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Case in point. When I was a scout, a young ASM brought a bottle of alcohol (Iron City, to be exact) to camp. A scout found it and drank it. The committee dismissed the ASM and suspended the scout. Today, I am certain that legal action would be taken against our CO for corrupting the morals of a minor. I suspect that BSA’s “even outside of scouting” stipulations come from such litigation. As a consequence, hardship is foisted on young adults with high integrity because of young adults who lack integrity.

It’s a big country, and there certainly are troops that expressly say women aren’t welcome. But, I have tried to encourage moms to develop as ASMs or Co-Advisors and it’s just not done in our community. We have a culture where overwhelmingly dads are expected to camp with their children (both male and female). I personally thank every mom who comes camping with their troop because I know from experience what a rare breed they are. And, from my experience, it’s a generational thing. The now deceased great-grandmas and great aunts who I’ve talked to spent nights under canvas and took their kids camping. I think the pendulum is swinging back to that. The female execs who I’ve met aren’t mere administrative wonks. They understand the outdoors and working with boys and girls. But as they begin to have children, they’ll need the social supports to continue. That’s why single young adults are so valuable to BSA and GS/USA programs. They tend to be gun-ho for the outdoors and can relate to younger youth, and they aren’t usually involved in child or elder care. There are maturity concerns that cannot be overlooked, but if our society weren’t so punitive to everyone besides the few young adults who behave badly they might be manageable.

Their husbands?

@gpurlee, I was waiting for that to end with the Mrs wearing the new fur coat you got her for Christmas. You are truly exceptionally kind.

The fundamental problem: most people experience one-on-one contact as a net good. some people experience it as evil. When you are young (or not so young) and principled, it is hard to accept sacrificing so much goof to avoid so little evil.

It’s all the rage these days https://www.scouting.org/program-updates/scouts-bsa-youth-council-announcement/ https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2021/10/28/your-scout-can-help-shape-the-future-of-scouts-bsa-within-new-youth-council/

Well, 27 million of something is not nothing. Beyond that, it really depends on how people on the ground feel 3 years hence. Say 50 million is raised. That might be enough to extend the fundraising campaign. Especially if folks see some of those funds being dispersed or put to productive use. We see this all the time with capital campaigns. A goal might might not be met, but it might be sufficient enough to start work. This then is sufficient encouragement to extend the campaign.

@5thGenTexan, careful there. When the scouts use them wrongly when we aren’t around, at least they are with their buddies who know first aid. When we old farts cut corners (or do something worthy of having a totin’ chip corner cut), we’re usually by our own stupid selves.

What does it matter? The scout was fulfilling his PoR by delegating to the ASPL. I suppose the scouts could chose to recall the SPL and hold another election. And maybe if it were bad enough, if I were SM I’d suggest it to the PLC. If we officially suspended the scout, that would be another point. It sounds like the troop benefited from a competent ASPL, the ASPL learned something about how unreliable his buddy was, and gained some experience. We chalk that up to a win and move on.

So, my dad (and the committee) didn’t stay. If they dropped in on a meeting (literally, we met in a basement) they were absolutely quiet. Their meetings were held upstairs starting a little after the troop meeting and extended after the troop meeting for any scout who wanted a BoR. (So when we were up for a BoR, we literally went up.) I remember waiting in the basement with my buddy (whose mom was on the committee) and other scouts who needed a BoR. All that to say, you don’t have to hang around the troop meeting unless the SM needs a little depth for YP purposes.

I’m in a council of 1/2 dozen mergers. Preserving numbers is pretty high on the list. I don’t know how they resolve units in merging councils with the same number.

@yknot, I’m just relaying facts on the ground. Perhaps this CO has very little to loose and is going for broke. But, frankly, the cost of running an engaging youth program is very very high, and a parent would be sorely mistaken to assume that their church’s youth program would train to the level needed for comparable youth protection. And, actually, you can preach a whole lot without open doors. File it under stuff my pastor friends have learned during a pandemic.

Far from it. Preaching the gospel is front and center. Our CO is rechartering without hesitation.

@Scouting412, welcome to the forum. And my apologies for letting life get in the way of helping to roll out University of Scouting for Laurel Highlands Council. We could have met, I could have served you some insanely good espresso, and I would have advised you to hop on these forums for even better ideas. Besides referring you here I would have advised: Your job, based on your position, is to assist the scoutmaster. If he/she feels you’ve done that, you’re golden. Pandemics are a drag, but don’t use them as an excuse. Elections: only vote on SPL. Let him pick his assistant. Divide patrols (if they aren’t obvious already) based on friendships and who will be least likely to bully someone else. Each patrol elects their leader. Go through the patrol building steps … name, flag, yell, etc … Opening flag, do roll call by patrols. This can be fun. Not much of a hiker? Dude, start walking! Get dahntahn with the boys and check out the trees and lights! We’ve made hiking out to be this complex activity. Keep it simple, have fun!

