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@yknot, I get where @David CO is coming from. If we don't give 11 y.o.'s some responsibility, they can't build resilience, in turn we deny them agency, then the abuse hits double-hard. Not only are they a victim, but we confirm that things are beyond their control. Then, once adults, they have to face incredible challenges like accepting love from their spouse, raising their kids, etc ... and they can't say, "I didn't believe that I could do X to make things better. I want to now believe differently. I want you to believe as well." Ours is a systems culture. To a large degree, we think a well-balanced system can be worked to keep the worst of our natures in check. And, to a large degree, we're right. But, at some point our youngest citizens need to be introduced to that system in ways that enable them to drive it to the good. This has nothing to do with scouting in particular. By age 11, a youth needs to know that they might be more saint than adults around them -- that they might be the real Santa in camp.

Welcome to the forums. All of the above is sound advice. Getting specific to the needs of your troop, consider the following goals: Host one promotional event at a school or a public place where youth gather. Invite your troop to participate in that event. Identify a service project in your community that would be suitable for 3-5 scouts to undertake together while in uniform. (E.g., working a booth at a carnival, serving a community food bank, etc ...) Identify property owners within a reasonable distance from your troop's meeting place who would let scouts camp or pass through hiking. Provide this list to your SM and scouts. Learn about all of your district's activities that would be available to your scouts (either as participants or organizers), and present the list to your troop. More challenging ones: Identify the most popular media outlet in your community. (Local paper, online group, etc ...) Find out what kinds of stories about your scouts would interest them. Share with your troop how to do this. Attempt to submit one story. Survey youth and parents in your community and find out what they know about scouting, what they like, what they dislike. Share the results with your troop.

The only surprise by the weather in Western PA is when it is unnervingly calm for more than 18 hours straight. Those bright sunny days with little breeze give me the willies.

By now, scouts that have had school in-person a couple of days a week should have mastered mask management. They certainly should have been doing it at meetings. Hopefully the SM has taken them on some hikes and camp outs to observe their behaviors. Hopefully they've learned what materials survive a wet pack. Often times, when we say masks are mandatory, it means inside or working in close quarters. And we call our scouts on it "on the fly." Ours have not pushed back. I'm quite proud of them. This year will be different than last year and SM's will need to adjust accordingly. And they need a committee to stand behind them. Let me emphasize, this should not be a troop committee decision. If the SM wants to apply the better part of caution, and it is posing no risk to the scouts, there is nothing to discuss. The SM is at the most risk of complications along with vulnerable relatives in the scouts' households. His/her sense of caution should be respected. There might be SM's out there who are totally reckless. Or there are parents who are unnecessarily vocal and want to go beyond guidelines one way or the other. And that's a different story. We have committee to keep us from stupid or from caving to parents when reason says we should do otherwise. That's a different situation from the OP. Finally, we can't base this summer's decisions on an extended emergency use authorization. It will come too late for many troops to react for summer camp. And, it probably won't reach down to 11 year olds. If we can get 80% of our adults vaxxed, it will forestall a lot of death. That 52% of parents planning to vaccinate their kids that @hiker67 referred to is a mighty fine number, but not one that I'd fret over until the end of summer. Those parents are more likely to be caring for an elder or more vulnerable relative. The other half of parents who are likely not in those situations are right to think long and hard about risk vs. benefit.

Nope. I send scouts wanting the badge to a counselor who is more than happy to verify his activities via Email. None of my scouts have asked for exceptions on account of the pandemic.

It’s more complicated than that. The rate of outdoor transmission is low. But, we don’t know how much is mask vs. contact transfer. Moreover, an environment with low rate of transmission is only useful in areas with low prevalence. In areas with high prevalence, even low transmission activities will result in a few new cases — even if masks are used. Keeping scouts in the habit sanitizing surfaces is still a really big play. There’s lots of stuff out there besides this virus. But even a garden-variety cold could sideline a scout and his/her family a week before tests come back. I haven’t found the summary data for the pediatric EUA on FDA’s site, so I can’t comment aside to say that broad vaccination for kids under 16 are unlikely to be available until fall. It’s a really tough sell. If too many kids get sick from the vaccination (even if the number is quite small) it could trigger a backlash against the entire strategy. So the pandemic guys must tread carefully.

If patrols were in fact pods spaced a hundred yards apart, you could relax mask wearing. But, that’s probably not your reality. Cov-sars-2 seems perfectly content with half as many targets in which it may flourish. Your state needs higher numbers. 80% of adults vaxxed is a passing grade. Let your SM be the SM in this case. Have him talk to other SMs in your district and observe how the scouts behave. This is not a committee decision.

