qwazse

Hallmark male PMS. (An aside for PC types: I know this has nothing to do with cycles, and that youths' behavior is not as hormonally driven as folks make it out to be. But, in my crew some girls appreciate it when I call out the boys on this kind of thing, because ever since period one, folks have been blaming their "all about me" moments on things they can't control. It's nice to turn the tables. And, without pointing the finger at the females, teach that those "all about me" moments may have more to do with plain old selfishness than human biology.) It's never about one kid and some personal problem. It's about making the world revolve around him/her vs. making sure the world will keep turning on it's on axis while he/she rests up to be ready to serve later.

MT, that last one is genius, especially heart shaped balloons. You could call the game "Heartbreaker Hop"!

Forestalling death is it's own reward.

See JBlake's replay to howarthe on 11-04-2013. That about sums it up. But definitely start a new topic on this one. We've had similar, but it's always nice to have a fresh batch of replies!

'Skip, as a kid I never actually 'laid out' bullies. I landed a right hook square in a mate's jaw at church camp. Brought him to tears, which then brought me to tears. It was pathetic. But, word got around that although I was flat-footed and generally a softie, my arm had a longer reach than most. So, "going there" with me could have unintended consequences. Then in Jr. High, some upper-classmen cornered me against a locker, and pulled some punches just shy of connecting with my face. I didn't flinch, so it kind of freaked them out. Truth was I had slow reflexes. Anyway, somehow word got out that I was not to be messed with. Bullying kind of ended for me then because I started to get to know a few kids who could really fight but never did. But, in spite of getting the upper hand, I didn't feel any better about myself. In fact, I felt a little worse for not really being able to "turn the other cheek" and/or really keep that "stiff upper lip." It took scouting and an SM who would shut down any mean-spirited behavior from any of us for me to see how you could keep emotions in check yet play very physically so that everyone could have fun.

Our troop charges $55/boy this year. That's about $4.50/month. Just enough to cover registration fees and bling. Adults: $30/year. We'll evaluate if we have increase at the end of the year. Our crew charges $28: just enough to cover registration. We've only had to purchase one medal in the past 7 years. There is a little padding in the treasury for that and any active youth who comes up short financially.

Pity the SM. That medal of honor paperwork is gnarly.

It's been going around. Still if I was the boy, I wouldn't have told you. A day sick in the woods is better than a day recuperating any place else! Probably all the better that you didn't pull his tent pegs.

Thanks for more details. Talk to your scout executive as soon as possible. There may be resources out there, and he/she should be in a position to know about them. Also, a seasoned exec will put you in touch with seasoned leaders to help you think through what's best for the boy and the troop. Also, scouting doesn't stop in the juvenile justice system. Hopefully your scout will not face that. But, there are opportunities for him to keep working the program in juvy.

When you get a chance, tell the kid no hard feelings. But mid-afternoon was not the time for cracker barrel activities. Keeping an eye on things is part of the responsibility that goes with the patch.

Male PMS. gotta love it. On the fly, I have overridden SPLs who planned a slacker's afternoon. "When you get home, go crying to your mamas that Mr. Q made you hike an additional 3 miles 'cause the first-years wanted to keep going. I'd love to hear what they say." I get that boys sometimes want to step back from responsibilities with the youngn's. Fine, there's always wood to chop. I've never hesitated to pull pegs and poles. Tents are for members only. Now my crew may have the afternoon nap, but they'll start hiking at midnight.

Different councils have different resources. Ours would support any disciplinary action the troop would feel it needs to take. It would follow the lead of the Sate Police. They would refer the scout and his parents to ample counseling resources. In all likelihood they would insist that the boy consider rehab. In other words, everyone would do everything in their power to discourage the boy to never use that drug again. For a boy to want to bring a controlled substance to a scouting event, there are bigger issues in play. We all would want to know what those issues are and how many people (parents, siblings, girlfriends, other scouts) are at risk. shaggzzzz, (shooting in the dark here) if your are that boy -- or if anyone reading along is that boy, my best advice: GET HELP. GET CLEAN. Your career in scouting is the least of your worries.

