ScoutMom2014

It was for communications. My son was the emcee of a COH for his previous troop; planned it and executed it. However, his current SM has questioned the validity of that particular requirement. My question is, though, there were 50-60 witnesses to the COH and all can attest to him being the emcee. This is what I don't understand.

Thanks for your kind comments. I've been around scouting for over a decade, and now that Eagle is coming closer, I just wanted to help my son not run into some nightmares that I've heard of others -- not making Eagle because they were missing a MB, or not enough time for a POR, that sort of thing. I realize that 2 years is a long time, but also it isn't. Time flies too fast these days. And I commend my son for juggling sports, youth group, scouting, etc. Sometimes plans have to change, i.e. he won't be able to work on his Eagle project when he wanted, but that's life. He's held the POR of Chaplain's Aide and Scribe of Communication so he's not a stranger to having jobs in the troop. I just didn't realize that all the jobs could possibly be taken and he'd have to wait for 4-6 months for a POR to open up.

That's a great idea! Does he have to have SM permission first to be a den chief?

In our Troop, after the Troop Elections, whatever positions are left are assigned by the SM to whomever wants them. I've found that some positions no one wants to do -- historian, librarian, etc. The SM has sent an email out stating that xyz position is still open if someone wants the job. I don't know why it's run that way, but it is. And now all the jobs are taken so he will have to wait until the summer.

You sound like a very angry person. I was only asking a simple question. My son is going to be 16 soon and has balanced sports/scouts for more than a decade (he started as a Tiger, yes). He wanted to work on his Eagle project on his off season so he can accomplish both. Now he will have to wait until he's almost 17 to board for Life and THEN start his Eagle project. I was afraid we might run into a time crunch since you never know what may happen. And you don't know me at all so insulting me isn't offensive. It just shows you to be a bitter person.

Wow, that was rude. My son is almost 16 by the way. And I'm the troop secretary. Does that qualify me to ask a simple question?

In our Troop, after the Troop Elections, whatever positions are left are assigned by the SM to whomever wants them.

Hello all...thank you all for your helpful advice thus far. I have another question for the Scoutmasters: If you had a rather large troop (over 50 active boys) and you had just a handful of Star and Life scouts and the majority being new 1st Class Scouts, would you be more or less likely to give the limited positions of responsibility to the 1st class scouts? It would seem that the younger 1st class scouts would have much more time to have a position of responsibility than the Star/Life (who are already 16/17 years old) which require 6 months of responsibility. Edited to ask: if there are no available positions of responsibility in the TROOP, I was reading that it could be a leader assigned job for the UNIT. Can anyone explain the difference between the Troop and the Unit? Thanks!

Thank you Qwazse. I just don't think it's right to make a scout "redo" part of a MB, especially when it's been signed off on already by a counselor. Where do you draw the line, then? Isn't that "subjective" and are the requirements "objective"?

Yes, I realize we're not to "hover"...I really just wanted to know if the scoutmaster can veto a MB that was properly completed and signed off on by a counselor. And if not, how to go about rectifying it? My son still is only 15 years old and when the scoutmaster told him he would not accept the blue card, my son just accepted it and said "ok". I want to guide my son in the right direction by having him have another scoutmaster conference about this and to politely/respectfully tell the scoutmaster that he can't veto a properly signed blue card. Any ideas on what he could say?

Good morning. My son has transferred from one troop to another. He had two requirements left for an eagle required merit badge. We properly found a merit badge counselor for said merit badge and he finished the requirements and the counselor signed off on it. However, when my son turned in the blue card, and during a scoutmaster conference, the scoutmaster said something to the effect that the previous troop's record was incorrect on one of the requirements. Since this particular scout master will NOT allow parents to talk to him about things concerning the boys and merit badges, ranks, etc., I'm having a hard time finding out exactly what was "incorrect". My understanding is that if a counselor has signed off on the merit badge, it's a done deal. Or is that not correct? And since I'm not allowed to talk to the scoutmaster at all about this, I'm not sure what to do here. Can anyone shed some light for me? Thank you.