BartHumphries

I think the adult awards/knots represent the "minimum" that the adults in a Scouting program should be doing. Anyway, it was good to be reminded that people can be registered as merit badge counselors, although I'd like to hear more about registering as a BSA alumni (like how to do it). Also, what is this Scouter Reserve thing?

I'm an adult scouter -- the eagle knot has been on my uniform shirt that I wear to our weekly meetings for a long time. I'm attending an ECoH this Wednesday evening -- if I don't want to unpick the knot and sew it back on again later (and I don't have a spare shirt that doesn't have the knot), then I shouldn't wear the medal over the knot?

I thought there were only French, Spanish, Italian, and Sign Language strips available, but apparently there are a number of other languages. The exhaustive list seems to be Hebrew, Mandarin (simplified and traditional), French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Cantonese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Greek. What sort of process would I have to go through to get a new language strip created, like Norwegian? Can you just special order it or is there some long process that I'd have to step through?

It seems like this conversation has drifted from the OP several pages ago. Let me ask a more topical question. It seems like this knot requires that at least eight alumni be contacted (part 2, Alumni Engagement, which states that "the same alumni may not be used to complete more than one requirement in this section). 2 unregistered alumni who attend a district/council/community/regional/national activity (any Scouting activity, basically). 2 alumni who register (as adult scouters?) 2 unregistered alumni who are personally solicited for a "Friends of Scouting" donation 2 unregistered alumni who volunteer at a district/council/community/regional/national activity (any Scouting activity, basically) The 4 people who attend any Scout activity have to complete Youth Protection training as well, don't they? The Scouter application, http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/524-501.pdf doesn't seem to have a "alumni who hangs around to help with the troop" "unit position code". It seems like they should be registered either as Assistant Scoutmaster (SA for some reason, instead of AS) or as a Committee Member (which, since we have enough Committee members would seem to necessitate that they be registered as Assistant Scoutmasters, would seem to indicate a higher level of commitment). Sure, if they were the parent of a boy then they could be marked down as ScoutParent (PS), but what about those alumni who we're trying to reactivate who are former Scoutmasters and are not currently the parent of any boy still in the troop? Do they basically have to be Assistant Scoutmasters now if we have enough Committee members? And, if one requirement is to have two unregistered alumni volunteer at an activity, and if those two aren't the parent of a boy still in the troop and are required to register (and get a background check) before volunteering, how can that last requirement be met (or is it enough that they were initially unregistered before they were contacted as becoming an alumni member)?

I don't see how that would violate the first Amendment. You're probably looking at the, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." part, right? Well, 1) This isn't Congress. 2) No mention is made regarding any establishment of (established, or organized) religion. In fact, you don't even need to belong to a religious establishment, you just have to be religious. 3) No prohibition is established no any free exercise of religion. Every religion believes in at least one "God", whatever that God is to a religious person. Boy Scouts doesn't define it. I don't see how a Boy Scout troop that was chartered by a city could possibly violate the First Amendment. Now, talking about the right "to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances." Given that normal citizens may not sue the Federal Government (only States may sue the Federal Government as an entity), I think the First Amendment has had a part of it broken already, but that's another quarrel.

Sounds pretty clear. You have no authority to push an agenda or otherwise make council-wide decisions, you're the smiling guy who gets to tell everyone how amazing the camp will be (and share any concerns they might have with the council). That sounds like fun.

"There is no longer any mention about Varsity or Venturing." Actually, the new handbook specifically references the 1997 LDS Scouting handbook (all 5 pages of it), which still does mention Varsity scouting. It looks like the church decided that the compound phrase troop/crew was just too cumbersome. The new handbook really doesn't go into much detail on Scouting, other than to restate what was already out and to give local units even more autonomy.

"What I would like to see adopted as a uniform item is the TrekTek TruNorth Waterproof Breathable Jacket that scoutstuff now offers." The problem is that it wouldn't be waterproof anymore after people start sewing patches on it -- especially a big patch on the upper back. You need something thick, that can sort of felt together and almost "close" those needle holes -- something like wool. Otherwise, you put your poncho on and suddenly have occasional squirts of cold water running down your back.

Ask your boys to take charge of it then dump it in their laps. Will all the patrols change now? If so, who decides which boys go into which patrol -- will one patrol end up the dumping ground for the Scouts that nobody wanted in their patrol? Tell the boys that you'd like to discuss it a week or so before you discuss it -- give them time to stew on it, come up with ideas, etc. Then dump it in their lap and let them do whatever they all decide.

Any uniform that is up to uniform standards is always a valid uniform, correct? An older jac=shirt can have as many patches as you'd like and you'll still be in uniform because you'll be conforming to the formerly valid styles that were valid with that jac-shirt, right?

