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This question came up as my newest youth was reading the BSA application. (I like this kid ... real VP Administration material.) She asked me what non-sectarian meant in the middle of the meeting. I used the "showing no preference in relgion" definition and went on to point out that we want you to bring your faith to scouting and we believe you'll grow in that faith as you see others express theirs. She didn't have any questions about the rest of application. Which brought something home to me. Most of us grew up hearing about the Irish and Lebanese civil wars. In college I met many of the victims of those conflicts. Sectarian had a visceral meaning to it that our kids hopefully will never know. Not because that type of violence has dissipated, but because the media is so diffuse these days. Anyway, the fact that we have to define non-sectarianism may just be due to it being so ubiquitous.

DeanRx, no excuse. I got plenty of the opposite sex in my crew, and band and drama still attracts youth away. It's one thing to make music together, it's another thing to spend nights in the wild ...

TJ, until you see it for yourself, you may never believe it. But when you are the adult trying to get a unit to "gel", sometimes it's nice to not have the sex differences in the equation. Other times, it's a lot of fun.

Hey JAR, Did you have any Jr. High girls in the mix? Just saying that if you did, you may have been able to answer your question. Although I'm a crew advisor and love all the co-ed stuff, I don't like the "prom drama" that can seep into some of our outings with other crews. Just this weekend I was dealing with a young lady who was trying to make it "all about her." I managed to do it courteously, without having to wake her advisor, and my crew was glad for it. I might have had to have been uncomfortably blunt if the group was a few years younger. So, I can certainly respect GS and BS leaders who would rather not have to put up with those kinds of hassles in the presence of the opposite sex. Maybe if we did have these kids working together more at younger ages, it wouldn't be a problem. Or we'd find ways to give opposite sexes their own corners for a bit of their time on their own campouts. It really does yank my chain when a girl who was gung-ho for BSA at age 11 is distracted by other things by age 14.

If the doctor says there is a physical disability, get a waiver for the requirement. If not, I'd be satisfied if a scout makes an honest effort to improve. That means grabbing a pull-up bar every day for a month. Try asking the boy ... This pull-up thing, do you think you showed improvement? Would you like to really try hard on this one and we'll see next month? If this is the only thing keeping you from Tenderfoot, how about knocking off some second and first class requirements while you work on this one?

S, Congratulations. It's a confusing dilemma. I get the collar thing. Personally, I would have preferred something mor abstract .., like a little star to sew on your position patch. You could simply decide to reserve the pins for a dress jacket or a patch vest. But, when in Rome ... Since we don't wear our uniform much besides meetings I've gotten used to a pin on the collar. If I don't want to be bothered with a shirt with too much bling, I throw on my venturing uniform. (Which, by the way, has stirred up some issues of its own. I may post about it when I cool down a little.) Anyway, a uniform should strike a balance between individuality, conformity, and comfort.

Mc, I have no idea why a private group would be unauthorized. Somebody will alwayss complain about something. Has this parent complained about any cub scout signs in the lawn so yours and other COs? Many of this have the date of their meeting night. That said, I would try to be respectful about how most folks are doing things in your area. Check with your DE or go to roundtable. By the way, don't expect FB to be any more efficient than a well managed mailing list. If you really care about covering everybody, make sure you still send snail-mail for one or two big eventts.

The only kid whose attendance I worry about is the one whose well being depends on it. Of course, with venturers, the pressure to peruse awards is far less. With the boys in the troop, well they've seen one or two not make rank, so they know the wrong way to go about things. Frankly, I got no problem with a kid picking up scouting skills in a hurry and making rank quickly. But our boys who are taking their good old time advancing seem to be the most active in our troop.

Mikey, Let's forget about ages and clocks and calenders, and set up a more practical metric: Has your son mastered all of his first class skills? Could he be trusted to take a group of his buddies hiking and camping? If so then he is a 1st class scout and not just wearing a patch. He should tell his SM that he would like to discuss a position of responsibility with the SPL. Not for the purposes of rank advancement, mind you. But simply because he is confident that he qualifies to lead. He can make a deal that if he's not living up to his responsibility after a month, he'll resign the position and wait a few months until he's really ready. If not, table the discussion on calendars and don't pre-judge the unit leader's intentions. When you're both at home, ask your son to show you his book from time to time to see what he'd like to "fill in next." Likewise, Pipestone, like O/A, is not an advancement. It is a recognition of honored campers. Advise your son to spend a couple of years being honorable. That is, participate in his unit showing scout spirit throughout. If you notice Pipestone's schedule, 1st class isn't expected until year 3! Now, as ASM, what should you do? Assist the Scoutmaster. That means, if he would like things done a certain way, do it! I might suggest looking to help an older scout who has yet to make rank and doing your best to help him along the trail. Or, maybe, the boys are weak on a skill that you're good at. Help come up with a few challenges for that skill. I might suggest other stuff, but I'm not your SM!

Aw, BP, you're just jealous! Besides, didn't you say "good-bye" to the lot of us earlier this year? What kind of respect do you think you deserve after breaking our hearts like that? Anyway, being tagged a senior member isn't solving any problems. Still can't post new topics. I agree with you, going back to the old format would be fine with me -- even if it did come with banner ads?

Aw, BP, you're just jealous! Besides, didn't you say "good-bye" to the lot of us earlier this year? What kind of respect do you think you deserve after breaking our hearts like that? Anyway, being tagged a senior member isn't solving any problems. Still can't post new topics. I agree with you, going back to the old format would be fine with me -- even if it did come with banner ads?

