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Let’s not speak as if BSA is a monolith. ET Seaton (BSA’s exec in the 30s) was very upset that Juliet Gordon Low did not found the American organization using the name of its British counterpart “Girl Guides.” There were other outdoor organizations for girls that steered clear of using “Scouts” as in their brand. Low stepped into that space. The boots on the ground simply didn’t care, Seaton desired to take action so that they would care. He sought Baden Powell’s support, which Powell refused to give. BSA relented. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3346224). The same recently occurred in the reverse with GS/USA execs. I’m sure they were hounded on many fronts to relent. Or, as I explained to a female Eagle early this spring, “Adults ruin everything.”

If predators were simply identifiable as a buck naked person standing behind any of my scouts, my life would be so much easier. But 20th century America’s revulsion with nudity in public art runs deeper than that. The history of the Liberty Quarter is another striking example. But, as we see in this thread, our multicultural society holds diverse views.

I like the National memorial. I get the point of the the ideal man and woman behind the scout (more Adam and Eve than Greek or Norse, but still trying to harken on multiple traditions). My regret is that they are not full nudes as one would expect. I, too, would have preferred the female scout statue to be more down to earth. I think the body shape does not reflect the average 16 year old, but that could also be the camera angle.

This is pretty much how WSJ operated at Summit in 2019 (albeit with 4x the attendance). There were team activities in some areas, but ad hoc patrols could self-form for those. Scouts wanting to ride the big zip, for example, checked out of camp as early as 5am to get in line. Some units were more tight-knit — especially if they had time slots for performing on one of the stages. But generally, as long as scouts were with a buddy, they had free reign of the place. The Korean Jamboree Management Team, on the other hand, is scheduling many activities by patrol. I last experienced a system like that in the 1981 AP Hill NSJ. We got a stack of Hollerith cards that represented activities at particular times and locations. We would rifle through the stack each day and swap for adventures that interested us. I arrived at a few (orienteering, the dive tank, and pioneering) as a singleton.

BTW, it doesn’t have to be a campout. Small service projects that only need a handful of guys are great ways for introverts to find their way in the troop.

If you’ve seen how they behave on campouts enough to think that it’s their personality and not lack of skills, I think it’s a great idea. My SM took a lot of time with us as individuals, and it was a good thing. For example, on one campout in the back of a fellow scout’s cow pasture, he came up to me with a capped metal tube and said, “I think you’ll find this interesting.” It was a WW-1 canvas box kite. Indeed, I was one of the few boys who were still mucking about with kites at that age, so I took to flying it while my patrol went about KP. It gave me the freedom to have my “introvert” space. And, once I had it aloft, it gave me something that I could hand off to other scouts when it was my shift to do something.

The scenario being imitated here is that of a formal cruise or a Navy junket. So, I would suggest the scout use his own or a similarly sized friend’s pants. If they are too large the scout would find them unwieldy. (Although “acquiring” pants from a larger fellow passenger is a possible means to an end in this scenario, it’s probably not one we would want to encourage.)

More humble brag, “my” scout gives a nod to his roots in the following interview: https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/articles/cp-interview-patrick-connolly-explores-central-florida-for-a-living/

@5thGenTexan, it sounds like you’re in an ebb cycle. It happens. I’m afraid uniforming won’t help. The age pyramid in your troop has collapsed. That’s not bad, but it will try all y’all’s patience. You’re in a “lead the horse to water” situation with your SM. You can share your vision with him, but I suspect you’ve done that. If there’s no other adult more to your liking who is willing to step forward, you must proceed with who you have. I’m gathering that syrupy sweet doesn’t come easy for you, but your best bet is to find one thing that this SM does right and heap on the praise. The SPL is your key, but the lock seems pretty stiff. There might be a way to loosen it. In that 15 minutes of chaos before the SM arrives, have a special treat for the him and the PLs and assistants. It could be a snack, it could be a round of cards, darts, swap some patches, whatever. Something just for youth leadership to engage youth leadership. I sat in on “mini-PLCs” on the SM’s behalf for a year until he was ready to grab those reigns. Again, your goal here is to get to know these youth. Inform them of the next NYLT or other training. And figure out what it would take to get them there.

I sincerely believe that historically, the causality has been the opposite of depicted. As some troops in the ‘80s and ‘90s took uniforming less seriously, more adults were encouraged to wear a field uniform “as an example” to scouts. This was an attempt to get adults to communicate “I’m willing to wear this proudly, you should be willing too!” Like every social experiment, there are successes and failures. I’m not sure how much one vs. the other occurred. There’s no real poll of the amount of uniforming one way or the other … only anecdotes from scouters when they don’t like how their people are using (or not using) the method.

