Hawkwin

I have yet to do this but I plan to line the back of my scout's MB sash with the same color Velcro and then let him decide what he wants on the back of it. That will allow him to change, add, remove items as he acquires them and allow him to take them off for any future memory book or Eagle display he may have.

*chuckle* If it was really common sense, then we would not have so much confusion about it here and other places - and we would have far less violations of it. I see common violations of it all the time as it pertains to email contact in particular.

Agreed, but there are life lessons here too. We can all probably point to times in our lives where we had to follow rules that absolutely made no sense - and even times when TPTB made up rules that made little sense. While I'd rather he not learn that particular life lesson from scouting, at least he is learning from someplace. I figure even if we lose, he will still gain a life lesson. Perseverance is part of our family motto.

Agreed. I think?

I would want to know, and would ask the scout why they refuse? The BOR is not a "test." As such, I am not sure what the Board really learns by asking the scout, in a situation of extreme nervousness, to recite the oath from memory. If they get it wrong, does that reveal something about their character? So, perhaps more importantly, what does the BOR accomplish by asking memorization questions? I think instead of asking a scout to recite something, ask the scout how they lived something.

Update: My son, via email, requested a conference last week Saturday as the instructions state. I recommended he copy me and the CC on the email. A week went by with no response. I emailed the CC (yesterday morning) indicating that it has been over a week with no response and asked if my son should be expecting a response and if the unwritten rule of conferences being only on camp outs will be enforced. It has been a little over 24 hours and I have not received a response from the CC. I intend to give it a week but I am not overly hopeful that I will get a response either at this rate. The committee meeting is in two weeks and I see that as my next recourse - but I am not overly hopeful for that either. Any other ideas? I thought the CC was in agreement but it so far does not appear to be the case. ..... This just developed... I emailed this question to Ask the Expert last week and they replied just now stating that they will be answering my question on the scoutingmagazine.org site! To be posted "soon."

Sounds like servant leadership: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Servant leadership turns the power pyramid upside down which puts the customer service associates at top of pyramid; instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. When leaders shift their mindset and serve first, they unlock purpose and ingenuity in those around them, resulting in higher performance and engaged, fulfilled employees. I also like the Army definition: the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation.

I often wonder if the phrase. "There is no such thing as bad publicity" was demonstrated here. All the press, even the bad press BSA received over the change, might have brought in a lot more awareness. I hope they do a really good new applicant survey - especially for the boy cubs. Would be insightful to see why their parents decided to join.

I don't disagree with the sentiment expressed regarding the overly litigious increase in YPT rules but the fact that other entities have lax rules isn't really a good argument for BSA to have the same level of apathy. All it would take is one major injury during those practices where an adult was not present (and where having one present would have aided in the speed of medical assistance) and for a parent to sue the school for knowingly allowing students to practice without adult supervision for the above policy to change - and years later - people will wax romantically about the good ole days where kids could practice without adult supervision. Additionally, what inappropriate action that happens at one school does not directly reflect on all schools as a whole. That isn't the same with BSA. A policy violation or inappropriate contact in one troop reflects on all troops so having a higher standard makes sense. Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article171923577.html I don't think it takes a girl for something inappropriate to happen in such a setting.

Ya, I remember reading that previously and was glad for it. That being stated, in the absence of direct evidence, a CEO of a scouting organization should probably apply Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." GSUSA gains nothing by accusing BSA of "intentionally misleading" even if there are some valid reports of some silly leaders getting the story wrong. You impugned all scouters with such a blanket accusation. I just wish the leaders would tone down the rhetoric. There are more than enough girls to go around for both organizations. We don't necessarily need to compete for the same 6-10%. We should be happy for the success of each other.

I missed one of the best/worst parts in my first read: So the CEO of our local council is now claiming that BSA is intentionally misleading and defrauding girls into joining Cub Scouts.

Just a coincidence, but I just got this in my email: Welcome to the first Girl Scouts of Central Indiana newsletter focused only on one topic: The competition that Girl Scouts is experiencing in our communities from the opportunity for girls to consider joining Boy Scouts. ... We need to blanket our communities with the campaign message that “Make no mistake... If your girl wants to be a scout, make sure she is a Girl Scout” image. This will start with your help. Please see ideas below for what you can do. ---------------- But other than that, BSA will "never compete." Pro GSUSA, anti-how they are handling "Family Scouting."

It isn't about who brought it up, it is about the "never compete" comment. I've since listened to the audio and it isn't clear if those words are from the interviewer or if they were actual quotes from Aceveda. The recording does not contain the question that prompted her first answer. I am going to give Aceveda the benefit of the doubt and assume it was just sloppy reporting.

David CO has the first reply.

OK, sure. Your clarification makes more sense. But that isn't what you stated in your first reply. You built your own strawman when you stated: You are the only one that made such a claim. Building a strawman* seems just as dismissive. *an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument.

