sctmom

There are 2 different bakers that make Girl Scout Cookies. I bought Samoas in one county, drove 10 minutes into another county and bought Carmel Delights. It just depends on if you got them from ABC Bakers or Little Brownie Bakers (I think those are the right names). Each council makes it own choice of which baker to use.

JMC tells a good story. There are conditions such as Tourette's that could be causing this. He could even have some emotional problems (anger, fear) about his lack of eyesight. He may think he has to sound and act "tough" to be accepted. He may think he can get away with it since he has the eyesight problem. I think a talk with the parents may help, just to see how they handle it at home and how is it handled at school. Or is this just something he does at scouts? Last month at a troop campout, one of the boys was cussing and yelling. He was quickly pulled aside and it stopped. He

But it is SO much more than just having something for your application or resume. A boy who has been in scouting, especially an Eagle, knows about leadership, talking to adults, interviewing (board of review and merit badge work), team work, teaching others, perservance, service to others, independence. Plus all the things they learn from merit badges --- like the Citizenship badges and First Aid. Many of the merit badges introduce them to academic subjects -- chemistry, scholarship, engineering, forestry. They learn how to find out information for their merit badges, how to ask questions.

It's hard for a 16 year old to think past NOW. I pointed out that even the experience of sitting for a board of review is good for college. Many scholarships are based on personal interviews. I know I had never experienced such when I went for a scholarship. Had no idea what to do. I recently read an article that said most (like 75%, I think) high school students have cheated in school and think there is nothing wrong with it. The kids said "it's all about making good grades, we have to do that to go to college". There is so much focus on grades and standarized tests, no matter what the c

Talked to a few parents and scouts last night about retention of the older boys. A recurring theme I heard was "with the school load and honors classes, it's hard to stay as involved." One young man, 16 year old, was asked if he thought being a scout would help him in college. His answer was "not academically". An experienced Scouter and long time Eagle explained to him how scouting would help him in college and in career. Also, the theme of "my friends are all gone from the troop" came up. He said 1/2 just left and 1/2 had reached Eagle then left. Right or wrong, I thought the

I think Bob is right on target. Something to keep in mind may be the "why" is he this way. It could be he just hasn't been taught better by his parents, perhaps they aren't very tactful themselves. Tactfulness is a learned behavior. The other is he may have a problem such as ADHD and not be catch on to social clues very well. Or it could just be he is immature and will grow up. Hang in there and have faith in him.

Let me explain the length between campouts. That is NOT usual for this troop. The one planned for April turned into a day long outing because of what the boys want to do (golf). Just found out some boys will campout that night if they want to. My son has chosen not to. May is the month of the mega-yardsale fundraiser. Hard to ask parents and boys to give up a weekend for fundraising and another for camping, same month as Mother's Day and Memorial Day and end of school and baseball and soccer and........ Some of the adult leaders work nights and have to take a vacation day for things like

Bob, you speak highly of the new scout patrol method. Did you see my other thread about the parents who pulled their boys out BECAUSE OF the new scout patrol method? That is due to a perception they walked in the door with. They didn't stick around long enough for training. That is one area where a better national campaign could help retention. In regards to your comment about how many years the movement has been happening without lots of ads, that was before we were all bombarded with TV, radios, billboards, newspapers. Sports players weren't paid millions just for signing up. Sports sch

Comments about youth sports teaching or not teaching teamwork --- I have an example of a coach who really taught teamwork. My son played basketball these past 2 winters on community league. He is much shorter than most of the kids his age, but fast and dedicated. He would do great in practice with shooting, but just couldn't get a shot during the games. Finally a game where our boys were way ahead, the coach pulls the boys together and says "get the ball to him and let him shoot." Tells my kid to just stay open. The other kids were more than happy to do this. He still didn't get a shot in the

I have let my son quit 2 things. One was football. It became clear he would be absolutely miserable and so would I. They wanted 8 year olds to practice in 100 degree weather for 2 hours a night, 3 nights a week. Then when the season started, the practices would continue and games on Saturday. This would go on for months. I asked a number of men who either played football as youth or coached youth football. They all said this was too much for such a young age and to let him out, otherwise we would both hate it forever. It was only the second week of practice and they gave me back my money. He r

Bob asks how will a great ad campaign help? 1 - It will get more people in the door to begin with. 2 - The ones who are currently showing up will have a better idea first walking in about whay Boy Scouting is about. Then the training will sink in a little quicker and not be such a shock. Will it save all the boys we are currently losing? No. I believe that there are many boys and families who are never showing up that would had great value to the program. They would take training, the program does fit into their family values, they would promote the program from inside and outsi

With all due respect Bob White, training is not the answer to all. You said "The information on how scouting works is readily available for any adult. " I was a Cub Scout parent for 3 years before becoming a leader. My ex-husband was a leader for 2 years. We were doing good to find out about training as a leader! That is the training that is offered in our district or council. I have yet to see BALOO offered in our council in the last year. Most parents aren't going to take 90 minutes to sit through training. Many never stop out of their car for the meetings. They don't see why THEY

I didn't know where to post this as it hits upon many current threads. Many of you have read my posts about the parents who left a campout because they weren't pleased with what they saw. One of their friends was not on the campout, even though his son was. Today I saw him and he wanted to chat about the troop. His first question was "why would a Scoutmaster not ensure that the new scouts had a good experience on their first campout?" My question back was "what did the boys have a problem with?" He said "uhh..nothing, let me ask my son." Son said "I had a good time, it was fun

Rooster makes some good points about credibility. The sad part is that even if you point out THIS is the BSA way, not just my personal preference, there are some people who aren't going to care. My mother is well intentioned but she made a remark last year that I think will illustrate my point. She went with us on a Cub Scout Family campout. After being around some of the other parents and leaders, I was telling her what a great guy the other leader was and how good he was with the boys. Her comment was "Yeah, he seems great. Seems like the type of guy who won't just go by the book." W

Along with the law, what is RIGHT. What is the respectable way to treat people when we don't agree? This should be thought about if you are the protester or the one with the "power" to kick people out.

