Tampa Turtle

(sorry if this is a ramble) I did my duty last night at the Troop Meeting and did a simple announcement of the policy change during the slot for the Scoutmaster's message. I did not add on, editorialize, or embellish. I was told not to take questions and the only disruption was a parent who yelled out a slightly off color remark. The boys as usual were not focused on me until I said the words "The decision has been made to integrate girls into the cub scout and boy scout programs at a future date". Then some jaws dropped a few seemed...well wounded. I would say 25% has NO idea about it and another 25% had heard confusing rumors on social media and did not believe it was really true (apparently Boy Scouts get mocked a lot online). What was amazing was the back of the room where the parents were...there was a sudden complete silence. I later heard over half of them had not seen or heard the news. A few Star Scouts (on verge of Life), very sweet chaps by the way, came up to me afterwards and said they had nothing against girls but that they felt the most important thing about Boy Scouts was learning from other men about how to grow up from boys to men without being afraid of looking stupid because they knew the leaders had all been boys once too. They felt betrayed that BSA did not value the one place they felt safe and that in the end it was all about money because money is what ruins all the good things. One referred to "the Boy Scout Corporation" made this decision. Nevertheless I think they will stay in work toward Eagle. The Life Scouts being older seemed to have a mix of reactions from being appalled, confused, apathetic, and approving. Only one of eight was interested in staying on with Scouting after getting their Eagle or when girls arrive whichever comes first. BTW all the conversations I had after the meetings with the boys (which honestly I wanted to avoid) was calm, thought out, and deliberate. They all agreed that the (rumored) local troop that had disbanded on hearing the news was acting too sudden and irrational. I did get a nice feeling from one of the boys who prefaced his remark with "Mr Turtle we know you get it about Scouts". I only talked to a few parents (they do pitch in) and those were loud objectors who said it was the destruction of a great organization, etc etc. They did say they would start withholding FOS, Popcorn Support, and Council Fundraisers (we have a wealthy set of parents) and redirect any contributions directly to the Troop until their boys are out. But people often talk a good game and stay with the status quo. Only time will tell.

It's a valid question and someone is going to get it.

I read this. It is terrific!!! Good job Scouts! Really kept their head.

I guess I should have said 'Trolling'/'Lurking'? I am sure there is an actual Urban Dictionary word that the moment I become aware of it has become outmoded by definition. I think I will just say "Cyber Chipping"...

'Sixers' and 'Seconders'??? Huh?

I have my eye on my late mother-in-laws 1951 Kenmore machine with all the bells and whistles. Built like a tank. She was a home econ teacher and I know she took those things seriously. My wife prefers her newer plastic Singer as it is just easier to maintain. I will need special permission to touch that Kenmore. I lament the loss of a industrial sewing machine my Dad picked up (he was a real DIY-er). You could sew sails with it.

I know that a lot of the boys were social media-ing about it so they are aware of it. I talked it over with our SM and CC and I am just gonna have a low-key simple bullet-ed announcement because some times you lose trust with youth by not trusting them with an issue. Our focus is the decision has been made, changes (if any) are down the road, and we are planning no changes to our youth led, outdoor leadership program, and the scout law. I will encourage anyone who might be upset to chill out and not make any rash decisions. When there is any news to report that will change the way we do business we will let the scouts and families know. I may or may not entertain a dumb question or two. I will keep my personal opinion to myself (as will the SM and CC). If I had to guess our CO's reaction they would back the Troop's leadership one way or the other.

David CO, I get ya. I consider myself on the 'losing' side on this one. We have our first post-announcement Troop meeting tonight and I get to be the official announcer of the (scarce) details to the boys. Could be interesting.

I guess it depends on the job. My son was Quartermaster and Bugler at same time. I will say one thing...the Troop bugle always made it to the campouts.

Obviously this is an issue where men and women of sincerity and integrity can disagree; can we all strive to be more scoutlike in our communications? Myself included.

If it is not fun, stop. We are volunteers. I know many of us feel it is a calling but maybe the Great Chief Scout in the Sky has other plans for you. I, too, am approaching that point. I suspect if I step away for a while I will not come back. If you have more free time maybe you can do some of those fun scout-y things that you never could get around to. I would like to whittle more.

