Col. Flagg

Agree 100%. Each time the TC has done a search and interviewed candidates the SM has stayed a while and done wonderfully. Conversely, the few times they went with the "any volunteers" approach they have been disappointed. I would add that your TC should put in a succession plan for the TC Chair and the SM. This is a requirements for the Unit Leader Award of Merit. I could have sworn it was a requirement for JTE at one point, but I could be wrong. At any rate, having a succession plan reduce the risk to the unit (and, therefore, your program) so that the boys are not impacted by changes in adult leadership.

This is wrong on soooo many levels.

In my area the parents oversubscribe their kids in to a myriad of programs. Most Asian kids (especially the Indian and Chinese kids) are in weekend science and math classes. Scouting in that community is seen more an activity that can be done after all the other stuff is done. Add in that the schools make things like band, orchestra, choir and sports events mandatory, and that leaves very little time for participating actively in Scouting. I think I related this before but I will say it again. A friend of mine's district held a round table titled "How to Recruit in Under-Served Communities". GREAT!!! Who wouldn't want to learn tips and tricks at doing that, right? They attend the session and it is a Powerpoint presentation on the demographics of the area. Good helpful. Then they discussed what (they thought based on some Googling) each demographic wanted for their kids. Head scratching started because the info was highly generalized and very stereotypical (e.g., "Hispanic Catholics have lots of kids so faith is important" or "poor families have one parent so time is crucial to them"). The major take-away was that to recruit minorities you need to show that your are diverse in your unit's make up. Meaning that if you have a bunch of white kids in your unit, you need to show that you have more color than just white. The looks of utter confusion sets in as people look around the room. "Isn't that why we are here? We know we are not diverse and we are looking for ways to get more diverse", says one brave soul. At the end of the presentation, the big reveal was a slide that said "Recruit More Minorities!". Not HOW to recruit more. Not "Here's five things you can do to recruit more". Simply, go out and recruit more people of color and FORGET the fact that their main reason for wanting to join is to associate with a few more people of their color. BTW, this was a council-based presentation, so this wasn't John The Redneck putting together what he thought would be helpful. This was a slick deck put together by council with a video attached. If THIS is an example of how Surbaugh is going to get BSA to recruit in disadvantaged communities, Lord Krishna help us.

Just watched this. If people think Trump works from "alternate facts" they must really hate this guy. Talk about BS (and I don't mean "Boy Scouts").

Your right. Let's look at the surveys. Oh wait, they said the SAME THING that the people posting in the last hour have said!!!

Put it on your unit page. Have a link?

That's vague at best.

We have had Scouts that used crowd funding. They managed it themselves through their parents. Not something the troop got involved in. It's their project and up to them to raise the money. There's just no reason for the troop to get involved. Scouting Magazine gave this advice a while ago.

What's crazier is an organization summarily ticking off a large portion of their membership to appease people who are not yet members.

Source? Because I didn't see that in any survey I saw.

We had a kid at Philmont last year as we were hiking the ridge line to the Tooth get heat stoke. Before we even started we required 4 liters per person, dropped backs and went light. Brought ten essentials and made sure everyone was aware of the warning signs of dehydration, heat stroke/exhaustion, HAPE/HACE. Checked literally every 15 mins along our hike. When the kid finally fessed up that he was feeling queasy, he admitted that he had been feeling bad for about an hour or so, with a headache he'd had for two hours. I really could have killed him at that point because we had done a walking health check every 15 mins that morning...what's that 20 times? I wanted to send him off the mountain at that point. We got back to base camp and he revived. He learned a big lesson but his stock fell with his fellow Scouts as a result.

I think people are making decisions based on their values and beliefs. Not only will the "boost in membership" not happen over night, it won't happen. Why? Because the NET outflow will certainly match any net inflow. I would go as far as to say you will see a very large reduction in members, with only marginal gains by girls to make up for those leaving. The "net" will be lower members totals than you see today. That's my prediction.

In the survey questions I read there was nothing about "local option". There was nothing about Cubs going first. That's speculation. They survey questions I read were about opening Cubs, Boy Scouts and OA. No timeline given. Nothing saying which was first. The questions were asked in such a way as to direct answers toward a result. I have seen four such surveys. Not all ask the same questions in the same way. That's troubling. Personally, I think it's a little sad that national is messing with a 100+ year old program just because the CSE thinks it's "the right thing to do" but he hasn't asked his members what THEY think the right thing to do is.

Venturing is pretty clear on the need for a female leader to be around when its a coed outing. I cannot see BSA giving up that rule if Boy Scouts go coed. If anything it would require a female leader (not simply a registered mom) to be around EVERY Boy Scout event. Oh, and it would require all current Boy Scout leaders to take a new coed YPT course. Typically, BSA does not see the down stream issues. This reflects a poll our TC conducted and one the PLC conducted. Nearly all the guys want to keep the troop boy-only. The Venture Crew was more than willing to take more girls, not surprisingly.

