qwazse

Yep. To quote myself ... At the outset, you said you were more concerned about other boys whose schedules may run afoul of this policy. So, run the marathon. In general the faster path to resolution: SM and ASMs go to district roundtable and compare notes with other troops during the Boy Scout breakout session. I've seen the Great Seneca District of Laurel Highlands Council do this quite well. SM's can ask for a thumbs up/thumbs down regarding their policy from the other SM's. As a crew advisor, I learned to get most of my advice from the council venturing committee. No offense to my crew committee, but they had never been venturers. I had one fella joke "You mean advisors have advisors?" If they're good advisors, they do! Troop committees (by virtue of more familiarity with the program) are a little more capable to deal with these things, but they are more deliberative. As far as your troop is concerned, the long term pay-off will be adults getting feedback from each advancing boy ASAP. If I were you that's how I'd pitch it.

Well, when a youth started identifying as a slinger of cannabis, we rejected him. It seems to have helped. Over the years we have discussed reasons for rejecting other youth for their own good. But, let's suppose rejecting a youth is harmful. Take the youth rejecting his/her biological self, is he/she not also causing harm? Are we not obliged to exhort him/her to refrain?

Caveat about that "older scout's hero" gig, you might find yourself saddled with some serious discipline issues. Scouts who don't want to bend sometimes break bad. That's not to discourage. It's just to give your committee a heads up that they can still hold scouts to high standards yet don't take them for granted if all they do for the troop is be decent souls in their community until they age out.

That's a strong case for a program that doesn't let girls think they've "arrived" until they earn some type of personal management badge. Hmmmm ..... Seriously. Because she ditched GS/USA, and this isn't part of the venturing curriculum, Daughter had to be brought up to speed. Fortunately, Son #1 was willing to help with the training. He'd not only earned the badge, but had been through my "Need $? Submit budget." school of hard knocks.

@WisconsinMomma, you have been lied to. College (2 and 4 year program) acceptance rates are up to 70%. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cpa.asp Actual undergraduate enrollment in degree-granting programs https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cha.asp In other words, that male:female ratio has been pretty static for some time, with about a 5 point gap when percentage of population is considered. As @cocomax expressed, young men are seeing less return on investment in college and will not enroll straight out of high school, causing this gap to widen. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d16/tables/dt16_303.80.asp?current=yes. But that will only increase the call for male students to enroll in colleges. For example, to remain competitive, the two all-female colleges along Pittsburgh's academic corridor started calling themselves universities and enrolling men.

@Momleader, and you think the same thing hasn't happened with pictures of our boys? We have to complete the paperwork and behave with unnatural circumspection thanks to these "sick/weird/unsavory types". I have had this constant tension with my scouts (not just youth, but adult scouters who put together images for training videos and such) about modesty their in social media presence, especially in uniform (be it scouts or sports). Some of my fellow parents accuse me of being "Old World" or spending too much time with muslims. (Neither is an insult in my book.) Or, play takes-one-to-know-one regarding me and those "unsavory types". (Which is an insult, for which I need to remind myself that ad hominem indicates hollowness on the part of the accuser.) We as a culture are stuck in the '60s. Only it's the 1760's, 1860's, and 1960's all at once. So, I have learned to breath deep and accept that for everyone like me and you whose alarms raise at such things, there are others who think, "Aw, cute, looks like something for my kid." Get to know the moderators of those pages, and learn how to discretely express your concerns. See if that improves things.

I've noticed that our boy scouts, starting with Son #2, have been ambivalent towards NHS. The boys don't think they need it as much as girls think they do. As a family, we certainly didn't think NHS contributed to anybody's career goals. Again, with the average male college applicant more likely to be accepted into a college than ever before, the general need for high school honor societies has diminished. Son #2 was making high marks, was mentoring youth in church, and was a Life Scout. He figured that was all he needed.

I love to hear about active well-rounded kids. I'm still a little confused about the rush. I'm assuming he advanced to 1st class at summer camp, so he's been active for about two months? So, he tells his SPL and SM that he has to suspend activity until December (excepting a couple of campouts), and has a scout in mind to fill in for Chaplin's Aide while he's out. He leads his team to the golden net championship. Then he returns just in time to plan out the troop Christmas party and prep everyone for Klindike derby. He knocks out a few MBs while being active through January, and qualifies far Star by Scout Sunday. That gives him time to achieve Life by August. One more soccer season, then Eagle by July. He's 13 now, he'll be fifteen then. Goal achieved.

