qwazse

Unfortunately, I have experiences similar to KDD's that are much more recent.

The are lots of cons. The worst of which, IMHO, is that a troop meeting can turn into one more hour of school. I find the troop meetings are busy enough getting the boys to master first-class skills. Part of the time is teaching the skill to newbies, part of it refreshing the skill, part of it having a mini-competition on the skill, and part of it planning the next event that will demand use of those skills. We barely manage to cover every skill in a year, and our scouts rarely reach mastery of every skill in two years. The pro is that a counselor can introduce his hobby/profession to a large number of boys. Sometimes getting to know the counselor at a troop meeting increases a younger scout's comfort level about calling him on the phone and arranging to complete the merit badge. Boys see the MB process being modeled, and may be more comfortable with it. If the boy's are choosing the badge and who will teach it, it can be a well integrated part of a varied program.

My experience is opposite: Some of our boys applied for and got camperships this year. Might have helped avoid a family with sky-high health bills having to choose which son went. Our state park fees are more expensive and often charge per user. So, a patrol might find the state park cheaper than council camp, but four patrols? Doubt it. Between crew and troop, we will have used council facilities at least 6 times this year. So, yeah, FoS does take the edge off for us. If a variety of council facilities were not available on a competitive basis, our boys would have to fund raise harder. You folks who only have one humble camp property in your council, I can definitely understand where you don't see much return on investment.

Basically, I'm telling the other person that I think the boy's fit for the job. You know those thoroughly inept camp staff that irritate the tar out of you? Well, some scoutmaster or crew advisor recommended them to the job. Now sometimes, a person's flawed character does not manifest itself in the few weekends the unit leader has had to observe them, but most of the time the SM dropped his pen down without even calling the camp director about some slight reservation. When I was recruiting additional members for my Seabase contingent, I wanted an SM or Advisor to talk to about the youth. I told one mom that and did not hear from her again. It could have been the money issue, but it could have also been that the SM felt the boy wasn't ready to get in a boat with a bunch of venturers. So, my bottom line: has the boy demonstrated that he has the discipline for the job/contingent/office? If so, put your name down. If the guy's the least bit of a slacker, but you think the program might help him shape up, give the person asking for the recommendation a call. Sometimes, there's lattitude; other times, not so much.

Accomplishments trump bling. If the boys play the games, they get the pin. Loop, card, or platinum embossed plaque is not necessary. If money's tight, don't even buy the pins. Just award the badge once they've completed the rest of the requirements.

Nothing wrong with visiting a troop you won't be joining for a couple of years. Your boys can ask the older boys what that in-between year is like. Tailoring a program to suit the spiritual needs of the community doesn't sound all that crazy to me. It's just how to make scouting work.

Never say never ... If this boy is fulfilling his positions of responsibilities, is gung-ho about scouting, and still knows most of his knots, why stop him? There's got be something of substance that's bothering the SM about this kid.

It's what the CC was doing to the SM. I would strongly encourage the CC to back off. Save the heavy hand for real bad kids.

This falls under the category of "be careful what you wish for.". Our experience ... We have a detailed troop handbook with a discipline policy that nobody reads. Oddly the goy that helped us write it had a boy with some of the worst discipline problems in the troop. That boy was one of our better leaders. My bottom line, the ASMs and committee need to be prepared to support the SM. If he's worried about the same things you are, move forward. If you're not convinced this is a problem that needs a whole "Geneva convention", talk to him about what you think would really assist him.

I'll leave the actual date-checking to the collectors among us. I usually just look at the requirements listed in the book, and if they are a lot different than the ones online I suggest the boy get a newer one. Troops should keep a library of used pamphlets to help boys save costs. One boy should be a troop librarian, and be responsible for making sure used books are collected (say after camp, or once a few boys are awarded MBs), and make sure really outdated editions are not in the library. Our library, by the way, is a couple of durable plastic file boxes (you know the oversize tool box type) which we can transport easily.

We don't get eel on the line in these parts. One time when son #1 and I were visiting FL, we pulled in a ribbon fish from Jensen Beach pier. Now that's the stuff nightmares are made of! But, never an eel.

This boils down to "letter" vs "spirit" kind of thing. If you've endured Eagle mills all of your life (or even a small fraction of your life), you switch into a bean-counting MC to prevent one more unfit candidate from skating by. If you are used to high caliber boys who are Eagle material letting an opportunity for recognition slip by, you are going to stretch the definition of BOR (or whatever single technicality is in the way) to make it work for that boy. There is little love lost between "bean-counters" and "stretchers" so don't expect the one camp to praise the other anytime soon. We probably endure one another more than actually win one another over. But if in the end every boy makes the most of his scouting experience, we all win.

A first-class scout is qualified to take his patrol hiking and camping. That would include teaching the essential knots, fire starting, and orienteering among other skills. So, I don't ask questions, I just look for the boys with that rank and expect them to live up to it. That said, I'm not against the boys coming up with their own systems of recognition, as long as the entire troop is amenable to it and the cost isn't ridiculous. It's just that our boys have made it very clear that they prefer a very utilitarian field uniform. Unfortunately, that excludes neckerchiefs. The boys voted against them more than two decades ago (about the time national started sizing them so small as to be little more than diagonally sliced hankies) and haven't worn them since.

