perdidochas

How is Camp Daniel Boone? Our troop has decided to go there this summer (we already have reservations)

I'm with you. If they want us to camp there, they need to step up their game. I'm a believer in the free market.

It's up to the boys and leaders. Our local council camp is barely adequate. The boys don't like to go there.

At your ECOH, feel free to invite whoever you want. Invite teachers and MBCs and neighbors and family friends and relatives. Treat it as you would a Confirmation (for Catholics and other Christians who do confirmations), or a high school graduation. This is a big deal.

It's pretty much the standard. You have the privilege of planning your own ECOH. Run with it and enjoy. Google Eagle Court of Honor, and you will get many choices. Anyway, this should be an easy thing to do--you planned an Eagle project, and did a lot of similar things in Communication Merit badge. Have fun.

It is an award that Scouters can earn, at least at two summer camps I know of.

Private Troop Facebook pages are against the general guidelines BSA has put out about social media. " Therefore, no private channels (e.g., private Facebook groups or invite-only YouTube channels) are acceptable in helping to administer the Scouting program. Private channels and private communication put both the youth and you at risk. If you feel the information you seek to share via social media channels should not be shared in public, you should not share that information via social media." http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/home/marketing/resources/socialmedia.aspx

BD, exactly about the special treatment. This ASM's sons have a higher standard to reach than do other scouts. I would have it no different way.

It's up to the parent/leader/scout to decide. We held my oldest son back in the 2nd grade (wolf). In his second year in 2nd grade, we advanced him to Bear. Then, basically, we decided that it would be better for him to be in Scout with his grade level peers than his age level peers, so we kept him in Bears a second year. Since then he's progressed normally. It's good because the boys in his grade cohort were nicer kids than the boys in his age cohort. He's now finished his Eagle Project at age 15, and is basically fairly close to the advancement level of his age cohort in the Troop. Slighly ahead of his grade cohort, but that's partly because he's more mature than they are. A good friend of mine also held his boy back in 2nd grade. He loved the age level cohort, and his son has stayed with them.

In Cub Scouts, advancement is from doing the requirements for the badge. The badge you work on is dependent on your age. Tiger cub aged boys work on the Tiger Cub badge. When they get older, they become Wolf Scouts. Wolf Scouts work on the Wolf badge. They only get the badges if they meet the requirements. If they don't finish the requirements in that year, they don't get the badge, they just start working on the next badge. So if that Tiger doesn't earn the Tiger badge, the next year he starts work on the Wolf Badge. A tiger who finishes the Tiger badge can't work on the Wolf Badge. It's not a continuous model of advancement, it's more of a quantum model.

I'm a fairly experienced open water swimmer. I've done unofficial mile swims in lakes, and half-mile and 600 yard swims in bays, and a quarter mile swim in a beach area. This summer I did the mile swim in a 25-yard pool with a group of about 20 boys. Open water is easier than dodging boys while doing 71 turns.

I'm with quayzse. If the boy is a worker rather than a shirker of work, the boys in the new troop should accept him. The good thing is that it's not like the old days, when only a certain number of boys in a troop could be elected to OA.

Try very inexpensive outdoor gear. Go to harbor freight. They often have good LED flashlights at great prices. Go to the scout shop. They have ferro rod firestarters for about $3 or less. A couple of these higher dollar treats will get the boys' attention. KDD, That's why I'm glad I'm a Boy Scout Leader, not a Cub Scout leader. I figure if a boy has earned his Totin' Chip, his parents don't mind.

Try very inexpensive outdoor gear. Go to harbor freight. They often have good LED flashlights at great prices. Go to the scout shop. They have ferro rod firestarters for about $3 or less. A couple of these higher dollar treats will get the boys' attention.

I pretty much agree. When I was a cub leader, I had a scout who lived with his grandma. His uncle, a gay man, I later met his partner, would carry him on the campouts and tent with him. I figured that if the grandma trusted him, that was good enough for me. I feel family can make that kind of choice. It wasn't my business to interfere.

It's common sense. You can't get an accurate background check without a DOB. From what I know, the minimum info needed to get a background check is name, date of birth, and social security number.

We need Clean in the Scout Law. It makes it more effective when we order Scouts to the showers during summer camp.

I've noticed that some hackers go after non-profit type sites, because the non-profits often don't have the best security. I don't understand the whole vandalism thing--be it physical or online.

We've been doing the exercise part of the Personal Fitness badge as a troop over the summer. We did the 12 weeks, now the boys have to learn the material and talk to a Counselor about it. In our troop of 30+, only two have gotten the badge so far.

Well, it takes 17 months, minimum to get Eagle. 1 month for T-2-1 (30 day physical fitness) 4 months for Star 6 months for Life 6 months for Eagle. You can join the Boy Scouts at age 10, if you have finished the 4th grade by at least 6 months. I finished 4th grade at age 9 (October birthday). June 1st is the start of 5th grade. In an active Webelos Den, I could have gotten AOL on December 1. (when I was 10 yrs/2 months old). In 17 months, I would have been 11 yrs, 7 months old. Theoretically possible, but not likely at all (especially considering I never got AOL) That said, the official record seems to be age 12 yrs 2 months and 9 days. http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20110902/PC1602/309029925

First you do realize that B-P explicitly stated several times scouting is not the Military, right? Second, all for seeing someone develop a new award. But if your going to call out an organizations uniform standard as not high enough and then intend to implement "shoulder cords" in contradiction to those very standards I think your a hypocrite. I also need to observe that this program is about Knot tying, a skill so basic to scouting that not being able to tie them means one does not advance in rank and you think people should be given uniform decorations for that? Third, If you like fancy uniforms, and the idea of the Knot Ninja program, take a look at the Sea Scout program. It is challenging, more structured than Boy Scouts and it has a variety of Uniforms. Paracord, I was holding my tongue about your rudeness, but can't continue. The Scout Law does not say a Scout is only Friendly, Courteous and Kind to those who deserve it. There are no qualifications. A Scout is Friendly, Courteous and Kind regardless of the situation. If anything, the less someone "deserves it" the more you should be Friendly, Courteous and Kind. I realize that this is online, and Courtesy, all too often, goes out the window online. However, it shouldn't. You have some growing up to do, and once you do it, I'm sure you'll look back at your younger self's statements and cringe. Knots are important, but IMHO, much less important than the 12 points of the Scout Law. Just like knots, the Scout Law atrophies, if not used.

Paracord, It doesn't take a lot of practice to know the knots. The best thing to insure knowledge of knots is to require teaching of knots. I think the knot ninja program is unnecessary. As a Cub leader, I hated dealing with beads (as did 75% of the boys). Why would we want to continue that? Finally, skill awards were a concept done in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Physically, they resembled Cub Scout Belt Loops.They were earned kind of like the sign-offs for the T-2-1 Skills.

I'm with BD. Teach them foil cooking or even buddy burner cooking of a burger for lunch. Go on a hike. Make hiking staffs. They will be doing the Boy Scout requirements soon enough.