MikeS72

All depends on when that scout turned 10. The last requirement for AoL is "Be active in your Webelos Den for 6 months or Be 10 and a half years old." While some Webelos may have turned 10 early in the 4th grade and are 10 1/2 by the end of the school year, some are still only a couple of months into their 10th year.

Not quite without restrictions. (bold underlined italics added by me) Cub Scout Programs – Overnight Exception: Cub Scout parents or legal guardians taking part in an overnight Cub Scout program with their own child or legal ward are not required to register as leaders. All adults must review the “How to Protect your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide” that can be found in the front of each Cub Scout Handbook. In addition, the parent or legal guardian must be accompanied by a registered leader at any time they are with youth members other than their own child/ward. All other overnight adults must be currently registered in an adult fee required position.

Scoutbook - BSA web-based program to track a scouts career, I use it primarily to record advancement .

OP stated that this is the second time that this individual has done this. He was caught on camera committing a criminal act. It was also mentioned that drugs were found on him at school. As a juvenile you may not likely be aware of any law enforcement involvement, but I find it hard to believe that there has been none, particularly when involving drugs at school. The youth leaders of the troop have expressed their concern that the boy will have a negative effect on new and current members. It all comes down to whether you are willing to take the risk of losing members who either themselves do not want to associate with someone who has committed multiple crimes or whose parents will pull their sons out of scouting.

The choice there is to complete either swimming OR hiking OR cycling; one of those three. None of those replace camping. I agree. The requirement is to take a bike trip of at least 15 miles or 4 hours; that is a bike and should be allowed if the scout can complete the requirements using that bike but could not physically do so on a 2-wheel bike. It may be possible for the scout to look at something on that chart, however, they should be aware of the fact that they do not just choose one of those possible options but must fill out the Application for Alternative Eagle Scout Rank Merit Badges. That application requires a statement from the scout's doctor stating that there is a medical reason they cannot complete the required badge(s) and must then be approved by both the district and council advancement committees. There is a restriction on the application that states: Following a personal conference with the candidate and the candidate’s parent or guardian, we recommend the following alternative merit badge or badges be approved. These must not be merit badges previously earned (Guide to Advancement 10.2.2.3).

Except for the fact that it is Eagle required.

Part of the new (9/1/23) Cub requirements for supervision deals with just such a situation as part of the GTSS Youth Protection / Scouting's Barriers to Abuse section: In addition, the parent or legal guardian must be accompanied by a registered leader at any time they are with youth members other than their own child/ward.

Unless this is a requirement of your specific council OR your charter organization the answer is no, vendors or guest speakers do not need to be registered or YPT trained. Here is a cut and paste from the current YPT FAQ on scouting.org: ♦ Q: Do the September 1, 2023, changes mean that third party vendors must be registered with the BSA? A. No. Youth Protection and supervision remains the responsibility of the unit and Scout leaders. Vendors and other third parties must be licensed businesses that carry proper liability insurance, units should be sure that they use reputable services. Vendors such as museums, climbing guides, hiking guides, rafting services all fall into these categories. Unit leadership must ensure that all BSA policies and guidelines are followed when using these services, unit leaders must still have proper training.

Every Rhode Islander owns a significant fraction of the state!! 😅🤣😂😇 Narragansett Council encompasses what was once upon a time the Massasoit Council (itself the result of several mergers), my original council. It has been absorbed several times over the last six decades. My first scout camping experience was at Camp Noquochoke, which closed down a little more than 40 years ago.

Driver's License or state issued ID is required in order to come on any campus in my area, and has been for years. I cannot remember the name of the software and database, but it scanned the ID and compared it to a database of SA offenders and persons with violent felony convictions. If there was a match it displayed the persons photo in the database to compare against the person who presented the ID. I had numerous occasions where I had to go to various schools, usually to assist in training new staff, and even with my employee ID badge around my neck I still had to present my license to be scanned.

