qwazse

Included in summer camp: parking, meals, lodging, your buddies. There's no archery or rifle range at Disney, and Mickey won't allow you to angle for them fish in the moat -- not even catch and release.

The venturing program encourages each crew to come up with its own set of by-laws. Some of those are online. Many of them may fit what you might expect from a troop committee. You may just have to tweak the names of the positions. (And drop any clause about public displays of affection!)

CCb, first of all, thanks for volunteering. I've seen several CC's from the perspective of a scout parent. The best ones do the following: 1. Coach adults (i.e. the ones who don't have an official position) in serving the pack. 2. Follow the lead of any adult who has a good idea. 3. Keeps meetings short. 3. Starts looking for their replacement from day one. Most direct contact leaders (be they CM, DL, SM, ASM) need a small number of things: 1. active parents, 2. facilities, 3. money, 4. training opportunities, 5. coffee and/or flowers (depending on the preference of the leader). CC's who provide these may consider themselves a success. Those who provide a plethora of advise to a CM on "how things should be done" can consider themselves failures. Finally, attend district round-table and get an idea of what other units are doing. The face-to-face time with other unit leaders is probably the best way to tell if you're on the right track.

NJ - The study did control for "Marital Happiness" (or lack thereof) and psychological well-being; however, that's a far cry from accounting for multiple potential causes for divorce (e.g. adultery, financial stress, physical abuse, etc ...). Even if those factors could have been measured with any degree of precision, this sample was just too small to come to any reliable conclusions from that much detail. Since it is unethical to randomly assign divorce or marriage "treatments" to families experiencing infidelity or abuse, we'll never nail down the chain of causality for certain. The physical effects of infidelity (through disease) or abuse (through injury) are well documented -- as are the near term psychological effects. I figure there are as many families who stay together and bounce back from such assaults as there are families who never experience a safe day until the parents part ways. In those cases, kids have a lot more to worry about than standardized test scores. JB, sometimes that which doesn't kill us just leaves us hobbling along hoping the next hit won't do us in!

SF, any of those parents wanna rent a timeshare in Orlando on Race Week? Send 'em my way. I don't want 'em on any trip with me, but I'll take their $$s! Let's not neglect that for some of us, that means splitting our vacation time between scouting and family. Now, our scouts love a lot of the "same old same old", they actually voted the low-end campout as their #1 activity. My crew nags me to camp on a local freshwater beach about 2 hours away every year. That is the majority's preferred "super activity". The problem with that is it's too crowded on the weekends so the adults need to take off work, but I'm already using my "scouting" vacation days for summer camp, an extended backpacking trip, and Seabase. The "low-end" stuff may be cheap, but the kids love it. Just challenge them to add a twist to make each weekend a little different. Then if a group of them decide on something high-end, remind the parents that this might be their opportunity to get a little extra labor on the cheap before the kids go off to college and the real drain begins.

I think most campers do cat holes. Decomposition is pretty quick on those islands. No experience with Cornplanter.

Also, I would add that the "hit" in this study is small relative to other things that happen to kids throughout the world (war, famine, pestilence, etc ...). And we're talking averages here. I'm sure you'll find some kids who do better than average after a divorce, but the majority who do worse pull the curve down. CCb, I intentionally did not use the s- word. Your "evil stepmother" situation shows that sometimes divorce is merely the symptom of our inability to love unconditionally. Adultery or abuse are truly harmful to people, and I agree that sometimes divorce is the only way to "stop the bleeding." But that does not negate the observation that the biological parents sticking together (absent infidelity or violence) is the best we can offer our kids. My parents argued constantly. Threatening divorce. It was insufferable. But I saw them tend to each other at the end of their days. Over the long term, I think I gained.

I think your boys are on to something. They seem to be a clever lot, so ask them what behaviors they would consider: 1. rude 2. immoral 3. plain stupid 4. just lame Persuant to a discussion our troop had this weekend, you might want to toss in "I promise to never pick on an adult leader's playlist until I've listened to the artists he selected."

Bd and bd, Thanks for those opinions. I never thought that question would wrankle anyone. (I treat it as more like the scouting equivalent of "What's your major?"). I don't think our troup treats W-I's and W-II's any differently, but I'll have to look at that the next time we host some cubs. I agree a solid friendship with a scout means the world to a cub (and his parents). It does not always transfer into sucessful recruitment, but it's a good idea on principle alone.

He also heads up a shooting team, and I told him I would take up where he cannot. Why not let him lead where his talents are? He can be an ASM and you could ask him to help counsel shooting sports MB's and maybe set up a few venues for your boys to attend and shoot some skeet or whatever. Amplifying on what jts said: just a couple of ASMs like that and your boys will have an active schedule that will be the envy of your district. One more hint with regard to sports. Try to set up events and overnights that are near where your 2 athletes have games. If they know you are trying to support them during the athletic season, they'll appreciate it in the off-season. Your boys might want to try and "host" a bonfire for their team once or twice after a home game.

