ScoutNut

The CM has no say in how/when the Webelos earn their AOL. That is up to the Webelos den leader. Webelos are the only Scouts who can camp as a DEN, without the rest of the Pack. Talk to your son's Webelos den leader about having a Webelos Den Campout, and some other outdoor activities. Area Troops should be happy to help. It might also help if you offered the den leader to take the lead on some of these activities.

This has to do with, or is th fault of, BSA how?

One last probable bad outcome - No other Scout who is in a bad position, or who might be facing abuse, will EVER trust you, or any of the adult leaders, enough to tell you ANYTHING.

Is this another one of your "What if" scenarios? Again, per your previous posts, this incident happened OVER a YEAR ago. If you are just now wondering if you should talk to his new SM, I would ask - why did you wait so long?

You have to understand that while the Scouting Movement is an international movement, BSA is not (other than those councils created specifically for USA youth overseas). That is why it is the Boy Scouts of AMERICA, and not the Boy Scouts of the World, or some such. While BSA might not shout to the hilltops about the international aspect of Scouting, they do acknowledge it. Some councils are more pro-active about it than others. Many councils had some sort of recognition for the 100th anniversary of the Scouting Movement. One of BSA's best known stories is that of the "Unknown Scout", and the origin of the BSA. Part of BSA's Anniversary in February is Lord, and Lady, Baden-Powell's birthday. Many councils have contingent Troops that attend the International Jamboree. My council has hosted Scouts from other countries (rather like exchange students). That said, I think that GSUSA does a bit of a better job of bringing the international aspect of the Scouting Movement home to it's members than BSA. They celebrate Feb 22, the birthday of Lord, and Lady, Baden-Powell, as World Thinking Day. That day is used to remember they are part of an international movement, and to think about their sister Scouts, and Guides, in other countries. Typically GS Troops will pick one, or more, countries, and learn about the Scouting Movement, and the culture, there. As for Youth Protection, 2-deep, and Youth Protection training has been around since I first started as an adult Scouter, 16 years ago. You most likely did not know about it because, as a youth in the program, you were not involved in that side of it. If your Pack, or Troop did youth protection for the youth, which units rarely do, it was the stranger danger type videos aimed at the youth, and had nothing to do with the precautions to be taken by the adult leaders. Going thru the Scouting program as a youth is VERY different from being a trained adult Scout leader in the program. Especially if your main experience in Scouting is at the Cub level.

I have seen folks sailing on rivers. There are also thousands of lakes in this country. Sail boats are not the only kind of vessel used by Sea Scouts. I don't see promoting one of your organizations programs as a "waste" of resources.

So, mom, and dad, talked to you about the mess. That does not give you permission to spread this story. You are a close pal of the dad. That does not mean he would admit it to you if his wife were an abuser. That would mean that he would have to take some blame for it happening in his home (with or without his knowledge). It is much easier to distance himself from the whole thing by making stepson sound like a liar. You stated yourself - YOU DON'T KNOW what is really going on in that family. It is NOT your call to find out. It is NOT your call to turn either the SM Conference, and/or the EBOR, into an inquisition of the son on this matter. It does NOT matter if you like the father, and dislike the son. YP issues are STILL supposed to be PRIVATE. Keep them that way. This issue has nothing to do with this boy earning Eagle. Drop it now.

YP issues are supposed to be PRIVATE. It is NOT up to US to investigate, or to judge the boy, or his parents. Children in trouble are told in every program, and booklet, on the subject, that they can trust adults. That they can SAFELY tell an adult what is happening to them, WITHOUT fear of recrimination. What exactly are you trying to prove by spreading this story around, and accusing the boy. Especially when you have no evidence he lied? This has nothing to do with him earning his Eagle.

The best way to make sure your Tigers stay in Scouts is to make sure their Parents get hooked on Scouting. The Tigers program is the best possible way to do this. Include your Adult Partners in EVERYTHING that their Tigers do, from silly games, to saying the Cub Scout Promise. Remember they are a Team (Tiger and Partner), and treat them as such.