As a recent Webelos Leader let me speak up here --- Am I part of the problem of boys not staying in the troop? YES!!!! It is possible to provide the Cub Scout program according to BSA's documentation and still not prepare the boys for the troop. A boy can get his Arrow of Light and have never camped or tied a knot other than the square knot. He has to visit ONE troop meeting and ONE "Boy Scout oriented outdoor activity". Lots of things meet that criteria without the boys or the parents have a good clue, must less a good grasp, on what is BOY SCOUTING. As someone else mentioned, the

As Rooster and the others have pointed out, if you don't get them to the door, it doesn't matter how great your program is, they will never see it. National needs to do more to let boys and parents know what Scouting can be for them. Dropout rate---how many kids dropout of sports? How many kids drop out of other activities? True you need to being running a good program but first we have to get people there. It amazes me the number of people who never get their kids to try scouting. People who are otherwise very interested in their kids education and development. My son's

I think NJ has mentioned this before in some way. There are some things we should do because it is the right thing to do, not because it is the legal thing to do. I don't take it personally that National or many of you don't agree with me. I also stand by the rights of the men (some of this board) who have said that women should not be SM's or ASM's. They have agreed to also follow BSA policy even though this do not agree with that one. I don't think that makes them a liar or any less dedicated to the Scouting movement. Most have expressed that it is not they think women are lower class

I was told a couple of years ago some advice from a dad of 14 year old twin Boy Scouts. First he said don't burn your son out on scouting. Second don't let them quit anything (Scouts, sports, music, etc.) without a REALLY good reason. Having to make sacrifices and balance out different things we do is part of life. None of us get to do everything we want, finding a balance is something many adults have a problem with, especially if they never had to deal with it as a kid. Compromise is a good option. If the boy was unhappy because he was being picked on, couldn't do the work (doubtful in

My son is not yet 11 and he is socially "behind", so not always a good indicator of what is "cool". What I have seen in the past couple of months from him and a few other boy that they are liking or looking forward to: golf, camping, cooking at campouts, no baths at campouts, not having adults boss them around, playing silly scout games. My son is also playing baseball with the 11-12 year old team. I see some of those boys must be hitting puberty. They are even changing their running styles to be "cool". I swear, it is true. The coach has coached some of the boys for a few years, a

My son's troop is using the new scout patrols right now because they had sooo many Webelos cross over. They do have one existing scout they put in one of the new patrols -- I think to motivate him to complete First Class, give him some leadership opportunities and give him some ways to succeed and increase his self esteem (teaching the new scouts). He is older on paper but not in actions. My son wanted to be in another patrol with a friend he made on the first few troop visits. He was told he can when he reaches First Class. The other patrols are mixed age just because of the size of the

What our troop just experienced with a few parents was due a lot to lack of knowledge. The parents had been very active in Cub Scouting. The visited one troop meeting before joining. Then we all went on a campout. The troop had an influx of new scouts so went with the New Scout Patrol Method, having 2 New Scout Patrols. Once the boys reach First Class they can change patrols if they want. My son's patrol also included a 13 year old who has been with the troop for 1 year and is not advancing very quickly. He is the patrol leader. The troop guides really sat on the sidelines at the campout.

In this troop, the first night I visited the Scoutmaster sat and talked with me about how the troop works and answered any questions I had. A few weeks later, some of the Webelos and parents from our pack visited. The Boy Scouts put on a great program for the boys --- had them do fun patrol competitions like tent setup, a very low one-rope rope course. The SM spent over an hour talking to the parents. I know for me it took a long time for "boy led" to really sink in. It took a lot of reading BSA materials and forums like this. The other parents from our pack (have been in Scouting as long

Regarding unit option --- I have heard on another bulletin board of an area that was having problems with this "new policy". I don't remember what part of the country the person is in. They said that many extended family members were registered volunteers with BSA. When the Dale decision came down in 2000, the "avowed" gays left. This was more on their part of wanting to comply than anyone telling them to leave. People in the unit and chartering org knew of their lifes and had never questioned it. It was just "oh, there is Billy's uncle and his friend". Now some of the units are suffering fo

The troop my son just joined also expects about 50% will leave in the first year. Reason -- parents. Parents don't understand this is NOT Cub Scouts. They don't understand the program and don't think the boys can handle the challenges. The parents who were involved at all in Cub Scouting can't stand sitting by and NOT running the show. I've seen the ASM's have to go get parents from the "boys" part of the room and tell them to come sit with the adults. You do NOT have to sit by little Johnny all night. The boys don't want to keep attending if things get "hard". This troop is not one I wi