qwazse

Welcome, and thanks in advance for your service to the boys.

Finding it too much trouble (five summers in a row) to go down to aquatics -- or the community pool, or the Great Lake by my in-laws one cottage or ocean by their winter home -- to wrap up that Swimming MB partial, Son #2 earned hiking instead. His 20-miler passed four pools and two rivers. He recently failed a life guard qualifying exam. (Taken mainly to keep his girlfriend company, as she does this seasonally for her summer job.) In after action review he criticized me and Mrs. Q for never adequately teaching him to swim efficiently. I have half a mind to excavate that partial and give it to his girlfriend.

"nut", but did he make money (counterfeit or otherwise) at it?

No different than if I see a QM staring at the frame of a busted trailer ... I might challenge him to take a welding class. Or consider an internship with an auto-body shop. Not every good thing a boy may do has to lead to Eagle rank. Furthermore, as it is, Backpacking MB: Only requires 3x3day treks and 1x5day trek for a total (subtracting bookend days) of 10 camping nights. <Insert protracted debate over interpreting "day".> You don't necessarily have to sleep under canvas or less. <Insert protracted debate of interpreting "carry everything you need" when some campsites have adirondaks.> There is no stipulation to do any trek as part of a recognized scouting activity. <Insert protracted debate over whether those self-serving stipulations have helped or hurt BSA.> So right now, any SM could just challenge boys to try Outward Bound or AMC, and they could use what they've done there toward this MB. I'm concerned that a rather elegant hobby MB will become marred by specifications once we border the badge with silver.

If it's an "or", is it really required? I honestly i doubt that it will have the intended consequence. Look what requiring inviting one friend to a troop meeting has done for our membership numbers.

You were expecting chapter quizzes from the SM handbook?

As a general we ASMs and SMs pawn off our kids on one another. That way, no boy of a strong leader is under "the microscope." Still, Son #2 asked me to be his Eagle advisor. The other thing, respect the fact that your son will probably the one coming early and staying late to meetings on your account.

Hmm, can I believe it? Only if it's happened to someone else. Last night, the SM walked with me while we dismantled the proving course I had set up for 1st class land navigation (which both every team of his scouts and my venturers failed to complete). He wasn't bothered about that. He was rankled about the misplaced enthusiasm of cross-over parents who pushed their boys into a canned Cit. Nation MB class ASAP. His troop exists partly because my troop insisted on a youth-led model with no rank-inflation. He got swarmed with the crossovers, while our troop collected just a few transfers who were more interested in cut apron-strings than collecting bling. Now, we're stuck trying to restore balance. Yep. I can believe it.

Again, you ignore facts in evidence. O/A requires 15 nights. One summer camp, and 5 3-day weekends (including, but not limited to, cabin camping) in the span of two years, and the boy's in. Many arrowmen have not earned Camping MB. In fact, for some, that extra ordeal night might be what brings them to their 21st required for the MB. But, the real problem: SM's failure to instill a vision in PL's of independent hiking and camping weekends to suit their mates' needs and tastes. This could be because the parents gave the SM push-back. It could be that the SM didn't trust that his PL's were first class (concept not just patch) scouts. Or snow and cold scared everyone. Whatever. End result: @@mlc's son had no clue that he should have been lining up nights for himself with his patrol. (E.g., "Hey fellas, let's camp on the field by my game this weekend. It will give my team good mojo.") Heck, I'll nudge a PL to draft a plan to camp out with his guys by the ticket booth for some prime seats at their favorite concert the following month, I'd help them line it up .... maybe even call the owner of a restaurant to drop off a small order of fries to them. Other adults will never think outside of their unofficial boxes. Now the boy may be at fault in not detecting that his troop was underselling program to him. Maybe he should have read his handbook to know more of what to expect, forcing the troop to raise the bar. After all, reading a reference thoroughly is the first step in mastering any scouting skill.

Posted in '15. I'm pretty sure if it was last year it would be different.

That piece of fine print might have come in handy when our troops were merging. It's been generally a smooth process, but the young committee and SM were torn between CO's. We older scouters had our preference, but tried to stay out of it. That may have caused us to lose a couple of scouts.

Our current SE, she seems to be a pretty sharp tack. But, we have already groomed two CSE's for you all. It is a real pain when our people move up and we try to fill the vacuum they left with someone of not-yet-comparable skill. Time for some other council to start molding their exec for the job. Regardless, I know as many female as male scouters who are more stringent about unisex program than Mike Surbaugh. So IMHO, sex of the exec won't be a driving factor. I'd wager this: if our CSE or national president over the years are replaced by younger scouters -- especially those with international experience -- we'll see more of a push towards Scouting USA. If they are replaced by older scouters, we'll see a push towards unisex ... possibly even the marginalizing of venturing and other LFL program.

and as the OP states, on the boy's off-season, his troop was doing indoor overnights. So, in this troop, it was not just a matter of one weekend per year, but the right one weekend per year. I coach my crew into planning nights under canvas (or less) because troops have dumbed down their winter programs.

Genital examination helps detect a number of conditions, one of the most relevant for scouts being hernias. A week at camp will end quickly if an undetected hernia ruptures. I can't imagine any doctor thinking that it could be ignored in a youth. It's not clear to me what equipment is needed besides gloves (for the examiner's universal precaution) and a mallet (for neuro-muscular screening) to complete this. As scouts get older, these screen for venereal disease and pregnancy (in girls), pubertal delay, as well as child abuse. Those may not have anything to do with participation in summer camp, but by requiring an annual physical it gives at-risk youth and their parents a chance to make lifesaving decisions. Do many scout parents gloss over these? Yes. But that's why we all go through this exercise every year. Hopefully in even the most shoddy of physicals, something will get caught.