SN - it never works out that cleanly. If the trip falls apart because rr won't make the extra effort his CC is requiring, then the entire crew loses the boat fee ($5800) plus whatever airfare is non-refundable. If the crew is willing to pay extra in boat share for a replacement adult to come along. He might be reimbursed. But it would be a mess. Obviously the cheapest solution is to be more flexible with the rules, but if the CC is not budging and the COR upholds his opinion, it's time to figure out the best compromise for all involved. If everyone pitches in another $100, they can have $800 for another adult to just fly down to FLL (and back, twice, if he/she doesn't want to stay the week) with the 6 other crew members.

Ditto Oak Tree. Indian Rivers was especially accomodating because the hauled my kayak free of charge. They were happy for the other 30 paying customers! Did Backaloons once, which was nice. I definitely prefer the islands.

Sounds like your boys have already told you their opinion. I think this troop has a lot going for it. You listed at least four adults who are on the roster. You may have more in your corner than you realize. (What about the former SMs' sons and other boys who graduated from the troop? Any of them ASM material?) Get a hold of a roster and get your COR and institutional head thinking about this. You have one patrol. The boys are not missing out on the patrol experience. As long as the adults keep their distance and let them operate, they'll be fine. You don't want them to get so comfortable that they stop trying to recruit their friends, but being small has its advantages. Large troops have a laundry list of problems. One of them is the huge demand on your time communicating with lots of adults when all you want to do is get a couple dozen boys to have fun in the same woods on the same weekend. An effective large troop knows how to get the most out of you, even if you're not SM. So I don't think you'll waste any more time here than in some other troop. Make sure your CC has talked to every parent about the role they could play on the troop committee. If he has, then you can be fairly certain that you're "the guy." Once you throw your hat in the ring, find your unit commissioner, tell him your concerns about your troop size and ask if there are similar troops with whom you and your boys could get together from time to time. Oh, and thanks in advance for volunteering.

NJ It looks very scientific with a lot of equations and stuff, so I am going to let those of you who read that sort of thing read it and tell the rest of us what it really says. Well, I usually charge big bucks for this sort of thing but for you guys ... The study is as much about applying the "latest-and-greatest" innovations in statistics as it is about the impact of divorce. You see, there are plenty of projects looking at larger #s of kids that show divorce puts kids at a unique disadvantage (more than other causes of single parenthood), but each of those have disadvantages. Probably the most striking, is that they observe kids at a single point in time -- usually after the divorce has occurred. This means you don't know if anything that distinguishes children of divorce reflects the impact of the divorce itself, or something that was going prior to the divorce. (As distasteful as it would be to blame child traits for parents' decisions, if you don't work to rule out that possibility, the science is incomplete.) As you already noted, gathering data over time is, well, time consuming and laborious. What most folks don't realize is that the math required to interpret that kind of data is fairly new. Slicing it one way may tell you one thing; another way, something completely different. If you slice it every way possible, the math may work out by pure dumb luck. SO this guy sliced it several ways but was very specific in his choice of "slices". Thus all the verbage about the math. The upshot of it all? - The 146 children of divorce were worse off than kids whose bio parents stuck together. - The "lower scores" (and the author looked at several) were not a factor of anything pre-divorce. - Things did not get worse and worse for the kids with divorce. However far "behind" they fell during the year of the divorce, they stayed that distance behind for the remainder of the study. What about that "unwarranted generalization" caveat? Well it's partly because the author is only talking about a small number of kids relative to the number of variables being examined. But it's also a self-serving statement that we all throw in to justify our jobs. (Translate: "This paper hasn't answered all the questions, so please fund us so we can keep working.") Bottom line, unless spouses are abusive or promiscuous (bringing violence or disease into the family), divorce hurts kids. It seems to be a single hit that puts them behind other folks (even the kids with "married parents whop kinda sorta go through the motions" Scoutfish mentioned). Kids don't exactly catch up right away from it, but whatever problems arise aren't compounded over the years. It's sort of a bad-news/good-news scenario much like it seems most of us have observed in practice.

SP - Our 5th graders are elementary. 6th are middle school (which shares a building with the high school). DE's have had lackluster results compared to one of our own MC's and a couple boys (who wouldn't mind ducking out of their High School) to pay a visit.

My son and I heard this one on the way to a troop meeting. A rose by any other name ...

Y'all are making me real excited about filling out my TP. Two youth are departing on their own (19 y.o. male and 17 y.o. female) for the first leg of the trip! Start throwing stones my way. Rra has taken enough knocks.

