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@InquisitiveScouter, keep complaining about it and those 19-20 year old ASMs will be reclassified as program participants. I want to make it clear how much of my life involves deeply personal one-on-one conversations with 19-20 year olds of the opposite sex. It is very hard for some young adult women to navigation their world — many are facing abuse, caregiver burdens, financial stress — and they open up about it to very few people. They often look for second father figure and, along with their friends, arrange a meeting with him. Sometimes that person is me, often I can rope a second elder into that conversation, but often time is of the essence and we can’t ill afford time to screen that fellow qualified elder by sex. This is how the real world works and will continue to work. By imposing this kind of restriction, BSA will remove itself further from meeting the needs of young adults.

What it means @Eagle1993, is that if the proportion of females is nonzero, I could not meet collegiate adult Venturers for coffee without me finding 21+ registered female adult to join me. It effectively makes it pointless to be a male crew advisor.

One small suggestion … if it’s at all that important, a scouter shouldn’t have to click through and advance the video to find out what s.a.f.e. stands for. It’s also not clear how the checklist would have addressed the incident that inspired it. I would love its implementation to forestall death. But how does this do what the sweet 16 does not?

Art imitating life. From marines at boot camp “remembering all those orienteering lessons that I had tried to forget” during their night in the crucible to veterans who told me about how calm and fearless Eagle Scouts were when their platoon had to bivouac … I’ve heard this story multiple times in multiple ways from multiple people.

A capacity of 15,000 is about 2.3% of 2021 Scouts BSA membership, so this is a lean year. But … most Jambo-bound leaders had to choose between World and National Scout jamborees. A small minority have chosen to attend back-to-back events. That’s contributed to staffing shortages at Summit, and small numbers representing the USA in Korea. For wannabe staffers, I have suggested and will repeat … if it really matters, take whatever you would spend to go , maybe divide that number by two, and offer it to another young adult who should go. For example your limit might be $500, but the scouter who knows you think that much of him/her might pull together balance of what is needed to attend. The same *could* apply to youth. If your Eagle Scouts and others think that their troop should be represented at Jambo, pitch in to cut the fare for your best scout to go. This decade is really forcing scouters to come to terms with what is really “worth it” for them. It may be that future Jamborees will forgo big name acts, and the arena will showcase more scout-grown talent. There might be fewer add-ons, like tours of the DC. We might pass on some of the circus that is WV’s playground. Or, some really great council camporees might come to the fore.

Oh, for the days when completing an Eagle application was none of an adult’s business. … Just a scout, his typewriter, and correction tape! Thank you for trying to help your scout, but it sounds like you should just save the .pdf for him to complete the rest. Meanwhile, report your problem on the Scoutbook forums: https://discussions.scouting.org/

More details about his scouting career at 2:40 in the link below. I admire anyone who says “I am a Life Scout.”

Talk with the parents to see if they want their son cover the “why” of a restrictive sexual ethic.

More specifics on security risks here https://atlasvpn.com/blog/discord-privacy-and-security-problems-to-watch-out-for

A modest proposal for a new committee position: 1st Year (or as long as it takes) Parent Deprogrammer Requirements YPT, Troop Committee Challenge, Register Master the following phrases in multiple languages including any local dialects: Attend YPT. Talk about abuse, neglect, and bullying with your child. Know what to expect from us. Yes, your scout is welcome time to do something fun and safe with us for zero credit. When he/she requests it, we will rearrange schedules accordingly. The trail to first class is hard. The skills therein are difficult to master. Use Scoutbook, but love that handbook. Trust, but verify.

Think these forums, but invite-only with oversized emoji. What’s nice is it can handle voice messages and video calls. The dangers are the same as most social media type things.

FWIW, I posed the issue of pen pointers to birders on a trail group and to our ASM who is all about bird conservation. They felt that there was no probability of a stargazing instructor inadvertently misdirecting migratory foul. These are mostly PA and WV birders, and they contend with a lot of light pollution. A laser pen pales in comparison to airplanes, fracking towers and windmills. So, as always, your mileage may vary. It’s a big country.