Our boys gather all kinds of weeds and attempt to smoke them. We yell at them and insist they stop. If they persist. We tell their parents. In terms of transporting non-native controlled substances that are illegal for any youth to have or use. We may call the boys parents and tell them to take him home (at their expense). If it is a controlled substance that is illegal for anybody (adult or youth), I would not hesitate to call the authorities. Regarding marijuana, I effectively lost a jr. high friend for a decade because he bought the lie that it was a "clean" tobacco with no ill effects. Once he came to himself and told me of the years he'd never got back, I vowed never to treat that foul robber-of-lives lightly ever again.

The point of reverting to council is to find a good home in another troop. Our troop got some of its gear like thar.

Even with ISA's, well managed general fund, etc ... Scouters in our troop have had to dig deep to float some special expense or underwrite some scout who fell on hard times. Making sure none of your buddies miss out on some super activity by reducing the fees/collecting enough gear for everyone is its own reward. It's just like putting a dollar in the toll for someone who came up short on the bus. It's not about them being deserving or not, it's about making the driver's day a little bit easier so he can concentrate on the road and serve us all better. Betcha BD's griping mom was the beneficiary of a few "bus bucks."

Well, DT, since 1911 scouters (BP included) started realizing that it's not just about boys. Even if we were still unisex in membership, our mission would always include youth in general, and a better society at large. When you're trying to get some philanthropist to write a check for millions (never done that personally, but know the fellas who do), a "here's how we're impacting the world" catchphrase goes a long way.

Sounds like your QM gets to earn his keep! Does the CO have a point? Do you have too much stuff? What kind of space are you asking for? When was the last service project the boys did for the CO?

My mamma gave me the only solution that (from a kid's perspective) seemed to work with bullies over the long haul: "Get big." For some boys (who later became cherished high school friends), that required a level of physicality that would be frowned upon in a scouting setting. Within scouting, any committee worth its salt would insist the bully be suspended for a time unless the SM can make a case for his attitude changing. Lacking that kind of committee, your son may respectfully request his BOR be relocated to his new troop. Yes, I am saying do not wait for his Eagle to be earned to drop the first troop. Uncouth speech has no place in scouting. Sometimes being an agent of change means being willing to postpone one's own advancement for the sake of reforming the bully and improving the quality of the unit. You can still work the other remedy everyone is thinking of. It's just this is the one thing your son can do on his own that would show true leadership in the situation.

The chartered organization should be keeping the copies of adult applications. Sometimes they need a little coaching to do that. Hopefully your story will convince a few to do so.

Stupid colleges steal my youth before I've had a chance to have this problem at any frequency . My general approach is to tell young adult ASMs and older scouts to set up appropriate boundaries and declare them to me and the SM in advance. If a dual-youth would essentially be a patrol-of-one, then he can bunk with the male venturers/ASMs. If a dual-youth has responsibilities with the troop (SPL or PL), the ASM's can't bunk with him. (The SM has been known to let this slide for 17.8 year-olds SPLs when elections are drawing near. It puts a bee in the youngns' bonnets and makes them think seriously about running.) Me, I find shelter away from the lot of them. This past Sunday I staked my tent out in the snow on a hilltop where my SM first showed me a taught-line hitch many and a half years ago.

I take exception to BD and JBlake. Or maybe I am the exception! Basically, Mike, the youth in the two units should meet separately (at different times, if it turns out some boys in the troop also want to be part of the crew.) Mutual participation is by invitation only under youth initiative. If the SPL does not invite the crew by personally contacting the crew president, the crew is not invited. If the crew President or VP-Program does not invite the SPL, the troop is not invited. My youth caught on pretty quick when they would want each others' company and when they'd rather do their own things.

Welcome! Thanks for your service to the boys. How are the horses holding up?

Don't forget those Learning For Life-ers who the BSA provides programs for -- without digging into their lifestyles in a politically incorrect fashion. Generality is one of the weaknesses of mission statements. They are designed to cover every niche program that may be conjured up in some backwater of the organization. But they do serve as a canned reply to the question "what are we doing keeping *that* program?"

Maybe less than that. We now cover parts of MD and WV. But my venturers make connections on an Area/Regional level anyway, so merges like this don't phase them all that much.

All the ones that I've found are woefully outdated.