perdidochas

For Boy Scouts, the uniform inspection sheet says that the top button should be open. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34283.pdf‎

Plan it out. You've got most of the hurdles over with. Start on your project today. Don't wait until you have all the MBs done. Start on your project today. Don't wait until you've had your POR for Eagle finished. Start on your project today. Have you started your project yet? At most you have ten more merit badges to do. Don't worry about them as much as your project, unless you don't have Family Life, Personal Management, Camping, Cooking or Physical Fitness done. Then start on those 5 (the ones you haven't done) while you are working on your project. BTW, I'm a parent/ASM, not a Scout, but my son just finished his Eagle (9th grade and 15), and is having his ECOH on February 1. We (my wife and myself) didn't have the no Eagle no license rule, but we did encourage him to finish before age 16 for practical reasons (the older you get, the less time you seem to have). Besides the above badges, the rest are fairly simple and can be done in minimal time. Get to work. There is no easy way in life. If you're a Life Scout now, you've done most of the truly hard work. You can Eagle in 6 months if you try. In your state, how long do you have to have a learner's permit before your license? Here in FL, you have to have your learner's permit for a full year (and drive 30 hrs during that year during the day, and 15 hrs at night). Ask them if you can get your permit if you say, write out the rough draft of your project. Did I tell you to start work on your project?

As I said, I would have gone ahead and my sons would have changed troops, and had the BOR from the new troops.

From what I hear, the main reason he's staying in the first troop is that 1) he has friends there (although, in my thinking, friends that don't stick up for you aren't friends at all) and 2) he has his Eagle paperwork in--he's just waiting for his BOR. Personally, I agree with you, if my son was in a toxic situation as described, if efforts to fix the situation had failed, we'd be in another troop to finish. I've been in a start of a toxic situation in our troop, but we fixed it, and now the troop is great.

I think it's silly. I never saw the B&G as a time to be finished. In fact, we never gave out awards at the B&G. With the food and the presentation by FOS, we never really felt we had time. The main thing was fellowship over food.

Not sure about the troop he was in, but from what I have googled, I think MLK was a Boy Scout. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/are-you-tougher-than-a-boy-scout/galleries/famous-and-prominent-boy-scouts/at/rev-martin-luther-king-jr-551319/

Your Ph.D friend who used to work for NASA is right (sort of). His social media behavior is protected by the courts in terms of the government taking action against him. It's not protected against employers or other people taking action against him.

The scout who's parents are involved/are an SM/ASM, probably do a lot more work to get their Eagle than the rest. They clean up after meetings, make sure the trailer is cleaned up after a campout, and just generally do a lot more detail work. That said, they also have more opportunities than the rest, which evens things out.

I think it's a combination thing. One, if your parent is an involved leader, for the most part, your parent has made it a point that scouting is an important thing. That example leads to the scout thinking that scouting is important. Second, the type of family that volunteers (i.e. scout leaders, athletic coaches, etc.) is a natural fit for scouting. Third, the communication is better. I know that some scout activities would have been skipped if I didn't know about it as a leader. My oldest is an Eagle, my youngest a Star, one eagle required MB and EDGE training of a younger scout, away from Life.

That's why as a Scout Leader, I intentionally miss some campouts that my boys go on. I want them to experience camping without me around. That said, until my boys were ASPL/SPL level, I rarely spoke with them on campouts. Troop culture has it that the SPL/ASPL can eat with whatever patrol (including the adults) that they choose prior to the campout (i.e. when menus are being planned). Now, I speak to one of them during mealtime (oldest was ASPL then SPL, now youngest is ASPL).

Good point Moosetracker, Our troop has binders that have questions to ask for each rank, as well as the basic process of a BOR. That way if we have to we can grab a parent and press them into service.

Sounds high. Our local camp is about $200, The away camps we've done have been around $300. We're going to the NC mountains this year, and it's $400. $300 for the camp itself, and $100 for wicking t-shirts, gas, and meals on the road.

When I was a Tiger Cub Den Leader many moons ago, we started with the Pledge.

I'm basically with Stosh. Most BORs should be planned ahead of time. The Costco parent may not have a good time to go shopping this week except for that time. Put on the spot, he didn't want to change his plans. I don't think it's a big deal, unless this is a routine thing. Under most circumstances, a one week delay of a BOR isn't a big deal.