The edited transcripts states, "The Boy Scouts is becoming co-ed, but Acevedo says they'll never compete with the opportunities the Girl Scouts offer. " It is possible that the interviewer simply editorialized that bit of hyperbole. It is also possible that it is part of the audio or that it was simply edited out of both. I honestly don't know. I do know that if I was Acevedo and I didn't really make such a definitive statement about my competition, I would ask the interviewer to print a retraction. It is entirely possible that this was just sloppy and biased writing on the part of the interviewer. But, the following paragraph does seem to follow as a defense of the above claim.

Perspectives differ. My daughter is scheduled to camp with her GS troop for the very first time (my daughter has been in GS for six years) and one of the parents - not the girls - is already talking about cancelling the camp out because it might rain. One never needs access to the mountains to enjoy the great outdoors and I doubt there are many populated places in the entire USA that are not within an hour drive of a decent hiking location. I am very pleased to see all the changes GSUSA is making around their program to have a greater focus on STEM and the outdoors - something BSA did, or has been doing, for a much longer time. As the article states, GS was not planning to even roll out their recent changes until 2025. GSUSA is clearly moving in a better direction.

Only you my friend, only you.

Anyone that has to openly present a defense from the competition has already partially lost the battle. If you really don't fear your competition, you don't mention them. Her post is covered in false bravado. She doesn't mention any other organization because she rightly doesn't view them as valid competition. The fact that she mentions BSA at all - and then with such absolutes - tells me that she in fact does fear Scouts BSA. Pretty standard stuff here; and I am rather surprised that this otherwise very intelligent lady doesn't know this.

As a leader, no, but you still need to fill out the adult application. 7.0.1.5 Registration and Reregistration Merit badge counselors register at no fee, using the Boy Scouts of America’s standard adult registration form with position code 42.

Hey! I know the answer to that one! They in fact do work without cell service. They have a built in magnetometer. I actually learned that one during my recent IOLS class. 😉

Do you really think BSA doesn't care about their current as well as future largest demographic? You really think they didn't ever care? If you want serious answers, start by asking serious questions and leave the facetious hyperbole in the trash bin of un posted musings. So far, well over 10,000 have signed up. We likely will not have a good idea of the impact for 2-3 years once female troops are operational for a full year or more. Since there are already a significant number of female leaders in both cub and boy scouts, I don't think recruitment of adult leaders will be the biggest deterrent in the long run. In the short run yes simply because all positions must be staffed within a year (effectively 100% turn over) but over time, I don't see recruitment of leaders being a major problem - and if it is, then we simply won't have that many girl troops. As a supporter of BSA4G, I am OK with that. If I want it to succeed, then I need to be willing to step up to the plate and volunteer. I've already asked the mother of a new AOL gril to be my ADL so that I have adequate YPT coverage. If they want their daughter to be in scouts, then someone will have to step up. No way to know but I doubt it is wide spread. I've yet to hear a single boy in my son's troop even bring up the topic. We will have a better sense of this potential problem next summer once girl troops are attending summer camp with boy troops. The only "forced" interaction they may have prior would be spring camporees or MB Workshops. Again, no idea and it is useless speculation right now. As a supporter of BSA4G, I tend to prefer gender exclusivity. I tend to like the idea, for both my son and my daughter, that if they run for SPL, they would only face off against someone of the same gender. Now, I won't complain if troops end up like packs with single gender patrols but I think both genders will have greater opportunities if they keep separate PoR structures. Nothing will make up for the departure of LDS and I have my doubts that we will be able to successfully measure the impact of including girls due to the much larger impact of losing LDS. There is no way to know which position has the greatest amount of support among "long time scouters" so again it is useless to speculate. Additionally, I don't know if it even should matter that much. Scouting is for the youth. It isn't for scouters. We either adapt or we move on. We are all "conditional scouters" after all. For some of us, the changing conditions increase our commitment instead of lessening such. We are all conditional scouters. We all have our breaking points.

Progress! From the CC: I replied back thanking the CC for their help and clarity but also to request confirmation that if my son follows these very reasonable rules, that he would indeed be granted a SM conference outside of a camp out (since clearly a camp out is neither specifically required nor even implied). I've yet to get that response. Either way, my son will likely send an email tomorrow to start the clock on the request (even though realistically, he already made an email request on Sunday which started this process). Props to everyone that helped. We haven't achieved complete resolution but your advice certainly helped us get to this point. I will share the response I get from the CC when it comes in.

Nah, every other local district holds their camporee in either early or late October. Ours is the only one that does it this weekend (and it isn't as if we lack the camp ground space). Last year, my son went to the Camporee with another district and another troop simply so he would not miss out on the experience.

He isn't away for a couple of months. We simply have a long weekend planned for our annual hike to Mt. LeConte in Gatlinburg in September when the Troop is camping and we are taking a family cruise over fall break in October when the Fall camporee is scheduled (another bone of contention at the district level - don't schedule weekend camping the first weekend of school vacation). He won't be missing out on any of his responsibilities in his PoR as he is a Den Chief. Thanks, our District Website lists only an email address with no name. Our Council Page for our district doesn't even list the position. I'd try the District Commissioner as needed. Thanks.