Gwaihir

I don't disagree at all that the internet, social media, online dating, snapchat filters, pornhub, and all the like have had a net negative effect on humanity and on child development at large.

I agree, I'd drop it completely, but since it was a current required, I'd placed it last.

yes, Scouting is absolutely where we should be teaching that. And even still, we're talking about Eagle Scouts... no one HAS to take these merit badges, but I think an Eagle Scout is exemplified by being a well rounded citizen, not just an exceptional "scout". Two of the first 57 merit badges was Scholarship and Civics (which was then split into the 3 separate badges), so since BSA's inception, these "school" merit badges have been essential Merit Badges for the well rounded person. Also, these were when civics was actually taught well in school.

That's fair... but the Underground Railroad and the Righteous Gentiles of WW2, while they served their roles in history... were ultimately ineffective to the overall goal compared to the likes of Normandy or Gettysburg.

All 3 Citizenships should absolutely be Eagle required. I'd drop every other merit badge first before those community and nation especially. The one thing we lack most of all in this country, imo, is civics. I rate the required MBs in order of priority: 1. Citizenship in Community 2. Citizenship in Nation 3. Communication 4. First Aid 5. Emergency Preparedness 6. Personal Fitness 7. Swimming 8. Personal Management 9. Environmental Science 10. Camping 11. Cooking 12. Citizenship in the World 13. Family Life 14. Lifesaving 15. Hiking 16. Cycling 17. Sustainability You SHOULD be a bit of an expert at Scoutcraft by First Class... having required merit badges that are around Scoutcraft seems redundant... you want merit badges that make for a well rounded and responsible citizen. imo. I'd also make rank advancement more challenging and make the MBs more challenging.

I disagree. Now more than ever, dealing with the crap to reach as wide an audience as possible, is what we need to do. I think of the coptic Christians in the middle east, facing down the barrel of a gun and refusing to renounce their beliefs in public before being executed, or the political dissidents of communist Russia facing execution or a life time in the gulags and choosing the gulags over bowing to the party. How can we say we are brave, if we shirk this responsibility because of name calling when there are those around the world who would do ten fold for their beliefs?

So quit. throw in the towel. the fight is lost.

A Scout is brave. Also, I'm not saying we all need to be Jordan Peterson (who is called all those things, but presses on because it's what's right) on youtube with millions of subscribers... I'm saying focus on your neighborhood, on your community. Start there, double down there. I'd also argue that the retired group has got much less to lose, so they have a little extra capital to expend before their time on this earth expires. But to each their own.

Sorry, but we men need to stand up, especially those who are "retired" or those who feel that all is lost. The defeatist attitude is a contributing factor to the detriment of boys. Rally those in your community to your cause, put in the extra work. Be vocal (not online). WE have to fix this, and bemoaning the state of affairs doesn't fix anything.

God know, I'm trying. I just wish other units would put in the work to do the same, for the kids' sake, and not take the easy way out and just lump everyone together. ancillary to this discussion... it's time for a serious discussion about criminal justice reform in this country.

Do you also subscribe to the notion there are over 200 genders?

technically speaking, by speaking to the scout to send them away, you have now had one on one contact with the scout and are in violation of policy. The adult needs to get up and leave in order to comply with policy.

How does anyone know they have a limited pool of volunteers before a program has even been rolled out? You have families chomping at the bit to get into scouting, to get their girls into scouting, but not a single one of those parents is up for being a part of it as well? I highly doubt the question has even been broached to those parents. From where I stand, it's laziness and dishonesty (from volunteers and from national) .

I don't understand why no one can be trustworthy or obedient. The program is to be single-gender for troops. It's incredibly disappointing to know the leadership involved in these troops are the ones teaching their youth to be disobedient and untrustworthy.

eh, tying heavily into religious themes, it's no different that Christ being murdered, dying and then having a resurrection. Anakin's redemption is similar in this regard. so yeah, I think resurrection is the apt way of looking at it. again, I don't think Lucas planned Vader becoming Luke's father from the get go, so this is all shoe horned in post-facto, and like you said, it's a good try. I think it works a little better than you think, that's all ps, my Grandma loved the term full of baloney, it needs to come back into popular lexicon.

technically he said Darth Vader betrayed and murdered your father. One could argue Obi-Wan meant the psychological murder of the soul known as Anakin. Granted, I don't for a second believe Lucas originally intended for this, but in the context of the film, i see it as legitimate.

