urloony

Actually emb021, from what is listed, Bugler does count as a POR, APL does not.

Thank you all for the feedback. My feelings on this situation have changed from my initial reaction. I am in agreement that the scout needs to be aware of what is required of him for Eagle and that that responsibility lies solely with him. Does anyone know why APL is not considered a position of responsibility when many other "lesser" responsibilities are?

I ask the parent some of your follow-up questions. This scout was assigned the Assistant Patrol leader position by his SM. He did not serve in any other position while he was a Star scout. Apparently in his troop, positions are assigned by the SM and not elected by the troop or patrol. The irony is this is done to make sure scouts get the positions they need for advancement. You don't think the SM has any responsibility for assigning the position and then signing off the POR in his handbook, only to be denied rank three months later at his BOR?

Update: my appologies, I meant to say his BOR was for Life NOT Star.

This is the issue for a boy in a troop that is not lead by me. His mother came to me asking what could be done. The situation: -The scout will be 18 in April -He passed his scoutmaster conference last July for his Star rank -His BOR was held last Oct where he was denied rank because he had been assigned Assistant Patrol leader for the previous six months which is not a listed position of responsibility. -He was not given a project instead to meet the requirement. (The parent did not know this was an option at the time and the SM didn't offer it.) -As a result the boy has been inactive for the last few months. Here we are in December, is there any hope for this kid? It seems to me the SM screwed him over, is there any process or appeal that can be made or has time run out for this scout?

No offense taken. This issue came up before the seminar was even scheduled. The previous SM, who is moving on to Venture Crew was told the same thing, as he is going to be teaching some MB's at the seminar as well. It seems now, that it may just be erroneous information.

Thanks for the quick responses. The reason this topic came up is we have a merit badge seminar coming up that is offered to many troops in the area and I will be offering a few merit badges. As Scoutmaster one of our troop committee members informed me of a "new rule" that SM's can't teach MB's to members of their own troop. This was going to make the seminar a bit of a pain considering there may be some of my scouts who would like to take my MB's. I just called my local council and left a message in order to get some feedback. I was never provided a write up of any rule, but the idea is causing a bit of a headache, so I'm now checking the validity of it. We have many MB counselors and it has never been a habit as SM to teach them except on occasion. Is it possible for a local council to create its own rules in this regard?

Is there a rule that prevents a Scoutmaster from also being a Merit badge counselor for the boys in his troop?

If youre going to criticize any data presented DanKroh, you have to do so with evidence, not just your opinion. If you claim that Camerons work on adolescence and same sex marriage is faulty, youre going to need to prove it, Im not content to take your word for it. Furthermore, I found it curious that you made no comment on the fact that the vast majority of same sex couples are not monogamous. This fact is one of the cornerstones of traditional marriage, the failure of which is grounds for divorce in traditional marriage. Not so however, with a 21st century redefinition. The proponents' efforts of same sex marriage has never been about equality or tolerance, it is to push an agenda of acceptance, not only of marriage between people of the same sex, but to redefine the rules within marriage such as fidelity, monogamy, child raising, etc. Homosexuals dont want to join the marriage club, they want to take it over. According to homosexual writer and activist Michelangelo Signorile, the goal of homosexuals is: "To fight for same sex marriage and its benefits and then, once granted, redefine the institution of marriage completely, to demand the right to marry not as a way of adhering to society's moral codes but rather to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbian and gay men can undertake . . . is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." Michelangelo Signorile, "Bridal Wave," Out, Dec. 1994. This redefinition certainly would welcome verbal and physical abuse, drug use, intoxication, and incest as a normal and acceptable part of marriage. A study in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence examined conflict and violence in lesbian relationships. The researchers found that 90 percent of the lesbians surveyed had been recipients of one or more acts of verbal aggression from their intimate partners during the year prior to this study, with 31 percent reporting one or more incidents of physical abuse. Lettie L. Lockhart et al., "Letting out the Secret: Violence in Lesbian Relationships," Journal of Interpersonal Violence 9 (1994): 469-492. In a survey of 1,099 lesbians, the Journal of Social Service Research found that "slightly more than half of the [lesbians] reported that they had been abused by a female lover/partner. The most frequently indicated forms of abuse were verbal/emotional/psychological abuse and combined physical-psychological abuse." Gwat Yong Lie and Sabrina Gentlewarrier, "Intimate Violence in Lesbian Relationships: Discussion of Survey Findings and Practice Implications," Journal of Social Service Research 15 (1991): 41-59. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (U.S. Department of Justice) reports that married women in traditional families experience the lowest rate of violence compared with women in other types of relationships. "Violence Between Intimates," Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected Findings, November 1994, p. 2. Among a sample [of homosexual women] as a whole, there was a distressingly high prevalence of life events and behaviors related to mental health problems. Thirty-seven percent had been physically abused and 32 percent had been raped or sexually attacked. Nineteen percent had been involved in incestuous relationships while growing up. Almost one-third used tobacco on a daily basis and about 30 percent drank alcohol more than once a week; 6 percent drank daily. One in five smoked marijuana more than once a month. Twenty-one percent of the sample had thoughts about suicide sometimes or often and 18 percent had actually tried to kill themselves. ... More than half had felt too nervous to accomplish ordinary activities at some time during the past year and over one-third had been depressed. Bradford et al., "National Lesbian Health Care Survey: Implications for Mental Health Care," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 62 (1994): 239, cited in Health Implications Associated with Homosexuality, p. 81.

Just few clarifying points. -Men and Women serve missions in the LDS church -It is inappropriate for Mormon missionaries to discuss religion with, or get contact information from, anyone under age 18 without the consent of the parent. A few facts about gay relationships and children. This may provide some reasons why the LDS church opposes gay marriage and why BSA prevents openly homosexual individuals from serving as leaders. A disproportionate percentage -- 29 percent -- of the adult children of homosexual parents had been specifically subjected to sexual molestation by that homosexual parent, compared to only 0.6 percent of adult children of heterosexual parents having reported sexual relations with their parent. ... Having a homosexual parent(s) appears to increase the risk of incest with a parent by a factor of about 50. P. Cameron and K. Cameron, "Homosexual Parents," Adolescence 31 (1996): 772. The adolescent and young adult girls raised by lesbian mothers appear to have been more sexually adventurous and less chaste. ... In other words, once again, children (especially girls) raised by lesbians appear to depart from traditional gender-based norms, while children raised by heterosexual mothers appear to conform to them. Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz, "(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter," American Sociological Review 66 (2001): 174, 179. Few homosexual relationships last longer than two years, but in a study of 156 males in homosexual relationships lasting from 1-37 years, "all couples with a relationship lasting more than five years have incorporated some provision for sexual activity outside of their relationships." David P. McWhirter and Andrew M. Mattison, The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984), 252-253. "few homosexual relationships last longer than two years, with many men reporting hundreds of lifetime partners." M. Pollak, "Male Homosexuality," in Western Sexuality: Practice and Precept in Past and Present Times, edited by P. Aries and A. Bejin, pp. 40-61, cited by Joseph Nicolosi in Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality (Northvale, Jason Aronson Inc., 1991), 124, 25.