nattyB

Thank You all for your input. Although I can see all sides of the issue, my real concern is that, over the years, the Scouting program has shifted more towards "keeping the boys' interest" (read that "entertained"....) than teaching the boys to Live the Law, through participation in Troop activities. If that is done correctly (not a small task) it should be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the boys grow and mature and begin to take more enjoyment in the accomplishments of the program, as opposed to "what have you got for me to do next?" Yes, I understand that you need to keep the boys' focus before you can teach them the higher principles, but shouldnt one gradually replace the other to some degree, and isnt the OA on the higher end of that scale. My point is that I believe the entire foundation of Scouting is Troop strength. it doesnt matter how fancy you keep building a house, if you keep taking bricks out of the foundation, the house will eventually fall. It seems that Counsels and "Professional Scouting" is so focused on adding the bells and whistles to the scouting program these days, thay they have forgotten to keep the foundation in good repair. With so many distractions competing for the boys' focus, doesnt it make more sense to have a more effective Basic program (ie: the Scout Oath), than to have a Disneyland type program with more participants but fewer "True Scouts". I truly believe that the Scout Oath is one of the most compelling group of words ever written. I fear that today's focus on "program" spends so much energy on "quantity", that it doesnt have the required energy left to maintain "quality". Just some thought from an old woods rat. Keep the faith.

Hi all, I would like some opinions on the following statement regarding OA loyalties: I believe that a Scout or Scouters' first loyalty is always the Troop that he is registered to and that he has a responsibility to maintain active contact and participation in that Troop after he is elected into OA and starts to shift his focus more towards the OA program. I bring this up because it seems as if Scouts become active in OA and then think they are "too old" for the Troop activities or above them somehow. An OA member must be chartered through an active Troop, so doesn't that Troop have the right to expect the charted OA member to be active in the Troop also. A short way of saying this is that OA should not be a "replacement" for Troop participation. Thoughts?.....