qwazse

My take on all of this: The draft is not supposed to help the scout with the final plan. It's just supposed to let everybody know that the scout wants to do "project x" and everybody is in agreement with him developing and implementing a plan to do it. It's between the scout and the "Service Project MBC" (sorry, getting sick of the term Eagle Coach) how much feedback he should get and how solid his plan should be before implementation. Different projects require different levels and types of preparation. Thus, the draft is a blue-card of sorts. That said, our district advancement chair is fairly meticulous about projects, and requests that boys meet with him personally. He likes to see drafts in pretty good condition before giving the go-ahead.

A rose by any other name ... No matter what you call it, you are accounting for individuals' fundraising and crediting their access to pack funds in proportion to what they've raised. The only question is: does that accounting exist for the boy's parents' personal benefit, or does it enable the boy stewards over some pack funds for the pack's benefit?

Was at the scout shop yesterday and skimmed it. It did not seem "head and shoulders" better than the last edition, so no purchase made.

Son #1 and his buddies listened to mostly 80s music, so if the band was good I doubt it would have been a problem. Son #2 was with our crew this fall at a council camporee that included a decent local country western band, laser show, and fireworks. They were delayed because of rain, and one of the girls was getting chilled, so he and another fellow and female youth requested to go back to camp (which was a mile away, but there was an adult hanging back there). I had no problems with it. I can imagine a patrol of younger boys wanting to make similar adjustments. So my opinion: as long as the boys were still being accountable to their adult leadership, the Campmaster was out of line. If there was a safety issue, he should have had the courtesy to explain it.

I got weird database errors when trying to post yesterday. Not sure what that was a bout.

I dunno, a little oragami can make a comfy shelter from a tarp, or a perfect sling from a necker, or a sturdy pack from two boards and a drop-cloth, or a collapsible three-shelf oven from a #10 can and a wire coat hanger ...

"I can't help but think that if the other adult leaders in the troop had the strength of character, including myself, and/or the inclination to take on the role of SM that the current SM would have been ousted by now. If he steps down or is asked to step down, I believe it is highly unlikely that the troop will continue." This is an indication of really bad leadership that a lot of us need to look out for. When folks around us think that we cannot be replaced and everything will fall apart if we go, we are not prepared when things go off the rails. You need to find the institutional head and ask for someone to step in for the COR. Heart attacks take months to bounce back from. You can tell him/her that since becoming CC you realized that the troop isn't functioning as it ought, and you need a little guidance to make it better. We scouters screw up interpersonally all the time. It's actually one of the benefits of being an adult in the program. You get to come clean about your strengths and weaknesses and over time improve a little. I'm all for giving a person the benefit of the doubt, but if a guy hasn't apologized to you for his inappropriate behavior, I'm afraid it just means he's moving on to his next mark.

If you mean will the BSA still exist? That really depends on if the adults of tomorrow value what BSA's done for them as the youth of today. Will scouting still exist? Based on the number of scouting organizations world wide and in the USA. Odds are one or two of them will allow youth to hike and camp and head up a vibrant program independent of adults.

We've had a spate of Eagles who generate service projects every other month, it seems. Then we collect scouting for food and sort it for the pantry at our CO. Folks ask us to retire flags, so we do that. Then we leave it up to the boys. Most of them volunteer to help our crew coordinate the district in placing flags on veterans' graves in a large non-profit cemetery. Plus, wherever we camp, we ask how we can help. We definitely knock out more than 4 a year. It depends on the year and the boys if we do more than that.

Not sure what you expect us to do with all the personal stuff thrown in there. Just let me say that whatever he offered in terms of "friendship", you did not return it if you just accepted it as part of some reputation. I tell my female youth that real friendship means putting us guys in our place when we are wholly inappropriate. For teens that's often a matter of saying "I'm just not that into you." rather than "Let's just be friends." But for adults, it's a matter of saying "How dare you ..." and "Don't ever again ..." I'll leave actual committee chairs to discuss how they deal with the management issues. But in general, yes, folks do become surprised when you aren't a pushover. The polite thing to do is to express your dissatisfaction with how things are operating and give a vision of how you would like them to be different. Then ask one of those helpful parents for an honest evaluation of how you did and what you could do differently. Regarding the Eagle application ... it all depends if the typos reflect a lack of officiousness or lack of integrity. If the boy's just sloppy, let it go. If he's trying to pull a fast one on you and the SM, put your foot down. The more Life BOR's you sit on, the better feel you'll have for which boy is which.

