bbng

http://www.scouting.org/identity/contents/12.html TRADEMARK AND SIGNATURE ARTWORK For your convenience, the following trademarks and signatures files are Macintosh- and PC-compatible. Each file is provided in black-and-white and color versions in both Macintosh and PC formats. This variety of versions and formats will enable you to import the graphics into electronic documents or provide them to vendors producing your support materials. = = = = = The above seems to give permission with the stipulations that the logos etc be used in accordance with the policies that EagleinKY posted. On the link I just added, there are Venturing logos.

What a tragic loss. The only thing that can possibly make it more tragic is this disgraceful protest. Oak Tree said it well: "wildly insensitive and inappropriate".

On BSA's site www.scouting.org there is a box to the right with "other BSA sites"; among them is the Scout Zone site by BSA at http://www.thescoutzone.org/ . We (at the troop level and throughout the district) have been promoting the Scout Zone for about a year now, and I think I saw it in Scouting as well as on BSA's site. The nice thing about Scout Zone is that it has games, info on finding a troop, and a bit more. The Nascar theme, by the way, was not for Boy Scouts but rather for Cub Scouts--the Race to Cub Scouting theme was kicked off last year with Nascar being a big part of it. Added: I wanted to be certain of the sources I sited, so I checked Scouter Magazine, and in the October 2004 edition, the new CD and site Scout Zone were released: "A new CD and a Web site added to Boy Scout membership tools. The BSA's Boy Scout Division has released a new CD and developed a companion Web site, www.thescoutzone.org, to help volunteers and youth members share Scouting's message with interested boys and their parents. The CD includes video testimonials from parents, activity information for youth, and links to national BSA Web sites. CDs have been shipped to councils in sufficient quantities for delivery to all troops. Troop leaders are encouraged to make copies of the CD for their Scouts and troop parents to use in contacting people about joining Scouting. Included in the CD package are promotional cards people can distribute to encourage others to visit the new Web site. The site includes the material on the CD plus a troop locator that allows visitors the opportunity to locate the Boy Scout troops that exist in their vicinity. In addition to these new tools, the specially designed Scout recruiter patch incentive will again be awarded to all Boy Scouts who recruit a new Boy Scout this fall. The patches are supplied at no charge to Boy Scout leaders by the national office through council service centers." The patches are a nice incentive, something available prior to the above date, but this was a new design.(This message has been edited by bbng)

The picture changes periodically.

Our sons enjoy Scouts, and they stay on, though each for very different reasons. One has a goal of Eagle because he respects those Scouts he knows who've made Eagle, and he is very interested in taking on leadership and has had and continues to have opportunities in this. Merit badges are something that he views as work, so he doesn't have many completed. However, he is growing in confidence, has fun with his fellow Scouts, is learning new skills and teaching skills to younger Scouts, and is all in all having a blast along the way. Pushing him would make him quit, for this is the one thing he can do because he chooses to do it (unlike school), that truly allows him to grow at his own pace, and that provides him with the very types of activities that he enjoys best and wouldn't have elsewhere. He'll get to Eagle, but he'll do it as his pace, and he has time, and he goes along, he's beginning to learn the value of planning in order to meet goals. Now the other one, I think he could take or leave Scouts, though he enjoys the troop and most activities. He will skip some when they don't interest him. His goals are not clear; they may not exist. An uncle told him he'd give him a large sum of cash if he made Eagle; that made him consider it. However, he hasn't really wanted it for himself. I'm not sure if he'll stay in Scouts, and he knows (they both know) that he may quit, though he must take responsibility for that (communicate it, see through on his commitments if any, that sort of thing). I found it interesting that when he was told he could chose not to continue that he decided to stay in the troop. He does advance, but that's because the troop is active and has a good program--it's pretty hard to be active in the troop and *not* advance. So, all that to say: one is challenged and growing and learning to plan and set goals and therefore is benefitting in many ways, and the other is just plain having fun though he's learning things and doesn't realize it School and sports and music are part of their lives too, but unlike them, Scouting allows the pace to be set by the Scout. For us, that's how we view it, and that takes away the pressure that we might otherwise put on the boys to quit or become more active. In a nutshell, I guess whether a parent wants to use cattle prods (and it can be so tempting!) depends upon what the parents' expectations are.

All positions are for one year at a time and are renewed through the rechartering process. Some people agree to commit for a specific time frame, but they too are renewed in their positions only if the chartering organization approves that renewal. The BSA does not put a limit on the time served in a particular position.

