The Latin Scot

It is important also not to confront the issue as though what the boy is asking to do it "wrong." If he feels that the way he has been taught is how prayer should be conducted, that is his right, and he should not be called on to question what he has been taught by undermining it with the fear of offending others, which at this age is surely not his intent. The issue here is not how he prays, but how the group feels about the way others express their beliefs, as manifested by their potential reactions to his mode of prayer. Rather than try to fix the way this boy prays, the Troop could be introduced to the various ways prayer is offered in different faiths, and then explicitly explain to the boys that, in your troop, they will possibly hear prayers offered in different ways by boys of different religions. This prepares them for what they will participate in, or not if they choose, and gives them the chance to broaden their own perspectives while learning more about how others believe. Use it as a learning experience for the troop by making exposure to specific ideals an opportunity, not a platform for offence. As for the boy in question, don't discourage him. Let him run for the position, and let him explain how he would pray and why. I personally pray with the same ending, and have a deep understanding of its significance, so I see why he feels it matters. BUT, I also understand that others are not beholden to my ideals, nor do I ever try to impose them on others. I pray how I pray, and others should do likewise. That openness can lead to a very healthy discussion among the boys. Ask them as a group how they feel about letting others worship as they please, and let the both the Constitution and that point of law which states "A Scout is Reverent" be the guiding influences as you discuss this situation as a united body. Boys at this age are more than willing to say what they feel. If this issue is discussed with them, you may be surprised at how thoughtful and productive their responses can be.

Hey everybody! So, I was called on to be the Webelos leader for my local Pack, and to be the best leader possible I have spent the past 6 months reading everything I can about Scouting, including every edition of the handbook, all the Cub Scout books, every online resource I can find, and whatever books they have at the Scout Shop. I am a fast reader and love to do it, so I have had a BLAST eating up every policy and fact and discourse on Scouting I could find, and I am ALWAYS looking to learn more and find new ideas. I found this forum and have loved reading other people's ideas, thoughts, and opinions, and seeing how the world of Scouting manifests itself in the lives of leaders and kids everywhere. So ... who am I? I am a 32 year old single guy living in South Orange County, CA, right in the place I grew up. I was a very active and proper boy scout as a kid, got my Eagle at 15, and now I am working with the same Pack/Troop that I was a part of, with is huge fun. (I found an old craft I made in our Scout closet! Which shows how rarely they clean that thing out) I am a teacher by profession, and I am as comfortable teaching preschool as I am high school, so I guess I was doomed to be thrust back into scouting from the start of college, ha ha. I ADORE working with kids and youth, and I am fortunate to have time enough in my life to devote a huge portion of my time and energy to them. I am a reader and a writer, am deeply invested in the arts, and I am the first to admit that I am not a major outdoorsman, but I have all the skills a Scout needs to survive in the wild. I am an avid birder and hobby naturalist, and I LOVE arts and crafts. I should show you all our Den Flag some time! As far as my scouting background goes, my mother is from South America (the Latin part, from Bolivia) and my father is of British descent (the Scot part - Clan Ross). Dad earned his Life, but could never finish the lifesaving merit badge (he was a frail kid), so he wanted to make sure his sons got their Eagles. Mother came to the US as a girl, but as soon as my older brother turned 8 she threw herself into the Cub Scouting program and has been with it ever since. She is basically the Queen of Scouting now. Not only did her three sons all receive their Eagles before high school, but as the Life to Eagle Coordinator for our district she helped more than 200 scouts get their Eagles over the years, and she now oversees all new scout patrols in our chartered organization. As a surprise for her, I am currently trying to see that she gets proper recognition for her life of service by applying for her to get either District recognition or, if possible, the Silver Beaver. This November will be 30 years since she first registered as a Scouter! I practically devour any new information I can find that will help make our program better. I am only the Webelos Den Leader for now, but I see the sorry state of our Wolf/Bear program, and look ahead to our weak Boy Scout troop, and I see I have a lot to do to help motivate our leaders to get the boys feeling ownership of a program they can be proud of. I will definitely be asking for help and ideas as I face up to the mountain of work that lies ahead of me! Thanks for being a great resource that I am eager to draw from!

I am in Lodge 13 Wiatava, and I have just barely renewed my OofA membership and want to be active now for the first time since my ordeal in 1997 when I was 15, lol.

Thanks for the welcome! I have been asked to train the other Cub leaders in our pack and I LOVE the idea of specifying the names with Grizzly or Polar bears or whatever. Thanks for the great idea!

The first thing I did when I was brought in to work with our Webelos was to sit the boys down and show them all of the patch options available from scoutstuff and classB. Once they found one they all liked, I had them come up with a name and a yell, and I had them design a flag based on a number of pictures and ideas I pulled from online. Because I want my Webelos den to look forward to the Scouting program at all times, I made sure filling this requirement from the Scouting Adventure list was the first thing we did - and I understand why the Patrol Method in Scouting is so crucial to the program's success. The boys absolutely LOVE their patrol name. They fell in love with a patch that has a Robin Hood-type character on it, and named themselves "The Merry Archers" to go alone with their new mascot. They love their yell (Aim high .... BULL'S EYE!), they love their flag (which they have all helped create), and they love when I bring archery into our meetings, which I have tried to do ever since they chose they name. I talk to them about the Arrows of Scouting, including the Arrow of Light, the Order of the Arrow, etc., I talk to them about making their character like a well-fired arrow, straight and true, and when they went to Day Camp, they were THRILLED to go out and prove that the Merry Archers were the BEST archers in the camp - which by hard work and determination they were! Luckily I have a good eye on the range myself or they were prepared to be mighty disappointed with their Chief Archer, lol. I have found the use of our Den Name and emblems to be one of the key ingredients to my boys' success in the Webelos program. Because they share a strong sense of identity and unity, they all earned the rank of Webelos at the same time, and they are all earning the Arrow of Light together as well, a full 5 months before some of them even turn 11, when Scouts in our unit move on to the Scout program. So we have time to work on all the other fun Cub Scout programs too, which is a huge blessing. If you haven't given your Webelos a chance to come up with a Den Name and all its trimmings yet, DO IT - it has been a tremendous benefit to us, and I know my boys will always think happily of their days in "The Merry Archer Den."