Have parents sign up. When their sons are 13 they may sign on. I’m learning to use Discord because it was the medium of choice for my WSJ Troop. I have mixed feelings about it.

Do give them an ask. They will have to take BSA’s YPT, regardless of similar other training.

@FirstClass, welcome to the forums! As you can tell, scouters have no stomach for playing identity politics with religious awards. Having made the effort, a scout should proudly wear the awards for each faith he held at the time.

Setting aside that I thought turning Scout into a rank was pointless, now that it is a rank ... We had several AoL crossovers who were still struggling with square knots. That's not to disrespect the program. We had a dozen crossovers, about half of them knew their knots well enough to quickly demonstrate them. I think the pandemic was part of the problem. But, also, it's not in the nature of 10-year-olds to retain those kinds of motor skills. Scouts who are camping every month have greater odds of actually needing those skills. No rubber stamps. It's a good life lesson to know that it's not about the patch. You have to be prepared to actually demonstrate the skills you claim to have.

First pass: A number of Audubon sites were recommending the use of higher powered lasers for dispersal. (Better than shotguns, I guess.) None were discouraging the use of pointers. I can’t find a Leave No Trace guideline regarding lasers of any kind, let alone pointers. Pilots don’t like them, but typically they are referring to higher powered lasers. Not pointers. I can’t find peer reviewed articles on the subject of lasers and migratory bird harm. I suspect that if a dead snot rocket by a stack of rocks could get accepted in the literature, a flock of laser pointer addled migratory birds would as well. You know, it’s okay to make an argument by simply saying, “I don’t like them, nor does the ranger in my favorite park, nor the club I’m in. Maybe others feel the same way.” And in polite conversation, it’s okay to reply, “I’ll give my gal/guy a call and find out what he thinks.” I didn’t like the drones at the 2019 jamboree, and scouts laughed at me as I cringed in terror. Along with the infantrymen on either side of the Dnipro, we are asking who’s laughing now? But, I’m not about to lecture the guy hovering his drone outside a wilderness recreation area who’s just trying to get a decent photo with one.

It's a big country. So check with your location about laser pointers. Myself, I'm not a fan. But ... sticking with reference as one of the fundamental steps in teaching any skill ... bring that star chart. In daylight, use it to show the scouts what they should be able to find once it gets dark. Have a light with a red or green gel (or diffuser for that laser) so you can read the chart without disturbing your eyes once in a field. If it's planets you're looking for, have everyone sit on an east-west line in your observation field facing south. (Which they should be able to do once they've found Polaris!) Or, get them on a tarp with their sleeping bags. Regarding light pollution, challenge them to find signs of human activity on the horizon (or in air/satellite traffic overhead). Being able to identify the nearest town or factory on the horizon could be a life-saver in the future.

The "holy grail" app would be one that converts pictures of a signed and dated requirements into scout book entries.

For reasons other than what you’re thinking. We’re no longer allowed to award bobcat (or any other pin, I presume) while the scout is upside down. Good luck trying to get junior to rotate head-up before his/her birthday!

You just hit on the solution. BSA’s liability (past and future) is a very large fixed cost. Lower membership equals higher cost per member. Increase membership, and costs will lower. However, the training mandates have drastically driven down adult membership. Background checks of MBCs is fairly new. Even asking them to take YPT is a hurdle. If Cub parents would be willing and able counselors, we’d welcome them.

There is a necessary balance between @fred8033 and @5thGenTexan. We need to realize that any MC could have a chilling effect on the direct contact leaders’ creativity and dedication, but also that direct contact leaders do need mentoring and feedback.

I will not hazard the well-being of the youth in my community by stepping back from scouting due to the prejudices of 30-somethings who, having a fraction of my training, make flawed ecological hypotheses. The worst thing that a parent can do is assume that fellow parents will have their child’s best interest at heart.

The leaders contact their DE. Sometimes exceptions can be made.

Agreed. One of your ASM’s should serve as acting SM while the CO (maybe with input from the committee decides who should permanently fill this position. How they make that decision is up to you all. But be sure to call your DC or DE. I’m sure that folks in your district would want to be involved in paying respects and helping your troop.