qwazse

Based on the smiles I see every week, it’s still fun. Personally, I always found forestalling death to be intrinsically fun. Being a scouter is more demanding, perhaps. But, I was close to my kids’ soccer coaches, and it was no piece of cake for them either. Teaching Sunday school requires more paperwork than it used to. I finally got my brother to come to an orienteering club event with me. Minimum paperwork. No responsibilities except to clock in at finish at the allotted time, which we didn’t. The terrain beat on us something fierce. We even missed a turn on the two hour ride home, twice! I’m still sore in parts. His after action review: it was fun. I thought: my SM made me have this kind of fun and I’m still at it. Monday night, a couple of boys came to me begging to get an orienteering course in soon. Our SM had one prepared so I called him over and he offered to his Thursday PM and Saturday AM. Two generations later … still fun.

This is very simple: what policy is most likely to forestall death? Do that.

@AwakeEnergyScouter, you and your dad were in an organization that did not face staggering litigation for damages when someone from gender A assaulted someone from gender B. I discussed the BSA’s legal situation with several Scandinavian scouters, and they couldn’t imagine that the staggering scenario that we face would happen to any organization in their country.

@fred8033, the historic and persistent 4x rate of sexual assault upon young women vs. young men in the US, (2021 YBRS summary here) and no proof that coed groups can avert this all but guarantees that segregated units will be preferred for the near future.

That’s pretty much the way we do it. There are different ways to handle if someone is not present. Usually it’s something like: PL: Five present, two accounted for. SPL: Who is missing and how are they accounted? PL: Bob and Joe are escorting Mr. Q to the medic to remove a fishing lure from his head. SPL (saluting): Thank you. [Patrol yells.] Boy’s Life used to demonstrate this stuff via their comics. I don’t keep back issues, and the online archive isn’t indexed terribly well.

‘schiff’s $.01 is pure copper, so worth more than most of ours … I’m not too bothered by brevity. I didn’t previous recent reports that killed ink with large fonts and half-page images. The other obfuscation is not splitting by sex. We don’t know if nationally we lost boys, girls or both. The H/A stat is cherry picked.

We get that a lot. The crossovers are pretty clear on the concept. (I think the most recent curriculum is especially helpful.) Others that age need to warm up to it. It can be source of some behavior issues for the boy whose gotten used to ignoring his parents, and now there’s this older youth to whom he must answer. Last week, our SPL touched base with us about one such 1st year. The good news was that the scout’s parents are very supportive and respect all of the new “older brothers” assigned to their son!

Yes. https://troopresources.scouting.org/team-building-activities/ in reading to the troop the instructions for "Hi-Lo", the SPL specifies when patrols should give their yell. https://troopresources.scouting.org/knot-tying-skill-activities/ in reading to the troop the instructions for "Taut-Line Hitch Race" This is sufficient detail without making the SPL feel obliged to fit it into every possible game or activity. Beyond that, the SPL can and should confer with the PLC as to when and how they should be directed to do their yells. You note the page on "silent commands". That is not intended to be an exhaustive list. The PLC could decide on a signal for each patrol to give their yell.

The correct response is “have you asked your PL?” Sometimes I say, “Can you use an index?” If not, I show them how to navigate their handbook. With our crossovers, I do ask, “Can you read?” And make clear that I understand that some kids can’t and may need a buddy to help them. It’s a big country. There’s no set way for an SPL to call for patrol yell. He may decides with the PLC how this should be done. Troops are allowed to have their own flow … their own way to communicate. if you haven’t looked yet, give inquiry.net a browse. It has some pointers from older handbooks.

For the record, I learned how to tie most of my knots from the handbook. (Or, later, the pioneering merit badge pamphlet.) Instruction serves the scouts who are having trouble on their own, and a troop may have many or few of those for any particular topic. What does that mean? I won’t invest a lot of time on knot instructions if the scouts seem to get it. I might instead find times when a local pool is available for swimming instruction. I usually ask the PLC what they think is their members’ weakest scout skill, then I try to provide a program option that they could develop. If I’ve gone over with the SPL all of my suggested for patrol years, and he is only having patrols give their yells at the start of some competition, I’m okay with that — as long as the patrols know their identity, look out for their members, and are each amassing time on other essential scout skills.

I think @InquisitiveScouter is jokingly saying that it’s up to the SPL (with the guidance of the SM) to determine the “when” and “how.” One size need not fit all.