You for you!

Yes, and I've seen boys who do a GREAT job WORKING with their parent's den. I have also seen boys who don't mind in the least attending, and WORKING at every Cub event. The biggest problem I have seen are boys who are pressured into being a Den Chief when they do not want the position.

14 is a lot for a den. However, if you need to, you can make it work. Or, make it work for a month or two until you get to know your families. During those 2 months, use Shared Leadership. Let the Tiger Teams see how easy, and fun, it can be to run meetings. Once you get to know them, and see them in action, it should be easy to see who will make the best den leaders. Ask one. Face to face. Get the Cubmaster and CC, in on the asking too. Make sure they offer a lot of help, and mentoring to BOTH of you. Make it as easy as possible for them to say yes. With 14 adults it should be fairly easy to find 1 other person who, like you, is willing to work to make the boys (and their sons) experience the best it can be. Hint - Look at families with a daughter in Girl Scouts, an older son in Scouts, or like you, a former youth member of a Scouting organization. And a note - While an assistant den leader is not really necessary in Tigers because of the Tiger Team, and Shared Leadership concepts, you will need another den leader with you next year. Use this year to find a good one that you work well with. Have FUN!

Don't think of it as public speaking, think of it as corralling your own kid X 20. These are KIDS. And, since the adults are acting like kids, treat them like kids too. By the way, except for anyone working DIRECTLY with the Webelos, the parents should not be there. Especially if you have 16 Scouts. You don't need 16-30 chattering, useless, adults disrupting the meeting. With 2-3 Boy Scouts, and 2+ adult assistants, that should be plenty (if they are all really helping you and not just sitting around like the parents). If the parents MUST be there, find them somewhere else, outside of the meeting room, to wait.

Why was the parent there? Screaming at a youth, and acting like an a$$ is not against YP. You said that there were multiple Scouts present at this incident, so the parent was never completely alone with this one Scout. No YP policies were broken. If the parent was not a registered Troop leader, and had no knowledge of BSA Youth Protection policies, how can he be held accountable for breaking them? I don't understand what you are after here. The incident happened a year ago. The family is no longer in the Troop. The SE for your council was informed of, and dismissed the entire thing - a YEAR ago. Why bring it all up a year later when the entire thing is dead and long gone?

The SM and SPL approve the Scout to be a Den Chief. However, they can NOT tell the Pack what den to put that Den Chief in. That decision is completely up to the Pack's CC, CM, and the den leader. If a Boy Scout wants to work with Cub Scouts, but his SPL, and SM, will not approve his being a Den Chief, he can still volunteer his time to help a den, he simply does not get POR credit for it. My question would be, if a Scout is already doing all of that work on his own, and he is in need of a POR, why on earth would you NOT approve him as a Den Chief, and give him POR credit for it?

Most of the training required to be trained for your position is online. Once it is completed it goes directly into ScoutNet. There is even an online program that lets you check, and validate, what training is currently listed in ScoutNet. The applications are currently scanned by machine. I do not think there is a lot of manual input involved, and I don't see why it should take 3-4 months to process.

Belt totems never really worked well for us. Back when BSA first had Tigers use a totem it was on their belt because they wore t-shirts, and not the blue uniform. However many of our little guys did not wear belts, so their totems ended up sitting in a drawer at home. The ones that did were constantly wacking them on the floor while playing games. Fast forward to today. Our Tigers in the blue uniform, STILL do not always wear a belt. Actually, very few of any of our Cubs do unless they have a bunch of belt loops they want to show off. Most do wear their uniform shirt however. This is the leather shape we use for our Pack Totems - http://www.ssww.com/item/leather-shape-arrowhead-LE3037/cmc=SRCH/v=YXJyb3doZWFk/p=1/ Have fun making your leather totems, and I hope they work well for you!