But couldn’t one also say that about litigants? Have they done the really hard work of determining how safe the nation’s youth will be absent BSA (and the slew of other organizations now hesitant to front youth programs)? Isn’t looking for “the next big stick” an addiction of its own? I follow your stories because relaying them is the most authentic way I can communicate to my scouts why some adults are taking their camps from them and driving the costs of being in their organization to unprecedented heights. I also hope that it will help an abused youth to find the strength to come forward sooner rather than later. I also follow them because it reminds me that youth become more resilient more safely with me than elsewhere. I look at boys and girls who want to hike and camp safety, and I pick the organization best suited to train them and other young adults to do that. Then I stand in a field on a Saturday night watching their campfires fade praying they grow strong and good. That’s my amends. Not waiting for BSA to do anything transformative. But, when I have a moment I’ll type my short list.

Define “failure”. Guys like me will still take boys camping. There is a body of literature that will enable us to do so well into the future. There are people/entities who will let us camp on their land. We will rely on our state’s mandatory background checks, maybe.

I could trust some of my scouts/venturers with a skill saw more than I could trust myself. Simply put, all of that vocational training was fresh in their minds. Meanwhile a few nicks on my hide here and there had betrayed long lost vo-tech lessons. Even as a youth, I really shouldn’t have been trusted with a belt sander when I was working on my Eagle project. But then I’m not sure if I asked permission from my folks to use it.

@NealOnWheels and @69RoadRunner, there is a FB group dedicated to Dolly Sods. Lots of pictures, but also discusses issues like LNT, traffic, hunting, edible plant seasons, etc…

If your scouts like wilderness, that’s as good as it gets on the east coast. Note that wilderness recreation areas should not be traversed in groups larger than 10. When our troop and crew were large, we planned a different itinerary for each patrol.

We might consider that to be a poor choice of words, but I’m certain the choice was made very deliberately. The marketing double-speak still considers “Family Scouting” to sell better than, co-Ed, mixed sex, Cub Scouts for girls, or any other such plain spoken title.

Excessive risks for what? What is the negative outcome for the scout when he/she takes aim at a target depicting a creature, throws a ball at fellow scout in a catch-or-evade challenge, deploys a super-soaker instead of a mobile heat-stroke abatement device, attends a political rally in uniform, shares a tent with someone of the opposite sex, is one-on-one with a trained scouter, or spends an hour on the road to camp? What is the rate of negative outcome from the activity (per time involved therein) relative to: the rate of positive outcomes as a result of the activity, the rate of the same negative outcome when scouts or other youth do not do the activity. Under what conditions (e.g. NCS supervised, ethics training, resilience building, etc …) are those rates altered? The G2SS comes off as a bunch of disjointed pronouncements because it doesn’t present outcomes and admit if certain relative risks are unknown.

If only my buddy could keep his family business rolling. A small order of fries from the Original Hot Dog shop would feed a troop! I have put my plans for an urban trek on the back burner. This town would be ideal for it. But, my personal favorite for a few days backpacking is Dolly Sods wilderness.

If I’m not mistaken, the institution head signs the app. But, it’s been a while since I’ve read that fine print.

I repeatedly try to convince my adults that permission slips are the best way of unit-to-scout-to-parent communicate. This is from my experience as a scout … especially as an SPL coordinating drivers. We scouts filled in the details on the slips three meetings in advance of the event, we returned them two meetings minus go time so that each PL could plan accordingly during the meeting before the event. They seem to be of the mindset that a half dozen redundant Emails and texts are more efficient. At the Cub level? When all parents attend? I’m not so sure how helpful they would be.

If the boys are both passionate about the church, encourage that. But if they haven’t even started writing a proposal, I’d take it as a sign that they aren’t all that passionate. Encourage them be aware of what the other members of the church — not just one other scout — are doing. If you have any association with the church let the clerk of session know that these boys are probably some months away from implementing any service project and that whatever each comes up should be somewhat independent of the other. Then walk away. These are Life scouts. It’s for them to sort out with their mutual beneficiary. P.S. - this could be a win-win. With projects these days requiring two-deep adult supervision, a larger adult pool should translate into more time when the scouts could be adequately supervised.