Novice_Cubmaster

After 5 years of Cubmastering, I came to the conclusion - I serve the parents. (This applies to Cub Scouting - not Boy Scouting). If the Pack puts on the program correctly, we give parents a framework to do things with their son - often things a parent may not normally have done/gotten into with their son. We help parents get their views, beliefs, etc. across while the parents are still their son's primary source for such things. We don't replace parents, we facilitate for them. And to sugar coat it for both the scout and parent, we climb rock walls, camp, go tubing down a local river, fish, etc. NC

OMG - Eleven to 17 year old boys watching R rated movies! Try putting on a G or PG-13 movie - chances are they won't be watching it. NC

Thanks for posting this. I just sent an email out to all our Pack families. At this point, most of the popcorn we sold has been eaten, digested and moved on in the circle of life. But, it's good to get the word out ahead of Chicken Little. Back to my hour a week. NC

We're providing the human sacrifice. NC

Hi all. What can happen when the serious boys in a troop no longer like the program put on by the adult troop leaders? For example, if the troop shifted from boy-led to adult-led? Can they "mutiny"? What would happen if they went on a troop campout, and organized themselves into functioning patrols & did as much as they could in a boy-led fashion? (Envision the SM having a "Captain Queeg moment...) Probably an unrealistic fantasy, though. If the boys were that unhappy, they'd split (or form a crew). NC

Vol, I agree with 99% of what you said - except for: "... We transplant organs in patients whose disease process will cause the new organ to fail in the same way as their own failed. That does not make good sense but the system is told that it must be blind to the reason for organ failure. So an IV drug abuser with heart failure gets the same chance for a transplant of an organ that failed because of his actions as an innocent teenager born with a defective heart. Society must decide what to do. ..." My son is a heart transplant recipient, and as a result, my family has been part of the "transplant community" since 2000. UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) sets the rules for how organs get allocated - not society or the government. Part of evaluating a potential organ recipient is lifestyle and compliance - in other words, will they take good care of their new organ and follow the rules to insure it lasts as long as it can. The rules for determining who gets hearts and lungs are pretty stiff. There's more leeway with livers and kidneys (hence Larry Hagman & David Crosby). From the recipients we know, UNOS has done an incredibly fair job in allocating organs. I'd rather have a medical board set the rules and determine who should receive a new organ than society or the government. Unfortunately, there are too many "medical" shows on TV filling peoples heads with nonsense about organ transplants - having society set the rules would be a disaster. As for the government, I sure as *** don't want politics involved in determining who should get an organ. (Remember, Society + Government brought us Welfare, Medicaid, Food Stamps and other well-meaning bungles) Sorry about getting on the soapbox, but misinformation about transplant rules and organ allocation can cause people to decide against being donors, or donating the organs of a loved one. Having seen the lives that have been saved by a transplant, and a few that were lost while waiting - I had to say something. NC(This message has been edited by novice_cubmaster)

Why does sports/band/etc seem to trump Scouting? Because sports/band/etc IS more important to some boys than Scouting. Not every scout holds scouting in as near a divine regard as some of use Scouters. "I dont see where sports offers anything of greater value than what Scouts offers. Music has points that are valuble, but overall, I dont see how being a musician will give a boy better direction for the rest of his life. " Why assume that boys would value scouting the way an adult scouter would? And how many boys are looking for something to give them better direction for the rest of their lives? And really, does scouting really give most boys that much "better direction for the rest of their lives"? Some of this is wishful thinking on our parts; a perception not necessarily shared by many scouts or their parents. NC

Gee, I guess I broke the rules. One of our leaders from a few years ago lives with a woman (without the benefit of clergy, as my ma would say). This woman has been functioning as the mom in the family for a number of years - she's no "shack up of the month". The other pack leaders & families probably had no idea that the leader & his significant other weren't married - but I did, as they live a few doors down, we see them socially, and our kids play together all the time. Did I ever say a word about the leader and his son sharing a tent with the significant other? Heck, no. Not because I might lose a really good leader. Or because I might tick off a friend/neighbor. There was no way I'd let this leader's son think that anything about the woman raising him wasn't up to snuff. (I could think of a number of legally wed parents that - parenting wise - couldn't hold a candle to the leader & his significant other. Situational? Totally. There are some unwed couples (accent on the "coupling") that I would not let share a tent - but the non-parent in these relationships usually aren't the family camping type. As Hal said, "BSA is living in the 1950's; the rest of us are in the 21st century. Life isn't Ward and June, Wally and the Beaver." NC

The Yorktown / Patriots Point is a great trip. And, yes - the ship can be downright uncomfortable to sleep in due to heat & humidity - even in the spring. A good trip from there is to take the boat ride over to Ft. Sumter. If you go toward the end of the day, you may be able to help the rangers retire the colors. We lucked out & were there at the right time a couple of years ago. If there had been a stiffer breeze, the flag probably could have carried a couple of our cubs aloft & out to sea. PS - if you're over 5ft tall, be careful onboard ship - you'll knock your head off going thru hatches & down stairs. Have fun! NC

GCAN - in our pack, we made "real" looking arrows one year for our AOL plaques. We got a dozen stone arrowheads at a local rock & gemstone shop and turkey feathers from Hobby Lobby. Then stained some 1/4 inch dowels dark brown, lashed on the arrowheads, and crazy-glued on the feathers. They looked really cool. LOL when we bought the arrowheads - they were made by real Indians - in India. Word of warning - they were also really sharp. Congrats to your cubs for earning their AOL. NC

SSscout, you nailed it! "A Scouts "Duty to God" is not the Scoutleaders business to define. It is, however, the Scouleaders business to encourage. To remind. To stir up. But it is the Scout's (and his family's) business to do the defining. All the Scout leader can do is to listen and nod his head when the Scout talks about it. " Sounds like a great place to end this thread. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Great Kwanzaa, Joyous Festivus to all.