The assumption is flawed that scouts’ uniforming is dependent on adults uniforming. Growing up, we always looked sharp for our BoR’s, and none of the committee wore a field uniform. Half of our SMs did not wear a uniform, and we still dressed in our field uniform. That’s because we regularly had uniform inspection. Currently, none of our committee wear uniforms, and our SM and ASMs do most of the time. Most of our scouts show up with the uniform shirt on every week. If your problem is scouts not looking sharp, then that’s your problem with the scouts, don’t bring the adults into it. Do your best to wear your uniform regularly. Apologize to the scouts any time you are not in uniform for a meeting or troop activity. And teach the scouts what you and the world expects of them. If your problem is that you’d prefer adults to appear looking sharp in field uniforms, tell them that is your personal preference. Thank them when they show up looking sharp. Leave the kids out of it. Remind everyone about the most important part of their uniform … Their Smile.

So far, I haven’t met scouts who settled for aging our at Life because of his badge. The boys who I’ve polled seem to have enjoyed the badge. Especially compared to the other citizenship MBs.

I didn’t see any of that. I encouraged the scouts to make the evening enjoyable around our troop campfire, which is situated conveniently lakeside. They seem to have managed to do that without much grief. (I wasn’t present because there was a bunch of close-out stuff for me to do.)

Well, if by future you mean two days later at home, there’s room for pessimism. From what I witnessed of the scout-mom interaction, the parents have a tough row to hoe. All we had left was the nuclear option of confining the whole troop to the campsite. I pushed that button for the sake of second- and third-year scouts. It’s a healthy lesson to know your actions impact others.

I love that “primordial goodness” bit, until I butt up against the head of a scout who picks and chooses the points he wants to obey. The day after a critical incident, the kid literally rattled off the law, skipping “courteous, kind, obedient.” I corrected him on his omissions and said, “You made vows. They define what a scout is. If someone is the opposite of 1/4 of those things, they are not a scout. This is a scout camp.” He tried, poorly, and still had to be sent home. After that, I dealt with self righteous older scouts who should know better but disregarded the same points of the Scout Law — justifying doing so on the shaky grounds that it was their last day of camp. I’m becoming more generally comfortable with the notion of total depravity, and our need for something to stand as a metric showing how we don’t measure up. That said, I still try to dig deep and take a play from Aquinas to find the underlying good motivating a soul’s bad actions.

The net purpose, as with anything in these forums, is to give us a pulse on our nation’s and our world’s youth who enter and leave BSA. I manage to only provide a handful of scoutmaster conferences on youth in my troop, and have other meaningful conversations with youth and scouters (some of them minorities) outside of my troop. That’s not a representative sample. And, when one of these people ask probing questions about why things are the way they are (be it membership policies or taught line hitches) I find the frank observations and reactions on this forum to be invaluable. As to the OP of this thread, two troop alumni were able to come retrieve a youth from camp, but regardless of any training they may take, they won’t be able to serve as one of my second adult leaders on a camping trip for another two years. Most scouters around the world find this to be perverse on multiple levels.

The German scout association is an example of a highly federated system. It’s a very interesting model to observe. We see hints of it here in the very different uniforms of the various youth.

Please let the devotion be titled “What To Pray When You See Your Rope Fray!”

If it’s any consolation, I was talking to a mom whose kids are in sports and their fees are climbing as well. A sinking tide grounds all boats.

It’s like I have an evil twin.

If you want to have something up your sleeve for the next time Bobby spouts off, PM me, and I’ll share footage of Ukrainian defense forces using every scout skill in the book to rescue one of their mates.

Kudos to Bobby and Billy. Stop talking about advancement and start talking skills. Specifically for Bobby, tell him that strangers on the internet want him to recite the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and all four verses of the Star Spangled Banner from memory before he says one more word about politics. This week, we want him to memorize the headstones of the graves he decorates. Then, before he says his second word about politics, we want him to arrange a town hike with his patrol to the local court house to meet your mayor, he sheriff, or some other elected officer. Then we want him to coordinate your troops next flag retirement ceremony. Then if you are near a naturalization center, we want him to prepare welcome packets for new immigrants and perform the opening ceremony in their honor. Tell him that Eagle Scout strangers don’t give a fig about the patch over his left pocket. But, in two years, when it’s time to register to vote, he’d better darn well be prepared to run my country.

First mistake: a troop design that incorporates the name of the CO. Second mistake: slapping a troop design on every piece of property. Your identity is now with this CO. They were kind enough to take you in, you want to award them recognition on your new flag or whatever else you have. I would suggest you no longer bother with putting the CO’s name on every piece of cloth. Select a standard issue neckerchief, and use only your troop number on most of your gear. Let the CO know your concerns, but be prepared to flex to them.

Implicit in expanding market share, one of the purposes of professional staff is promote the program to the people who are not yet sponsoring scouts. That balance between catering to existing volunteers and seeking out new ones (be they scouters, board members, donors, or CO’s) is precarious.

Point: I have a scout with ADHD who is struggling to master knots. He’s doing it, but it’s a challenge. How is it fair to him if your scouts can advance without knowing how to tie all of the knots that they should? Counter-point: is the SM testing on land navigation? Safe swim defense? Fire building? Cooking? Bill of rights? Pull-ups? If not, why is the conference only covering a fraction of he skills a scout should have?