cocomax

The scouts in our troop tend to stay with our troop from age 11 all the way to age 18, one older scout left us at three years ago, but says he really misses us. He quit because he did not have the time due to sports. We had one scout quit and return after 2 years because he missed us so much and he has to travel 30 miles to come to our meetings. All the older scouts are in sports. We have a bunch of 16 year old scouts with the rank of Life that almost have their Eagle. Our main focus is "playing the game of scouting" and not advancement. Advancement is a byproduct of doing scouting things. Our scouts run their own meetings and have fun at the meetings. The adults spend 90% of the time just staying out of the boys way. There are many meetings were ALL the boys are at the meeting. At most we will have 1 or 2 boys missing a meeting, but it is almost always for a good reason. All the boys are going to camp this year. The older scouts value the younger scouts and want more younger scouts to join, because they know how great scouting program can be. They enjoy teaching the younger scouts new skills. I ask the scouts from time to time why they stay. . . why they love scouts so much. They tell me things like: Our troop is a family. The guys here are my closest friends. We have each others back. We trust each other. These are the guys I can really talk to about anything. The guys can always cheer me up. We are very close friends outside of scouting.

I believe you, it is a solo gig, GSUSA gives the troop leaders so many options, and a great deal of power to run the troop any way they want (within reason), the troop leader has a free hand to run things the way she wants to, the downside is a feeling of a lack of structure and guidance. The mystery to me is way don't more GSUSA troop leaders use that gift of freedom of operations to make it into something great. I have read some great books by GSUSA troop leaders on how to run a great program, with the girls leading things, if they want to and have the know how they can do great things. Maybe there are too many GSUSA troop leaders who are only being leaders because they feel they have to because no one else will and not because they want to and they are really pushing their comfort zones just to do the bare minimum to keep the troop alive.

The girls in GSUSA get to vote on what they want to do, they are girl lead. If they want to go camping, they can vote to go camping. GSUSA is doing exactly what the women leaders and the girls in the program want. If you made BSA an all female program and make GSUSA an all male program. . . I think the boys would have a blast, it is such a open ended and free spirited program. That I am saying it is not the BSA program or the GSUSA programs that are lacking in any way and if you place girls in a BSA program with female leaders they are going to behave almost exactly like GSUSA troops, it is the nature of what girls and women want. I know BSA troops ran by adult females that are nightmares, the only camping is car camping and the cooking is done by the adults, the boys spend their camping time playing on their phones and being yelled at. I watched one troop do their thing for 9 hours and I could not tell which boy was the SPL and if they had any patrols. I know BAD GSUSA troops where the adult females are fighting constantly and I know really good ones, where the girls are having fun and the adult female leaders get along. It all depends on the people, my neck of the woods suffers from some really bad leaders driving away the good ones, things just keeping getting worse and worse.

The news media makes these kids super stars, their name is on the news for a good 2 weeks. If a looser kid that feels like a nobody wants to go out with a bang they know all they have to do is become a mass school shooter. The bigger the body count the higher the "score" in their minds. They will be remembered and that is important to them. The news media loves mass shootings, it drives up their ratings and gives them a chance to berate the NRA, gun owners, the right wing, and pin the blame on Trump. Some kids on SSRI drugs to treat depression can reach the point that they do not care about their own life or the life of people around them because of the effects of the drug and become very dangerous. I can't think of a mass shooter under the age of 25 that was not taking a SSRI drug.

Do girls want high adventure? If they did venturing would be more popular than it is. How many girls are in venturing? Maybe 70,000 tops. What I keep hearing is girls want their eagle, because the GSUSA gold star award is not as good in their eyes. If girls wanted to go camping and go hiking that is what Girl Scouts would be doing more of. Girl scouts is a girl lead program. They push girl leadership and girls deciding what they want to do. There are 1.8 million Girl Scouts, they must be doing something the girls like.

Our AOL Cub den will be going to a Camporee (and camping with) with our Boy Scout troop and going on a camping trip to Moro Bay this spring. The whole AOL Cub den will be join the troop as new scouts later this spring after cross over, they have already been to 3 troop meetings. I thought this was normal for AOL dens to do stuff with their future troop, I am surprised there are AOL dens not doing so.