Yo, BasementDweller! It's not just between the CM, CC, COR & the returning leader. It's a pack management issue. When you jumped into the breach, you let the CM & CC off the hook for having a leaderless den (so, where was the ADL???) and not dealing with this situation when she first stopped showing up. A. By welcoming the "prodigal" leader back, the CM & CC dodge any possibly unpleasant confrontations. B. Knowing they have a responsible & committed person like you to take up the slack if the "prodigal" flakes out again, the CM & CC dodge the the potential consequences of letting them come back. Just like different positions on a baseball team, all BSA leadership positions have a distinct defined set of responsibilities. And just like players on a team, it is reasonable for Unit Leaders to expect everyone "on the team" to live up to the responsibilities of their position. Ultimately, it is up to the CC and the COR to decide whether she returns as a leader. But it should also be incumbent upon the CC & CM to do two things: 1. privately tell the returning leader that her previous actions were not acceptable. 2. give the rest of the Unit Leaders reason to think this situation won't repeat itself. BSA policy - no. Common courtesy/good team management - yes. NC

I can see the future... Short Term: "No drivers license or cell phone until you get your eagle." Son gets eagle. Son gets drivers license. Son gets cell phone. Son quits scouts forever. Twenty or so years later, when the reluctant scout is now a Dad himself: "Dad, can I join scouts?" "No, son. Scouting's not any fun." NC

RE "Boy Scout uniform ... its life is measured in years not weeks. " Cub Scout pants have a lifespan measured in hours, not days. NC

We shifted from doing a dinner to doing a dessert potluck - not sure who's likes this better, the kids or the moms who don't have to come up with a covered dish that feeds 6+. Setup & cleanup are also greatly simplified. We've also gotten away from doing any advancements and awards at the B&G - it's a party, not a pack meeting; so we do something fun. We've had naturalists come in and do an hour long presentation on some local animals & birds - including touchable critters. Huge hit with the kids. We do skits & goofy songs to transition between parts of the evening's agenda. But Bob White is dead on - packs do/don't do all the same things. Feel free to define your own pack traditions (and let them evolve as needed to stay current and workable). NC

FlyingFish, I had to laugh at "Oh, that's Boy Scouts for Christians." Because I've been told to my face by a trained leader in full uniform that "The BSA is a Christian organization". No fiction is as funny as real life. NC

No way in h*ll I'd disagree with you Gunny To all the veterans who visit these pages... THANK YOU for picking up the tab for all of us. NC

We were all around the campfire, and the wind shifted. Something hot flew into my eye and stung like the dickens - causing me to use a non-scouty word. Once I could open my eyes again, I apologized to all within earshot for using that word. One of my cubs then replied, "That's OK. My mom says worse than that all the time." The cub's dad was there - thought he'd die laughing. NC

Sometimes, you need to look at why these scouts joined in the first place. We're in the suburbs of Atlanta. Our district started offering a coupon good for a ticket to a Braves baseball game. We had a lot of kids "join" one year - but they were'nt interested in scouting, just the ticket. NC

Question, isn't a Cub Scout somebody from Chicago that looks for baseball players? NC PS - Go Dodgers!

So, GW - perhaps Troll Flatulence is the cause of global warming? If only we could collect Troll Gas & use it in place of fossil fuels - I don't remember Biden or Palin discussing this alternative energy source. NC

Hi Gcan, Re #3: 3. My son is being raised Catholic at home. His sort-of-involved father loudly and often proclaims his atheism when the topic comes up, and has said some things at scout meetings to that effect If your son says he's a Catholic - it doesn't matter what the sort-of dad believes or not. If "dad" is making claims about what your son believes, your son may have to politely & publicly state that this isn't the case. NC

Hi momofcandj, Ok -you asked the Web2 DL about combining dens & got turned down. Assuming that: A) the Web2 den isn't already huge B) your 4 Web1's aren't troublemakers C) you'll stick around as an ADL if the dens combine go put your case to your Cubmaster. A den of 4, that often has only 2 at a den meeting, is going to be hard to sustain. If combining dens increases the odds of keeping your 4 in scouts, then you have a compelling argument that may get support from the rest of the pack leaders. NC

GW - you got to SIT during a Russian Orthodox service??? I remember standing for what seemed like hours. And at Easter, it was for hours - but the food afterward made up for it. But I digress. Our CO is fairly hands off, and yet, somehow we manage to follow the BSA program - values & all. It really boils down to having a majority of leaders in the unit & CO that support following the program. By the way, many church CO's have leader turnover every couple of years - so, you may have more continuity and long term vision in your unit's leadership than in the CO. NC

Maybe the two unmarried leaders are just trying to prove they're not gay? While an argument can be made that the rule is out of date, and that not every religion/culture has the same negative view of such things - that is the rule. Leaders need to teach by example that the rules are to be followed. And that if you think a rule is wrong, you can try to get it changed - but you're still not free to break it. Within a closed society like Scouting, there is no room for "this is wrong for you, but OK for me" interpretations. NC