askyourspl

For those that can't or haven't held regular in-person meetings, what do you plan to do to keep both scouts and parents engaged in the program and connected with your troop? Do you have concerns of losing membership due to so many months without any contact? Seems like this would be an issue especially with newer scouts.

What are your troop's plan for this fall? In-person meetings with masks and social distancing? Campouts? Hikes? Zoom meetings? What are your plans to keep the Troop moving forward during this pandemic until we get back to normal?

Our troop is considering scheduling 1 or 2 weekend camp outs this summer in light of our Summer Camp being cancelled. We are in a very restrictive Covid state where we would not be allowed to camp, yet several adjacent states have already eased Covid restrictions in their states and camping would not be an issue. Would you schedule these camp outs in the other state and are there any BSA guidelines prohibiting this or any legal exposures we are opening ourselves up to?

What should I wear to my son's Eagle Court of Honor? My uniform? Or do I go dressed as Dad?

Great point. While BSA can do all of the background checks and YPT they want, they can't possibly have the same oversight and connection to the Troop that a CO can. It would be interesting to see what would happen in court if the lawsuits were brought against individual COs. Our CO (a church) has almost zero contact with our troop.

Received an email earlier this week from the Scout Executive of our Council saying that BSA let the council know there would be news stories in the coming week regarding "Youth Protection and BSA Bankruptcy". Any idea what has changed since the last stories? Is bankruptcy imminent?

We have started saying, "You are no longer a Cub Scout. Welcome to our organization which is in no way affiliated with the Girl Scouts of America. Here is your neckerchief. Do you have a preferred pronoun you would like us to use when addressing you?"

And what if the other 50 kids in the troop want to know why they now have to call Johnny by the name of Sally? Is that now my job to explain to the entire troop that there are 31 genders and explain what Johnny is feeling? I think I would be getting more than a few calls from the rest of the parents asking why I am teaching their sons that it is OK that Johnny now isn't a boy or girl, but is instead a Unicorn or any of the other 31 characters that the state of New York recognizes as a gender... Anyway, here’s the complete list of 31 genders: Bi-gendered Cross-dresser Drag King Drag Queen Femme Queen Female-to-Male FTM Gender Bender Genderqueer Male-to-Female MTF Non-Op HIJRA Pangender Transexual/Transsexual Trans Person Woman Man Butch Two-Spirit Trans Agender Third Sex Gender Fluid Non-Binary Transgender Androgyne Gender Gifted Gender Blender Femme Person of Transgender Experience Androgynous If this is now my job as a leader in this new age we live in, you can Scout Me Out.

Thanks for all of the responses and opinions. The parent of the scout in question is now aware that his son announced to several scouts that he no longer identifies as a boy or girl and wants to be called by a different name. We asked the parent what we should do as leaders. He said, unless his son asks us directly to be called by a different name, it should be business as usual. I really love my job as a volunteer... I didn't see anywhere in YPT how to handle this. If he announces to everyone that he identifies as neither boy nor girl, when we go on a campout, do I need 2 adults over 21 who also don't identify as male or female?? Obviously being sarcastic, but it's really getting hard to be a volunteer in a world where your gender is determined by how you feel when you wake up that morning.

In googling this topic, I only found information about girls identifying as boys being allowed to be scouts. If the scout in this situation (or any other situation) starts identifying as a girl, are they to be excluded from the troop?

We have a scout in our troop who has announced that he no longer "identifies" as a boy. He also does not identify as a girl. He has given us an alternate name to be called. How are we supposed to handle this? Any guidance in writing from BSA?