Don’t worry about the DEI badge. It is stalled in committee. We should hear by the end of next month if it is available. I can’t imagine it becoming required for another 6 months. Even so, he has to knock out a lot before even considering if he has to move one of his elective badges toward an insta-palm.

And they rightly resist putting up HAs. Victims’ lawyers should be concerned as well. Sell the HA’s for a quick buck, strangle income, and their clients stand to miss out on billions over the next 20 years.

The IVF existed because law enforcement had no such mechanism. If all BSA did was notify the police, any number of things could have happened, but none of them would have included registering these perpetrators nationally. At the time, the most likely lawsuit would have been from those ineligible volunteers who would sue for libel, should the list be made public. The thought of the FBI tracking a hundred thousand citizens KGB-style would not sit well with anyone in the 70s. That BSA undertook this, with great difficulty, on its own is a credit to its tenacity. It is also betrays a bit of arrogance that it could do it. What we don’t know, is how well it worked. It could be that millions of children were spared profound indignities because of this strategy.

There’s always a variant ... most years we just aren’t bothered. My pandemic guy gets on a call with his buddies, and they pull a mix from their war chest that they think will match whatever’s spreading around. We tease him badly if he’s wrong. He tries harder the next year. It’s the highest-stakes gamble on the planet. Pediatric trials are starting. Meanwhile get your scouts out camping. We’ll know by autumn if a vaccine for the youngn’s does more good than harm.

I agree about variability in moral code. In Momma's frame of reference, what are now called micro-regressions wouldn't count for much. I had no business doling them out. (A bar of soap would be waiting for my foul mouth.) But, I'd better be prepared to endure them. She would call parents of a kid to let them know what they did to set me running home crying, but she would turn to me and say, "You've got to get big." It was an old-country way of thinking that she didn't call on often. But she applied it here. YP has increased the level of adult-to-adult accountability. That's a plus. There are probably even better ways to convey information if organizations weren't afraid of lawyers swooping in and using any disclosed data as justification for seeking damages. Limit tort, focus wrath on first line perpetrators only, and it could further increase transparency. That's the next step to help adults understand the sociology of this in the age of new media. But, still, it might not help the front lines. Potential victims don't know what to do. I'm afraid we adults are going to need to be a little more forthcoming to children. Even in my Sunday School curriculum, I see how it skips chapters that some young men and women would need to grasp sooner rather than later.

I have far too many points, because the problem is far bigger than the BSA. The bitter truth, Americans, is no matter where you go, there you are. Deconstruct every organization that one or two predators may infiltrate, and thousands will flourish given this nation's nuclear family structure. The manuals on how to do this are encoded in some of the vilest American literature and pop culture. Read that literature, find the family beleaguered by life who "needs a friend", whose kids aren't doing much with others, infiltrate. There is no patriarch or matriarch monitoring whose spending too much time with whom across multiple families in the tribe. Fewer families are part of organized groups where underprivileged parents can learn "the signs." We are in a culture where kids grow up isolated and the ones who should urgently "call that number" are terrified to because the media the watch terrifies and isolates them. Inside or outside of the BSA, if anyone tries to address this with adult solutions in adult forums, be it training or courtrooms, they will fail. The only solution that I can think of is what Mamma did for me. I can remember it vividly. It was during a bath time ... well before puberty. She explained ... Nobody had a right to handle my genitals. There are people who will assume that right. Be they friends, family, or priests, oppose them with all the force that you have. There are good people in the world. Find them. Report to them. Repeat. Later lessons were to not gawk at someone else's spouse, if she ain't your wife she ain't your spouse, treat sex like a Christmas present, stand up to bullies, be kind to the oppressed, don't be the oppressor, etc ... I more or less remembered those. But that first one was clear. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only kid in the neighborhood who got that first lecture. Someone must have tipped off the moms in our community about something. We can debate the specifics of her approach, but her bottom line: adults don't stop abuse, the abused do. The underlying philosophy was to build resilience in the kids because there is no time-cop roaming the streets to take out abusers before they commit their first act.

