Tampa Turtle

I agree you have to talk to the boy and gauge his understanding of the material. If he copied notes but still learned the material then so what? If he copied the notes and then had no idea then gently tell him to come back for another pass. We want his to learn the MB material, and call me crazy, have him enjoy the process.

In our Troop we are red-shirted freaks.

Make sure they skip some of the recommendations in Scouting and Boys Life Magazines like the $25.99 Finish Kulpika Bowl.

Here's another one. A interview with WWII Vets for the Library of Congress. I have a scouter friend who worked with him--he said it was a HUGE amount of work. Took 90 minutes for 15 minutes of good material and a couple hours to set up the portable studio. http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/tampa-eagle-scout-contributes-his-efforts-to-the-veterans-history-project/1252751 I rather liked this project. He had to push a bit for approval since it was not a "wood bench in the park" kind of project.

I often had kids repeating the requirements--its not like some of them could not use the practice if its is a safety issue. I scheduled catch up sessions for some boys as needed. Sometimes the boys who had already done it would help teach the boy who needed it. This helped reinforce things for the boys who had already done the requirement and was more fun for all. It is good to not instill the boys with "once and done"--a disease that seems to infect the boy scouts. You can always have the other boys work on an alternate Webelos pin or a beltloop.

I have taught a sustainability course (years ago) at a University and it is a very BROAD subject.

I have seen both methods. I think the Blue Card, often avoided because they are a PIA and the boys lose them, are good things in that they help prevent the boy losing out because of a MBC who is forgetful, moves, or is disorganized.

I am aware of it for my area; it is very much in Beta. It gives us some strange results. It all depends on the quality of the local data submitted. Unlike the local road network there is no national standard or clearing house.

I think "State of the Art" is a bit of a stretch.

I heard it on both NPR and Foxnews. It is depressing. Fair or not it is what we have to deal with and BSA should have "turned in those names" --that it says it will do now-- a long time ago.

When I talk to the Mom's this seems one of the skills they assume the boys will take them into adulthood. We push the Cooking MB in our Troop but many boys avoid it. I see this as a good thing if they don't kill the Cooking MB requirements into boredom in a rewrite. If only we had a sewing MB....

I can kinda relate. My older son is ASPL (appointed by SPL) after he ran against him (the "pro-fun" vs "pro-advancement" race--fun lost)and lost. They have very different personalities and often clash. It is VERY hard as a father and a Scouter not to want to kick said son in the butt and have him live up to his responsibilities. This kind of conflict is a very teachable moment for the SPL and ASPL. The ASPL needs to learn to be a team player the SPL needs to learn that he needs to teach the ASPL what he wants and take risks on letting him do the work. As any one who has ever supervised folks in the workplace knows it can be a pretty tough education.

Frustrating. Yeah they gotta DO something. I am working with the ASPL (as assigned by my SM)on some the boys who have the non-leadership POR's (Librarian, Scribe, etc). Yeah expect them to do something. Had to chat with out oft-absent Bugler who did Bugle for the COH. Turned out he left at half time, changed into his uniform, biked to the COH, Bugled, and returned. So he actually put SOME effort into it.

We messed up by strongly encouraging cub leaders to take a break after crossing over--and then we lost a whole "generation" of adult leaders who started enjoying more free time! So I agree you need a "feeder" program for 'em. Some of the really active den moms ended up as Committee jobs as Treasurer, Advancement Chair, Fund raisers. This seemed natural. We have been bringing along some new Dad's as MB counselors on a MB related to their job or hobby. A few got hooked after working with the boys. A couple others have been working with the Patrol Leaders one on one. We found that the Patrol Leaders needed a little more coaching and it was good (in a big Troop) to have an adult assigned to each Patrol to just see if any boys dropped out, weren't advancing etc. It is a pretty hands off job but mentoring the odd drop out seems to hook a couple more adults. Also we are trying to get Dad's to commit to one or two campouts a year for support (driving, hauling, adult backup). This is less intimidating than thinking you are going every month.

