Eagle94-A1

Been in a lot longer than 2005, and never knew there was a second verse.

We would be considered a "Hiking and Camping" troop, but add in Biking We weekend camp every month except December ( Service project for CO and Day Trip), February ( 2 Weekends of Scouting for Food and Scout Sunday), and the month of summer camp. I know of troops that will do two week+ long camping trips, but one is usually geared towards older Scouts and high adventure. Problem is getting enough Scouters to take the 2nd trip. Usually if they have to decide on one trip or the other.

Sadly there are people who would consider it battery and try to press charges. True story, a long time Scouter was retired and worked for a Scout Shop for a little extra money. A brand new Cub Scout and his mom came in and was getting uniform, books, etc. Scouter showed the new Cub how to wear a neckerchief by rolling it up, putting the slide on it, PLACING THE NECKERCHIEF AND SLIDE ON THE SCOUT (emphasis), and pushing the slide up. This was done in the Scout Shop with other people and the mother present. Mom freaks out and files a complaint against the Scouter for inappropriate touching. Guy loses his job, gets placed in the IVF, and law enforcement got involved. I got called into the office and told that i was to no longer put neckerchiefs on anyone because of this incident.

I made my own pocket device for the pins for less than $2.00.

Cell phone is now a required device for an emergency kit for Emergency Preparedness MB. Troop had a "no phones at camp policy" and several Scouts came to us saying the E Prep would not sign them off unless they had a cell phone in their kits.

My thoughts. I was conducting the transition training in 2015, and know one of the folks involved on the 511 Committee that made the changes. 1. The current program is NOT the original new program that came out on June 1, 2015. National watered down the changes in December 2016, without advising the committee they were doing so. Not all packs had folks attending those training sessions. If the pack in my area that did not attend was like the others around the nation, it was a major "Charlie Foxtrot." They had no clue what they were doing, had a poor program and complained about all the changes. I know the pack I was with did not implement the December 2016 changes until May 2017, once the School year ended. 2. Not having the correct program info hurt. National hadva large inventory of books with 2015 info when the made the changes. I saw some of those books years later still being sold. In fact my youngest got one of the 2015 Webelos books in 2018. 3. The program was designed for some repetition of activities. It required imagination on the parts of DLs to expand on those parts and make interesting. 4. Middle Son and den enjoyed the 2015 Webelos Program. Since they were almost finished with AOL rank when the program abruptly changed, they carried on with 2015 requirements. 5. Only boredom I found was with youngest. But he had been tagging along with older brothers since he was in diapers. At some points he was helping teach his den mates . 6. I have no experience with Lions, but from a burnout point of view, i think it contributes. 7. The imagination, creativity, experience, and zest that a DL has directly influences program. The Program Helps are just that, HELPS. They give a foundation. The more you add the better the program.

Some of the folks earning MBs were averaging 7.5 MBs per week. I call foul. Even an SM of a girls troop who has girls advancing faster than the affiliated boys troop he was SM of is calling foul on that. The one person I personally know that earned every single MB took him 7 years to do. He got his last MB right before turning 18. The young man then went on to complete the Hornaday Award as a Venturer. Forgot to add that I believe it is possible to earn Eagle in 19 months. I have seen some outstanding youth, male and female, do so. It took a lot of work and determination to do it and I applaud them.

This topic has come up with the Scouts in my troop. One is so disgusted with the "merit badge inflation" that he is no longer considering completing his Eagle because he believes it is meaningless now. The rest were ticked off at the the unbelievable number of MBs that folks got since COVID hit. Yet when you comment on it on other sites, you get attacked for raising questions and concerns. And I also met someone with all 130+ MBs back in the day. It took him until he was 18 to do it though.

With CSDC and folks working on their own, my former pack's advancement was asynchronous. The only thing that folks waited on was AOL and Cross Over. My youngest was finished with AOL 2 months before the last member of his den finished it. He started attending Troop meetings as a guest prior to Cross Over to not be bored.

The rise of Merit Badge Universities (MBUs) has increased the number of MBs folks are earning. With COVID, Virtual MBUs with 100+ kids taking an online class has from all over the world has. Some folks recently were averaging 7.5 MBs per week. From what I have seen, experienced, and heard about, I got real questions about the thoroughness of these virtual sessions.

The same could be said for councils and National. I know of councils not fulfilling their end of the paperwork, yet signing anyway. And as for insurance, no limits were ever discussed or mentioned in the paperwork people signed.

I have only read about one person being reinstated. He was removed for going into a bar in uniform. Reason he went into the bar in uniform was the Scout Bus broke down, and the bar was the closest place he walked to that had a phone to call a tow truck and contact parents. He followed the appeals process and got back months later. The people I know who have been removed have never been reinstated, including the one where the criminal investigation cleared the person of wrongdoing, and even found evidence to support her story of events.

Don't I know it. I was promised that the situation would be solved back in 1998 with SCOUTNET 2000.

