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In fairness, fellas, this story could easily turn into "Eagle badge procrastinators cause local governments to interrupt essential services for last-minute interviews." If I recall, Son #1 and his buddy had to make an appointment with the school board president weeks in advance to meet him *after* the board meeting. He expected them to attend the meeting and be prepared to discuss the night's docket as well as whatever issues they had in mind. Before any of you shout "adding to the requirements", everyone needs to understand that 'round here we expect a certain quality of work from high school youth, especially boys at the top of their class in both academics and athletics. And it makes sense that an elected official responsible for educating young people should make every youth encounter an educational one for both parties. I think our elected officials have the right to hear from our scouts on the officials' terms, in a way that they can ensure good two-way communication. So, I'm all for a scout finding out from his government "why" they won't turn on a dime. But, I'm against a young adult whining to the media about it without him being willing to commit to helping the solution by either voting for a candidate or putting his hat in the ring himself. P.S. - The board president's daughters were in my crew and one was a good friend of the boys, so he could have made this very convenient for the scouts. I'm quite glad that he didn't.

So, daughter comes home from break and I find her, Son #2, and Mrs Q playing a feisty round of cards. Talk turns to who endured the worst childcare, who got sent to the worst church camp, who didn't get sent to any church camp, etc .... Daughter than pipes up, "Well, I couldn't be a member of the BSA for 7 years." I tried to point out that she was the one who let her membership lapse when she went to college, and she said that those weren't the years that mattered. Her childhood was spent watching me take her brothers off camping. GSUSA, you gotta step it up. Get your moms out under canvas (or less) more often in tougher conditions. Or, someone else will.

I'm assuming you're the counselor. If not, he should call the MBC right away and let him/her know about this snag. Failure is a possibility. Partly his fault because for starting this one so late. Partly the fault of an unresponsive government. How to counsel the boy? Well, persistence does matter. So he should stop in at the town hall every day for the next two days. He should log every call. There has to be SOMEBODY he can talk to about this. As a last ditch, he could interview the person who is putting him on hold, and ask if he could get his/her opinion and if he/she has any idea how young people can help. Even if he gets a "No Comment" I bet he's learned something. When he turns 18, he should request a voter's registration. And possibly consider running for office.

My SM started in retirement and kept going till the Parkinson's got the upper hand. This had certain advantages. If you needed a conference, you could just walk over to his front porch after school. (My house was a mile away, but it was a splendid hike.) Plus he could tell you history like it was first person. (Still remember him talking about his family worrying about polio.) It had disadvantages. He was no spring chicken. So our backpacking was in countryside, not wilderness. Point is, he stuck with it thanks to constant support from the CO (his home church, which he would attend when the church he played organ for didn't need him). We boys didn't know the difference until some of us went to ?Jambo, etc ... and the contingent was led by a young SM. I don't know when I'll turn in the Advisor's patch. I've got decent support from the CO, but I keep thinking that my youth might benefit from someone young stepping into the gap. Still looking for that replacement.

Sorry your attempts fell on the having "to be willing to accept a little hurt." It's better to drop him from the charter. If he wants to come back in the new year, it will require talking to you, plus the paperwork. If he take's up the first burden, I'm sure the BSA youth application will be pretty light. If he doesn't come round, he's better off for having dealt with you. Hopefully he'll have the good sense to tell you that when he grows up. (Here's praying he does.)

Oh, not irate. Just jawin' on the other half of the shoe. It is possible to not throw the baby out with the bathwater, work hard to build the cardre of adults so you'll never come up short, everybody doing what they can to hold accountable, etc ... I suspect that's what the OP is trying to do. Get a bead on the G2SS wording and explain to her parents that they need some men to step up. But, it ain't hurting anyone to know that a stipulation can amount to nonsense. And "compliance" might not get you the YP someone thinks it will. It might work against you. That's where nose-to-the-grindstone good judgement needs to be applied. IMK and her committee thinks she's used it. You disagree. Folks in internet-land may fall somewhere in between. It's a good idea to hash out why they do. Here's where we agree: If any unit leaders are in this kind of bind with routinely finding appropriate two-deep, for whatever reason, I definitely think they need to get in touch with their DE or even SE and build a better action plan than going off with some provincial interpretation of the G2SS.

And how, pray-tell, does encouraging units across the country to procure a politically-correct-sexed person they may barely know from Adam or Eve to supplement their complement of chaperons-of-uniform-but-opposite-to-the-youths' sex do that? How does cancelling the activity help that one youth who might have been counting on it to get a day away from an abusive situation? Most rules are a reaction to something gone wrong. It's always good to know when they aren't likely to have the intended effect of making things right, and adjust accordingly.

