The Latin Scot

That is a good idea; I know getting leaders into our groups is like pulling teeth lately, but this is a situation where it would be HUGELY beneficial if somebody could step in to be his special mentor. I will put that idea forward; thanks @ItsBrian

Here is a link to the full announcement: http://www.ocbsa.org/news/2018-insurance-fee-announcement/

Honestly, I have never heard of a "three meeting model" being pushed as essential. Perhaps if one felt beholden to the Den Leader Guides, but really, does any body really use them that much? I will occasionally glance through them for ideas, but I don't base my meetings off of them. I prefer to simply pull requirements from the book and go through them at meetings for as long as it takes or as long as the boys are interested. The problems I see with the "streamlined" versions are centered around two main issues. First, it can easily be looked at as a way to simply blast through the requirements with less effort, and frankly, doing an entire adventure in one meeting may be 'fun,' but from a realistic point of view, you just aren't going to teach boys the lessons and values of each adventure if you just fly through them one by one with only a meeting per topic. Boys need to be more invested in the subject matter, at least if your focus is on learning and not just advancement (and mind you, I am a HUGE proponent of the advancement system - just not like this). The other clue that indicates to me that this is only meant to push advancement instead of learning is the fact that ONLY THE REQUIRED ADVENTURES ARE INCLUDED. If this was really a pedagogical issue, then would not all the adventures have been included? Instead we only get shortcuts for the required adventures, which tells me there is another agenda behind this. Secondly, after reading through the "streamlined materials," I came away more confused than encouraged. Some of them kind of come off as a Frankenstein monster, what with all the editing and highlights and cut-throughs and whatnot. It just looks like somebody hacked away at the guide to make it easier, but instead of cleaning up the mess, just left all the scraps there. It's sometimes very hard to read! TO ANYBODY looking for a way to simplify their life - I recommend simply picking up the 2017 addendums for each rank (offered free at any local Scout Store or online), and using that to determine the requirements. Then for your activities, just go right out of the Handbook for each rank! There are already easy activities included for every one of them, and then the addendum will cue you in on which activities are still required vs. which ones are now optional. The Den Meeting lesson plans are too convoluted and dense for a practical meeting. Just go out of the book, and you'll be all set. That way you can focus on meaningful activities and learning, and not on trying to follow a rote plan that centers more on the meetings than the boys. Learning needs to drive advancement - not the other way around.

Thanks for all the suggestions. We have our den meetings the exact same time as his future troop meetings, so I have to plan carefully if I am to arrange any visiting by either the boy or his future leaders. They can't get me as an ASM either because of that time conflict. My main concern is getting the future leader trained; he is very hands-off and somewhat distant with his boys (the running joke is that he always seems more dead than alive). This particular boy needs a leader who is going to be invested in his growth and progression, and I have a hard time seeing the leader give that. In fact he was one of my leaders back when I was a boy in the troop, and even then he was almost oblivious to whatever went on in the group. I want to be optimistic, but I have my reservations about the transition ...

Aye ... ¡alboroté el avispero!

Well, as Cervantes wrote, "la verdad adelgaza, y no quiebra ... siempre anda sobre la mentira como el aceite sobre el agua."

Well, hence the Council's decision to add a $12 insurance fee to every participant's registration, starting with new members this year, and all members in 2019. I know there will still be angry voices complaining, but considering it's still only $45 per year, I think that's a fair alternative. Certainly preferable to charging the one group of boys we most want to keep!

I'm about ready to go all Don Quixote on these darn rumor mills.

Except that despite how desperately some people seem to wish it were true, the Church has no plans to leave Scouting at this time. Mercy, people just can't let this one go, lol.

Gah! My heart! LOL

So, any opinions on this matter would be helpful. I currently have a boy in my Webelos den who has a number of challenges. The primary challenge is that he is about midway up the autism spectrum; he functions well, but there are enough triggers and whatnot to set him off somewhat easily unless he gets special attention. The other problem is that his family speaks very little English; they came up from Mexico only a few years ago, and communication is a challenge for the family. There are other socioeconomic challenges they face on top of all this. Now, none of these are problems at the present - I have long years working with autistic school children, and I am Latino myself, so right now my den is the best place the boy can be - he is understood and cared for and working with his challenges is not an issue for my leadership team. My question is: what happens when he ages out of my den and moves on to the Boy Scout troop? His new leader is experienced, but not very skilled, with Scouting. Even normal-functioning boys can be too much for his limited leadership skills at time. With this boy coming in later this year, I want to help him be prepared so that he will know how to work with the boy and his family, and I want the boy to feel like he is moving on to a safe environment where he will be understood and loved just as he was with me. He will be 11 by the, but developmentally he will be much younger than the other boys in some ways. This new leader does speak Spanish, which will help. But where do I start in helping the coming transition be successful without meddling where I ought not? The boy's mother spoke to me for some time after our den meeting last night, and she was both grateful for all we have done over the past few months to help her son, and fearful over what will happen when he has to cross over. I managed to assuage her concerns for the time being, but I want to have more concrete ideas for how to move forward. Again, all suggestion and thoughts will be tremendously appreciated at this time.