Well, regardless of religion, most folks in our country really worship self more than God. Since the scripture is only something we go to when death is imminent, "burying" self becomes the greater sin. You can tell this by CCb's mockery of the harsh rules in Dueteronomy. We would never consider an engaged person's promiscuity to be an act of treason. Why shouldn't she be free to cater to herself? In fact, it is the American objective to make sure the entire world lives as selfishly as possible. (This was a subplot of Outsource.) Granted, I'm in no position to throw stones, so I don't and I try to keep others from gathering rocks, but I am obligated to understand that the stones were put there for a reason. So yeah, divorce hurts kids. So does lust in general. So does greed. So does cursing. So does doing anything to get your own way without regard to the folks in your community. In fact the list is so long it's a wonder that our kids have a selfless bone in their body. So when you see a youth who is willing to do even one selfless act, remember that you're looking at a miracle.(This message has been edited by qwazse)

This weekend, I did something a little different. I used the telescope to project an image of the sun onto paper (NEVER LOOK AT The Sun DIRECTLY THROUGH A TELESCOPE OR BINOCULARS.) I introduced the boys to counting sun spots.

1. Yes 2. We provide den chiefs and invite webelo's from our pack and feeder pack to meetings/activities we think they may enjoy. Success ranges from 100% to 0% depending on the year. 3. We used to just focus on the Pack our CO supports. 4. Even with have a feeder pack, sooner or later that transition will fail. (E.g., this year they all went to a new troop starting nearby.) We try to do a presentation to 6th graders at the local public school. We encourage scouts to think about their friends who may like this stuff, and invite them to a meeting. (BTW, the boys do this with no thought for meeting some requirement or earning another patch. If they won't do this it is probably because your program stinks.) We also try to make sure eagle projects get the public attention they deserve.

Looking to load the scope for tonight's campout. I don't bother counseling the MB. Like Frank17 says, there are far more qualified folks in our community who can teach it. And I'd rather the boys make an effort to see these good people and get a solid set of lessons. I just tell the kids to line up east to west in chairs or on the ground with their heads pointed north. The older scouts help the younger ones find Polaris. Then we point out what can be seen. (And what could be seen if our eyes could see infra-red and ultraviolet, or if the atmosphere weren't in the way.) We talk about distances. About the sizes of stuff. About the speed of things. About what the ancient's thought. About how this is a unique time in our solar system's history where it is drifting between arms of our galaxy giving us maybe an 11 million year window with the least obstructed view of the rest of the universe. And on and on ... Whoever wants to go back to the fire (some distance away to avoid light pollution) may do so. The boys who stay wind up actually seeing the sky rotate above them the one's who don't will be the ones saying "where? where?" after they hear a boy shout "oooh a shooting star!". The only thing I make everyone do is keep their flashlights off or pointed to the ground away from people's faces. A simple star chart is handy. The 18th cent. drawings are useless. But the stories behind the characters (if you've learned them) are definitely worth retelling. I tend not to set up the scope until the boys are off playing capture the flag (or whatever). That way, whoever drifts by can take a peak once I sight stuff in. Waiting in line while a guy fiddles with knobs and gears is the worst "put-off." A piece of equipment that's so expensive you won't let boys touch it and learn to use is also a "put-off." Anyway, I gotta go find that box of lenses ...

As only 5 nights of resident camping are allowed, I would count either 5 nights as counselor, or CIT, at summer camp, or 5 nights as a camper with the Troop at summer camp, not both, and not for the entire summer. That's for the first 25 nights. Would you count them for the additional 25 toward their gold device(s)? I'd be inclined to say yes.

One topic that leaders from all units found interesting was Tax Deductions for Volunteers. Our commish brought in an accountant from a reputable firm and walked through expense that we could deduct and how to report them. This may not amount to much for cub leaders, but I think many of them found it nice to know that as things become a little more expensive, some of it may be honored as charity.

I think the triple crown award should still be given -- just award it for any three of the four. Sure, it may make it a little easier to earn it, but that's only because the chances of one of the bases being close to home are higher. Regardless, I'll bet there'll be a patch redesign. I'd be proud to see them add either a red-tail hawk or turkey vulture.(This message has been edited by qwazse)

Spj, tech jargon entering common paralance is an A-Okay evolution of the English language. No need to consider it a snafu! I read a NY Times article saying that FB statuses actually have a positive effect on coherent writing. I've observed this effect in some of my youth. They make a statement, their friends point out flaws in logic. They correct it. A counter-arguement is posted. They revise the thesis. And so on ... All of this without the aid of a teacher. On the other hand, unless the kid makes errors that lead to misinterpretation, writing FB statuses does nothing to improve his grammar.