Why is it so hard for boys to accept that 11 of them are in a one patrol troop with no need for SPL or ASPL? The oldest two or three are JASM, Instructor, or TG. With a small troop, the positions are similar. They should team up with the SM and make sure some busy work gets done, and maybe make some calls to other troops for a friendly campout and competition on whatever the troop thinks their one patrol is best at. The other boys should be the patrol, with the one PL and his APL. No PLC needed. They come to meeting, JASM/TG/Instructor asks what they want to do in the next month, ask PL what he needs help with, and they help him call in assistance when needed and not a moment before. @ItsBrian, I pitched this model to Son #2 when his troop became this small, and they soundly rejected it. Seems like you guys are also afraid of letting go of big troop bureaucracy. Any idea why?

I usually let these be on the shaky legs on which they stand. But when they seem to come in spades, it might be time to correct. Barry, you should know by that ad hominem serves only to hint that any real arguments you have are specious. If at any point I have lorded my erstwhile rank over someone else, please quote. I vow to contact them personally and apologize. Until then, let readers know that your aim is blind. If I can claim superiority in anything it is memories: of young women and men at a camp fire baking bread on sticks, of them settling in on an Appalachian plateau beneath a stand of hemlock for a game of cards before dusk, of rocks and bogs and songs and dance, of one helping another up the giant's ladder on a nigh-time ropes course, of the foreign scout helping her American mates remember their knots. If you want to challenge my arrogance, such as it is, challenge that I have been deluded by experience, that my judgement is clouded by smiles of a rather peculiar brand of youth - exceptions from the rest of the nation. Yes. The crisis is that scouters have fabricated a lie about needing an institutionalized safe space for children of each sex across all parts of the nation. In doing so, they have alienated boys who so happen to patrol with their sisters and girlfriends to achieve the pinnacle scouting experience of hiking and camping independently with their mates. Since colleges have increased integration, a larger percentage of American boys than ever are likely to complete college https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/11/gender-education-gap/546677/. That an even larger percentage of American are also likely to complete college does not negate the historic academic potential for our average high-school male. Meanwhile American scouters have touted sex-segregation, and a smaller percentage of American boys and girls than ever are likely to join scouts. What kind of safe space is it when your target audience wont join?

@Bill2018, Welcome to the forums! Dad of soccer kids here. In front of the whole troop, Son #2 handed over his SPL position when he realized that he could not be at meetings and many activities because of his fall schedule. I consider that to be a proud moment in his career as a scout. He picked up with responsibilities with the troop as soon as the fall season ended (late because of playoffs). I can't remember if he became SPL again. But because of being responsible like that, I don't think anybody questioned his tenure. I'm sure your son can be a star player to his team and star scout to his troop. It's okay if he takes 8 months to do both well.

What those of us who have experienced coed scouting in any of its forms have generally concluded was that the premise "that boys and girls behave differently, learn, differently, and develop differently" was not sufficiently global and universal as to mandate segregation. Further, the premise that GS/USA, with its present management, could serve as the outdoor program for all American girls has been proven false. Finally, the false narratives implicating harm to boys when institutions like colleges aggressively recruit women have shown themselves to be the pathetic conspiracy theories that they are by the mere fact that the odds of a young American male holding a college degree are higher than ever before. Decades of lies. So, should one be angry at these past two dozen months of smoke and mirrors? Maybe. But, screaming "Don't drink the bug juice!" when not only does it not kill, but it actually satisfies thirst, does not make those passing out the cups the worst of liars.

Two great celebration on one great day: National Hunting and Fishing + Fish Amnesty Day To the ones we catch and the ones that get away!

Or, the passion for wolves in yellow neckers will outlast this very bizarre quirk in fashion, reds will fold as scouters purchase yellows in bulk delivered by drones from whatever company chooses to mint them, and BSA will realize that tradition has value and start making yellow standard issue again. You read it first on scouter.com. @Momleader, get to know your council president. If the pro's make one peep about it again, tell him you want the board to start the search for a new SE.