Wait ... they made a BLUE ONE?!?!?!? As a Cub Scout leader, I would ABSOLUTELY have bought one! Augh, now I am going to live out my days ruing the fact that there were blue ones produced a decade before I was born ... oh cruel twists of fate!

Wait ... what?!? But, we constitute a MASSIVE portion of the Scouting world! How can they just exclude our position like that? Where did you hear this? I am shocked and appalled, lol.

What's frustrating to me is that the GSUSA is touting their "single-gender model" as being so superior, while either ignoring or remaining ignorant of the fact that the BSA is not going co-ed, but rather creating a new, separate program for girls that will be distinct from their boy's program, despite the ranks and requirements being the same. One of the basic premises of their argument, that the single-gender model is better for development, is actually still being followed by the BSA, but they continue to put us down for straying from it, which isn't true. I have read many articles lately from both the BSA and GSUSA sides, but I notice the trend is that the BSA seems to appear weak for capitulating to public opinion (certainly true if you ask me), while the GSUSA seems unduly vindictive in attacking their potential numbers loss to the BSA (their articles can be downright venomous in my area). The fact is, the BSA is going to have a new program for girls, while Cubs and Venturing will include girls in their programs as they are. So we might as well just try to get along with the GSUSA, because for the time being no amount of whining, criticizing or arguing is going to change anything. Both organizations will benefit from working together; neither will accomplish much spending its energy tearing the other down.

Mine too, I just barely got it - looks like they will be adding a $12 "insurance fee" to the $33 registration fee. I think that's much smarter - still regrettable that we have to charge more, but sports groups and SAT prep classes charge FAR more than Scouting does, and we deliver just as much content to the kids in our programs. It's much better than punishing our top achievers with a pointless fee, that's for sure.

By the way hikeoholic, what district are you in? Saddleback District here, nice to have a neighbor on the forum!

OFFICIAL NEWS FLASH! My District Advancement Chair just called me to let me know that this motion has been officially DROPPED. Most districts never even heard about it, which is good seeing how short-lived the proposal was. Some people just jumped the gun though. In any case, the matter has been resolved, and they are exploring different alternatives. It seems our Friends of Scouting numbers kind of plummeted this year, which caused the need to look at new revenues - but luckily this idea was killed before it ever took off. So there we go! There are no Eagle application fees happening in the Orange County Council as of a few hours ago.

Ah, gotcha. Thanks!

Wow ... Scouting sure did affect my generation's outlook. All of those things sound either completely irresponsible or recklessly dangerous to me, but I still had fun doing Scouting - even with all the safety and conservation practices in effect.

What's cubtrails?

Thanks for the link @TAHAWK! I just wish I could try one on in my size before buying it ... Scouting apparel always run appallingly large on me, so who knows if even the small would be too large. I love shopping for clothes, but NEVER online if I can help it - you gotta' try things on before you buy them! For example, I finally got a new Scout shirt last month - and ended up having to get a youth-sized shirt since they were the only ones that fit me.

@RememberSchiff Well, I acted at any rate. I must have sent out a dozen e-mails, and I sent a very strongly-worded warning to council asking them to consider the ramifications of such a move. But I try not to worry while I am acting - it keeps me from thinking clearly, and affects my larger perspective. For now, I will wait until there is more definitely information. Undue concern avails me nothing while I wait.

Our Scout Store has tons of them. But none in my size (I wear an adult small/slim). :-(

@Hawkwin that certainly would have helped! In any case, I just now had a long conversation just with my District Advancement Chair. While discretion prohibits me from divulging all the information this early on, I will share what I can to allay any concerns you all may have. At an Orange County Council meeting on Saturday to which select board members from the various districts were invited, it was proposed by the Council Executive Board (not Scouters for the most part, but professionals hired to increase profit in the council) to charge a $120 fee to Eagle Scout applicants upon the submission of their papers, to be effective immediately. The result was a long and intense discussion which ended in something akin to what I shared a few hours ago – as of now, they are officially only assessing the possibility of charging such a fee which, if it were to be implemented, would not take effect until a later date. HOWEVER, as my wonderful District Advancement Chair put it, "it’s written in pencil, but not in pen" - and it's definitely not set in stone. It’s possible the push-back will be so tremendous that the move will never take effect, although it has been formally put forward by the executive board - but again, this proposition is so recent that it is unwise to jump to conclusions. So, fellow forum members, here is your official takeaway for the time being: It hasn’t happened yet; it may not happen at all, so don’t worry about it for now!

I think that's ultimately the key here - educate the Scouts on the traditions, the peoples, the cultures and the controversies - and then let them decide. I don't think National - nor any one Native American nation - should have the right to dictate what they can or cannot do from there.