For a few years, a local sporting goods store gave a modest discount with your card, so we all got used to carrying them. Sadly those days are gone because the recession was tough on the corporate and they had to sell "our" store to pay for recent expansions elsewhere.

When we played the lottery (couple years before you) the spring and winter break slots were open. Never could get my crew to part with family for the holidays. Spring break is usually problematic around here because snow days are taken out of that break.

Flowers and chocolates to your wife, every month. Work really hard to remember what it was to be a scout the age of those in your unit. You'll do just fine.

Clearly BSA sheds liability in these cases. But, at what cost? Obviously there is a perverse calculus that the losses in registration fees (from boys who would rather spend them on a weekend out with their buddies) will be offset by decreased exposure to litigation. Yep, I remember troops like that in the 80s. As a country youth, I chalked it up to "citification." Now that I live in suburb/hood, and volunteer with a variety of adults, I realize that there are parents who will allow certain levels of independence to foster, and others who just can't bring themselves to do so. SM just told me about counseling camping MB for a boy who left our troop right after his first year a while back. Not one backpacking night in the four years since! There are lots of reasons why his troop never did this (so far), but it is discouraging to hear because these are scouters who could make it happen, and they oughtta know I'd loan them the youth to make it so.

Well, there are lots of ways to go over the deep end with this. For example, an SMC at a coffee shop (because maybe meetings aren't working out, or in my case a youth sees me on a break and wants to sit down and talk about his rank advancement) there may be dozens of adults and youth present, a few of them know each of us, but what if none that I know are scouters? Should we shout "Is there a card carrying member of the BSA in the house?" before starting a conversation? I would say not, because we have both upheld the intent of no one-on-one contact. On the other hand, if someone were to schedule repeated SMCs with one boy during troop meetings (where adults and scouts are in the same room) without specifically telling anyone else why he/she needed to do so, one might consider insisting they change their behavior, because even though they stick to the letter of the law, there might be a "hair on the back of the neck" feeling that the intent is being violated.

Overthink much?

Not enough experience to have an opinion on this one. Shared council facilities with outside groups on weekends and such, and everyone pretty much kept to themselves, or collaborated in a couple of common activities. Not sure how a week long camp would work,

No, it does not assume. Youth have come to me with plans for weekend campout or hike. They have various qualifications (certified EMT, seasoned hiker, etc ...) and I would advise them on their plan, loan gear (sometimes give keys to the car), and bless them as they went on their way. Who am I to gainsay a solid plan by requiring them to take on two more persons who may add cost and risk to the venture? Just because the BSA no longer supports the pinnacle scouting experience, doesn't mean I have to. Scouting happens. Inasmuch as BSA supports it, folks will support the BSA.

Or, it could be that the scout is doing his best and performing a a reasonable level for his age. Evaluate him over the next month, if he assists the SPL, shows up prepared for meetings including your PLC, and fills in where necessary, etc ... stop worrying. If not pick one thing to improve upon in the next month. If he does, next month give him another thing. (Do this in consultation with the SPL by asking "how do you think you'll need your sidekick to help you in the coming month?") If the boy does nothing, remove him from office. Give him a month to decide if there's another POR where he would like to contribute. Stop judging a kid by age. Rather, attend to his actions. How is this hard?

If anybody out there in internet land is doing such a thing, I'm with Stosh on this one. Johnny might be doing the troop a world of good going to Jambo or Philmont, but Mom and Dad don't get a deduction on it. Gimme back my tax $$ with interest! Folks who would like to pull those kind of stunts are a good reason to steer your unit clear of ISAs; however, I'm not gonna wag a finger at folks who aren't trying to use this as a tax shelter ... The folks who spoke at RT said scale is the issue. The organizations flagged by the IRS were fundraising to such a degree and in such large amounts -- the entire portion of which being an individual benefit and employing parents more than youth to garner it -- that it was deemed taxable income of the parents. A boy who earns a grand a year for camp, gear, and to eventually go on an HA in a few years isn't going to be taxed anyway (his work, his income, not his parents) -- probably not even required to file. So socking it in an ISA is not drawing the ethical dilemma that folks say it would be.