A segment patch is a small curved patch that is usually put around a larger circular patch. Some councils have specific programs for them, others make them available for units to use as they see fit, still other councils do not have them in their shops at all. My Pack uses them as cheap recognition patches. We give them to the Scouts for things like attending Pack meetings, participating in the popcorn sale, working on a service project, visiting a Nature Center/Police Dept/Fire Dept/Library, etc. They put them on the back of their red patch vest, in rings, around a circular council patch. For very active boys, they can have 5, or 6, rings by the times they cross to a Boy Scout Troop. They look cool! They also make a nice remembrance of things they did in Cubbies. Many of our Eagles put them out as part of their personal Scouting display at their Eagle COH. Welsh Industries has a very good selection of stock segments. As a matter of fact, I believe that is where our Council orders theirs from - http://www.welshind.com/segs.htm

You need the Troop's license in order to access their software. However, why on earth would you need, or want, access to a Troop's personal information on it's youth, and their parents? If I was one of those parents I would be royally ticked off if I discovered that my sons Troop was passing this information around. You are a Unit Commissioner. How about doing that job well.

No, the "centennial" is not a "5 year span". The BSA NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN is a 5 year span. The current one was from 2006-2010, and because it INCLUDED the Centennial year of 2010, it also included Centennial events, activities, programs, etc. The whole concept of that 5 year Strategic Plan was to take BSA into the next century of Scouting, and revolved around the Centennial. And NO, you do NOT have to be on some National Committee, or board, to know about these things.

Perhaps I am confused. Please tell me if I am on the wrong track here. You want to take the Troopmaster software from the Troop you are Advancement Chair for, and give it to the Troops you are UC for?

How about simply NOT doing that one? For COUNTRY you have to do 3 out of 5 areas. Choose one of the other two for the rank requirement instead of doing #7 (Law Enforcement). Then, if you feel like it later on, you can do parts of #7 for Electives.

No "mess" here. Neither is the Centennial Quality Unit patch with 2007 on it a typo, or an oversight. The first Centennial Quality Award was for the year 2007. The Centennial Quality Award program is part of the BSA National Strategic Plan "When Tradition Meets Tomorrow". This plan covers the years 2006-2010. The next National Strategic Plan covers the years 2011-2015. As part of that Strategic Plan the Quality Awards for Council, District, and Unit, for 2011-2015, will be restructured to meet the goals of that plan. As usual, the first year (2011) will be messy, especially if BSA is going to move it from calendar year, back to recharter year, as it was prior to 2007. I imagine that information on the new Quality Awards will be released sometime between October, and the end of the year. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

The den hosting the Pack meeting always gets in early to set up. So do the rest of the leaders, and the Advancement Chair. The boys never have to wait. The games are part of the program, along with other activities, including award presentations. And to get back to the original question, our church does not have a flag. We do our Pack meeting flag ceremonies (opening & closing) using the Pack flag and the US flag. I believe the school has a flag, but since a Pack meeting is not a school function, we never use it. When the Scouts in the host den have an alternative opening planned, we will do the flag ceremony first, then their special opening. The only time we have flags in the church itself is on Scout Sundays. For February's Boy Scout Sunday we will march in with the US, Pack, and Troop flags. For Girl Scout Sunday in March, the US flag and Girl Scout banner are carried in.(This message has been edited by Scoutnut)

We do PWD too, and a Cardboard Box Derby. However, I was actually talking about relay races by team. Depending on the time we have allotted, we will run from 2-5 teams, and always include siblings, and sometimes parents. The parents also help run each team. Some relays we have done are - Hatch the Egg - run to chair, sit on a balloon to pop/hatch it, run to back of line. Dress Up - run to chair, put on whatever theme clothes are there, run back to line, take off clothes, next in line puts on clothes, runs to chair, takes off clothes, runs to back of line. Wheelbarrel - done with parent/kid, or kid/kid, teams. Feather Toss - toss a feather, pick it up & toss it again, keep it up until you get around a chair and back to the line. Everyone has fun, and the leaders usually use the time to get their award presentations together.