MattR

Welcome to the forum, @xinaDeRockie. The only scout ranch that I know of called Medicine Mountain is in South Dakota by Mt Rushmore.

This has absolutely nothing to do with scouting. Why was this posted under program?

I suspect the increased attention has more to do with a good night's sleep and a 10am meeting then chromosomes. Our girls troop is just as distracted as the boys troop. Anyway, I'd certainly like to have meetings on weekends but one issue with planning activities nearly every weekend is, well, that's a huge time commitment. How do scouts with other activities deal with it? How do parents with spouses juggle that?

So you have meetings on weekends? Or after school?

As @RememberSchiff says, talk to @Cambridgeskip as he's an adult in a UK troop.

Back when we had 70 scouts we had a big water buffalo that we mounted to a flatbed trailer. I think it was at least 100 gallons. We have to bring all of our water to most campouts. It's a lot more efficient for us to bring a bunch of 7 gal. water jugs (The scouts bring a full water bottle) than have each scout bring 2 gallons. The water is being brought to camp either way. If it’s a long term camp they have water and we just bring the empty jugs. If we're backpacking then scouts bring 2 or 3 quart sized bottles or a waterbag like a camelback.

@Cburkhardt, I'm trying to understand your overall comments. I see the need for some form of exoneration if there has been a formal accusation of abuse. I'm assuming that in this case it's all just Mr P implying it might have happened and the council just dropped it with no written record. Are you saying a) there would always be a written record or b) it doesn't matter, just an implied accusation should be followed up with a formal exoneration?

How about replacing all of those with the only one that a scout can actually do - Citizenship in the Patrol? Elect a new PL. Solve a problem. Decide on something fun to do. Do it. Talk about how it went. Really easy if the patrol is run well and a tool to use when it's not. Why are nearly a quarter of all the MBs needed not supporting the fundamentals of learning by doing? You can't do Citizenship in the World. No matter how noble it is to understand this subject it's a square peg in a round hole. Scouting is supposed to be a microcosm of the real world where a scout can learn and take skills to the bigger world outside of scouting.

Welcome to the forum, @TheGreenWizard. To answer your question, first, we've beat this horse to death elsewhere. Next, I've decided that advancement is not anything I care about anymore. It is the source of nearly all the problems I've seen on this forum. The scouts, when put in such a predicament, just suck it up and treat the offending requirement as a hoop they have to jump through. It's all just a game for them so I've decided to learn from the masters. I'd rather make a game that reinforces a skill. That, the scouts will play and enjoy.

I merged the 3 threads into 1 and kept the last title as everyone has seen it most recently.

I'm not going to switch between threads to check this (is it okay if I combine these threads?), but this case sounds more like a parent just being an ass - insinuated abuse but not reported to anyone that has a record of it? I'd find out who has what record before hiring a lawyer. That all said, Mr P sounds like one of those rare parents that SMs have to deal with. If he's only listed as an ASM then I'd let him know his services are no longer required and that if he does show up the police will be called. I say that because I had to do that once. While I agree with @Eagledadthat talking through problems is normally the right way to go, you only have so much time and adults that insinuate abuse as a power play are just taking up your time that could be better spent with scouts. @RainShine, my impression is you're still wound up about this and rightfully so. And yet, your committee went to bat for you. I believe your council did as well. That says a lot. Nobody becomes SM to put up with this sort of thing and hopefully this is the last time you have to deal with a parent like this. Your troop appreciates what you do. The scouts look up to you. Focus on that while you clean up this mess.

Let me guess. The recharter paperwork came back and you're no longer the SM? Either way, having a good relationship with the CO is a really important goal of unit leadership. That's what prevents surprises, at least the kind that come in two parts. I wish you the best.

I was talking to our commissioner and he said it was a good thing the bankruptcy was over. I said no, it wasn't. He was surprised and that someone told him it was over. I told him the BSA was still paying lawyers and the judge hadn't finalized it yet. So, basically this is the new normal. We're more on our own than before. It's more important than before that we put on a good program.

My troop hiked up Mount Washington when I was a young scout. I wonder if this is the same one. There was a weather station on top that could handle 100 mph winds.

Really? I got a 10% reduction in pay even though I also got promoted. I'm just glad to have a job.

One rule about signing off on rather subjective requirements is that there should be no surprises. I.e., it should be very clear to the scouts what's expected. You're new so you're learning. Take it as a lesson for next time but sign off on this scout. Set expectations for everyone going forward, including this scout. Speaking of which, what are the expectations of the spl and does this scout really know them? Even well meaning but sorta lazy teenagers require a lot of interaction with the SM to teach, coach and get them comfortable doing their por.

I stopped the mix and mash approach and did exactly as you suggest, @curious_scouter. The small patrols enjoyed it because it's a lot easier to cook and clean for 2 or 3 than 8. I said it's their choice. Nobody ever wanted to camp as a single person patrol, 2 worked if they were good friends, 3 or 4 was always a good experience. I should add it was more of a struggle to get the adults to agree with this. Now that I'm no longer SM, some old adult-think has crept back in. Mix and match patrols, "advancement" meetings. In some other thread someone brought up the best check on a plan: will it be fun? Can it be fun? If not, how do we change it? I was more interested in coaching fun than whatever it is that most adults fixate on. And I have no idea why that was such a struggle.

