DuctTape

Ticks and mosquitos have been known to carry diseases for a long time. Campsite selection, first aid, and insect bite first aid/prevention has been part of the outdoor program for almost the entire existence of BSA. The guidance is within the handbooks, fieldbooks, mB books and all the other external resources BSA recommends including CDC, FDA and other governmental resources not to mention the adult leaders knowledge. Sure it may not bein the Guide to Safe Scouting, but it is not possible to include everything, nor should it attempt to. The GTSS is NOT the program.

DoubleEagle makes an excellent point, one that not only bears repeating but expansion. "And, the SM conference is not just a one-time requirement, but when ever the SM has a conference type tone, if there such a thing." I would encourage a change in our mindset about SM conferences being tied in to the rank advancement. Sure, they often take place just prior to a BOR. However as DE reminds us, they are not a one-time req. I would remind us all that these conferences should be ongoing, and often. Whether the conferences are with the SM or ASMs, these are a significant opportunity to get to know the scouts, encourage them, find out what they need, etc... We often talk (write) about sitting around with coffee watching the boys do their program, but we should not ignore a primary responsibility we have which is to regularly conference with our scouts; and not just as a rank advancement check-in. These conferences are where the SM can advise the scout about all the program goings on. Leadership development training- SM conference. Patrol method issues- SM conference. Ideas and decision making- SM conference. Adults should be seen and not heard during the main program (unless invited to speak by the scouts). But regular SM conferences should be occuring often between scouts and SM. How often do "you" conference with each of your scouts? Is it only for the rank advancement and/or behaviorial issues? Or is it used as a method (adult association) to help the scout grow in all aspects of the program?

I advocate for the Fieldbook as a primary resource too. Especially the first one. I often find copies of these at garage sales for $1. I have mentioned in the past a patrol could go page by page with the original fieldbook and lead a fantastic program.

It appears "Peter" has checked in since his initial post. Odd he has not responded.

As I mentioned previously the Scout Slogan, "Do a Good Turn Daily" needs to be re-emphasized. It is the embodiment of the Motto, the Oath and Law. If I could define one thing which defines Scouting as unique to any other team, club, or organization with similar aims, methods, and principles it is this... Do a Good Turn Daily.

Hi. Welcome to the virtual campfire. I have no knowledge of this event, nor do I know the official procedures. I would surmise the official letter had more details. Are you involved with the troop or this scout in some way?

Copyright violations do NOT require selling or a commercial interest. One does not need to have a monetary exchange to be in violation of copyright.

A lot of great stuff in there, but I wanted to highlight this single line as it is often lost on folks. Too often Be Prepared is reduced to things, not the scout himself. Secondly, the scout slogan and motto are not two disparate concepts. They fit together. Merging Barry's understanding of Be Prepared with Do a Good Turn Daily, one starts to see how these two often misunderstood (and in the case of the slogan; forgotten) tenets of scouting form the basis of achieving the scouting mission.

The elections are a unit activity as they are done at the unit level. Just as a den chief may be elected by the unit to help a den in a different unit. The activities the elected scout participates in may or may not be unit activities.

I think part of the answer can be found in some of the older BSA literature. What I mean is the descriptions of what things were supposed to look like. For example th older PL handbooks used stories to show a young PL how to deal with situations. And the fieldbook had sample activities for patrols. Heck the entire scouting program for a patrol could be done by following the fieldbook page by page. And here I go describing a problem... the issue at present with the books is everything seems to be theory without examples of theory into practice. We do it here too. We try to explain the solution in theoretical terms but rarely do we give a "how to script". I have tried on occassion, but it really is time consuming to do more than just a simple "for instance".

I am not sure I have ever seen new scouts bored their first year due to being overprepared. I have seen them bored due to being under prepared.

Caltopo is good. I also use the USGS collection. I especially like the older maps as one of my hobbies is to explore long forgotten trails.

Over the years I have seen the mention of the "perversion files" a number of times. Were these files specific as to "why" the scouter was on the list? The reason I ask is eagle1993s post references the entire list as though they were all abusers. I am not suggesting otherwise, I am asking whether the files were solely of abusers and suspected abusers or did they include names of people who were labeled as "pervert". (as an example homoexuals have been labeled this way, perhaps adulterers as well).

It is their own organization, I would think so.

Whatever your unit decides, be sure to clear it with your COR. I would recommend, the COR be the final arbiter.

I have always looked at this situation as both sides WILL lose out. There is no winning here.

Was talking to scout the other day who was lamenting about the polarization of society. He mentioned other adults in his life who cannot even say hi to each other anymore let alone have a civil discussion. We talked about how it is ok to disagree and have discussions. We pondered how much better society would be if folks engaged in these types of discussion had the primary goal of trying to understand why the other person has a different opinion and were not soley focused on trying to convince the other person. Listening to understand, not to respond.

Assuming the $103B is what should be owed, isn't the purpose of bankruptcy due to not being able to pay all debts? Therefore isn't the whole point of the bankruptcy judge to determine what reduced amounts each creditor will recieve?

I think there has been enough hyperbole, sarcasm and thinly veiled personal attacks recently. Perhaps everyone who has posted in the last 24 hours should take the weekend off. Enjoy your family, go for a hike. Do something else besides post on this or related threads. Perhaps after the weekend folks could return to discuss ideas and not cast aspersions at each other. We can disagree without being disagreeable. I will be the first to take my own advice...

I do not think think this response was called for. You certainly know that no one here, including the person you quoted believes any abuse is "ok". You are better than this.

As Barry pointed out, the mission statement is vague and does not capture the essence of "what and how". The mission and the program are different. One only needs to look at other corporate mission statements to see how they are vague and do not represent the what and how. I submit for example the mission statement of McDonalds, "to be our customers favorite place and way to eat and drink". Over the years McDs has certainly changed some menu items and other aspects for business reasons, but at their core they are still fast food hamburgers and milkshakes.

Hiking, camping and other outdoor pursuits have grown for sure. Data confirms this. IMO, you are correct that scouts is really not outdoors focused. On this board many have lamented how scouts is advancement oriented. I agree. Over time scouts shifted from outdoors focus with advancement simply as a natural outcome of doing the outdoor activities to advancement being the primary focus with the outdoors being an option.

Welcome to the virtual campfire. Grab yourself a cuppa.

hmmm. While I agree with the concept of recruiting for scouts, I am not sure it is a good idea to require a public school to have a private organization recruit to a captive audience.

But it is not our duty to make this determination. It is our duty to report it, and let those who are tasked with investigating do their job.