qwazse

VMom may be well within her rights to call council headquarters directly. "Units are responsible for enforcing Youth Protection policies. The head of the chartered organization or chartered organization representative and the local council must approve the registration of the units adult leader. Adult leaders of Scouting units are responsible for monitoring the behavior of youth members and interceding when necessary. Parents of youth members who misbehave should be informed and asked for assistance. Any violations of the BSAs Youth Protection policies must immediately be reported to the Scout executive." My interpretation of how this should happen is: - Advisor informs committee chair and charter org. rep. of change in plans. - COR scrambles to get the crew the adult leadership they need, or gets everyone transported back to home. - COR informs SE of the violation. At that time he/she should be able to give his or her confidential assessment of any threat of abuse. (This is assuming there was no actual evidence of abuse. But, there may be related incidents that might raise or allay the SE's concern.) If I were the advisor in this situation, my first call may very well have been directly to the SE. My point is, a parent should be able to call up the chain of accountability and discover that everyone is aware of the situation.

This kind of planning could kill a unit. Yes, we've had to fall back on plans B, C, and D. Yes, we've had cost overruns. Sometimes, the "separate quarters" rule requires a little creativity. That's okay as long as communication is clear. But ... I've canceled outings over an inability to provide adequate coverage of adult leaders. I'd expect any other crew advisor to do the same. At the same time, the youth may be perfectly safe. But, talk to the Crew's committee chairman or the charter org. rep. If this is a common occurrence you don't want your boy in this crew. If this is a one-off occurence and the advisor was just trying to manage a very fluid situation, then smooth things over and offer to chaperon the next time.

Then he's on the right track, regardless. The things he records for advancement purposes, IMHO, should be those that he is most proud of. If the SM/ASM is having issues signing of on the boy's favorite project, make sure he's recorded a list of five or so "pinch hitters" that he can call up. I'm a huge fan of "double-dipping" by the way. You can find why in other threads. But that's not the case here.

Nice rant 5yr. Honestly, it will take years to clean up this mess for all the reasons you describe. There should be a simple online registration for MBCs who are active members of BSA units and whose YPT is up to date.(This message has been edited by Qwazse)

Actually, her father asked the question. "Would you like to be a venture scout someday?" (No, I didn't correct the guy. He was recruiting for me!) The awards that a Venturer could earn we're on a poster on the wall. I don't know if she made the connection at the time, but she never did ask if she could earn Eagle. There were plenty of GS patches to be earned at the time! When we were kids, I had no clue what the Exploring awards were. So yes, I'm sure our girlfriends felt they deserved access to Eagle. Some of them certainly did the same caliber of service and activity. I'm sure 10 year old scout sisters who don't have knowledge of venturing feel the same way. But BSA is promoting the program far more than it did Exploring, and that is clearly letting steam off of the co-Ed eagle pressure cooker!

Because scouts serve without seeking reward. If every good turn counted for some advancement, they wouldn't be good turns!

BP, Maybe the notion of AHG leaders going to WB and getting lectured on interfaith services bothers you. But as far as I can tell it's the only way to begin to address your concerns. What you really should be worried about is there's one more document out there that calls them "Venture Crews" instead of "Venturing Crews"

BP, Maybe the notion of AHG leaders going to WB and getting lectured on interfaith services bothers you. But as far as I can tell it's the only way to begin to address your concerns. What you really should be worried about is there's one more document out there that calls them "Venture Crews" instead of "Venturing Crews"

BP, Maybe the notion of AHG leaders going to WB and getting lectured on interfaith services bothers you. But as far as I can tell it's the only way to begin to address your concerns. What you really should be worried about is there's one more document out there that calls them "Venture Crews" instead of "Venturing Crews"

Chazz:If you are ever at a Pack meeting where WEBELOS are crossing over to troops and you see sisterly siblings there, ask them if they would be interested in doing the camping, hiking, swimming, etc. and maybe becoming Eagle Scouts like the boys. Just maybe you will hear the demand. Been there, done that four years ago. The girl's now in my crew working on her first bronze award. Her older brother is chipping away at those last few Eagle MB's. I'm just not seeing the demand from girls for Eagle as long as Sliver (which has a the bird on it and the same color ribbon) is available. The fact that one award has been around 90 years longer than the other doesn't factor into their calculus. In fact I can see the more "obscure award" being the conversation starter: Employer: "I see Venturing Silver on your resume`. What's that?" C21: But I sincerely hope that is secondary to having fun and becoming a model citizen and building their character. That is the bait-and-switch, isn't it? For some, the "bling" is more important than adventure, I think. Either can be fun. So, I encourage youth to pursue both. (Although by the numbers it would seem we're all about the adventure.) But, regardless, the end game is honing one's character.

Trustworthy - to me is that people can count on you to do the right thing. Not just what you say. The lady in your life may or may not get the verbal approval she's looking for (because even after all these years, it's hard to tell what the right answer is ), but she'd darn well better know that you're not going off giving approval to someone else who doesn't deserve it!

Interesting question. I grew up in a troop where patrols lasted indefinitely. Flags were handed down till they were worn and tattered. New youth were divided among them, except for one year when we were swamped with crossovers, and I was asked to start a patrol. Making the flag was serious business because it had to be one that would last! My sons' troop patrols last a year, roughly. I think it's a shortcoming. There's no investment in flags or yells. They can rename themselves, but they always seem to "forget" their patrol name. They fall into shape for summer camp, because that's our most popular event, but they break down after that. In the fall they'll report as patrol #1, #2, etc ... (And I tease them that dens have numbers, patrols should have names!) I am trying to get the SM to encourage a little more "esprit-d-corps". At the same time, if this is our worst dysfunction, I feel we're doing fine.