We got 5lb propane tanks for the patrols. The 1lb tanks have problems in cold weather. Unfortunately, the bigger tanks have their own issues.

I'm trying to imagine a youth baseball team run like a scout troop with ranks and BORs. "You can't retest a player's plate sliding skill at a BOR. You can talk to them about how they learned the skill or how they taught the skill but you can't test the skill." That would never happen. I read these discussions, and I've participated in them before, but now it just says to me that there's something wrong. The test for a sports player is on the field. The test for a 4H participant is in their garage or barn. The test for the orchestra is on the stage. The adults aren't needed for the test. The real skills used in scouts has very little to do with ranks and advancement. Advancement is just a way to motivate scouts to play the game, where they'll learn teamwork, the scout law and the outdoors. To me, that's the problem with the BSA's version of scouting. The motivation is one step removed from the game. The game should be the only motivation. Rather than have long complicated documents about how advancement should be run I'd much rather see help on how to motivate scouts to just play the game.

Welcome to the forum, @feistyscoutmom . Why? Quit what? Do you have a leadership position? Will your son have to go as well? A CC that uses a child as leverage to remove an adult is a mess. Clearly, you and the CC don't get along. But let's face it, you picked the name @feistyscoutmom. Is it possible that you're both a bit feisty? Scouts is a volunteer organization of loosely affiliated organizations. There are units that belong to chartered orgs. There are councils that don't really like getting involved in people problems in units. Technically, your pack belongs to the chartered org so they might be a start of where to find someone that wants to get involved, if they're at all interested in getting involved in this. Technically, the CC is the one that's responsible for filling leadership positions in the pack. That said, scouters in a unit is really a group of people that just need to get along with each other. So the question to ask is how do a group of volunteers solve their people problems? My suggestion is get some third party involved or just walk away. This battle isn't worth it because I suspect nobody will win.

Just to be clear, accidental death, sometimes called involuntary manslaughter, is still a crime. In the military it can lead to dishonorable discharge and/or jail. An example I found of involuntary manslaughter is pointing a pistol in jest at someone and pulling the trigger, believing it wasn't loaded but not taking reasonable precautions. A 12 year old scout is not allowed to fire a semiautomatic weapon. It should never have been there, much less loaded. Sounds to me like "reasonable precautions" were likely not taken. So, whether or not it was an accident only changes the sentencing. But, more to the point. If the BSA's response is "it was an accident, so sad, thoughts and prayers" (and I really doubt it will be) then I wouldn't want my kid in scouts. I remember as a scout the grumpy old RSO that would throw you off the range if you so much as looked at a gun without respect. That likely helped me save someone's life years later when someone did start waving a gun around at a party and I told him to put it down. He explained that it wasn't loaded and proceeded to show me ... the bullet in the chamber. That's what I wanted for my kids to learn. Calling it an accident doesn't sound like what I learned as a scout.

I think you're asking about how to motivate someone. Given that this is the challenge of civilization don't be surprised that it's not simple. Some people will respond to simply recognizing that they're not doing a good job and all you need to do is point that out. Some people don't know what to do and need help figuring out a plan. Some people need constant correction. Some people only respond to pain, or negative consequences. Some people respond to a combination of the above. Some people just don't want to be there and nothing you do will change their minds. Everyone is different. There's no science to this. For a lot of scouts I had to start with some pain ("you will not get eagle unless you start behaving like one") followed by "I want you to be successful, let's come up with a plan." That's what I mean by tough love. I suspect the SM has never run into this problem before. It's hard to deal with these types of problems. One thing you'll learn is to recognize these problems earlier on but it's still not fun confronting scouts, not to mention the extra time you need to spend on this. My suggestion is first get on the same page with the SM. If she'll take care of it, bonus!

Welcome to the forum, @HistTeach . And welcome to scouting. One quick note, the adult that stands up in front of a cubscout pack is called the Cubmaster. When you get to a scout troop you can become a scoutmaster. As for your trailer, keep looking. Also, ask at your local DMV. There may be a way to legally claim ownership. Technically, the chartered org would own the trailer. If they would rather not, like most units, usually some adult claims ownership and just transfers ownership to someone else with younger scouts.

Do the trek with friends. That will be memorable.

Yep, they get the credit for time served and you get a lesson on confronting a problem in a positive way - i.e. making lemonade from lemons. My guess is that your spl needs a bit of tough love along with some guidance. I've had scouts that were also cruising, were told this is not what an eagle scout does and if they don't change their ways, won't get eagle. Okay, that was more than a bit of tough love, but it was all I could think of to get their attention. Every time I had this conversation, except once, the scout took it to heart and really improved. They usually thanked me at their COH. I stretched the rules and if you can figure out how to get their attention without doing that I'll applaud you. It's not easy confronting scouts but it can lead to a lot of growth. Doing one's best usually involves challenging oneself.