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I read the source article in full this morning. To be clear, the effect amounts to a two point increase on a 100 point questionnaire. That means something to folks thinking about social programs and at-risk services. But not so much to folks in one neighborhood trying to figure out what volunteer program they can put on for their kids. Not at all to a school psychologist trying to decide which kid will develop the next anxiety disorder. That said, I do have a colleague who has been working on exposure therapies via some structured outdoor experiences ...

@@NJCubScouter, so CF should have it's image sullied (by boys in uniform abstaining from it) because its CEO's on occasion voiced opinions that Target did not? Isn't that precisely the political activism that we want the boys to avoid? @@witch359, some pointers: If your boys wanted to participate here, they (SPL or designated PL) should have contacted the restaurant. I wouldn't count it as service hours if they weren't involved in every aspect of the event. The committee's job is to support the mission of the troop (which largely is defined by the boys), not to impede it. I have told mine on occasion to back off of my youth. The onus is on the adults to show where it is explicitly written that scouts in uniform cannot help a business in honoring the many veterans who may have worked or there or patronized them or simply meant a lot to them. Lacking written policies. You may let the boys know that there are concerns raised by activist adults and leave it up to the boys to decide how to honor them. If it's a written apology to the business to cancel plans or an apology to the concerned adults for sticking to them, the boys time composing the letter should count for service hours -- if the boys need you to count them. P.S. - I hate to high heaven when anyone does anything "for service hours", but it's nothing personal. (Considering we just "met". and welcome to the forums, BTW.) So please take that last point with a full dose of sarcasm toward BSA and none toward your good intentions. P.P.S. - The flagpole is a public place. Presumably welcome by the business to all citizens of and visitors to your great state. P.P.P.S - I was really hoping it was a Hooters, or a biker bar.

I still remember unwrapping that Christmas present from my Aunt: my first Cub Scout uniform! Clearly I had been in the pack for several months before then. But getting one is 1/10th the battle ... That and my baseball uniform were the only sets of clothes that I made sure were hung together and ready to go for the next meeting. I would beg and beg committee members to check my sons' socks in boards of review and suspend the board until the boy finds them and wears them with every other uniform element at the next possible time to reconvene. They insisted "Not gonna do it. Your kids are awesome" Folks just don't have standards anymore.

The signs our scouts bought were too big to bring to a meeting. (Okay. It was one scout. One sign. Single syllable. And he never tried to bring it to a meeting, just sneak it into random friends' yards for an evening.) With venturers, politics are never off the table. But, usually I muzzle anyone's blind rage with things like "Watch the debate."/"Read their platforms. (And any invited articles to Foreign Policy or The Congressional Record they may have written)"/"Highlight what you like/dislike." I then finish with ... "Once you've done that, come back and talk."

I'll talk to my crew about preparing an invite for him to come camp with us. I think Laurel-Highlands Council's decade of "amicable" mergers will impress him.

First step: call the headquarters of each council around where your grandfather grew up. Explain what you're doing and ask them how far back their archives go. Ask if they have anyone who keeps track of scouting history in their area. Good luck. It will take some gumshoe, but should be lots of fun.

So, no matter how you slice it ... on your 5th decade of blue and gold. Here's to five more!

@@Melgamatic, sounds like you did due diligence bringing up the issue with the adult. To continue his membership in the organization, the venturer will be required to take youth protection once he turns 18. If he is anywhere near his birthday, you may want to ask him to do so. That way, without harping on the specific situation, everyone gets put "on notice." Welcome to boots-on-the-ground reality. We all draw different lines between our personal lives and our scouting lives. And this certainly becomes the case with these older scouts ... many of whom worm their way into our families because we have proven to be trustworthy. Venturing certainly can make this even more complex. Many of these youth have small business (yard work, house sitting, small automotive) that rely on one-on-one contact with adults for most transactions. What becomes hard-and-fast for younger scouts, begins to blur for older ones.

Thanks. New Scientist has a reputation for loading funny depending on the connection. Got the source article: http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2016/10/05/jech-2016-207898.full.pdf+html(access may vary). Retrospective surveys are fraught with limitations, which the authors list in technical detail. Those aside, probably the greatest challenge is to know if the program of today will work on youth the same way that the program in the seventies seems to have done for these 50-year-olds. I do see the young adults I know deploying their scout skills (if they've gained them) to great effect.

Good point.Generally, in units with a sense of rugged individualism, I've seen UC can be a problematic position, followed by COR.

I would not split hairs over the regulations. The boy is a special case. If the boys in the den have already formed these attachments, don't break them over something like this. Work with the individuals and evaluate the next bridge with the parents when you come to it.

Or, maybe you all we doing a terrible job recruiting the crazies. Sorry, reversing causality is my bread and butter. I haven't been able to load the article, but look forward to reading it. Seriously, though, the last two suicides in our small school district were of boys who were friends with, but not members of, our venturing crew. It left me wondering if I had made an effort, would they have had that one more resource they would have needed to fit back the demons.

Okay, so you discover a youth who should have a skill, but does not. (Honestly, I'm not so bothered about some knot as I would be about say a 1st class scout who is afraid of the water, or can't pick out the log that would be long enough to cross a ravine, but that's just me.) This may be at an SMC or on some other occasion. What do you do? Who do you talk to?

This was for their safety. A three mile course built by the park service before starting the seven mile backpack gave the advisor and his dog a much needed nap. More seriously, they must overcome land navigation deficits before I risk their hides back-country. I've made it quite clear that the principle is long leash. To shoot for mountains, master foothills. I provided options. The alternative was to find a series of caches in the general direction of camp, and after the last one have a "modest bushwhack" over a ridge into the destination valley. Or they could have arranged any alternate route of their choosing. Anything except dawdling along half the distance with boy scouts. Finally, the hike (in its generalities) was chosen by the Crew President.