This shelled creature will jump in Mr furry creature. I agree with 2cub your numbers "feel" low but agree that there are a lot of false positives. Furthermore multiple violations of YPT does not a molester make just like multiple violations of GSS does not make a homicidal maniac. And I have, in a moment of forgetfulness, forgotten the rules too. But, a fellow who keeps violating the policy is exercising poor risk management to the group as a whole. What I wonder is I read somewhere that the 3 organizations that made the most settlements were the (1)Catholic Church (2)BSA (3)United Methodist Church. As a (new)Methodist I wonder why they have avoided all the wrath? Is it because they do not have a strong identity in the public mind? Is it because as a major Charter sponsor they got lumped into BSA cases? I just do not know? I think we will see some guys dismissed unjustly. There will always be some injustice in that kind of system--On what side of the scale should we err--the Scouter or the Scout? I do not think BSA has much room to negotiate the moral high ground on this--the public just assumes there was a CYA cover up and most trust is gone for the old cases.

All it takes is one patrol to take the long walk to independence and then the others figure it out. At first only 1 patrol of 5 was doing it, but they always snagged the best spots and seemed like it was where all the fun was (their own fire, illegal rope swings, late night poker games). After a while a second patrol would try it. We still have 2 patrols that tend to "cluster" near the Troop "centroid" at campouts but now the Dad's want to move as far as practical as well. So Qwazse it is a culture change but it takes someone to start it and show the benefits.

Hmmmm....maybe I'm a man-scout? If it weren't for my boys getting into scouts I wouldn't be camping at all. But I have probably done 100+ nights; I would argue that it is a good thing. It helps to have the structure and as times goes on I grow more proficient. Now I am counseling another adult newbie (a 45 PI lawyer) who is gamely venturing into the wild to please his son. But all in the context of delivering a good boy-led program as possible. We had a great Troop meeting last night and the boys ran most of it; yeah I really didn't want to go to "scout work" last night (I think I am burning out a bit) but once there enjoyed working with the boys, joking with the fellow scouters, and the occasional flirting with the mom's. So, yeah, I guess I do get something out of it. It has changed the culture of my family. Now on vacation me and the boys will strap on packs for sightseeing and my wife thinks we are crazy when we go "its only 5 miles--easy". I get the same "buzz" out of it that I got when I was teaching: (1) It is great to pass on knowledge. Very rewarding when a boy starts doing what you helped teach him. (2) You need to constantly refresh your learning (the learn-teach model) to stay on your game. (3) There is some structure (tests, practice) to help things along. (4) Ceremony and recognition. (5) Socialization. In addition I spend more time with (or near) my sons when another activity may keep me away. They'll be gone soon enough.

Our boy usually wear the them at the COH, SMC, and BOR. Often a boy wears one to a meeting of we have a "Each Patrol send us your most complete uniformed boy" contest. I have seen the occasional blank sash as well.

I think it takes a real special guy to pull this off with Boy Scouts. We had a SM once, great pipes, could do voices, loved the sound of the words, and he could hold them spell bound at a campfire for 20-30 minutes. Other guys, otherwise great SM's, and it would be boring...

I think it takes a real special guy to pull this off with Boy Scouts. We had a SM once, great pipes, could do voices, loved the sound of the words, and he could hold them spell bound at a campfire for 20-30 minutes. Other guys, otherwise great SM's, and it would be boring...

I am now confused as to what we are discussing on this thread...Taxes on Scout Shoes on Airplane Crashes? I think governments, kings, whatever have been modifying behavior intentionally or otherwise since time immemorial. Tax the frontage of the building the buildings get tall and skinny; tax the number of floors--we invent the mansard roof; give businesses a break on heavy vehicles and hummer sales take off...I am sure the arrow was invented when the king caveman taxes throwing rocks.

I think you handled it correctly. The boy can, at the very least, review the book and requirements and discuss with you later. Then he would have had a better argument. I nag my own oys's to get any partials wrapped up quick after camp before memories fade ("Remember Mr Turtle, I only got the partial at camp because I bashed my head in on Wednesday--that's why I need to follow up")

Hunger Games It got banned at my kid's school and then un-banned by popular demand 3 days later.

We had some Obama boots come through this weekend and we are a (heavily)Republican precinct. The folks were so fresh, scrubbed, and polite they could have been....Mormon missionaries! They just went door to door asking if folks were going to vote, if they needed help going to the polls, if they wanted to join the campaign and mostly doing the big "Ask". They were pretty tactful when they were engaged in some pretty hot arguments. Some of my neighbors were quite impressed and I heard they picked up 3-5 votes out of (I guess 60-80 eligible folks).

Working with a boy who just finished Emergency Preparedness MB: "Thank you Mr Turtle--this one was a lot of fun." with a big smile on his face.