Eagle94-A1

I have a Scout aging out in less than 30 days. He transferred into the troop a while ago, and his former troop was not great with paperwork. He is so close to Eagle, but I think he has given up. The family told me that if he didn't get Eagle by the end of the charter year, he would not be renewing. Then last minute turned in paperwork for scholarship to renew. Waiting to hear back about scholarship, but have not seen him since. I've known the Scout since before Tigers. Families had been close in years past, but something happened between my sons and him, specifically related to some online game they played. And we have slowly drifted apart since. I know it is his decision to pursue Eagle or not with the time remaining. But it still frustrating, and a little depressing. I have gone to bat for him in his old troop, and the current troop. I know the challenges they family has faced over the years and have helped him in a variety of ways to the point that I have upset committee members protecting the Scout. If I have worked with this scout more than any other, except my own kids, over the past 30+ years, and it is upsetting to see him come so far, and not finish. I know Eagle is not the ultimate goal of Scouting. I know he will take the lessons learned, and apply them throughout his life. I know. I know that despite the challenges he has overcome, he will go far. But why I am getting frustrated and depressed, especially when I have not felt like this with other Scouts int he past?

I believe I eventually got the International Youth Exchange Award because of the Canada trip. I think the requirements for the WC and IYEA were identical.

Yeah, they keep changing the name of it. Originally the World Crest was an award for the BSA, then August 1, 1989,rules changed allowing everyone to wear it. Ticked me and the other Scouts on the bus in Canada earning off because that was one of the awards we were going to earn. Adults made it up by giving us the Canadian version of the emblem on a velvet background. They also had international recognition set with necker and patch. Sometime between 1989 and 1995, the International Youth Exchange Award was created. Don't remember the requirements, but i got it. Don't know when the current award came out. Requirements are https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/International-Spirit-Award-app.130-044-Rev.-June-2021.pdf and the patch is below.

Especially since National praised councils that had such events within the past 3 years. I remember watching this done at a NAM that was online. I think 2021.

In all of my experience in Scouting, every single time adults interfere with the Patrol process, they screw things up. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. (major emphasis). There is a reason why Traditional Patrols, aka Mixed Aged Patrol are still around,and begrudgingly mentioned in BSA literature on occasion, 35 years after national wanted aged based patrols to be the new norm: THEY WORK! (again major emphasis) Aged based patrols have so many problems, especially NSPs. I was part of the pilot program, and it failed miserably in my troop. Imagine my surprise when I discover that aged based patrols were the new way of creating patrols. @MattR said it best:

I will be making a trip and hand-delivering paperwork. One quirk in my locale is that one toyed of insurance has a credit that will pay for Scouts. However the paperwork needs to be turned into the council and they take care of it. Over 1/2 of my troop is in that program, so there is nothing I can do online. 2 of my adults show YPT has expired. I have copies of their YPT certificates from January, just need to find them, and will be delivering them with the other paperwork. Since all my folks, save 1 adult, were involved in Scouting prior to the new process, everyone, save that one guy, recharters at same time.

Understatement of the year. I have seen it as well in the multiple councils I have been in. And now I know why so many old-timers no longer over the years stop doing anything with district or council, and focus on units instead. That or quit altogether.

Most Scouters I know do not have a personal attorney, nor can they afford one. As for the CO, most I have encountered are not active. And if they are active, councils tend to give them very little info on the situation in my experience. Heck when I was a DE, the SE kept info from me, and when I called him to tell him something about a situation, was told , " Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you....." And another organization's investigation won't mean squat to BSA. I knew someone falsely accused of sexual assault. There was a criminal investigation, and the evidence they found supported my friend. Even though she was cleared, she was still banned by the BSA.

I guess mine is not enforcing it at all. I knew other councils had mandated training, heck neighboring council wanted you to have the training BEFORE ( emphasis) assuming the role. But was told National won't mandate training, except YPT. You would think that if you had S24 showing, all the online modules would not show up as "To Do's." Why whenever I teach a class, I add my name to the Training Report. Personally prefer inperson training to online. The interactive, personal touch is much better than the monotone online stuff, even if interactive.

Can you show me how long that is a national requirement, because this is the first I am hearing about this. Also does anyone know how to remove courses that My.Scouting.Org say I need to take, but have taken already, and taught, in a classroom setting? Thankfully it says I am fully trained, but keeps showing online modules as if I need to do still.

Former commissioner here. Agree the Commissioner Corps is suppose to be about quality control. But you also need Scouters who are willing to acknowledge they have weak programs, and be willing to listen to advice. Sadly I have encountered such Scouters over the years who refuse to see the weakness of their program, and refuse to change. Commissioners can only coach and advise. they have no authority to implement change in a unit. I had one such unit. After over a year of being ignored, I stopped trying. Successor commissioners to that unit, including one who knew the SM well as they were ASMs together at one point, were also ignored.

