ever tried holding a RT meeting dedicated to just making a prospect list of both registered Scouters and members of the community (ie. the local art teacher for potery MB - lame example I know)? If you have- has it worked? I see this as a much more manageable way to build the list - that way it isnt up to one person. Much the same way my district does a "Manpower Conference" at a Dist. Committee Meeting. This could at least be used as an "unofficial" MB list. That way if you have a Scout(s) interested in a particular badge, the SM, CC or Dist. Adv. Comm. Member can approach the person, ask, get the app. and get it done. What do you think???

My response is a question - In the orginal post, SCOUTLDR mentioned something about the individual unit being able to conduct a Eagle BOR. Is this true, I have never heard of it. Any paperwork evidence to support this?

In reading through a number of different posts, in all areas, I am seeing a concerning theme - members of the unit doing the MB Counseling. I ask you, are you looking to individuals outside of the unit (experts in the field) to do the counseling for MB's? I am not saying you are not the expert in the field for a few, but when a leader says he is qulified to teach more then 3-5 MB's, I would question if they were providing the entire program to the boys and holding them accountable for the entire MB. I know there are some units who are very good at building a resourse of "experts" outside of their typical unit leadership. This spurs my next question - I am currently in a Council, where pretty much every MB counselor is only registered to counsel the youth of a particular unit. Are there any suggestions for correcting this? We have tried multipule times at the district level to have a MB Counselor Coord. positon who was to gather the information from the unit leaders and compile them into a booklet, but this has failed and left many Scouters dissatified with Scouting and the reluctance of Scouters to share their knowledge and resources. Any ideas are welcome.

No person may add, change or alter the requirements of a Rank advancement (including what positions fulfill leadership roles) or MB. The BSA has put in place certain time restraints to particular ranks and merit badges. These are found in MB's such as Personal Mgmt., and all ranks above 1st class. As an Eagle Scout, I shudder at the thought of the 13-14-15 year old Eagle Scout. I shudder more at the thought of an Eagle Scout who earns his Eagle at 16-17-18 years of age and is later seen on the TV or in the paper for obvious "unscoutlike activity". As a leader, we have no right to "hold back" the progression of a Scout; you are only hurting the boy and his excitement for learning and advancing in Scouting. Many Scouts latch on to Scouting because it is one of few areas that they exceed. It should be every SM and ASM goal that every Scout earn the 1st Class rank in the 1st Year (this wont happen if you dont go to a BSA Long Term Camp.) I find it hard to believe that a 6th - 8th grade boy is advancing at too fast a pace because he wants to be an eagle at age 16. There is likely a parent behind the scenes who is pushing, and in extreme cases signing the book (or blue cards) to force thier son to attain the honor of eagle at an early age. The way to combat this (this is my opinion) is with the SM Conf. - talk with the scout, find out what he wants to do in Scouting, what his goals are, etc. dont just talk about the requirements for the rank. (and remember a SM conference can be done at any time NOT just before the BOR. Also, talk with the parents, find out what goals they have for their son. Inform them of the purpose of the Scouting program, its aims and values. (This message has been edited by iaeagle)