It's my understanding that the jac-shirt is only officially supposed to have certain patches. But, it's your jacket, so put whatever you want on it. It's not as official as the uniform shirt, as I understand it -- just don't make it too cluttered.

Boys who are Scouts can (with their parents permission) certainly go do their own activities. It is presumed that Scouts are not just always sitting around their house when they're not on a Scout outing, but are off "hanging" with friends, whatever. So, boys who are Scouts can certainly get together and go off and do their own thing -- they likely do anyways. Unless a Scoutmaster or other appropriate adult is involved in the planning and there is two-deep leadership, etc., it will not be an official Scout activity. But boys who are Scouts can certainly go do their own thing -- none of us are going to stop them just like we don't usually stop them from doing all those activities that they already do. Sometimes you have to draw a fine line between boys who are all Scouts doing something together and those same boys doing an actual Scout activity together. You need to be careful that people know where the line is and that the two don't get confused, as they require different things (official activities require permission slips, etc.). One easy way is to say that any activity done in uniform is a Scout outing and anything done in regular clothing is simply an ordinary activity.

Just because I cannot find any sample images online of any men wearing any type of skort doesn't necessarily mean that skorts are inherently female. When I first saw a girl wearing a skort (which wasn't actually until about 6th grade, although perhaps people wore them before that and I just never paid much attention) I thought they were an amazing invention solving the "modesty problem" while still allowing for what was ostensibly a skirt. And, just because most clan tartans and kilts were "invented" during the Vestiarium Scoticum scam doesn't mean that they can't still be a historically valid and proper modern method of displaying clan affiliation. As to girls in Venturing, I think a woman's place is the kitchen, the office, the library, the parlor, the warehouse, it's wherever the heck they want it to be, actually. It's not my place to dictate their place, you know. Back when I was a youth, I always thought it was a shame that my sisters didn't get to do the cool things that I was doing as a Scout. I personally think that mixed-gender Venture crews for older youth is a great idea, since those youth are going to be spending all their free time with each other anyway. You could look at gender-separated youth meetings as a chance for people to cool down, to not get so serious. You could look at gender-mixed youth meetings as a chance for youth to do more than just moon about gazing into each other's eyes, a chance to actually work together and get to better know how other people really act when the pressure is on. I think older youth (16+) should be doing things that're more conducive to building actual working relationships. I mean, we all know what sort of activities they're more likely to be engaged in if we don't give them more constructive things to work on and plan together. You know the saying about idle hands and the devil. That's all my personal opinion, anyway, now that you've asked me to go way off on this tangent. Now, just in case there's someone that didn't know what a skort was, if you can find a better image to present so that they can learn what I'm talking about, please feel free to link it. I still think that the image that I found is kind of funny, in context.

I've never heard of that before, but I think I figured out what it meant from your post -- the leaders never came within 300' of the boys? That's pretty neat. We'll have to try that ourselves. Edit: Although 300' is a long ways away. Can boys even shout that far if something went stupidly wrong? We live in a pretty wooded environment and we might have trouble even seeing the boys from that distance. Perhaps we'll try 100'.(This message has been edited by BartHumphries)

Look at the light bulb in the center of the following linked picture. Almost every Boy Scout award (except for the tiny ones like Totin' Chip eventually comes back to a service project. From Second Class and on, every rank advancement requires a service project. If service is the standard by which future leaders are measured, then Boy Scouts who are earning any awards and rank advancements must also be doing service projects. http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a66/bubbajoe12345/scout/BoyScoutAwardDependencies.png Boy Scout troops are also (theoretically) boy led. If practice makes perfect, then the Boy Scouts should be getting a whole lot more practice leading and planning than the Girl Scouts do.

I agree with Scoutfish. As long as people were putting the gun up to their shoulder, trying to hit whatever they're shooting at, etc., they're going to hit all those points. I have a really hard time believing that "open shooting" means "no qualified adult supervision". As long as the boys aren't horsing around with the guns (a really big no-no), it's going to be pretty hard for them to not hit the requirements. While you were there, was there horseplay (hitting someone while that person is holding a gun, pointing a gun at another person, etc.)?

States might follow the same standard for information gathering/reporting purposes, but that doesn't mean that they follow the same standards for the physical driver's license. When I first went to Utah in 2000, one of the first things I did was to get a driver's license. They printed it out on a printer right there, then picked up a little plastic sleeve, put the license inside, then heat sealed the sleeve shut. I was thinking to myself, "Wow, I could make one of these so easily." Now, Utah driver's licenses are better, but that still doesn't mean that everyone's driver's licenses are up to the same high standards.