I tell a scout to be true to God and his Country. Self comes in a close third, but only in terms of physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

'Skip, it varies. Many parents who need it are too proud to speak up (rugged individualists), and many who don't are quick to milk the system for all it's worth. In our neck of the woods, we've found it best to have that policy, but not put it in writing. We train our adult leaders to be on the look-out for boys and families who might be in a bind. The SM has a discretionary fund for minor things. For substantial expense, he can meet with the treasurer and committee chair to make an executive decision. At the next committee meeting, the treasurers report will have that decision of the amount spent without mentioning names or number of kids assisted. This sounds a little cloak-and-dagger, but we have parents and boys who would not accept charity if they ever thought word would get out. And, we have the occasional boy who wants to go on a big trip, but his spending priorities put making payments for the next adventure at the bottom of his list.

Gold Bond is your friend, gsd. Just sayin'!

Well, let's see ... If it's a choice between some token female and a dad who I can trust to speedily dispatch anyone who lays a hand on my female youth, guess what I'm choosing? In the same vein, I kinda trust IMK to choose a mom who will be accountable. I don't believe the group less safe from abuse because the men she trusts can't make the hike, but the one woman she trusts can. And, given the probabilities, I definitely don't think a troop full of boys are at less risk if you cancel the weekend and leave them to their own devices. All that said, IMK, I would recommend extending your contacts to other troops, commissioners, and unit reserve types who've earned.your trusts, so that you have a bigger depth chart.

1. Men's room? 2. What are SPL's for?

That is not a simple goal. It's more like a vision. But, there are lot's of goals that could help you toward that vision. For example, Contact 10 parents about promising to attend committee meetings. Aggressively promote training opportunities for unit adults. Develop a cub-coordinated recognition for adult leaders. With the CC, draft a yearly agenda. One of those, or something else might be within your reach. Anyway, keep your vision, but keep in mind that you'll be revising A LOT.

Part of the challenge at the cub level is actually drawing out the parents. Nobody really knows anybody, and you're always wondering who just needs a little nudge, and something great will be provided for the boys. This does it as well as any.

Headlines are rife with every possible combination ... Anybody got real stats about the relative risks of accusations during overnight activities among groups with same sexed leaders of youth of the opposite sex?

One thing that may help for Mr. Do-Nothing is keeping him on the short list for special service projects that pop up from time to time. So, for example, you approach the PL and say "SPL and I need a volunteer to help set-up activity X. It may involve some hiking/hauling/touching base with the ranger. Is there an older first-class scout who we may borrow for the next few hours?" (nudge-nudge wink-wink).

Think in terms of things you've been meaning to do, but haven't done, yet you could do if you put your mind to it -- even if other people don't help you. So, your goal for the district campout is ambitious, but what if nobody shows? The real goal for you would be to identify key volunteers, find a date on the schedule, and if all goes well, promote it. Goals should focus on your primary position. And, like in SSScout's case, your ticket guide will help you sort through what fits and what doesn't. So, brainstorm now, but be prepared to do a lot of editing over the training weekends.

What are the PL's telling you? Do they think they can work with one boy but not the other? How far apart does each patrol camp from the others? You used the phrase "my patrol". Have you been assigned to be its advisor for any particular reason? IMHO it is reasonable to suspend a boy for not participating in the life of the troop. But you really want to save that for a really bad apple. Maybe that applies to Mr. Do-nothing, but I don't think it applies to Mr. Slip-shod. That said, if you're planning any kind of super-activity, you'll need multiple shake-downs and conditioning weekends to make sure these boys are getting up to speed.

Oh, to somebody not getting their entitlement it is. You're basically rubbing their "poverty" in their face. Let's face it. Guys like us get our kicks when some kid comes to you asking about breakfast and we reply, "Well, the water is there, your bowl is in your pack, and your patrol's stove, pot, and oatmeal is thataway ..." Not everybody sees the good in that. My bottom line: let the CC know about the parental "drama-du-jour" and tell him/her to fix it. The bigger the troop, the more you get these crack-pots, the more it can't be the SM who deals with them. Basically BD, anything more than one sentence (that's all the boys will read anyway), is giving the haters just what they want. (I learned that one early on as crew advisor.) That gas thing ... your CC and COR need to make sure it's in the troop budget.