The "in it just for fun" ethic is betrayed by the smaller membership, yet increasing number of Eagles awarded each year. That doesn't diminish the value in terms of tasks accomplished. But it does call to question who an Eagle scout actually led during his/her tenure. Let's put the tiger-parenting and high-speed low-drag types of leaders aside. Even in troops without that, one can have a steady stream of Eagles, but when that happens, one does not have clusters of youth uninterested in rank. Son #1's experience was when the troop had an "Eagle flurry", while Son #2's experience was during an "Eagle dearth" (he was the only one from his class who made rank). Son #1 could get by choosing a highly motivated crowd of boys to lead. Son #2 had to work with a tougher crowd. That's not to say Son #1 wasn't stellar going into adulthood, but he was a little blind-sided by a workforce of unmotivated people, whereas Son #2 had already dealt with them in his youth, and was able to connect with boots-on-the-ground more readily. So, if your scout is coming up in a troop that welcomes youth who aren't all that worried about rank, I think he/she's gonna have an edge in life by earning Eagle in that environment.

I don't think GS/USA would be interested. They seem like big numbers to us, but in comparison to GS/USA's membership, a tiny fraction are trying to earn Eagle to the exclusion of Gold. I also can't see any Trailmen wishing to rebrand their Freedom award (which demands a couple of competencies that Eagle does not). It's hard to see how any youth organization would like to purchase rights to use that name in their program. However, I can see some value to someone who holds trademarks as royalties. Any artist who uses "Eagle scout" in their work could be sent a cease-and-desist letter unless they paid the royalty. I'm not sure any one would place a bid on that sort of thing in any timely fashion.

Our state parks have been reporting increased use by minorities. Thi matched my experience hiking PA’s trails. It makes sense to me that any family with limited means would invest in what they need to enjoy the outdoors, and not in registration fees and uniforms.

The “ad drag” I insufferable. I’ll be back when things are rendered quickly.

Self-appointed insignia dork (c.f. this link for first use of the term) typing ... Mike Walton's site has a couple of examples of how it was once done. The operative word in all uniforming is "neat appearance." If those rows are crowding out your World Crest and your Messengers of Peace wreath, it's time to shuck a few knots. Otherwise, look sharp and keep on scouting.

I like having your perspective, so consider that an invite. Of course, the more any of us say, the more we find someone starkly opposed to it in whole or in part. But that's the point. Most of us put things out here because it prepares us to have cogent discussions with other scouts, scouters, and concerned community (and even victims of abuse) in real life.

Note: I'm not asking to lock the guy up (as others have suggested). I'm saying that: Scouting is not a dating venue. Intimate relationships may form among single parents/guardians, but it takes a long time around a lot of campfires. The Mom who actually signed her kid up gets the benefit of the doubt. This is the boots-on-the-ground perspective for the CC/COR of a pack receiving the kid. Whatever the DE may have adjudicated (or not) for a different pack is irrelevant. The fact that I am disregarding the dad's role at a district level should be sufficient to support that I am not siding with people who "contribute the most." For the OP, my approach cuts two ways. I wouldn't care much for the dad. I also wouldn't be bothered with what the district did or did not do about it.

Or, as we’d say, gumbo and escargot.

And thus expired the LARPing crew that one of my scouts thoroughly enjoyed ... next time you ask where did all of the venturers go ... point to that.

Not really. The standard is "Who is going to contribute the most to den life?" A mom with a negative experience (in her mind), but willing to give a different pack a try, or. A "might-join" adult with district credentials, but not much else going for him. The guy's pack folded. If it mattered to him and his kid, I would have expected a phone call yesterday. The DE has phone numbers. Same would happen if some single dad left a pack because some ladies kept pestering him about dating. Now, it could turn out that @Armymutt's parent-victim and her friends do push boundary's and lead a guy on at the expense of their kids. But I'd give the benefit of the doubt to the person who actually signed her kid up before treating this as a case of no-matter-where-you-go-there-you-are.

I was my kids’ crew advisor. I had no problems going on activities without them. We emphasized outdoors and service ... not advancement. Now, with our sons as adults, the former SM and I help lock up after meetings so that the SM doesn’t have to. Other adults carry the load in their own way.

It must be nice to have the luxury to fret over a “might try” of anything. But since you asked ... Your committee chair does not have to let anybody sign on as an adult leader to his committee. If you have a parent or two who the CC respects enough to welcome into your unit, their needs come first over someone who has wrongly approached a parent. Scouts is not a social event for parents. It’s where we teach young people how to forestall death. Have some of us made life-long friendships that have outlasted our kids’ time in scouting? Yes! Would I call them out if any of them made any of our scouts’ moms the least bit uncomfortable? (Of course, I approach this from the venturing perspective. Moms willing to lean into the program are few and far between.) Somebody can be a district volunteer for a lot of reasons, one of which could be nobody wants him/her to lead their unit.