klsdr

I think teh opposite of what one said. The public school IS a charitable organization, even though it is the governmentr adn the private school may or may not be a charitable organization. Association with a church does not exclude it from being for-profit.

The problem is finding an organization that will accept soemone younger than 18. Any ideas? Ken

Boy, do you guys let loose! Thanks for the ideas! Ken

Please share your good ideas for displaying our boys' past advancement patches and pins. thanks

I'll bet some of that two sided adhesive tape used for putting down patches of carpet would work well, may even stay on through the wash.

While I appreciate all your concern and information about how our chartering organization runs its scouting program, that is not the point of my topic, so I would rather not continue to comment on the why's that have brought our organization to this point. Suffice it to know that the BSA knows the organizaiton well and is aware of how it is organized to utilize scouting to benefit the young men in th eorganization. As far as restricting them is concerned, I think this is putting words in my mouth, as what I tried to describe was a slower transition to working with the older boys, not "restricting" them. They spend time with them, just not all the time. As I said, I am a social worker and I have very credible reasons for the guidelines I follow when it comes to children and overnighting before they are 12 WITHOUT THE FAMILY. I am sorry if you think this is treating them as momma's boys and hope that you will look into understanding why this can have a better developmental effect on children then letting them go earlier, but it will need to be on your time, not mine. I am sorry I do not have time to help you understand better why our organization does things the say it does. thanks again for all the input on what is considered a troop or patrol activity.

The requirement refers to patrol OR troop activities other than meetings, so why wouldn't a Court of honor be considered an activity, expecially an Eagle court? As far as the camping limitation, it is a little more complicated than you all might understand. It has to do with two facts, I believe. You should understand that BSA plays the role of the activity arm of many churches, but within a church, there may be auxilaries or programs (priesthood, for example) that do not directly coincide with the BSA ages of involvement. So, the new scout patrol is administered by one auxillary and the rest of the scouts (varsity, ventureers and scouts) are administered under a different auxillary. The two group are considered by the church to not be related enough to do all the same activities. In other words, they have drawn a line that 11 year old boys (new scout patrol) should not be involved in doing all the activities as the 16 year olds, which I tend to agree with. However they are flexible enough to help them meet the requirements and program of BSA, which includes camping two or three times through First Class. So there policy is to allow two or three campouts during this age with their father or mother and without the other patrols. I know this does not give them the opportunity to associate and learn with the older scouts, but there are disadvantages to having them with older boys too soon as well, which I agree with. So I have no problem with the idea that they limit there camping during this first year. There are other activities they can do that do not require the boys to spend the night away from home, which I as a father of 6 and a mental health therapist working with children and families advocate. I do not believe it is important or appropriate to have boys or girls spending nights away from home and family much before the age of 12. I am willing to explain this more, but we are getting way off topic and this is probably more information than you wanted anyway. thanks for your input. (This message has been edited by klsdr)

Just wanting others' interpretations of what is considered a troop or patrol activity. Our new scout patrol does not go camping more than two or three times while they are 11 years old (church policy) and they do some of there hiking during the time of their patrol meetings. Some argue that the hike will not count, as it is the patrol meeting, but I wonder if a hike would really be considered a patrol "meeting." It seems that a hike is a patrol activity and not letting a boy count it as a patrol activity because it was on Wednesday evening instead of Saturday is a bit picky. I also consider the courts of honor to be patrol activities. I don't want to justify a patrol that is not as active as I wish it were, but I want to give them credit where credit is due, as well. I welcome your input. Ken