From my experience ... Lacking someone to push the kid out the door ... You need one parent or older brother willing to drag the kid camping. And the other willing to cooperate. Which means you need to get in the face of each family member and emphasize that they are missing the opportunity of a lifetime to get to know their son and some potentially great friends of his. I've had one mom gung ho, and the dad fussed over the boy until he got homesick. (I hate parent night.) After going over issues with the mom, I said "I can't tell you all how to co-parent. But, you owe it to the lad to figure it out." The boy got involved in other activities that didn't create such a "push and pull!" What you did with BioDad was probably the best you can do. Hope he takes you up on the offer.

My TG and I were cut pretty much from the same cloth. So we had an amicable review of goals. How some of mine were so dependent on others that they probably should have undergone a fourth revision, which ones I may carry forward, which surprisingly did not wash with my youth, the "real tickets" that I wound up working instead of the one's for WB, etc ... We pushed paperwork, then had some "good old boy" talk about trucks and high school in the sticks and practical jokes. I'm trying to think of an appropriate venue for beading. One guy in our patrol did it after his troop's court of honor -- very nice, but way too long b/c these boys earned a fist full of MB's. Compared to the one's I've seen at roundtable, however, it was good to have youth present. I'll have a word with my council Venturing Chair about it. P.S. - The last line of my previous post was autocorrected ... This old crow don worked his ticket. (Yes, it was a big class. None the worse for it.)

For $20 you're probably right. That'll do. For more durable storage of your best knives and sharpener, you may also want to consider an 18" length of PVC pipe with the cap glued on one end, a 1/4" hole on both caps, and a 24" rope through each end with a pigtail knot tied inside each cap. For the family, I do something similar to jblake. My good knife is in my camp box, with the blade covered by a folded piece of cardboard a little wider than the width of the knife. The camp box is useful if you have moms who want to be sure of a flat cooking surface, drying rack, comforts of home, etc. For my crew, I just pull out my mess kit and expect them to have at least one serviceable knife among them.

Are you not just postponing the inevitable? If you don't have new scouts coming into a troop, where are you going to get new venturers to join a venture crew. As discussed above, not necessarily. But even if it were so, and no new youth were brought into the unit. If a half dozen boys stick together until they are 21, doing four unique adventures every year, I bet you'll have 6 youth grateful to you for "postponing the inevitable."

There was this judge in SW PA in the 19th century who asked to be buried on the WV border. That way, if the devil came for him from East or west, he could hop the state line and Old Slewfoot would have to get a warrant from the other jurisdiction. You're on the state line. Use it to your advantage. If you were asking to bunk with a 14 year old, we might have issues. As I explain to adults who make a fuss about YPT, the more leaders who understand how we operate and why, the easier it is to make good decisions. Welcome to the dark side. We have cookies!

I met with my ticket guide today. Done with two weeks to spare! We had a good chat. This old grow don worked his ticket. (Yes, it was a big class. None the worse for it.)

Was this an older boy "under the gun"? Or a younger boy who won't be pushed up against the deadline?

FWIW, I caught up with a friend in FL the day after Christmas. His son was quite excited to go to a winter camp put on by their council the next day. However, only one other boy from his troop was going. You may want to think of making a plan for two MB's that the boys want to master. Get in touch with an expert or two to estimate cost for three or four days of instruction. Find out how many of your boys are interested at the cost per boy of, say, 50% of your boys attending. If your desired number isn't met, put the word out to troops in your district on how many open slots you will have. If you have one boy who is interested in making the phone calls and doing invitations, it can be a rewarding experience for you both.

Also don't let being in an LDS unit isolate you. If there is a den leader from another unit in your area with whom you can compare notes give them a call. Your district executive can help you with that. Growing up, my troop shared some activities with an LDS unit, and I think it helped both SM's do their job better. As to the discipline issues, I think you should work on two activities each meeting. One sport and one craft. It could be an activity where you make a game, then play it. Be sincerely proud of the jocks in your den, that way later you can actually ask natural leaders among them to help teach the non-athletes a skill or two.

I'm pretty sure that some of my Girl Scouts would jump at the chance with both feet to earn something as special and as well known as Eagle Scout given the option! thing is, Ithink they have the option to earn something as apecial as ES. Just saw the most BSA-connected young woman I know post her GS gold award on online. Just as proud as if it were an Eagle. As long as girls have the opportunity to earn that toward the end of their GS career, or as long as they can look forward to joining a crew to earn Venturing Silver, I don't see the demand growing. From an adult perspective, either of those on a young person's resume would command respect in my book. I suspect any military recruiter would be impressed with a Ranger award. Most girls I've seen who want to be part of their brother's or boyfriend's troop want to do so because there's something about the character of those particular boys or the activities they do that appeals to them. Medals are the the last thing on their mind.

Young drivers do express a "creative" use of the technology that can be deadly. Since we can't deny people cars until they are in their thirties, there is no way we can be entirely certain that the difference in accident rates is entirely developmental.

Some things are iterative processes. If Nurture doesn't involve giving the brain lots of challenges, some with a probability of failure, the brain will develop poorly. Nature demands an adaptive system.

emb: ... NOT 'hand drawn diagrams' ... Sorry. Should have said 'graphic artist's analog rendering'! Thanks for the context.