I'll finish with this, no one here said anything about "pretending" anything. What was said is if a group of boys want to go camping together in a similar fashion to the old ways of patrol camping, they would have to do so outside of the scouting paradigm. That this was a perfectly viable solution to young men wanting to get the experiences old scouting prided itself on instilling in scouts and something American teens do now regardless of scouting. It also might be a contributing factor as to why 90% of American teens don't want to be bothered with Scouting.

A group of friends who happen to be in a patrol getting together, hanging out and doing stuff together is not even remotely "an extreme", that's normal everyday American teens. The other examples provided were predicated on the premise that all events are considered scouting events even if not in uniform or outside of scouting... this is what you said the trainer stated.

Is it ok? Depends. My kids go over the next door neighbors house all the time. We've been neighbors for years, had BBQs together, etc. This is basic social communal structure. If my neighbor was now the scoutmaster, my son is forbidden from going over the neighbor's house to ask to get the ball that went over the fence, or to collect newspaper money or to get a drink of water because two deep leadership isn't present? Counter Counter point... my whole family is now in scouting... if we decide to go on a trip with another family who we're friends with and my kids are swimming... do they have to follow BSA guidelines because my wife and I are BSA leaders? Better question, my whole family is in scouts thanks to Family scouting, and we go on a family camping trip and someone gets hurt, do we file an insurance claim with the BSA because we're all scouts? My kids are all cub scouts and the neighbor's kids are cub scouts. They kids all play in the back yard one summer day and decide to have a water war, throwing water balloons at each other, shooting each other with water guns... is this a violation of G2SS since they're all Scouts? this whole discussion is evidence of litigation gone mad and the "safe space" movement Mike Rowe laments running wild on society. I'm sorry, but if this is where Scouts is headed, that private interactions between families and friends who also happen to be in Scouting is now subject to all Scouting rules... Scout me out. And the primary reason for boys getting together is friendship, not their affiliation to Scouting. Scouting was designed to put framework around friendship, friendship is first.

yeah no. That's not how life works. I'd like to see that be upheld in a court of law. So if 3 scouts from the patrol get together with 3 kids from the neighborhood, is that still a scout event? that's BSA overreach and I really cannot see how that flies, at all.

I was told all the stuff you cite as removed, was expressly added. Was there a very recent update? That said, yes, you "can" do that, but who will do that? I doubt many. What it does do is give you the freedom to do that in situations where it will work. "who he's terrified of" 1. a scout is brave 2. a scout is friendly, kind and courteous. If both scouts are following the Scout law, which they should be as they show Scout spirit... this isn't an issue.

I originally felt that way about The Last Jedi, but upon reflection, I feel that analysis is inaccurate. Many see Luke as a righteous hero, destroying the Jedi order, but Luke was not the righteous hero who burned the temple to the ground... he was the wayward son who misguidedly burned down his faith. Yoda shows him at the end that he was wrong, that the liturgy of the Jedi faith had gotten corrupted over time and a return to fundamentalism was in order. That burning down the tree was good, but not for the reasons Luke did it. In the end, Luke's faith is restored and he sees the need to keep the church alive, which is why his last act is one of great sacrifice. Seeing the books in Rey's drawer at the end shows us (and of course this could all change in the next film, because when you have multiple writers, things can change and don't have a clear narrative in place) that this is a kind of reformation.

I would argue that the vast majority of single parent house holds, if given the choice (or the ability to make different life choices that led to the current status) would choose to not be a single family house hold. You're conflating the amount of love and care a parent has for a child, with the optimal/sub-optimal environment for which the child could be raised. Do single mothers love their children any less than mothers from two-parent homes? I would argue no, of course not. But is it optimal for the child to be brought up in a single parent home? I would also argue no, of course not. Single parent families happen. It's a part of life. But they are inferior, by which I mean sub-optimal for the rearing of the child. I would also argue that the data on this, as we have progressed and gathered such data, is becoming more and more clear.

low blow. "the lore is an integral part the way water" so much for self deprecation. this post comes off as a very unkind and discourteous.

Patrols can still do overnighters by themselves. They just can't do it under the banner of scouting. I assume all but the perversely helecopterish of units, this will be the case. it'll be friends getting together on a saturday to do something together... just not as Scouts, which is exactly the opposite of what the BSA needs right now. These rules are absurd and need to be scaled back asap. Time to write some letters and make some calls. Scouts can't dictate what youth do outside of scouting, despite the overly Orwellian reach Scouts seems to want to get into the family.