He did not evade the question - I thought he was going to. However, I would have been impressed if he chose to avoid it because it is a controversial topic. As I said, he gave a well thought out and impressive answer. Yes, he was very familiar with the Chief Scout Executive's statement from last week and what the plans were at the Cub Scout level in 2018 and the initial idea of what would happen with Boy Scouts starting in 2019. Most of the adults read the statement as well. It was not "what they heard". We would have corrected him if he based his answer on a false premise. I see no problem in asking an Eagle candidate his opinion on how the troop is run or what they would do to improve it. We've been asking this question for years and have gotten great ideas. I also see no reason to not ask a highly intelligent, accomplished Eagle candidate, who has been part of Scouting since he was 7 years old, his opinion of the organization he is part of, the BSA, when they are about to make a major, controversial change in their program.

I asked the question at an EBofR this past weekend. He initially answered, "What is probably more interesting is what the Girl Scouts think of this decision". I thought he was going to try to avoid the question all together like a typical politician, but he ended up giving a thoughtful answer with his reasoning. He would not have passed or failed because of any answer he would have given. Our district representative said afterward that he was prepared to ask the same question as well, if I didn't. I think the question is 100% appropriate. Why would we not want the opinion of a Scout? Boy led troop, right?

Thanks again for all of the additional input to my post. In answer to a few of your posts and to offer more insight...the ASM/Dad does not bring her because he doesn't have the option to leave her at home. Mom is at home, and we have plenty of leaders on our camping trips without him. He wants her involved in scouting and wants to form a Venture Crew, but lacks the numbers to do so. No, we have never told him direcltly (yet), but we have discussed in Committee Meeting, with him present, the difference between a "Family Campout" where all family members are invited and a "Troop Campout". Has she ever been a distraction - yes. The presence of a girl amongst middle school-age boys is all that is required to change their behavior and focus and we have observed this several times. Additionally there was an incident at a campout where we saw her and one of the boys coming out of her tent (Dad wasn't there). PLEASE do not over blow this incident in our discussion. We believe this was totally and completely innocent, so don't make this particular incident to be more than it was. The boy was told that he is not allowed in ANY tents other than his own and is never allowed in the adult or family tent area (on Family Campouts). However, this incident DID lead us to the discussion of WHO is allowed on a troop campout and what the rules are/should be. Our feeling is that we open ourselves up to many things we may not want to deal with. Liability - what if one our scouts or adults in some way harms the girl? What if she injures herself? What if she harms another scout? What if the boy in the tent's mother calls us and says she is upset and "Why the heck are you allowing girls on your campout? I thought this was Boy Scouts" or "Where am I sending my son? I though it was just Boy Scouts and Leaders". I guess through this whole discussion, the thing that surprises me most is that there is no direction from the BSA on something like this. It just seems every organization is hyper-sensitive to offending someone and telling them they can't participate in something.

Thanks for all of the great responses to my original post. In answer to some of the questions and comments: - yes, we are talking about troop campouts, not family campouts (we have one/year). - this is not PLC approved, nor even brought up for discussion - weekend would go on without this ASM Dad - we always have plenty of leaders in attendance - yes, the BSA literature lacks clarity on this topic - I've been searching for some time. - the Dad is trying to start a Venture Crew, but the numbers/interest isn't there at this point The ASM/Dad is a good leader, well liked and a great asset to the troop, but he has brought his daughter on several campouts and doesn't see any issue with it. Several boys have questioned why Scout X's big sister is coming on the campouts. Several adult leaders view her presence as a distraction to some of the boys. As we all know, boys tend to act differently around girls at this age. We are also uncertain as to what are the BSA guidelines regarding this - is a non-registered, non-adult family member even allowed on a campout? Would a registered female leader be required? Also, I'm certain that most parents assume the only people attending our weekend campouts are registered Scouts, parents and leaders and would be unaware/surprised that there is a teenage girl there with there sons. My personal feeling is that scouting provides an opportunity for boys of varying ages and different groups (jocks, "cool kids", "nerds", special needs, etc) to come together in a place where none of these titles matter and they can let their guard down to interact and be themselves. Adding a 14 year old girl to the mix changes this dynamic. If there is nothing preventing her attending, we can live with it, but I also want to follow the rules regarding youth protection, etc.