Gwaihir

Sounds about right. You're all caught up.

1. This is a silly straw-man argument. Of course they can "handle" co-ed environments, they literally do that in every single other endeavour they are a part of with the exception of sports. This isn't about "not handling it", this is about boys (like girls) thriving in both learning as well as character development when in same-sex environments during their formative years. The girl scouts tout this as a bedrock of their programs. Conversely, why is the argument against sports never "what's the matter boys, can't handle being in a co-ed environment?" it's not, because it's a ridiculous argument. 2. You can't keep tinkering with something, shaving, cutting, clipping, tweaking, and then when the thing starts to fall apart say "SEEE!!! IT WAS BROKEN ALL ALONG!!" That's the argument against the diluting the Boy and Cub Scout programs.

I too would like to give their customer service some praise. I had an issue with duplicate IDs and training under both. They were able to work with me on getting them merged fairly easily and the support rep was pleasant to work with.

Yep. I'm sure it won't be the only thing lamented either. Parenting isn't perfect, you do your best to the best of your abilities guided by your own code of ethics and principles. Who knows, maybe by then the program will be so changed, anyone can earn eagle at any age. If discrimination of gender is out, so too could discrimination of age. ACA has created in-roads to establishing 26 is the age of independent adulthood. We shall see.

I didn't miss your point. Yes I would. My kids have plenty of interests, there isn't enough time in the year to do them all, out with one, in with another. imo, Guiding our kids and raising them with a set of principles and doing what we believe is best for them (within reason) is part of our jobs as parents. They'll still get instruction, they'll still get camping, they'll still get an upbringing centered around having good character, moral straightness, etc... they'll also have an example of standing up for your own set of principles. If at 18, they decided I was wrong, and they wants to get involved in the new scouting, more power to them. I don't think it's unreasonable for parents to want to do what is best for their children, especially when it's at the younger ages. to each their own.

I have zero problem with Venturing. I think it's good to have that option. Force-feeding co-ed on non-co-ed programs, thus denying options and choice is a bridge too far for me. but to each their own.

I walk away from both BSA and GSUSA and take my kids with me if Cub/Boy Scouts goes Co-ed. It's that simple.

Our Troop had troop tents. This was primarily because we got some brand new Timberline 4s donated to the troop. Granted we had a small troop, so we used the Timberline 4s as 2 man tents. Worked out well for us.

Great for the Girl Scouts, not all that surprising. I'm sure it'll be a good program. Personally, there is SO much STEM available, in school, in after circulars, in organizations... things like scoutcraft and vocational skills (of which there is a dearth of skilled bodies to fill the ever growing job availability as masters in their craft retire) are left far behind. I say this as a tech, but enough with the heavy handed push for STEM in scouting. Being well-rounded and opened to a multitude of experiences is something our society and culture severely lack. Anyway, that's my .02 on the matter.

thanks, will do!

Yeah, they didn't even know what it was. Which is bizarre because Individual registration is still offered in council, and is still called Juliettes. i've even tried other councils shops. I'm going to start calling brick and mortar shops around the country and see if they can help. There was one patch on ebay, but it got snatched up a day before I found it.

No, but thanks for looking. It looks like this: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2d/58/71/2d587124f41ec0b851b8dc992edb8c81.jpg

Long shot, but here goes... does anyone have, or know where I can find a Juliettes patch? Juliettes is the rough equivalent to Lone Scouts in BSA. It's a purple rectangle with white cursive that says Juliettes. It's proving very difficult to find. thanks in advance!

So many girls? I think you over estimate those numbers.

First Aid is one of those skills where I would prefer the boys have redundancy, and redo things they've learned. So I would like to see it as a pre-req but also see the skills needed in the badge shone to the MB councelor as well and not just glanced over. Saving lives is something where having skills that are sharp, rehearsed and repeated result in higher success rate. This isn't dabbling in collections or photography. I think Camping as pre-req for Wilderness Survival makes sense because they have such strong overlap. I agree with you that having the ability to pick and choose things you might be interested in is the benefit of the merit badge program, but I also think when used sparingly, having pre-reqs only strengthens the skills learned and makes the experience more enriching for the boy.

I too earned my Eagle at the zero hour before my 18th birthday. This was due to procrastination and laziness. I earned Life by the age of 16 and then dragged my feat on my project and 2 merit badges. I never got to wear my Eagle patch, it's still stapled into my black case. I have gotten to wear my Eagle medal, which is the actual award you are earning, it's the award as it was first designed. I've worn it on formal attire (re: suit and tie), I've worn it on my uniform as an adult scouter at formal occasions. If you didn't get to wear your patch, it's most likely due to your own procrastination as 7 years is ample time to earn the rank. That all said, it's the knowledge, wisdom and skills you've garnered on your journey to eagle that matter, not the cloth badge or the shiny medal. imo, the cloth patch is for the boys, we are men now.

If they're Boy Scouts, and there is no family in the pack, then they're not going as family, they're going as additional guests. If there is family involved... then it would technically be family participating in family camp. x I don't think there's a rule against it. Then again, if this is a practice that's been going on for some time, and you're concerned about money earned that they can't take part in... I would think they too took part in funds the previous year's AOL earned that they didn't use. No?

first part: 100% agree. second part: 100% agree.

quoted for emphasis.

This was my first thought as well. It almost sounds like the range was setup IN the parking lot because, as you say, BBs lose velocity fairly quickly and the BB guns used in scout camp are usually low powered to begin with.

In Cubs, the leader book goes over all the requirements and the meeting agendas in great detail. You could get away with running the program on just the leader book, online resources and advancement tracking software like scoutbook.com. That all said, I believe boys having a handbook and using it to learn is something that's important.

stop talking about logic and planning. push a button, it's 2017.

so using DoD recommended combination of Permethrin treated clothing and properly applied DEET, we made it through the weekend at Camp tick free. At a minimum, Perrmethrin treated boots and socks just makes sense, and every scout troop should both be aware of it, and utilize it.

I do too, it was already becoming that 20 years ago when I earned Eagle. Mike Rowe had a nice speech that touched on the subject. He talked about how he is an Eagle Scout and is getting this extra recognition, but his brother... a Star Scout, while not up on the pedestal getting a special recognition, saved another person's life and deserves far more recognition than he did. I keep trying to tell people who obsess about "Eagle Scout", it's not about the destination, it's about the journey to Eagle and all that you learn and can then apply throughout your whole life that matter. If all you focus on is checking off boxes and getting that patch... you've completely missed the point. https://youtu.be/kKie47V2lLY?t=541

I used them about 50% of the time this year with the Tigers, and as I'm now doing an end-of-season assessment of things that went right and the things that went wrong, I feel I didn't utilize their handbooks as well as I should have. So I'll be making some adjustments next year with the wolves. For starters, I want to encourage at-home reading of the books, and get feedback from the boys as to what they thought looked cool to them that we could do. I also want to make sure I sign off in their books for every single requirement they do, and not just rely on scoutbook.com. I remember as a Cub scout myself, I would read that book cover to cover. I feel like these boys believe their handbooks are like school textbooks and they are only to read the chapters their "teacher" instructs them to, and only at the prescribed time. I also wish they'd bring back illustrations... photos and CG cubscouts are boring.