So if the settlement is declared null and void, what happens to the money that councils gave National for the settlement? Will camps on the selling block be put on hold? What about COs that put money towards to settlement? Will post 1970s COs have insurance coverage from National cover any lawsuits against them per the charter agreements?

Talking to folks in the UK when they went coed, single gendered troop, whether all male or all female, gradually died off.

I am so glad that 1 camp I go to is not owned by the council, but rented to them.. Non-profit trust owns it, and will not give it to the council outright. Trusts handing over ownership of camps to councils has been a very bad move for about 20 years now, but especially in light of the ongoing bankruptcy.

I know my local Catholic Church was in the process of starting a new pack and troop. Then they decided against it. I am told it was the lawsuit and the insurance increases involved.

Yes, pros are are held accountable for the number of new units they start.

Yes, the practice didn't end in the 1970s. I knew councils that did it in the 1990s and later. A lot of UWs stopped funding because of this.

Only if they got caught. Even then, they would try to blame subordinates, even though they were the ones pushing it and doing it. If they were suspicions, and no hard evidence, they were "promoted" to smaller sized councils. But not everyone being sent to a smaller council was a screw up. Sometimes it was a way to get rid of the whistleblowers, "promoting" them to a higher position, but in a smaller council. Met an SE who was in this situation. Went from being a DFS with 3 FDs directly under him, and 18 DEs under them to being a SE with 1 FD and 3 DEs under him.

Yes, BSA did set up packs, troops, etc in the internment camps. part of it was to give a sense of normalcy, instill patriotism for the USA, etc. And there were interactions with local communities. More on that in a bit. As the article stated there was pro-Japan internees, to the point that they formed paramilitary units inside the camps. After the war, a lot returned to Japan. I do not remember the exact number, but I think that it is over 8000. I will try t find the book on this when I get the chance. And it wasn't just Issei ( Native Japanese in the US) but also Nisei (Native US of Japanese ancestry). Japan not only had an immigration policy like the Nazis which granted automatic citizenship to anyone of Japanese ancestry, but also had active recruiting and indoctrination programs set up prior to the war. And those pro-Japanese internees did cause lots of problems, both inside and outside the internment camps. As for involvement with local communities, one thing to remember is not all Japanese-Americans and Issei were interned, only those in the the Japanese Exclusion Zone, which was All of California, and parts of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. Those Nisei and Issei outside the zone were not incarcerated, and in fact the War Department created some camps in areas with Japanese-American populations in the civilian community. In one locality, the pro-Japanese internees caused so much trouble to the non interned Japanese-Americans, the community wrote a letter to SecWar asking for the removal of the interment camp as it was creting tensions between them and their neighbors.

A bunch of mixed feeling on this one. I can see why being anonymous is important. I know folks who reported stuff to the council, and they become persona non grata. I had that happen to me when I reported an alcohol in camp problem. Dealing with camp staff was one thing, but dealing with the council professional staff was a completely different situation. But I also know it can be abused. As I posted elsewhere, a good friend was falsely accused of propositioning a Scout to save his own skin because he was being a peeping Tom.

If there are any national requirements, I do not know about them. Back in the late 1990s, there were no national requirements that I was told about, I and I started 2 ScoutReach units in my district, and a friend of mine was SM for three or four in the early 2000s.

That is the thing, most packs still use a 9 month cycle based upon the school year. In all my years in Scouting, in multiple councils, only 1 pack had a 12 month program, and even then it was modified: instead of weekly meeting, it was biweekly fun activities to have Cubs earn the Summertime Award. In fact the entire reason why that award was created was to give an incentive for packs to remain active in some way over the summer.

This is what happens when educators take over the program. BP said it best: "Boys can see adventure in a dirty old duck puddle, and if the Scoutmaster is a boys’ man he can see it too." “See things from the boy's point of view.” "A boy is not a sitting-down animal." "A fisherman does not bait his hook with food he likes. He uses food the fish likes. So with boys." We need folks writing advancement requirements who can see things through a kid's eye, remembering the excitement and adventures of their youth. We need folks writing advancement requirements who realize the importance of experimental learning, as opposed to formal learning. We need folks writing advancement requirements that understand that some folks, especially boys, learn by doing. We need folks writing advancement requirements that understand that failure is a learning method, probably one of the best. We need folks writing advancement requirements that understand giving responsibility to youth is a way to help them learn and grow. But most importantly We need folks writing advancement requirement that understand that we cannot be all things to all people because "The open-air is the real objective of Scouting and the key to its success." (sorry for some bolding, cannot undo it despite several attempts.)

Reading your post, and thinking how National will be "simplifying" the Scouts BSA program, It's as if multiple voices in my head are saying

Sadly I know one of the SEs mentioned in the article. He threatened a volunteer's son with not getting Eagle if the volunteer didn't do what he was told. And I have seen first hand volunteers removed for questioning SEs.