I hate when this happens, especially to a family who is new to scouting. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about that woman if she is indeed 80 miles away. Maybe she is doing something important on a council or area level, but it sounds like it's completely irrelevant to your son's growth as a scout. If I were you: I would get to know your sons wolf den leader. Let him/her know what discouraged you about his first year. Ask if activities could be a little more engaging, and maybe offer to help with a particular activity your son and his buddies would like. I hope the program can work for you this year. Cub scouts added so much to my relationship with my sons and their friends, I couldn't imagine doing without it.

I wouldn't hold out hope that there will be a lot of reliable scientific conclusions from this. It's still anecdotal evidence. Chances are each report will include a finding by the state, but in terms of if the rate of assault actually decreased, I'm afraid we'll never know.

My first YPT course ('01) was taught by a fellow who was a former camp director and current member of the council camping committee. He had specific examples of how YP protected adults. (His experience seemed to indicate that scouts who tended to make accusations made them against female scouters.) He also had examples about how the buddy system protected kids, but how it could fall apart (e.g., older scouts vs. much younger scouts, etc... ). Anyway it was memorable because it felt like some of "the files" we're being opened for us, and the events weren't from someplace on the far side of the country.

Got JTE envy? Keep in mind that FB pages really shouldn't involve cubs, so this is an adult ego trip. Get together with your adult committee (this should include your Charter Organization Rep) and decide what you need to do. (E.g., contact parents and other scouters in your area announcing your new Cubmaster, talk to your DE about your charter's status, etc ....) And, let us know 'cause this is one for the believe-it-or-not books!

I would think you would want each boy to lead an invocation that would be acceptable to his own faith. That way, they can learn a little about the others culture. You should give the boys the right to opt out because their belief might be opposed to public expression of religion. Or, the boys are just plain shy. But, if your committee said "no", respect that. You've done that part of your ticket as far as you could. You are on the right track in terms of trying to hash this out at your roundtable. And in terms of helping boys of a particular religious persuasion earn their particular award. Also, regarding this, some folks have a thing against earning medals for their religious life, so even among religious families you should tread carefully. Your goal should be that the boy understands a little bit better what he believes, not that he acquires more bling for his uniform. Public schools are not supposed to charter BSA units specifically because of BSA's discrimination against atheists. Read the BSA declaration of religious principle an you can get a feel for why there'd be a conflict of interest. Again, this is a problem beyond the scope of your WB ticket, but it certainly impacts the boundaries your committee is setting.

We did one of those 17+179 day SMC's once. Same kind of kid as yours. Comfortable in the outdoors, solid citizen, no clue the bird was within his grasp. Don't remember how we did his BOR. I do remember his E-SMC was on the flight to Philmont, and the application Fed-Exed to dad who brought it to us at summer camp for the CCs signature a day before his birthday. For kids like that, boards will be extremely flexible. (Especially in troops where committee members do camp with the troop and observe the goings-on.) Obviously, that opens the door for a 17.5 y.o. slacker to fax in midnight blue cards insisting on an absentee BOR for Life, pointing to what you did for Johny Superscout, to which the troop needs a CC with some spine to say "Sorry, you ain't him! Show up or shut it down."

Thanks Richard. No intent to be cavalier here. Agreed that a boy's safety trumps concerns over liability (or even the economic benefits of a nation of boys behaving safely). With that in mind, teaching boating safety at an early age is important. Minimum boating skill may be essential for everyone in your family if they live near a body of water. The linchpin to successful training, however, is qualified supervision. So it's not just any boat, with any adult, on any body of water, in any condition. For some boys, that could be a trained parent or guardian, but for most boys that means a council / district event which would only go forward with qualified supervision.

BD it does not solve the problem, and is only a stop-gap. Mainly because because it is rare that venturing crews have a stable enough membership to be able to offer leadership year after year. So, the venturer you find today (if you find one) may not be able to find you his/her replacement in a year or two. We have not built a culture where the purpose of den leader is to "qualify to lead a den of cub scouts" on age-appropriate adventure. And we don't have the position of "senior den leader" where a young man or woman could replace the cubmaster. I'm not entirely sure we should. Comparing notes with my Czech friends, they wish for more senior adults in their program.

Have you ever wondered why none of those "horror stories" of denied claims came with a name, unit #, or council? Personally I have seen the coverage in action, and details about G2SS were never brought into question. Having the requisite paperwork in place did speed processing of claims, but lacking would not have impeded them. The 1st concern was to make sure our people were taken care of and if possible, made whole.

Most of the requirements are still part of trail to first class. NOT part of the skill award system: - Introduce a friend to scouting - EDGE It's a wonder we had any membership or learned anything at all!

Herein lies the true problem, not that there is misinterpretation with "canoe". Where is a Webelos scout supposed to use a rowboat, if not with a District/Council run event? This is what is not clear in the handbook. @Hueymungus Thanks, I will write to that e-mail address. I suspect it is skipped a lot too. ENV Well, when I was a Webelos, there was the Sportsman's club pond near our den leader's house, although most of the time our dads would drop us off to fish, after which we'd go to our DL's house and practice shooting his 38 special.

I was going to mention this in the other thread ... but would not have worded it with as much neutral language. So I refrained. Thanks for that posting the new position code. It says it all to me: 91U = Nine-to-one odds you're a cash cow to national. I'm inclined to encourage our scout parents to 1) drop from the roster or 2) sign-on as committee members - no uniform or patch required, or 3) get leader-specific training and replace me. Regardless, I will encourage them to get a myscouting account and take whatever training is available.