In general I'd agree with you. I don't need a parent up my craw any more than a boy does. But if a parent is willing to sit quietly with us on the opposite side of the field and the boy is able to come to him/her to avert total meltdown, and the parent is someone the other boys can relate to a little, and the boy gets better and better as he matures ... plus we learn something about the boy that helps us understand what makes him tick. I chalk it up to a positive. We've seen it happen. We can work with that.

There's a not-so-fine line between conduct disorder and autism spectrum. And, that's exactly what committees are for. If a parent wants us to work magic with a kid, but won't come hiking and camping and be at the ready to take the boy home the minute he can't contain himself, then it's time to put and end to long suffering.

Doncha just love these lotteries that, by winning, you're the one who owes $$? Don't worry about deadlines. If your slow with the paperwork, the day you put it in the mail give them a call to let them know it's on it's way. Frankly, I would let them know that your troop's commitment is contingent on the cost being less than $X. (I.e., let them know that you "know when to fold 'em.") Talk to your contingent about their options. Some folks are happy to just land in Miami, stay at a hotel the night before and hire vans to take them down the next day, and do the reverse on the way back. You can usually get package deals that include airfare and two night's hotel stay there and back. Anyway if you've been collecting $100/person/month since January, you should be on target. If not, up it to $120/month (or even more if you want to put your in your deposit on transportation well ahead of time). BTW, this is supposed to be a learning experience. So, have an older trustworthy youth serve as your contingent's treasurer. He collects the checks and turns them in to your troop treasurer and with your help keeps track of who paid what.

We have that with quite a few of our boys. Actually, the young women in our crew find it especially hard to balance obligations. Step 1: Teach parents to take it down a notch. Step 2: Encourage the youth to set priorities and let them know he/she's welcome whatever the choice. Step 3: encourage them to stay registered because it saves paperwork. Step 4: Have arms open every time they come back.

pdl - this is really messed up. I've known of teachers who had pure dislikes for a particular boy. Never knew of an SM. To the scout's credit, he's stuck around. I've heard of cultural differences slowing things down, but never chasing someone out of the room. Sounds like you'll never get to the bottom of that well. The idiocy has to stop. Was the boy elected? If so, this guy is giving all of the boys a slap-in-the-face for their decision. Get the boy some training. Get the SM to talk to someone you both trust on how to get over this.

I still see a scout attending camp as a service to his troop. He is volunteering his time so he can qualify to take his patrol hiking and camping. Or, he is volunteering his time and money to help other boys qualify to take their patrol hiking and camping. By having some troop funds allocated to him, he is committing to use those $$s in a way that will help the troop, and when he leaves, his stewardship stewardship of those funds is returned to the troop. Furthermore he commits to hand down gear and outgrown uniforms to scouts who need may need it more than he will. That said, I do like using fundraisers to lower the cost of activities for everyone involved.

I've been trying to reply for a while. We'll see if it takes my post this time. In general your link is how we see things. If your kids and the CO is after a specialty program focused on aquatic skills, be a ship. If they want to specialize in something land based (outdoors, sports, youth ministry, a hobby, etc ..), or be more general interest (like ours) and evolve their program in various directions over time, be a crew. Also, what do the youth in your community need? If there already is a vibrant sailing community with a youth program (as we have just an hour north of us), you probably don't need to fill that niche. Some units have tried to form ships along our three rivers (I met one youth who was a member of several crews and a ship), but they haven't held together for very long. Boating is a subculture here, so only a few kids really see it as something they want to commit to. But, if you've got that few kids who are really interested (and maybe someone who'll donate the slip and the water craft), it may be the ideal program for you.

So, would a church youth group who performs charity work be required to allow athiests. Better yet, if there was an atheist youth organization involved in public activism, would they be required to grant admission to the hundreds of evangelicals who would just love to preach Jesus to them while volunteering in leadership positions?

I should add (no pun intended) that I'm not seeing any banner ads. Maybe maintenance costs have dropped and you don't need as many advertisers? Maybe advertisers are paying more, so they don't need to be as ubiquitous? Or maybe it's one more thing your software vendor sold you a bill of goods on.

Except for this one

Past 5 attempts over the last week, I have not been able to post a thing in these formums.

Much to my wife's chagrin, we took the kids on camping vacations before they could walk. Son #1 asked to be in cub scouts the minute he got the tiger cub flyer from school. Never had to push him to keep signing up year after year (including helping start a crew) until he went to college. Daughter didn't like girl scouts, so she waited until she could be a venturer. Likewise, she enjoyed it until college. Son #2 started as a tiger and is likewise enjoying troop and crew life. Makes me wonder if I should let him go to college?

Likewise. They go in a box with my O/A necker and sash until there's some woodbadge stuff to be done (e.g. beading or announcing the next course). I'll probably wear the beads to crew meetings if our crew ever settles on a uniform. (This might be the year, a lot of the boys are talking about getting it done and aren't bothered about my "no capes" rule.) I would never wear them routinely at a troop meeting because I do not want to one-up the SM who hasn't had time to take the course because he spends his weekends hiking and camping with the boys. With or without beads or necker, the scouts who care know that I am officially an old crow. That's all that matters to me.

BD, I had a lovely reply. But I got a JSON error and the page crashed on me when I tried to post. Anyway sounds like you've got a good plan. The best ones happen when you interrupt a video game!