Arrow of Light Adventure: Scouting Adventure Complete the following Requirements. Prepare yourself to become a Boy Scout by completing at least a-c below: a. Repeat from memory the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout motto, and Scout slogan. In your own words, explain their meanings to your den leader, parent, or guardian. b. Explain what Scout spirit is. Describe for your den leader, parent, or guardian some ways you have shown Scout spirit by conducting yourself according to the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout motto, and Scout slogan. c. Give the Boy Scout sign, salute, and handshake. Explain when to use each. d. Describe the First Class Scout badge, and tell what each part stands for. Explain the significance of the First Class Scout badge. e. Repeat from memory the Pledge of Allegiance. In your own words, explain its meaning Visit a Boy Scout troop meeting with your parent or guardian and, if possible, with your den members and leaders. After the meeting, do the following: a. Describe how the Scouts in the troop provide its leadership. b. Describe the four steps of Boy Scout advancement. c. Describe ranks in Boy Scouting and how they are earned. d. Describe what merit badges are and how they are earned. Practice the patrol method in your den for one month by doing the following: a. Explain the patrol method. Describe the types of patrols that might be part of a Boy Scout troop. b. Hold an election to choose the patrol leader. c. Develop a patrol name and emblem (if your den does not already have one), as well as a patrol flag and yell. Explain how a patrol name, emblem, flag, and yell create patrol spirit. d. As a patrol, make plans to participate in a Boy Scout troop’s campout or other outdoor activity. With your Webelos den leader, parent, or guardian, participate in a Boy Scout troop’s campout or other outdoor activity. Use the patrol method while on the outing. Do the following: a. Show how to tie a square knot, two half hitches, and a taut-line hitch. Explain how each knot is used. b. Show the proper care of a rope by learning how to whip and fuse the ends of different kinds of rope. Demonstrate your knowledge of the pocketknife safety rules and the pocketknife pledge. If you have not already done so, earn your Whittling Chip card.

In Europe the school system and mothers work very hard to soak young boys in feminine values like accepting responsibility for household chores, being caring, understanding and attentive, and bend to every wish of the woman. This has produced a generation of soft, insecure men, who are out of touch with their masculine nature, identity and strength. This allows them to work really well with co-ed groups without any problems. However here in the USA there are still a large number of men and boys that suffering from toxic masculinity, including myself. There are a bunch of them in the Boy Scouts, boys and old scouters. If the boys don't like what the BSA is doing and get upset about it they will quietly just walk away, go camping with their dad, join sports teams and play video games and let the girls have the Boy Scouts. The boys have no real voice in the BSA other than walking away.

I have been reading a lot of news coming out of Europe, it looks to me Co-Ed scouting works really well in Europe, I see no evidence Co-Ed scouting of being a problem in Europe.

Yes you are correct, Fresno California.

Scouts Honor, I am telling the truth. That was part of my IOLS training last year. They also taught us that we needed prepare food over a tarp, to catch food particles and use window screen to screen the top layer of dust at the camp site to gather up all micro trash. We also learned how to pick up human waste with a zip lock bag as well the toilet paper to pack the human waste out, we can wrap the human waste zip locks with duct tape to hide what is in there so you do not have to look at it. I am not making this up.

As a very experienced scout/scouter that had to take training last year, I can tell you I paid very close attention to the training. The training was a joke, we were being trained about camping by someone who has never camped (other than at wood badge), who made it very clear that if we go camping or hiking we need special soft soled shoes so that we would not compact the ground and injure the worms, hike only in groups of 5 or less, when making a camp fire remove the soil 6 inches deep and set it aside, line the camp fire pit with a space blanket to protect the worms and microbes from heat, add sand that you pack with you, when you break camp pack out the ashes, dirty sand and the space blanket, place the original soil back in place and leave no trace. We had knot tying instructors that could tie a square knot, but not a double half hitch, taunt line, timber hitch, clove hitch or square lashing. . . I paid VERY close attention to my training, it was a real eye opener.

If we end up with girl only troops, well that will be fantastic and I do not see that hurting boy troops at all, I can agree with you on that. I think BSA will do fine if they stick to that plan.

. . . but but sometimes the rumors turn out to be false. . . . right?

Michael B. Surbaugh CES expressed some very anti-co-ed feelings at the national jamboree, he said things like a "single sex program was very important to boys development" and we would NOT be going co-ed. Maybe Michael should step back or step down. . .

