perdidochas

AZMike, we already have that. Troops have the option to exclude scouts and leaders for almost every reason except race.

Troops can turn boys away already, for almost any reason except for race.

I'm with jblake. Boy Scouts need a time without girls. They have more freedom to be themselves. BSA is about the only place outside of single gender private schools and high school athletics, that boys can be boys.

Repeat post

We have a supply of them from back when the Scout shop was more liberal in it's policies. Just replenish them whenever we fill out an advancement form. The Scouts love the recognition from having the physical patch the same day they complete their BOR.

For Soccer, I just put the boys in. My oldest was almost 6. For Cub Scouts, I waited until my oldest asked, and we joined the next fall. He started as a Wolf. My youngest joined the next year as a Tiger Cub. When they were cubs, I asked them almost every year if they wanted to do it another year. WIth Boy Scouts, I haven't, they've caught the bug--oldest is now a 14 yr old Life Scout and SPL (as of last night), youngest is a 12 (almost 13) yr old Star Scout and PL (as of last night. Good election night for us :-) )

For Soccer, I just put the boys in. My oldest was almost 6. For Cub Scouts, I waited until my oldest asked, and we joined the next fall. He started as a Wolf. My youngest joined the next year as a Tiger Cub. When they were cubs, I asked them almost every year if they wanted to do it another year. WIth Boy Scouts, I haven't, they've caught the bug--oldest is now a 14 yr old Life Scout and SPL (as of last night), youngest is a 12 (almost 13) yr old Star Scout and PL (as of last night. Good election night for us :-) )

I think 15-20 is about the minimum size for a functional troop. Our troop is about that size, and I can't imagine being able to set up outings for 6-7 boys and having enough attendance.

I think 15-20 is about the minimum size for a functional troop. Our troop is about that size, and I can't imagine being able to set up outings for 6-7 boys and having enough attendance.

Sounds like the council was more than accomodating (the offer to back register him). If the Mom isn't willing to do that, well, I feel sorry for the son.

I think a lot of it is geographic. All I've heard locally is negative. I know if I were in a less conservative area, I'd hear different things. That said, I don't see what the problem is as long as they leave it up to the CORs/units.

When I was working on my master's degree in biology, I was tested on general biology (the prerequisites to get into the program), along with what I had learned while in the program. Yes, the grades meant something, however, the grades in those class should also be reflecting a knowledge of the subject area.

It's not retesting, it's enabling (last part of EDGE). I agree that scouts shouldn't lose their ranks if they fail at basic Scout skills. However, that said, I think that is reteaching time for the Scout leaders/Troop instructors.

I would like it if you could use the html like coding features a lot of boards have. The quote feature looks horrible without it.

Back when I was a WDL, had a very aggressive parent who complained that he was paying dues for March through May (3 months or $15) but wasn't getting anything out of it. I talked the pack committee into giving Scout Handbooks to the Webelos who were crossing over. (to give that parent his proper dues, he did volunteer to produce the AOL placques that we gave the boys, and he put a lot of effort into it).

Roughly speaking, if they select the volunteers and parents randomly,400 should be enough of each (about a 5% error). 1500 would be a bit more reliable, (about a 3% error). My latest pet peeve of surveys is that too many surveys I've been involved with lately have been thrown out. IMHO, it's because the results didn't match what the higher ups wanted.

If a Scout doesn't have the skills, I mainly blame adults for not making him practice the skills. With my sons, we occasionally grab ropes and practice our six knots. I've found in our unit, we are slowly getting increasted mastery of knots, primarily due to having our own space. Prior to October, we had use of the church's Family Life Center (aka gym). Great space, but it wasn't ours except for two hours on Monday night. Now, we have a scout hut (aka trailer). We have a plastic bin with 10-15 3 ft long pieces of rope in it. I'm finding the boys, while they fidget, are practicing their knots. While milling around waiting for the meeting to start, they are practicing their knots. Now, if only we can get them to practice the tautline and timber hitches, we will have a proficient troop.

We have patrol members taking turns buying the groceries. The troop charges $12 per campout per boy for food (two nights). The patrol member buys the groceries (usually with parent), and gets reimbursed at the next meeting. We have some flexibility on the budget. If it goes a little over, it's not a big deal. If it's a lot over, we discuss. Currently, all the leftovers--both fresh and dry goods--are split up among the boys unpacking the troop trailer. I would like to change it so that the dry goods are kept or donated to a food pantry.

Cooking is a great merit badge, Eagle required or not. I encouraged the boys in the Troop to get it before it was a required badge, so now I have a little more justification in advocating it.