@AwakeEnergyScouter, also try contacting WOSM Asia Pacific Region, https://www.scout.org/where-we-work/regions/asia-pacific/region If I find the card of one of the representatives who I met at the World Scout Jamboree, I’ll PM you with his info. If come August, you get absolutely no where, while I’m at the next WSJ, I’ll stroll over to the Nepali troop’s campsite and let the leaders know that a stranger on the internet would like to talk to them.

They should be a part of every roll call — be it meeting or activity. Our troop is finding it really hard to inculcate in our scouts. That’s partly because we present colors very first, and so many scouts are still drifting in. I would rather scouts have a 10-15 minute activity before gathering for colors. But, institutional inertia is harder to correct than the course of the Queen Mary.

Roundtables are like a box of chocolates. You never know quite what you're going to get. But, I think cub leaders benefit the most from them as they learn about programs that may interest their pack.

Among us Mediterranean types living just north of the Mason-Dixon line west of the Appalachian hills, there were two kinds of people: friends (largely ignorant of spices like garlic and anise) and cousins (people whose plain cooking was high-end restaurant fare in them big cities). @AwakeEnergyScouter, you don't even want to know what folks in my town would associate with that fine city in northern Italy! In pockets of this country, there still remains a dearth of experience with European cooking. (For fun, check out the PastaGrammar series on YouTube.) I love my high school classmates dearly, but I may very well be the only one among them whose first introduction to Swedish meatballs was courtesy of a roommate from that country and not from a furniture store! PA and WV are well known for ramps and other edibles that are about to spring up along the stream banks and ridge lines; however, there are still scouts who stare at me blankly as I pick the fare for my next salad while hiking. We have a lot to learn from each other. And, if we do, our palates will be very happy. Back to the OP. We aim to have some sort of basic ingredients that scouts can safely cook, then we try to teach them how to add the things that boost flavor and nutrition. I often will challenge our boys to think of their favorite meal that their parents make at home, learn how they make it (possibly inviting their buddies over so Mom and Dad can teach a half-dozen of them at a time), and try to replicate it at camp.

Half the fun of scouting is learning what passes for food at other people’s houses. (For me, I realized that my friends had no idea what garlic was for.)

You’d pay twice as much in oil to keep the water beading off your hide.

The advisor primarily helps the scout with project planning and implementation. My CoR (who also represented the beneficiary) was my de-facto Eagle advisor. My SM guided me to the application and (I think) a one-page list of points for writing the report. I had just learned typing lab reports (and go to the stationary store for correction tape and replacement ribbon), so that three page triple-spaced summary (including a single line drawing for cover art) made an impression. At that time, scouting wasn’t nearly as bureaucratic. Service hours weren’t being tallied by National as some justification for the organization’s worth. And, scouts didn’t need chase as many signatures or coordinate with as many adults to have them on site.

On paper, I was son #2’s Eagle advisor. So, no, they aren’t required to work with someone appointed by the unit to serve scouts in hat unit.

Talk to the CoR, move to replace the SM unless he chooses to deliver the program as intended. The lack of discipline causes inherent risk, and -- as the boys are realizing -- erodes at the fun youth should be having. It's possible that the adults don't want to shape up, and the CoR is enabling. Take a load off you shoulders, turn in the CC patch and direct your attention to a troop whose members are trying to be scout-like. In this case, it sounds like that's the girls troop. I had to stop advising my crew because the majority of boys in it were not maintaining personal discipline, and they didn't want to work through what needed to change. There was one boy who I felt lost out because of his fellows' behavior. But, trying to keep things together when everyone else was not being sincere enough to effect change would have made things worse for him. I miss that crew, but the troop needed lots of help.

This 🙄! @BKS, encourage your troop to change its teaching model. Identify those scouts who have mastered some scout skills. Make them instructors. Then adults may sit back, enjoy some coffee, and demonstrate making gourmet meals for their fellow adults.

Technically, I was at work and saw them out my conference room window when they past their halfway mark. I got my afternoon coffee later. MB work -- unless explicitly stated -- is not a troop activity. It can be fun when it is, but that's not necessary. Meeting with counselors now does fall under YP. And, I wholeheartedly agree, that a good counselor will help the scout plan to the level of his/her ability. I think when there's that second person in the room, good advice is more easily retained.

Different scouts rank difficulty differently. Son #2 knocked out Swimming early on and did Hiking as an elective for Eagle. The 20-mile hike was with a buddy … no adult joints were ached in the process.

I suspect that sometime in the late 90s, your den leader made the same comment! You might want to give him/her a call.

Welcome, and thanks in advance for all you’ll do for our youth!