Troop22

No disrespect but my opinion is Scouts and leaders can put down the electronics 1 weekend a month for camping and 1.5 hours a week for the meeting. I run a small business and If I can turn my phone off certainly the Scouts can. I have never lost business and I have actually got closer to some customers after expaining why I did not answer their call.

The Scouts made the "Bans" in our troop. No electronics at all at first. (current rule) Then it went to MP3's and ipods in your tent at night but low enough no one else can hear it. You may have your cell phone but it must be turned off and put away (so why bring it because 4 leaders brought theirs in case of emergency). Last weekend on a hike we stopped to rest and I noticed 2 scouts listening to their ipod. later back at camp 2 other scouts phones were ringing. ASLP told them to put their phones away and I catch him talking on his later. Looks like the SLP will have to put some scouts on dish duty next camping trip.

What do the Cub Scouts that have EARNED AOL think about it? I know my son was proud when he received his handmade arrow that he earned. Would he have been less proud of it if all Cubs got one? I don't know but as a Scoutmaster I only award merit badges and award to those that have earned it. Isn't that one of the principles of Scouting. Just my .02

SFF is an important community service and is fun for all my Scouts. My Troop of 12 Scouts cover approx. 1500 homes and townhouses. We put the bags out one week and collect them the next week. We divide and conqour. 2 leaders and 2 adult volunteers(2 adults per vehicle) with 2 trucks and 4 Scouts per route. 2 Scouts will walk on each side of the street collecting bags.Our route is all sub divisions and townhome communties so traffic is slow and very light. We use our 4 way flashers the entire time. It takes us 2.5 hours to get the bags out and it takes us about 3 hours to pick them up. It is always a compitition between the Scouts of who picked up the most. Every year after we collect the bags we take the Scouts for pizza and either bowling or a movie (this helps with participation).

When we first crossed over into the Troop 2 years ago the new Scouts where separated into 2 different Patrols. 2 New Scouts into each Patrol. I do like mixing young Scouts with the older Scouts. I feel it teaches many lessons and the older Scouts will educate the new Scouts. What I had an issue with is the method used to decide which Scout went to which patrol. The Scouts picked the patrols themselves. What the patrols ended up with in my view was very unbalanced. I had 1 patrol of athletic and popular Scouts and the other patrol was "challenged". What I noticed over that first year was one Troop did very well and the "Challenged" lagged behind and was not motivated even with extra help from the leaders. The Challenged group had all the Scouts with behavioral issues and the patrol spent a lot of time dealing with that. A year ago I was ask to take over as Scoutmaster. Right after I took over we got 2 new Scouts 1 to each patrol but I had them play a game of chance to decide which Scout went to which patrol. Do you all think it is OK for leadership to "HELP" form patrols so every Scout receives the same opportunities for success? How does your Troop separate into patrols?

I received alot of complaints about the quality of the popcorn. Several freinds of mine that bought from my son said it tasted bad but at least the money went to a good cause. I don't feel right selling it with the number of negative comment about the cost and quality.

Hello Scouters, My name is Scott and I have been a Scoutmaster for 1 year now. My son has been involved with Souting for 5 years and I was always right there with him helping out with whatever needed done. Last year the Scoumaster had to step down because his job took him away from the Troop and I was ask to take over as Scoutmaster. I have a great group of Scouts and Assistant Scoutmasters. I was searching for info on the web and stumbled on this forum. After reading some of the posts, I had to register. I found a tremendous amount of information in the posts, Thank you. For answers I could not find in the Scout books I have been relying on committee members and previous leaders for information. This Forum will be a great resource for me.