Well DUH. Some of those Irving guys get paid enough to think about this stuff....they are the paid professionals we are the volunteer schleps. I think more care and planning went into the roll out of the Cyperchip announcement.

Back Pack, good points. As we can see from our UK colleagues it would not have been that hard to have put together some draft guidelines and a FAQ to common questions.

I am sure there PR consultants who could have advised them on better ways to handle it. Not my area of expertise. There seem like there are plenty of folks (including those who agree with the decision) who did not like the way it was announced. It seems like you are saying there was no way National could have improved upon the exercise. I don't bu that.

I asked Son#2 (turning in his Eagle paperwork next week), ex-SPL super-scout what his intentions were when he ages out in less than a week. His biggest concern was not the girls but BSA's continual watering down of the outdoor program and if he wanted to come back as a young ASM to carry on and teach that institutional knowledge. He was a maybe but only if a lot of the existing boys he knows don't bail. He thinks it was not a big deal as other countries mix scouts but also thought "the people in charge clearly do not know what they are doing by how they announced this"

Welcome, I have been to Leeds. Have you been able to inoculate boys from getting 'cooties' from girls? Our medical science has struggled with that! ;P

We have had off and on policies. Mainly we have: (1) Must have gone on at least two campouts. (2) Need to get a 'brownshirt'. (3) Understand it is not a vacation--they will need to find or be assigned a job. (4) Have a role in herding the boys to camp (towing, driving, whatever) (5) We may require a parent to attend camp for a 'problem' child on probation. (6) Reinforce the boy-led patrol method. (7) Not complain about camp conditions (too much) (8) Strongly encouraged to take training classes if offered.

I would like to thank y'all foreigners for discussing the mechanics of making these mixed gender potentialities work. It will benefit those who have to deal with the program changes--probably better than what BSA will come up with.

We have a past SM give a short FOS speech (only if he intends to give) and pass out the material. We will never, ever let a Council or District rep ever give a presentation because they ramble on and on and on.

A lot of issues: (1) Will the program work with girls? (2) Will BSA honor the wish of units to stay Boys only? (3) Do Scouters feel they can trust BSA national leadership anymore? (4) Do individual scouters want to stay around and see if it works or go away? (5) What will 'Family Camping" do to the Patrol Method?

If the ASPL really doesn't want to do it don't force it. Been there, did that, ended badly. Hold a new election and move on.

"Girl Scouts is the best girl leadership organization in the world, created with and for girls," the organization wrote in the post. "We believe strongly in the importance of the all-girl, girl-led, and girl-friendly environment that Girl Scouts provides, which creates a free space for girls to learn and thrive." It continued, "The benefit of the single-gender environment has been well-documented by educators, scholars, other girl- and youth-serving organizations, and Girl Scouts and their families. Girl Scouts offers a one-of-a-kind experience for girls with a program tailored specifically to their unique developmental needs." ---- Sexist Troglodytes.

I keep telling my SM and CC to just tell everybody nothing is changing right now and things will go on as usual until, at least, end of the year. Wait for more information, talk to the CO, let the Committee work things out etc.

cchoat, takes guts for a DC to come on like that. Thanks.You made a lot of good points.

(I have used my thumbs up for the day.) In my little unit of 8 leaders and 40+ boys we have, in the last 24 hours, had 3 key very experienced leaders say they are going after this year. That puts us down to 5 and we were lucky we added some because this is a rebuilding year. Of the remaining 5 two (2) are saying they are not saying anything but will have their boys wrap up their Eagles early and go. 2 of the remaining 3 are married and have a pair of young (if unenthusiastic) scouts but the parents really want them to get Eagle (they do a lot of Webelos 3 stuff behind our backs but that is another issue) so I am pretty sure they will stay. Almost none of the other new parents the last few years have stepped up. The other last person is myself and Mrs Turtle was all but demanding I spend my time elsewhere. So I would concur about the alienation part. Things my simmer down. We are still mid-year.