Why should I be surprised. Risk Management folks STILL are lying about "Dodgeball has never been an approved BSA activity," even after I cited multiple references to Dodgeball in BSA literature dating to 1929 AND screen captured a SCOUTING.ORG webpage showing it is an approved game even after the ban (they quickly took it down). Why do I feel like I am in 1984?

And therefore won't be able to record it. Not that SCOUTBOOK / Internet advancement is accurste. Reviewing my records today, and of course 30+ years are missing. Heck it is still not showing i am an Eagle.

Will Scoutbook and/or Internet Advancement allow it?

Apparently yes, Webelos 1s can no longer earn it due to the new rule. Don't get me started on this nonsense. Webelos is suppose to be a transition period, getting Cub Scouts ready for Scouts BSA. In Scouts BSA, you can advance to Star and Life only using Eagle required MBs. Why can't Webelos? Also if you want to prepare them for Scouts BSA, the sooner the better. Waiting until they are in 5th grade for them to earn Scouting Adventure is too late.

Even some of the restricted camps will be reverting back to the trusts because councils can't afford the overhead post bankruptcy. We have a small camp that will revert to the trust because of overhead.

Officially there is no place to wear them. The Aquatics Supervision course patches are not considered temporary insignia, nor is it stated they could be worn on swim trunks, just "Swimming & Water Rescue, cloth, No. 10862; recognizes successful completion of Swimming & Water Rescue Training." and "Paddle Craft Safety, cloth, No. 18063; recognizes successful completion of Paddle Craft Safety Training." from this link. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33066/33066_Universal_and_Nonunit_Insignia_WEB.pdf?_gl=1*w220wt*_ga*ODIxNzM2MDM3LjE2MjUyMzgzMDM.*_ga_20G0JHESG4*MTYyNjE5OTI0Ny4zLjEuMTYyNjE5OTQ5NS4xNw.. Considering they are certifications like BSA Lifeguard and BSA Aquatics Instructor and not awards like Mile Swim and Kayaking BSA, I have worn my 2 Aquatics Supervision patches on the right leg of my swim trunks.

Nor did he play the Global Thermonuclear War game. I hear it is a MAD game, worse than Tic Tac Toe. 🤣

This is anecdotal and hearsay, but from my perspective it appears dead on. The ones with the youth experience tend to leave, and the "good" DEs have no prior experience. I know when I eas a DE, most of us with youth experience left due to frustration. We did not see our upper management living the Oath and Law. We became disillusioned with the movement. And talking to other former pros, that has been their experience as well. Hearsay is what one high level council pro once told me: the best DEs and pros have no youth experience. They have no preconceived notions of thd job, and are "objective" when it comes to goals.

I think both you and @yknot are on to something Leadership does indeed play a role, but it is the CUB SCOUT, or more specifically WEBELOS LEVEL (emphasis) adult leadership, and not the Scouts BSA level. If things are happening elsewhere as I have seen them happening locally, and from some of the pushback I get for my advice on other forums I believe it is a national problem, Webelos leaders are not making the transition from Cub Scouts to Scouts BSA. Webelos leaders are NOT helping to transition from adult lead to self responsibility like the Webelos Program was intended. Thus when the new Scouts and their parents join a troop they are overwhelmed. When Webelos leaders do their jobs properly, the Webelos are ready for the transition. And more importantly the parents. When my old troop had a Webelos Castaway Adventure Overnighter, two different Webelos Dens from two different packs showed up. One den began the transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts as soon as the Cubs became Webelos. The WDL and AWDL started to slowly began giving responsibility to the Webelos, and kept reminding the parents to let the Scouts do it themselves. The other den kept treating the Webelos like Cub Scouts, with the parents still doing things for their kids. On the camp out, the first den had their members complete their survival shelters and started cooking their meals before the second den's parents even completed the group shelter. Yep the parents built the shelter, not the kids. After congratulating themselves on the group survival shelter, the second den left while the first den stayed behind and had fun. That was 5 years ago. 100% ( 10 Scouts) of the first den is still involved in Scouting. Out of the second den, 80% (8 Scouts) left between 3 and 12 months, and a 9th Scout left within 2 years. Only one remains. And he and his parents had an extremely hard time adjusting to the differences between Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA. And IMHO, National is not helping them matter. Not only is the online training inadequate, but also they are mandating that before you can work on AOL required badges, you must earn the Webelos badge. So You now you cannot earn the Scouting Adventure badge until March of 4th grade at the earliest for most packs that start up in September. They really need to begin the transition in September of 4th grade, during the summer between 3rd and 4th if you are meeting.

Could the NDA be with National and the Ad Hoc committee?

My experiece is similar to others, if you have a good program, that thr Scouts have ownership of, they will stay. Our 2 last Eagles have stayed around doing stuff. In fact one is at camp now, taking some fun MBs.

I concur with the new Scouters with no experience as youth sentiments. The good ones will listen to your advice, allow you to mentor them, etc. The bad ones will get all their training, then ignore it and your attempts to mentor them, then complain when Scouts transfer out or not join. The worse will tell you you don't know what you are talking about, Scouting needs to change with the times, call you names, or even curse you out.