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You interpreted it consistently with the published requirements. From http://www.scouting.org/filestore/boyscouts/pdf/Eagle_Palms_2017.pdf "After successfully completing your Eagle Scout board of review on or after Aug. 1, 2017, and being validated as an Eagle Scout by the National Service Center, you will be entitled to receive an Eagle Palm for each additional five merit badges you have completed before your Eagle Scout board of review." I might also give him the address at National (with envelope and stamp, maybe) for him to send his insta-palm if he feels that it is a slight to Eagles of yesteryear who have to forgo such bling if they procrastinated like he did.

Those of you who use tags: do they roam with the boy, or stay with his tent? My prior suggestion assumed the former. I guess I've never been in a position of worrying about whose canvas was whose when they weren't under it. Is there a reason why you'd care to know that? We don't have troop tents, so we don't think about this much. Boys can swap tents as they wish, and we make no never-mind. SPL does bed-check at taps ... sometimes after a storm. Once, some of the first years scouts weren't in their tent (cots and all except dirty laundry ... gone) two tents over, they were all packed in with Son #2 and his buddy -- safe and sound. We were so relieved, I forgot to take what would have been the cutest camp picture ever! I have had scouts make buddy tags - tongue depressors with a whole at one end which they marked in indelible ink - when I was supervising a canoe trip. They put them on a stringer in my boat: two to a clip, with buddy boats on adjacent clips. But that was more about aquatics safety. I didn't care which boats they were assigned to. If they wanted to swap equipment, that was fine ... as long who was watching out for whom remained the same.

First: patrol flags, tents should be organized around them. Assuming your scouts average two to a tent, that's a cluster of four tents per patrol. Let's also assume an "old goat's patrol". One cluster 100 yards to the east, the other 100 yards to the south, the other 100 yards to the west, the last, 100 yards to the north. SM/ASM's in the center. As far as tent tags, I would suggest a rated carabiner for each scout. (It doesn't have to be rated for heavy loads, the point is to get the scout to pay attention to the tools he uses.) If you have an adult with a powder-coating facility, hit him up to give each patrol a different color. Then, a kevlar strip with the scout's first name should do. Better: if an adult has a 3-d printing facility, have the name printed in colored lego blocks with a whole for the 'biner. This travels with the scout and can be used as a buddy tag, toting cup and spoons, tagging backpacks, etc ... You could also use para chord and personalized neckerchief slides to the same effect. By requiring neckerchief to be worn on all scout activities, asking them to hang their neckerchief on their chord would be a good way knowing if each scout and leader has "check in" for the night.

Let's not read more into this than necessary, or we wind up as bad as the ASM's we're complaining about. The OP never said the scout was alone. Two boys were off turning in MB homework. No indication that this is any sort of repeat behavior. No indication that the other scouts didn't know where these two boys were. Heck, one of the boys might have been a PL! Roll call is never done during open program in any group that I know. Missing scouts are a big deal ... I've seen an entire reservation shut down on their account. There's nothing in the OP's description that indicates that was an issue.

Then there was my HS Chemistry teacher who had exquisitely sarcastic barbs for anyone who wasn't keeping pace with the lectures. Called upon, and not having an answer, one might get an "I've heard that boys spend most of their day in fantasy land. Looks like I finally found proof." Tapping one's pencil eraser while working a problem ... "That's an outside wall. We're on the second floor. No Morse code answer will be tapped back." For each quiz question answered wrongly, we had to turn in a paper with the correct answer, repeated 10 times. Humiliation in spades, At the end of the day, we get to college and chem was easier for us than for our classmates from other schools. It might not take a rocket scientist, but it's not second nature.

Definitely, press from day 0. Nobody step up? No den. Talk next year. Offer to come along side whoever will step up, but you're counting on those couple of people who will take point. It's the opportunity of a lifetime for them. They don't want to miss it.

Truth: I didn't date until I was 20. Fortunately Mrs. Q was patient with my inexperience. That was mainly due to witnessing the train wreck of my older sibling's relationships ... and figuring that Mom was only half-crazy with her old-world attitude. I think more young people are taking in more experiences (observing online what's happened to others) and deciding that the real stuff can wait until later. One of my three kids did. Others of my friends have an even higher portion of their kids who've avoided the "teen scene" of past decades. That doesn't change the need to walk through this world on their own two feet. But, it is hard. Right now my venturers aren't engaging the program. They are at the age where I expect them to call their own meetings and be physically present for one another. It seems to be a huge hurdle for this group more than any other I've known.