You don't need two registered leaders at all times. One and another 21+ yr old is sufficient. From G2SS Leadership Requirements for Trips and Outings It is the responsibility of the chartered organization of any Cub Scout pack, Boy Scout troop, Varsity Scout team, or Venturing crew or ship to inform the committee and leadership of the unit that sufficient adult leadership must be provided on all trips and outings (coed overnight activities require both male and female adult leaders). Two-deep leadership. Two registered adult leaders, or one registered leader and a parent of a participating Scout or other adult, one of whom must be 21 years of age or older, are required for all trips and outings. There are a few instances, such as patrol activities, when the presence of adult leaders is not required and adult leadership may be limited to training and guidance of the patrol leadership. With the proper training, guidance, and approval by the troop leaders, the patrol can conduct day hikes and service projects. Appropriate adult leadership must be present for all overnight Scouting activities; coed overnight activities even those including parent and childâ€â€require male and female adult leaders, both of whom must be 21 years of age or older, and one of whom must be a registered member of the BSA. The chartered organization is responsible for ensuring that sufficient leadership is provided for all activities.

I'm one of the parents that goes on a lot of campouts and drives the boys. It's just the way things are. Some people are born volunteers, others are not. We've got a troop trailer and gas is part of the camping fees. We don't do mileage reimbursement, we simply pay for the gas used. The drivers fill up before the trip, and after the trip, and submit the gas receipt from after the trip.

Thank you for all the responses. I was kind of flabbergasted Monday night, as we'd done similar things the other 4 yrs I've been with the troop. In fact, the way they did it was pretty much SOP--the boys know the boundaries, and most know the church property fairly well. It's flat ground, without a lot of hazards, IMHO. The other ASM is a trained WBer, who has been trained at Philmont, and may have even instructed there. He works offshore, so he is an intermittent presence with the troop. Very knowledgeable, but gets on my nerves as well as those of the boy leaders. I will discuss this incident with the CC and the SM (who wasn't there Monday due to illness) probably next Monday night.

On the whole service hours thing, I've found my troop has two types of scouts: 1) the scouts who have so many service hours that the whole idea of recording service hours is silly (my sons are in that group), and 2) the scouts who do the minimum amount of service necessary to get their next rank. My oldest son's Eagle project work day had one scout who showed up about noon (the rest started at 8). This scout worked until 1, then told us he had finished the one hour he needed, and it was time to go home and fish. In terms of the question about service hours and outdoor program, the single category of service hours that has the most participation is in conservation/camp restoration programs. Sometimes we delitter an area. Other times, we have trimmed limbs going into a trail/camp road.

We had a meeting last night. As part of the meeting, the boys who were there (about 60% of normal crowd) played manhunt on our COR property. They do this quite a bit. One of our other ASMs (who's not there often due to work) basically chastized me and my son (former SPL who was leading the game), because 1) none of the boys had flashlights; 2) he didn't feel the boys were specific enough in telling adults about the game they were playing and 3) that we didn't have two deep leadership, because no adults were outside during the game. I know the boys, and it never entered my mind that we had to directly supervise the game (adults were in the Scout hut, as it was about 29 degrees last night). Am I just too lax? Should adults have been outside? Should the boys each have a flashlight, etc.? How does adult vs. boy leadership enter into this scenario?

I'm with EagleDad. A troop cannot survive much less thrive without an adult with vision. There is only so much that the boys can do. This world doesn't allow minors to do a whole lot.

My son did the same thing. He earned the "old" Cooking Meritbadge over the spring and summer. I asked him if he wanted the new silver Cooking MB patch, and he looked at me like I was crazy.

I don't see the big deal either way. We had a very experienced SM who cotted in the summer. Now, he didn't use a tent, but liked the air below him. Cots aren't for backpacking, but they are appropriate for car camping. I hammock, because my back prefers it to the ground. All the boys pretty much either have foam pads, self-inflating pads, or just sleep on the ground in their bags.

While not quite as elaborate as your teaching, we try to teach more than just the knot. The usage is the important part.

Probably the reason for my dislike. I'm into experiments and observation, as a former science teacher and current amateur naturalist.