"Also, the acting SPL and ASPL constantly complained about his yelling and demanding way. In a way, I was proud of these two boys because they were looking out for their scouts (a characteristic of a leader). I'm planning to take it up with our SM and our CC." First, yes, I think you do have reason for concern. He had no right to yank any Scout's sleeping bag off him...regardless of what he was wearing. The yelling is flat out wrong. And best of all, the bit I quote above seems to be the key to fixing this: the youth leaders do have a problem with him, and they have expressed the problem with him, and now they need support. I'd give it to them completely, and it seems you are. As for the fellow who wanted to call the SE, let him--he doesn't have to tell anyone he made the call. In fact, he shouldn't tell anyone. If his concerns were great enough that he felt a call to the SE was in order, he should be encouraged to follow his instincts on it. It would be idea if it could be handled within the unit, and it may be, but I'm well aware of a situation where a leader wanted to call the SE, did not, and was sorry about it later when nothing could be done. Two issues here: how do the adults support the youth who have complaints (valid complaints) about this adult leader, and how does one decide when to call the SE (and should he simply do so or talk about it first). As for what Semper and Ed said, I'd be inclined to leave this fellow at home from now on, but that decision can't be made long distance.

http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-503.html If you click on the "view source" for this page, it shows that it was modified June 16, 2006, so this should be the most recent. I arrived at this page by going to the Boy Scout page, then choosing clicking on the words "Boy Scouting" on the first page that came up (both Adult Leader & Boy Scout sections were the same). I've noticed that National has been redoing some of the site (Cub Scouting was completely restructured). I tried going to Scouting Information Center, then Fact Sheets, then "What is Boy Scouting" and got the same page. The Media Center page, found at http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/index.html is not dated but mentions December 2001 statistics thought the other gives December 2005 statistics. The media pages seem to more of a an archive of events that have taken place rather than the most current info, and my guess is that in 2001 the BSA either had 7 goals or had a typo in the fact sheet.

This thread ended badly, yet it seemed throughout that all but one person agreed on what BSA gives as direction as well as the interpretation of the BSA literature. Thinking that maybe I was misreading something, I hit ignore user for the one person who was not agreeing, and sure enough, there is a lot of good advice that is consistently stated throughout this tread. It's too bad there isn't a way to pull all the advice / how-tos and simply put them into one easily accessible post or form on this site (or is there a way to do that?). I have found this thread to be very thought-provoking, and as it was hashed out, I as a troop committee member did get a better perspective on my role as committee member. Thanks folks for helping me out, even though I didn't post the original questions or those posed throughout!(This message has been edited by bbng)

A call to your council registrar and to your district advancment chairman would provide you with the timing your Scouts can expect.

This is a handy resource in the G2SS, the age-appropriate guidelines: http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/ageguides.pdf It might be that certain units and/or councils add to the safety guidelines, but the information you've been given doesn't match what I've seen in any BSA publications.

Lightning victim's kin accuse Scout leaders of negligence Friday, June 09, 2006 BY WAYNE PARRY Associated Press >shortened to delete content OGE already posted< "... Korn said the Trescas did not learn what happened before their son's death until a Scout employee contacted them two years later, claiming he had a portable weather radio, warned camp officials in the dining hall that a storm was coming and recommended keeping the children indoors longer. That employee, Marc Spera, had returned to the campsite and tended to Tresca after he was injured by the lightning bolt that knocked him backward off the picnic table. "He got down over him to try to see if he was OK," Korn said. "Matthew grabbed his arms and said, 'My legs! My legs!' He (Spera) could see tears in his eyes. His heart had been thrown into a rhythmic disturbance, which is what happens with lightning strikes. It was a massive shock." James Donohue, the lawyer for the Cradle of Liberty Council and three individual Scout employees being sued, asked why Spera returned to the campsite if he felt so threatened by the lightning. "This was a lightning strike after the storm had passed that no one expected," Donohue said. ..." Source: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1149833713170600.xml&coll=1&thispage=2 No matter how this is reported, it is a tragedy and a sad story indeed. Most likely we won't know all the details, and as a rule, I don't simply trust what is reported in the news.(This message has been edited by bbng)

I echo Eamonn, for I got the same impression. Sadly, this sounds an awful lot like a situation our son was in at one time. He is no longer involved in that troop, and the new troop is not in our town. In fact, it's not even all that close to home, but it's been a good move. If it's at all possible, it seems a good idea to look into other options. Welcome to the forums, and I hope Scouting begins to look up for your son and for you.

In the troop my sons are in, it is suggested to Star Scouts to try their hand at leading a simple service project. However, that is not the first time it's suggested, nor is it a requirement in order to advance. It has come from frequent communications between the SM and Green Bar. One way that the troop has set up a way to implement leadership, beginning from as soon as a boy feels ready, is to have the Scouts plan all trips with the help of an adult. The adult role is to handle paperwork and financing for the most part; the Scouts plan out all other elements. Does it always work? No, sometimes get terribly confused, but interestingly enough, those trips/outings are those that seem to be enjoyed and remembered the most. An item on the calendar will not be removed if a Scout doesn't set up that event either. The way it's looked at is: the Scouts want the opportunity to truly run the troop, and the adults want to support them in that, so they work together with the understanding that the Scouts always have "first shot" at setting up anything. This may sound muddled, and I hope it doesn't, but I wondered at even the suggestion of taking on leadership as one advanced to Life. Then I learned that this began far before Life. The reason? The Scouts have identified a weakness in the troop, and it is that the Scouts aren't always confident in planning and need practice.

http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-972.html I've been reading about this for awhile, though I have no first-hand knowledge of the program. The above link may be helpful.