Our troop has approached UCs with animus. It wasn't a problem with being a council "toady". We like our council. Council/area presidents camp with us, and SEs pay our camps visits. On occasion, our high praise lets some of those pro's move on to be CSE's. (You're welcome.) And, even down to the boys, we love them. If anything, the rest of us are "toadies." But one person rubs the other the wrong way, someone feels pushed around, and sparks fly. So, the commissioner corps has kept it's distance. Thanks to those kerfuffles, I've actually had to work to bring my Crew's newly assigned UC in the loop. It's not ideal. But at least it's improving.

@@417Scouter, I honestly wouldn't take issue if he was doing something in uniform with a bunch of boys. But, this sure does sound a little "staged". If it really bugs you, put in a call to the council headquaters and let your SE know. He/she will probably call the campaign. It amounts to a slap on the wrist. But, if they know their stunt was offended more than it helped, they may change strategy next time. That is, until they're behind in the polls again.

To file away for when each of us are old gentleman or ladies ... To be fair, the policy is quite new. It is a response to the small percentage of older scouts who've attended World Jamborees or who have had spent some time with scouts from around the world. As you can tell in Bryan's blog, it is not without its detractors. In fact, we were discussing uniforming at our last round-table boy scout breakout, and I didn't bring the neckerchief exception up. Until it is the dress code for mid-day activities at summer camp, council service projects, etc ... leaders won't be convinced there is any merit to it.

The best way, IMHO is to have the boys present that 40th charter to your CO at some public function. (Our CO is a church, so Scout Sunday is the date of choice.) A photo opportunity with members of the sponsoring organization and the boys would make for a human interest story in the local paper. As always with Packs, keep it simple make it fun. Do you have a roster from that first charter? Any of those make Eagle? Still in town or able to visit? Scouts would love to hear from those adults. A quick story about their favorite cub scout memory at the pack meeting (or if you have a number of guys, one could visit each den) the month you plan to present the charter would help to get more boys into the presentation.

Next step: buzz. Word has to get out to their friends about what went on (good, bad, and just plain silly).

If I were to guess, the former CM is now Charter Organization Rep (COR). That's why his signature matters. He probably wanted to be sure that the new CM had his ducks in a row, because at the end of the year, if he's not trained the charter gets kicked back from BSA national. Keeping leaders trained has been increasingly challenging, and some councils are more demanding that this happens than others. If I were you, I would line up fun things for your den. Look for help from each of the parents, not just your co-leader. Ask each one to take on "leading" the special activity. Boys invest quickly in any friends they make. Leverage that investment. Pack events then become a side show.

Yesterday Son #1 and I were helping each other on our respective houses. In my yard we need to cut a rope, Having left our knives at his house, I went and grabbed my hatchet from the garage. He said, "Is that thing even sharp?" I said, "Since you guys have stopped putting it away with dents in it, yeah." Before he could walk to the back door for a kitchen knife ... THWACK ... Rope split, and old 4x4 with one more small nick. Pity we don't have matches that I could have struck off the ax head. I would have cut and fused with the same tool.

I've seen the same kind of incompetence in ASMs and the occasional SM. I find, however, that folks are less upset about a youth who needs correction vs. an adult who needs correction. So saddle your lead youth with sign-off responsibility, uniform inspection, etc... When they screw up, you'll have to put up with less jaw-jerking from your adult leaders.

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your service to the boys. Here's the test: are your boys smiling? The trick to cub scouts: Most of the boys activity is in the den. If the den is proceeding smoothly, that's 3/4 of the program. Cub scouts really isn't about camping. I spent a lot of time helping other parents my sons' ages get up to speed with camping. We had a great time. On the other hand, other parents helped get my kids up to speed in other areas (stock car racing, trucking, search and rescue). We had a great time. Sounds like you're gonna have to listen closely to your pack leadership. If they keep brushing you off, you may want to look elsewhere. If the boys are still smiling, you might rather put up with their shenanigans. I'm sorry if what I'm saying is not validating your desire to move on. I'm not calling you flat-out petty either. Just remember: smiles are your paycheck. Some folks would say that opinion of mine is kinda petty too. But, it's carried me through a bunch of crap-throwing over so-and-so's "incompetence."

First: Shelter? Build your own for the night! Assign each patrol, one tarp, 5 stakes, 15 feet of twine. My most vivid Klondike derby event: Kim's game. The JASM was explaining the rules ("This is a test of your powers of observation ...") and another ASM was helping him maintain their site. Anyway, the clock started we divided up the box in quadrants and took to memorizing every item in the box. Blanket was covered, 30 seconds, and we started writing furiously. I think we had a minute to remember all the contents of the box. Times up. JASM says: "Okay. So, for 10 nuggets, all or nothing, what was it that Mr. __ asked me for while I was giving you instructions?"

I take the GTA to mean that adult and youth divide up responsibilities. The PL signs off on most skills mastered. The ASM/SM sign off Service, Nights Camping, SMC's and BoR's. SM, obviously, signs blue cards. Any logs are on the scouts' honor. We don't sign off every row. Just when they've completed a milestone for the next rank. The SM adjusts that boundary depending on the maturity of the PLs. When we merged, the new SM had just gone through a round of immature PL's who were signing off their buddies without actually seeing them perform the skill, so he had an "only adults" rule. I promptly commenced talking us back from that ledge. They seem to be back at the usual mix.