Canada has 36,300,000 people, the USA has 323,100,000 people. (Canada's population is 11% of the size of the USA population.) BSA has 2,740,866 young people in the program, Canada has 63,000 young people in their scouting program. 0.8 % of people in the USA are youth members of the BSA 0.17% of people in Canada are youth members of Canada scouts. If BSA were as "successful" as Canada Scouts it would have 549,000 total youth members. Maybe BSA has been doing a lot of things correctly over the past years to have so much higher membership numbers than Canada.

The boys in our troop keep getting asked if they have any cookies for sell, by their school mates. . . The boys in our troop keep getting asked if they have any cookies for sell, by their school mates. . .

I keeping hearing people say "Girl Scouts is boring", why is Girl Scouts so boring? When I was a scout in the 1970's I do not recall anyone calling the Girl Scouts boring, the Girl Scout camp near our Boy Scout camp was considered a forbidden place of mystery and wonder, the boys back then in my troop and summer camp held the Girl Scouts in a place of very high regard, girls that could be wonderful future wives. Now in the current year, the boys in our troop think the Girl Scouts are cool, we cut and sell Christmas trees with the Girl Scouts we share a scout building with the Girl Scouts.

The real question is when the girls join the troops and we go co-ed, will the boys stick around? Will the boys still find it fun? As leaders we can do everything right, but if the boys are not having fun they will leave. I don't talk to the boys in our troop about the girls joining, but they know from the news and guys at school teasing them about it and I have overheard them talking about it and they all have decided to walk away if it happens. My other question is why do the boys feel this way? I honestly do not know. Are most boys fine with girls joining and the boys in our troop just strange, I don't know.

I have read stories from co-ed troops in Canada and Venturing Crews in the USA that being an adult leader to a Co-Ed group on over nights is very stressful and can sometimes lead to rapid burn out and scouters quitting. Trips have much less of a scouting feel and seem more like you have become a chaperone to a high school dance. Many troops in Canada have a "tent watch" rule. The adults are required to take 2 hour night watch shifts to make sure there are not any scouts switching tents in the middle of the night. Scouting groups like to hide the numbers, but I found a number from a few years back that said the number of "Scouts" (ages 11 to 14) in Canada was down to under 14,000 children with 20% of them being female. It amazes me that Canada Scouts is still a thing with such low membership.

Our district announces (for the first time) a planning meeting by email 3 hours before it starts and then the next day an angry scathing email goes out chewing everyone out for not showing up. . . and that has happened more than once. Our district cancels the district camporee 4 hours after it was suppose to start, by email, because of "weather", (Weather was clear with a night time low of 51 and day time high of 83, the ground is dry) They have canceled the district camporee, 3 years in a row now because of "weather". District reps doing the FOS thing make it well known that they do not like outdoorize stuff and do not camp, at our blue and gold. I do my best to ignore district as much as possible and just help out the local troop and pack.

If you are accused of doing something bad 10 years ago, 20 years ago or even 30 years ago how in the world do you prove the the accusations are false. We have no way of knowing how many accused men who are believed to be guilty are innocent but will never be able to prove it. David Copperfield, is once again facing new accusations. (From USA TODAY) A representative for Copperfield had no comment, but earlier Wednesday the 61-year-old illusionist posted a long statement to Twitter, calling the Me Too movement "crucial and long overdue. We all want people who feel they’ve been victims of sexual misconduct to be empowered, and as a rule we should listen, so more will feel comfortable coming forward. It’s important." He followed with a "but." "But imagine what it’s like, believing in the movement, and having also been falsely accused publicly in the past. To have your life and your family’s life turned upside down," he wrote, detailing the last time he was falsely accused, which ended up with the woman being arrested and charged in a separate incident that was strikingly similarto what she said happened to her with Copperfield. Seemingly referencing new allegations about to surface in The Wrap, Copperfield made a plea with the public not to rush to judgment, saying, "while I weather another storm, I want the movement to continue to flourish."

Not only is scouting doomed, Civilization as we know it is doomed. . . we have left the slippery sloop and are now in free fall without a parachute.

This story is heart breaking, this young man spent 6 years in jail over false charges: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149462/Brian-Banks-One-time-football-star-rape-charge-dismissed-years-prison-accuser-contacts-Facebook-say-happened.html

Another great news story on the subject: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/opinion/metoo-sexual-harassment-believe-women.html I believe that the “believe all women” vision of feminism unintentionally fetishizes women. Women are no longer human and flawed. They are Truth personified. They are above reproach. (NY TIMES)