DuctTape

I think there is a distinction between "a service project" and "an eagle service project". In fact the requirements do spell out the difference. For Eagle: 5. While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. For Life: 4. While a Star Scout, participate in six hours of service through one or more service projects approved by your Scoutmaster. The distinction is participation vs. plan, develop and lead.

Agreed. It is right there with, "that's the way we have always done it." Both arguments are examples of logical fallacies, albeit opposites of each other. The first is an appeal to novelty, while the other is an appeal to tradition.

This is just one reason why I abhor construction based eagle projects.

Initiating a phone call to an adult has always been a struggle even in the days of rotary phones. Part of growing up is learning the skill and not avoiding that which is somewhat uncomfortable. Allowing scouts to just do online or email denies them a growth opportunity.

the shame of Wilderness survival mb, is that it is many times a fluff mb for the newest scouts with little backwoods or camping experience. IMO, it should be one of the more advanced mbs and consistent with my wish for mbs to have pre-requisites, camping mb should be a pre-req for wilderness survival. To stay on topic, my favorite bsa publication are the ones which GBB was a primary author.

The typical desired attributes for sleeping bags are: warm, cheap, and light. Almost always you only get to pick 2 of them.

Nothing. In fact it is quite common. A "group of citizens" is quite often an effective CO as they exist solely for the benefit of the unit and its boys.

Was a tour permit filed?

In my past and current experience, when boys are left to decide for themselves they choose most often to be in small groups than be alone. They might each be on their electronic device, but the inherent need to be close to one another is too strong. At some point "screen addiction" will be understood, accepted as a reality, then and only then will adults and society begin to address it.

Even if the requirements were increased, successful completion of them would still be meeting the bare minimum. The only difference is defining what is considered the minimum. To equate this with making a team or playing time does not compute since there is no limit to how many scouts one can have in their troop, or go on outings. Perhaps if some adventure was only available to the top 6 elite scouts in a troop, then there would be a comparison. Often scouts and scouters will cry foul when a "ringer" patrol shows up at a camporee and wins all the events. I suppose that patrol was made up of those elite scouts who did more than the minimum, yet that is discouraged. /RandomStreamOfThoughts

I returned yesterday from a 30 mile backpacking trip. 7 people, 4 were women in their 20s-30s. There is a significant number of women who enjoy outdoor adventure. In my experience, while men still outnumber them in pure numbers, the ratio of adventure campers to plop campers is greater for the women.

More and more extracurriculars like music, drama and sports are requiring 100% attendance with contracts etc... Scouts for the most part tries to not compete and work around the other options. Even in this thread are suggestions how to work around. The other extracurriculars do not attempt to work around scouts or anything else. Sure priorities come into play, but when two activities conflict and one of them is lenient on participation and the other has zero tolerance for non-participation, unfortunately the boy's priorities have been chosen for him. This is not just for older HS boys, but even middle schoolers are "required" to participate in the other practices, etc... So what are possible solutions? 1. Participation requirements for scouts and compete directly with the other activities. 2. Continue to try to schedule scouting activities which do not conflict with the others during the school year. 3. Schedule scouting almost exclusively during school breaks like over the summer. 4. Focus on a unique, specialized outdoor based, patrol method adventure program which boys would choose instead of the other extracurriculars (not in addition to). 5. Do nothing.

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I agree. Those in the role of making changes to literature and program need to be acutely aware of how it affects the scouts. 50% of their time should be in this capacity outside of their office and in the field. All should also be required to complete Scout to FC requirements, all of them not just the "options".

Really good multi-dish foods are not exclusive to front-country camping. I, too, was often the camp chef (and still most of the time). Doing more with less is a skill, by definition one doesn't need as much to do a lot. With a small patrol and each person carrying a little, that allows for many combinations of minimal gear. The difference is planning and taking only what is needed, not everything.

Will light a small ceremonial campfire when I get home tonight. As the smoke rises, it will be in memory of this scout and others.

Ownership is the incorrect word. The CO does not own the unit. The unit is chartered to the CO. The CO owns the assets of the unit, however the unit is still a BSA unit. The CO does not have the authority to add or subtract to the requirements for advancement. The CO might not provide a good program but that is quite different.

thread drift... I SMH when I see restriction like no camping under 32 deg. Below freezing with snow is much safer than 40s and rain. Those who make rules like that typically have little experience. While safety is of primary concern, restrictions like temp threshold give adults false impressions of safety. Knowledge, skill and experience are necessary, not artificial temperature restrictions. /drift.

I am also in the NE, and we tent year-round. There is no such thing as indoor camping. One doesn't just camp in perfect conditions. Rain, snow, ice, cold, heat, bugs, etc... One of the reasons to do it all is for the boys to learn to do things for themselves and others. To insulate the boys from these experiences hampers their growth and denies them the adventure. Scouting IS an outdoor program.

I find it interesting that many are suggesting that BSA should be careful to not piss off religious COs, yet that is exactly what happened a few decades ago when the religious COs pushed the BSA to back policies which drove away other non-religious COs like PTAs, and public schools. Of course the majority of present COs are religious orgs at present, they couldn't fathom that other COs didn't follow the same religious code, and forced the BSA to kick out scouts of other non-religious COs. Yeah, we harken to the good ole days, back when gays and atheists were in scouts and no one made a big deal about it. We harken to the days before the zealots told our COs that we weren't allowed to have certain scouts and scouters in our troops. Now the pendulum is swinging back, the religious COs can still prohibit whomever they want, but at least they can't tell my CO who to bar from membership. /rant

I agree with Col Flagg, not only does that not fit the spirit it also belies the promise of adventure. One misses the entire point of all the badges, awards, ranks etc... when the goal is the badge, award, and rank. Some wonder why boys get bored with scouting after a few years, I suggest it is primarily a result of lack of adventure, in other words been there done that. If we encourage adventure and the joy of discovery whether it is a new plant, new constellation, new camping destination, new food to be cooked, new way of lighting a fire, etc... then the complaint ceases to be boredom.

I am likely a lone voice with my opinion, but I would rather see more civic orgs, and other "friends of" orgs as COs instead of religious groups using bsa as a tool to recruit for their congregation or as their own "youth group". Either the Org holds the Charter to further the mission of BSA, but not using BSA to further your own mission. In my opinion, that is/was the crux of the problem. I am sure I am alone in this opinion, but that is ok. I am used to it.

I would not object to this idea. However I would rather see more mb's have pre-requisites to differentiate between the introductory mbs and more advanced ones. I would suggest that the more advanced ones NOT be required, except as options.

We used to have scouting programs with public schools as chartering orgs, some COs were PTAs. My troop still met at a public school with a "friends of xxx" as the CO. My current troop has a local civic org as the CO, yet we still meet at a local public school and use the school's facilities just like any other community organization.

This response to my query about the troop owning the project has me even more confused. Would it be possible to elaborate?