A lot of folks get their first "counseling skills" at wood badge. Even then, the rough edges (i.e., their degree from the counseling "School of Hard Knocks") might take some time to wear off. Sometimes you can find the tool made right for the nut, other times you have to fit the nut to the tool you can find.

Unfortunate that none of us really caught on to the blog function of these forums! But do keep talking 'skip. Probably while you were a cub, I was drifting through Chelsea. The vicar conscripted me to help teach the Sunday School for his grade-school children. Your descriptions make me wonder if one of the kids born from that lot drifted into the group your lot camped beside.

I suppose none of you were ever cussed out for your poor strokes by a Red Cross aquatics director who once flew in the Women's Air Corps. There's a special place (chain smoker's section) in heaven for Beatty. She's probably still waiting for one of us to meet there after a drowning incident. Could the ASM's have done better by deferring decisions to the SPL? Yes. Should they be the brunt of everyone else's ridicule? Adults need to have fun somehow. Should they promise Johnny they'll do better next time? Yep. Ashamed? Naw. They got the boys home alive and well. Let the SM know. Especially if the scout is still so bitter about it that he's not attending meetings. Move on.

There is no MB that has to wait to the next year of camp. Scout is given his partial the last day of camp. The day he comes home, he e can contact a counselor in his community, explain whatever he didn't complete at camp (although it should be clear on the partial what requirements were completed), fulfilli what was lacking. Counselor signs card, boy takes the remaining two portions to SM, SM signs scout's portion, and retains unit's portion as a minder to record advancement with council and order the patch. The whole process could be done in a couple of days ... depending on what the scout does in his free time. So, someone wrongly instilled a "now or never" sensibility in this scouts mind. That added unecessary drama.

Independence comes with ability. I assure you, if you don't grant that independence in scouting, boys will find their independence anyway outside of scouting. If in the process of being independent outside of scouting, they amass poor character, I assure you they will bring bad behavior back into scouting no matter how tight the adult oversight is. It sounds like in your gut you know this. If your direct-contact adults know this too, you'll make wise decisions.

On one level, I'd agree -- especially if that priority scheme came from Mom and Dad. Things get a little fuzzy when your in a troop and everyone is trying to up their MB count. The boys start finding that scramble to "pack one more in" to be its own kind of fun. Meanwhile a couple of older boys (the been-there-down-that type) are all about "the inner pyro." When do you drop what your doing and take a partial to help your fellow scouts stack the logs? When do you settle for a smaller bonfire to allow your fellow scouts to up the troops MB total for the week? SMs/ASMs should be pointing out where boys need to be concerned about their conflicting agendas. Sometimes that "pointing out" comes out all wrong. When that's happened in our troop, the ASM would wind up being teased mercilessly by the rest of us adults. Sometimes we'd let the boys know to not worry, he got his. Other times we'd remind the boy that the leader meant well and really could have been anyplace else all week.

I've had more trouble with adults in that arena than with youth, so for me, it's a horse apiece.

29 new boys? All tigers? You need two DLs! So, even if you could fudge the paperwork, you could only be one of them. You need to lay it on the line with the parents. For this to work, a couple of them have to run point and the rest of them have to regale those two with flowers and chocolate. There are perks. Not the least of which is a decade or two from now, some very fine young men will think the world of you.

Yeah, I got that "voice of God" thing (the thunder-on-the-mountain, not still-small-voice type) going on too. It's great for announcing soccer games and pitching concessions, not so great for conveying expectations to youth. Plenty of times after action, I've had to apologize for how I came off. That said, in situations like these, help your child develop a thicker skin. Singled out? Well, I grew up an Arab American in a county rife with Klansmen and short on African Americans. Singled out was a way of life and came from all sides, all age groups, and all classes: Dad's fellow guardsmen, my fellow scouts. It could be about anything, from Mom's old-world attitude, Dad's prodigious nose, food rife with garlic and other spices, our kindness towards the unlovable, our affinity with camels (which, for the record, none of my kin ever raised), Grandpa's loyalty to the UMW (whose banner he flew just under the nations flag) ... if there was a way to say we didn't belong, it was found out and pointed out. So, maybe what my family did will help your son. 1. There was to be no crying or excuses for who we were or why we do what we do. That included no whining about what other people said or did. 2. For each such scenario there were two options. a. Be more like them, and stand up to us. b. Be more like us, and invite them to supper (metaphorically, although Mom did stock three freezers full just in case ...). I quickly learned that the food thing was more fun and resulted in fewer tears. So, encourage your son to identify with whatever good thing he was being singled out for, and invite his ASM in. After a dress-down, if it went as you described. He should have a quite word with the ASM and offer something like ... "With all due respect sir, I thought you all would be more upset if I left advancement work hanging. I'll try to manage my schedule better and be there for my guys next time. Until then, if you're a counselor, I'd like to work on my next MB with you."