I resigned my position as a result of the 2013 and 2015 membership changes and will become an ASM. I was also asked to head up a Venture crew which I accepted. However, if this change happens I will resign my ASM slot and focus on Venturing. I cannot support a program I do not fully believe in or support. Some might not be able to understand how I can support Venturing but not Boy Scouts. Simply put Venturing is supposed to be coed and I fully support its mission. Boy Scouts is supposed to be single sex, use the patrol method and allow boys to develop. If that is no longer the mission of Boy Scouts, I won't support that program. Boy Scouts continues to be the whipping boy of the left. It seems to keep apologizing for being who they are. After a while you get tired of constantly having to change to appease others who really have no intention of becoming part of your organization OR helping to make it a better place. They simple what you to change because they don't like what you stand for. There's a great quote from a character named "Fletcher" in the movie Outlaw Josey Wales which is quite appropriate here. Pretty much sums up how I feel about what BSA and good ol' Mike is trying to sell us here.

Money bet says the CO has no clue about that, nor would they care. Just tell them you are selling the gear or donating it and ask if they agree.

It's Texas. You'll find all sorts of craft out. I do not know what the law requires, but common sense would dictate buoys and visible objects on their lines themselves. The power company has deep pockets so I hope the families go after them. I also hope this is a warning to everyone to really investigate every activity you do and plan around various risks.

Since the question was asked...what makes my guys stay in Scouting is because it for boys. It's the same reason my Venturers stay in Venturing, because it's coed. If the former were to change I know most of my Life Scouts would stay to make Eagle and leave. My younger guys would just play sports and the troop would fold.

I have daughters too. I have raised them to be respectful of beliefs and opinions, as well as to stand up for what they believe in. I volunteer in both Boy Scouts and Venturing. My son and daughter are involved in Boy Scouts and Venturing respectively (my son in both). That's my preface. Why no girls in Boy Scouting? BSA has a coed program, it's called Venturing. No need to open Boy Scouts to girls. Girls can do MORE in Venturing than they can in Boy Scouts. Why? BSA does not allow some activities in Boy Scouts that they *DO* allow in Venturing. Why would any girl want to do less? If girls want an all girl program they can go to GSUSA. If that program does not meet their needs then CHANGE THAT PROGRAM!!! Why change Boy Scouts? Go to the organization lead by women and designed for women and make them change their program!!!

Interesting way to address the question with some interesting "facts". Yes, Cubs was originally built around the stay-home mom. But according to BSA's own stats, since 1982 the majority of the volunteer leaders have been men. No program change needed. Men started getting more involved in their kids' lives and volunteered in Cubs. 75% of all women work? Oddly enough the government's own stats say differently. Parents don't TAKE ENOUGH TIME to spend with their kids. It has NOTHING to do with *IF* they have the time, they simply don't MAKE THE EFFORT to get involved. As Scouters we have seen this first hand. They survey the parents about a program that affects kids. Why not ask the kids if the THEY want to be in a program with their sibling? Pressure? ROFL, wait until he has to rely on all those new parents to step up and fill the vacuum left by all the parents and Scouts that want to keep Boy Scouts for boys. That giant sucking sound you hear is the void good ol' Mike will have to fill. Here is the money statement: "You don't do something because everyone else is doing it. You do it because it is the right thing to do." He, and the national leadership, honestly think going coed is the "right thing to do". They are constructing the field survey to back them up in the fallacious position. I've got my resignation all set to turn in to my CO...the moment BSA makes it official. I will resign from Boy Scouts but will stay with Venturing...unless they screw that up too.

On behalf of all gun-toting, SUV driving, global warming denying, keep Boy Scouting for boys, semi right-wing fascists, we appreciate your honesty. I thought my rose-colored glasses had drawn me to the same conclusion, but I was pretty sure they hadn't.

I respectfully disagree. If these young men belong to a program where they are held to the standards they recite a few times a month, they wouldn't act like that. If these young men were held to higher standards at school or in their home, they wouldn't act like that. If these young men had a stronger spiritual influence in their life, they wouldn't act like that. Let's face it, these kids don't act like this because they were in a single-sex environment and suddenly were thrust in to a coed environment. I'd buy that if they lived on a single-sex planet, but they don't. They go to school with girls, they go to the mall or water parks and see girls all the time! This was little boys not being held to the standards they claim to aspire to. This was adults hiding behind the "boy led" mantra and not getting out and making sure their guys were acting like human beings. These guys know better, they just elected to be tools. Coed is all around them in their daily lives and it had no impact on their behavior. They simply thought they could get away with it.

ROFL. You mean "turkey" (Puten), not computer (puter). I am hungry already.

Let's take a business angle to this topic then. Name a successful company that got rid of its flagship product, the product with the most consumers or members, totally changed that product and GAINED market share or substantially increased sales. Remember New Coke? The difference with a membership organization like Boy Scouts is, once you let the genie out of that bottle (introduce coed Scouting and replace single-sex Scouting) those former members will be gone for good. They won't come back and buy your "Scouting Classic" when BSA realizes what a colossal mistake they made.

Not even when that same organization supposed to be teaching the Scout Law and Oath? C'mon, really Fred? Let's not pretend that adding girls to the mix is going to magically stop sexual harassment, stop theft (also a big problem at Jambo) or increase respect of others and self. These are problems attributable to degradation of these principles in society and the break down of the nuclear family. Kids who watch reality TV, come from a single parent families, have poor adult role models or no spiritual forces in their life are likely to have this lack of respect for Scouting ideals and others. Adding girls in to Scouting is not the cure for all socio-economic ills that are manifest in large Scouting events like Jambo.