Adding layers of complexity @AltadenaCraig will be a drag on your unit. You don't want to go through all of the paperwork and extra chartering fee to have pseudo venturing. The method is "leadership development" in Boy Scouts and "leadership" in venturing. If you don't want the crew officers to make their own decisions, you don't have a crew, you have a "crew, except." No amount of gun-slinging high adventure will make up for imposition on Venturing leadership. A crew needs officers, at least four ... and many activity chairs. And they have to do real work. They really have to put in time, not just in their own unit, but in their council venturing officers association. One or two might even want to contribute to the area, region, or national VOA. So, look at your roster (and, if you've got them, a patrol of girls in the wings waiting to sign on), highlight your best scouts and young ASMs, and make plans for giving them up for the good of the crew. The payback to a troop comes when 1. You clear out half the older boys whose hearts weren't in troop life anyway. 2. You recruit new youth who are more enthused about activities and skill mastery than advancement grind. 3. Venturers return with lots of clever ideas for activities and a positive attitude about scouting. But you gotta pay the price to role those dice.

Funny how when I was a kid, I thought the shooting sports program at camp existed to show me how to set up my range safely.

Troops don't. Scouts do... especially when they start rambling. Some never seem to quit ... https://www.scouter.com/forum/28-patch-trading-central/ Personally, I find an exquisite pleasure in giving a kid from FL a klondike derby patch.

His contact info is all over the website.

File under "not an insult." No program. No boys. Again not an insult. Your "job" is not to understand "really busy teens." Your job is to direct teens to associate with adults who will guide them in character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. Busy does not equal fit. This, as far as I can tell, was your only mistake. You did not offend. The Guide to Advancement did. Maybe you could have apologized for not insisting that this issue remain strictly between the scout and the counselor who you (evidently) advised to give as much leeway as the requirements would allow ... and no more than that. Don't let the rotten apples spoil your bushel. Like @Sentinel947 said, playing by the book is not synonymous with totally rigid. We've had scouts with time management issues on this badge. Here are some suggestions that we put out there: Talk to the scout's PL and see if there's a way they can free up time for him to cook for them. Offer the opportunity for the scout to cook dinner for his patrol or troop before meetings. Or, if the guy's busy with fall sports, maybe he could cook up a meal for the concession stand. When I announced soccer games, I always mentioned by name the boosters working the stand, the cook, and what they were serving. I would have been thrilled to announced "Tonight's special of ___ is brought to you by troop ### and their recent master of cooking merit badge, player ###!"

Yep. This isn't our first rodeo with this nuance in the IG. The National Uniform and Insignia Committee has been informed of the "liberties" taken with the back of the sash. From http://www.scoutinsignia.com/tmppatch.htm: Nevertheless the IG continued to use "miscellaneous" for the back of the sash as opposed to "temporary" for the right pocket. Oh snap! I just did a broader search of the current IG. On page 11 ... @The Latin Scot, along with Mike Walton, are vindicated. I will now put on my uniform police hat and personally castigate every scout I know whose old rank patches have been affixed to the back of their sash. Full disclosure: I've never seen a scout with any insignia, let alone ovals, on the back of their sash. Maybe it's not an Northeast thing?

Welcome to the forums? Got any yew trees that need harvesting?

I waited until last week so that I would be covered for WSJ and any other activities the following summer. I think now is a good time to rally your adults to get it done so they are prepared for next summer and the one after. If you need to train a lot of adults, talk to your DC about bringing a trainer in to administer the course during one of your meetings.

Things, when decided by a committee, move at a glacial pace. Your expectation that you would get a reply via Email within four days is unrealistic. Unless it's my brothers wanting to identify a snake, I take at least a week to reply to any given letter. From my perspective, this decision shouldn't involve the CC at all. The SM/ASMs should have a huddle and decide how to deliver the promise of scouting through the advancement method. The best the CC can do is run interference, encourage that huddle and support the leaders in whatever decision they make. That said, the CC should have simply told you that he was gathering facts and putting it on the agenda for the next committee meeting.

Brave new world! I'm not entirely sure my parents ever knew what MB I was working on until it was announced at the CoH or I asked for help with materials or transportation. If anybody explained to my folks how I was doing, it was my PL! With zero* conversation, I and all my fellow scouts knew what my partials were. They were the blue things in our hands with unit and counselor portions attached. So much of the advancement chair's job is make-work. Some of it does make the troop more agile (e.g., BoR's can be scheduled better, orders for patches submitted promptly, etc ...). But most of it is one more adult to pencil-whip a scout. *Well, it was a one-sided conversation. Something like, "Q, here are your partials. Your PL will explain. The list of counselors for our district is on the meeting room wall. Enjoy your ride home."

Don't rely on belief or "normally". Either there is a prohibition in the Insignia Guide, or there is not. So lessee ... The use of "miscellaneous" is intentionally vague. Any scout with a needle, thread, patches for past leadership positions or ranks, and ambition should decorate his sash knowing his uniform inspection score will remain untarnished.