It sounds like he has plenty of long-term nights, but only six of those count.

You want terrified? Talk to a refugee kid from someplace where nobody stood up to holligans. God help the Czechs. They've been here before.

Seen it done dozens of times. This gives a boy a chance to discover that no matter where you go, there you are. For some, that's a pleasant experience; others, not so much.

This is not hard. The requirement says "at designated scouting activities or events" It does not say "with your troop." The counselor may not add to the requirements. There is nothing to discuss with anyone. The boy turns in his camping record. Some nites with troop x, some nights with troop y, some nights with O/A, some nights with a venturing crew, and maybe six days at a summer camp. If the counselor refuses, take that blue card to a different counselor. Frankly. I would encourage your son to not worry about the badge. Scouts from another troop invited him camping. He has a window of time between seasons. Go have fun! This is not a matter of asking permission from the SM. This is a matter of reading the requirements, doing what they say, and telling your MBC what you did.

My bet has been on World Jambo being the motivation for a pivot. Every WOSM event seems to return one more scouter to our district who thinks less of our unisex shenanigans. It seems to me that sending boy scouts to staff and World Jambo alongside their Canadian and Mexican counterparts would be a more organic way to influence key stakeholders. Changing for the sake of World Jambo sounds like putting the cart before the horse. Of course, the reverse is possible. BSA's scouts might make such an impression, that our friends to the north and south might consider going back to unisex movements.

I've met two PCT thru hikers. Both thoroughly enjoyed it. One just wouldn't shut up about it!

Around here, our unit committees sit on EBoRs with a district representative moderating them. So, in our situation what they know via their school/law/clergy professions would come into play regardless of what they could tell me. That may not be the case where you are. Also, it feels like half of our most vocal parents wind up raising boys with exactly the problems they complain about in some other older scout. Keep that in mind as you put up with the "cross-talk".

Community service does not do much to fix these problems. In fact, I've known quite a few "druggies" (as some have called them), who joyfully volunteer for this stuff. Now if in the process of that service, someone gets paired up with a mentor (e.g. a NA sponsor) who will be on that person like white on rice, and there is a 360 evaluation of home, social relationships, work. and school environments over an extended period of time ... then that changes the landscape. So, the boy did not give up his "someone". I've had scouts with discipline issues and they often pointed to doing something "for their friends". To which my reply is "You either lead your friends, or follow them. One will help you soar, the other will drag you down." In a sense, the boy is failing to show leadership in his project, because he's choosing to be led by others. Thus, from an Eagle scout's perspective, this isn't about drug possession. This is about "giving up command of one's vessel" (a lesson learned from Seabase's Captain Steve). He needs to fend off the mutineers whom he's called friends or associates, hire a loyal crew, commit to them, set new coarse, and catch a wholesome wind. Some back-slidden 17.5 year-olds can take back command of their own vessel in time to rightly be awarded Eagle. Many will find themselves unworthy. There is no way to tell which you scout is from this side of the internet, but I can say this: being found unworthy is sometimes the best gift a fellow can get.

It certainly has robbed my sons of the privilege that I had of walking students from the women's colleges home after they had joined us in the University campus activities.

There is something to the maintenance of fitness at each rank. Moreover, attention to detail is something I expect from through-hikers. That includes record-keeping. (E.g., small note-book and pencils are required equipment for wilderness excursions.) I'm sorry that E-94's son had a clock reset. But if it was a result of him not being willing to stay organized starting from day 1 after Scout rank, then maybe he needs to think about how that may affect his performance on an adventure. For my venturers, it's pretty organic. I approve plans based on their commitment to training and sharpening their first-class skills. We have established land-navigation days months in advance, half of them are blowing off that commitment. This directly impacts their vision for independent hiking in wilderness areas. They have to earn the trust of myself and one other adult before we allow them to insert on their own and rendezvous with us in the evening. So, in their case, physical fitness is not the problem (in fact their sports commitments are what's affecting attendance), but map-and-compass savvy is. Don't get me wrong we'll still hike in the same area, but I'll revise their plan if they don't sharpen the skills as I expect them to. Anyway, that's how I transition our youth from "be prepared" to "lead the adventure". It's not about some oval patch you earned once upon a time. It's about years later being a first class scout, the concept, not the patch. So back to E-94's young son. If he goes to his leaders, points out that he blew off the fitness tracking requirement, but did all the others, and has been exercising routinely regardless - including conditioning hikes, and can boldly say that having learned his lesson, he is their 1st class scout, patch pending ... I'd like the leaders to consider scheduling SMCs for at least one or two of those ranks at some point(s) on the AT.

My general impression is that camp usage does not directly impact sustainability. Most of the fees collected from scouts go to food, liability insurance, and staffing. Capital funds are collected separately (i.e. FOS). So, councils where units have held insurrections against capital campaigns, have less capital and do not improve facilities (note the White House pictures in 'Schiff's' link). This makes units perceive they are getting less for their FOS dollars, which reinforces the cycle. Requiring scouts to attend an undesirable camp, is not a great way to generate alumni who will donate to that camp. Maybe the JTE should give points to the number of adults who visit a camp of their youth and contribute to that council's FOS.