Hi @@BeastlyGaming, your link only works if someone copys and pastes it to their browser's URL field. Best of luck gathering virtual scouts for a chat or two!

@@stevenb, welcome to the forum. And thanks for all you've done for the boys. I know the feeling. My crew has been on the brink for a couple of years. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as well.

The fun in "explaining" depends on how they approach it. It can be fun if, for their section, each patrol ... Makes a skit, puppet show, or video Create a song ... with motions. Hides the bullet-points around the scout house property. Or figures out some other game or puzzle where patrols have to race to "get" the complete explanation. (Pro-tip: hangman is always good for terms.) Brings an expert in who has good demonstration materials (e.g., for all those potential diseases from cooking: a doctor with specimen slides or pictures of symptoms!). Then, at the end of the series, scouts vote on which patrol had the best presentation. This will definitely be disruptive to folks who want advancement to be "easy." But, it forces advancement to lean on other methods (patrols, leadership development, adult association, personal growth). It focuses the question in this topic from "who's running?" to "where's the show?".

I would rather get an honest grade from the teacher, maybe with a call in advance warning me to be patient with my children but promising that the school would unflinchingly, yet kindly, expect more from her. We had to "train" our youngest son's elementary school teachers to let us know immediately when homework was not turned in. Because of his other positive traits, they were willing to overlook his neglectfulness. We weren't. I sincerely hope your daughter finds a GS troop or other club that will challenge her to put herself "out there." At the same time, some people are more fulfilled by "behind the scenes" work, of which this country needs a lot. So never let your two young introverts disappoint you.

Fact is, troops of less than 20 should leave SPL/ASPL vacant. A couple of PLs and maybe a JASM or two is all you need to support everyone. Every other boy takes on a practical PoR or picks a service project to do for the troop.It's when you get to three large or four small patrols that you need a lower level of support. Note: I find it best to turn organizational charts upside down. The chief positions being ones that support the others. Note to Self: I need to put that ice cream cone diagram online,

Be careful what you wish for. Venturing has been the fastest shrinking division of the BSA. There are lots of reasons for it, but the nebulous leadership structure could partly explain it.

I tackle this slightly differently. I prepare parents that I will encourage scouts to plan excursions on their own. This includes the scouts reviewing: a map/brochures ... sometimes the week before ... sometimes the day of ... often times both, skill sets (how many 1st class scouts are among you), boundaries (that includes time constraints as well as obstacles that may require qualified supervision). equipment needs, weather outlook, personnel needs. Each patrol reviews their plan with me -- every week leading up to the event. They start out real general, and get more specific. Generally, these guys don't give me a plan separate from the troop's overall schedule. So, usually it's something like "After we set up camp, we would like to go see ..." Based on that, I ask them to "fill in the gaps" of anything mentioned above. Often they will ask for an adult or two. They will be specific. For example, they know not to ask me to open a shooting range for them. They will ask me along if they want to identify flora and fauna, or if they need qualified supervision for a safe swim. When they don't, they will usually provide a rendezvous/extraction point and time for an adult to meet them. Youth with a good plan are safer than they'd be with adults and a bad (or no) plan. We are exited and nervous for this year because the boys have organized themselves into four diverse patrols and it's not clear if we will get a good range of multi-tiered activities -- or we'll get everyone always trying to march to the same drummer. Our CC is rightly concerned that we might not always have adults for the things they want to do.

Welcome, and thanks in advance for all you'll do for the boys. Some ideas: Treasure hunts! Mix-and-match trail mix table. Fall hike. Mini- service project. (Ask the ranger. There may be some litter pick-up, or some wood to stack.) The real lesson: do whatever your parents (or your local boy scouts or venturers) will volunteer to organize. In other words, as CM, don't get sucked into lots of tasks when you should be covering the territory making sure boys are happy and everyone has what they need to have fun safely.

Got a preferred edition? Yeah, about that ... Our CO does not provide internet access, and our prime camping spots are beyond coverage maps. I suspect we are not alone. So, if we had mass-storage for vids. Which are the "must-downloads?"