The radio merit badge probably doesn't requires Morse Code anymore because the FCC doesn't require a knowledge of Morse Code for an amateur (ham) radio license anymore. We're sort of technologically past the era when we had to communicate over distances by the pattern of a stick beating on a log, we can just talk with each other now. That being said, it is a fun thing to learn, just like how to redo a broken wicker/rattan chair is a fun thing to learn (and about as useful): http://www.outdoorfurniturefactorys.com/show_OutdoorFurniture.asp?id=249

I really don't have a problem with federal ID cards, but I don't think it's a good idea to put an RFID tag in each one. That could lead to things like RFID readers (pretty cheap devices) that look for the standard prefix for an American citizen, then explode the roadside bomb that they're attached to. There are, well, other problems associated with this. I do think that every citizen should have fingerprints/DNA associated with their federal ID. That shouldn't be on the card itself, it should be in the federal database already created for those things, that local police have access to.

If a person has actually earned 21 knots... wow. That's at least a couple decades of active Scouting leadership, right?

So, what you're saying is that to be both modest/chaste and to show heritage, etc. with a kilt, you want a Boy Scout skort: http://www.bdgsc.org/catalog/product/list,174.aspx

We have someone, usually the Scoutmaster or the Committee Chair, in charge of conducting each Court of Honor. They're the ones that, with the printed program of what's going to happen, introduce each new segment. When the conductor gets up and first walks up to the podium/table, everyone knows to get quiet because it's starting.

LDS people believe that the heavens are open, that miracles still happen, that angels are still around, and that (and this is one of the major sticking points between the LDS faith and some other faiths) God not only listens to our prayers but responds to them, that he is not an inactive landlord in a world fast approaching destruction. Rather, the LDS viewpoint is that God doesn't turn his back on his children, but rather is just waiting for people to honestly and earnestly pray. Thus, the LDS faith is predicated upon a working relationship with God -- that one can, through the Holy Spirit, be inspired by God. LDS leaders are instructed to pray about decisions such as who to call to which calling and to keep praying until they have an answer that God supports. Praying to be guided by God is termed "revelation" in the LDS faith. Each person has the right and privilege to receive revelation for their own bailiwick -- parents for themselves and their children, people for their church service callings (jobs), a Bishop for the ward (pastor for the congregation), etc. In the 2007 Aaronic Priesthood/Scouting broadcast, Charles W. Dahlquist, II the (then) head of the LDS Young Men's organization said that one of the four characteristics of a good leader is tenure. Ideally it would be wonderful to leave leaders of the youth in callings as long as possible, but we recognize that is subject to revelation. Over time, leaders become trained, establish strong Scouting traditions, and build relationships of trust with the boys and their families. This usually takes years, rather than months. When considering a possible change for an effective youth leader, you might ask yourself, "Why would we want to release Jim when he has only been serving for several months, has finished basic training, and is having such a profound effect for good in the lives of our young men?" If you ask yourselves that question, you have just opened up the window to inspiration, and the Lord will help you know the answer. BadenP, I suggest that you perhaps are not as familiar as you think you are with the LDS Scouting program. It seems like your posts generally take the form of "It's the LDS Scouting practice to yadda" when such isn't the case. I'm not saying it's malicious, just misinformation through ignorance. I can't speak for what you've seen, I don't know where you've been or what's happened, but it is not the general LDS practice for Scout leaders to serve only a single year and then go do something else. Life does happen, though. Feel free to send me a message if you have any more questions.

Yes, Beavah, they could. In fact, the Aaronic Priesthood section of the Church Handbook of Instructions (last publish date 1998) mentions doing just that as an option in one paragraph, although choosing when boys move from a troop to a crew (14 or 16 or whenever) is all local option. The LDS handbooks have apparently been updated recently and the big release date is the 13th of this month. I'm really excited to see what (if anything) the new handbooks have to say about Scouting.

What's wrong with the LDS church promulgating a goal for boys of going on a mission after they "graduate" from Boy Scouts? Sure, they could be part of a Venture crew for another two years, but it's the LDS church's standpoint that after a person turns 18 they should start hanging around with other people over 18, so the church tends to send 18+ aged people off to the Young Single Adult groups for people 18-30. I don't see anything wrong with the LDS church promoting Scouting while keeping in mind its own principles (which really aren't different from basic Scouting principles). The LDS church just wants to reinforce Baden-Powell's statement that the point isn't camping/backpacking, those are just the tools we use to build good men. That's like getting upset that a Rotary troop makes sure the boys are all familiar with the four principles. Such things are basically just a restatement of Scouting principles and ideals and there's no point in getting all worked up about a charter organization having its own guiding set of principles and ideals which echo Scouting's and which are also taught to the boys.