The big difference between this and what some on here have advocated is the word confirmed. As @vol_scouterstated above and many have stated previously, the IVF was not created and maintained solely for CSA cases, and even for the files that were sex related not all could be confirmed or successfully prosecuted. I would be surprised if anyone here would object to names of convicted persons being released (also part of @vol_scouter's comments was the fact that if someone were arrested and convicted their names would have already been know and published after conviction). I cannot remember who it was, but one of our regulars related the case of a female scouter who was banned after an accusation that was disproven by the police investigation. Despite the legal exoneration she remained in the IVF. I would never want to see that persons name made public. In 6 decades of scouting I can only speak to knowing of 2 perpetrators. One I learned of reading the newspaper, probably in the late 70's, who was sentenced to 15 years. The other was late 60's, and I never learned what happened in that instance. The one who was convicted was made public during his trial and after his conviction. The other as I stated, I have no knowledge of what happened to him and whether anything he did was ever known to the public, although I know with 100% certainty that he was guilty. I can speak to knowing how easy it can be for a child to accuse someone of what initially sounds like a classic case, but upon review was just a vindictive student who thought that was the best way to get back at a teacher he was mad at. This child went home and to his father that one of the PE teachers made him go into a closet and take his clothes off. What he did not include in his accusation was that the closet was actually a 10 x 10 room with a door that stored PE uniforms that could be borrowed if needed. The teacher unlocked the door, sent the student in, closed the door (teacher remained outside of the room) and had the student put on a uniform. Had this happened in scouting the adult leader would likely have ended up in the IVF just for being accused. Thankfully in this case the school principal knew that I was supervising the area before class that day and asked what I could tell her about the reported incident. The teacher was cleared of any wrongdoing and the student disciplined. This is not to say that we should not believe the child when they say something happened, just that it needs to be thoroughly investigated before taking action (other than removing the individual until the investigation is complete.)

I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow back in the 1960's. I was a part of our chapter ceremonies team for years. I was a chapter chief and an advisor. I have been a Vigil Honor member for more than 50 years. Over the years I have seen a change in how the YOUTH perceive the use of Native American culture in the OA. I hear all the time about chapters and lodges who have difficulty fielding ceremonies teams, and when listening to the YOUTH who decline when asked to participate one of the most common things I hear is that they are amazed that we still dress up and play Indian. Many of them want no part of it. The parts of the organization that appeal to YOUTH members are those that involve service and fellowship, not playing dress up. It has been a while in many places since those outside OA have been exposed to much of the old way of doing things. It is hard for me to think that a potential member would decline induction based on removing something they have never experienced. If we look at the founding of the OA, it was not primarily based on Native American culture, but rather on a culture of cheerful service as scouts. The original induction ceremonies were not based on Native American lore, that came later. I have only spoken to ONE YOUTH member who has expressed any concern about the potential elimination of NA representation. I really do not see much in my area with adults being upset about it, in fact, one of the oldest members of the lodge and I were involved in a conversation with several youth members about this recently and his response to weaning us off of NA images was "it's about time". Adults who are upset about it see it as taking away an idealized part of their youth. I look back and at times cannot believe we ever thought what we did was truly honoring Native Americans. While I am sure there are those out there who would like to see the Order of the Arrow go away, the vast majority of those whom I know simply want us to emphasize the literal meaning of WWW. To many the aspects of brotherhood and the service we provide far outweigh anything else.

While this may not help you with this particular situation, do you have any female leaders registered with the boy troop who would be willing to be registered as a multiple registration with the girl troop?

As @InquisitiveScouter asked, it this an event to raid raise money for environmental or conservation projects? If so, I would count it. If not, and it is just a community bike rodeo or trail ride I would not.

I can only speak for my district and my experiences when using the MB look up in Scoutbook. When using the MB counselor search feature in Scoutbook I have pretty much always found that I know everyone who is listed, as they are already registered at some level. While I am sure that there are those individuals who are listed as a counselor for one MB and one only and that is their only BSA position, I have yet to come across them. As a matter of fact, I have only once done a search for a counselor and not found multiple options (all registered in other scouting positions) and that counselor just happened to be me! I have not seen an official reason for adding the $25 fee for someone who does not hold another BSA registration, but I can only imagine it has to do with the cost of the background check.

I don't know when and where you were a kid, but I can tell you from experience in multiple councils (6) in multiple states, beginning in the early 1960's, that in those councils abuse was not 'pretty widely know and pretty much batted aside'. In all those years I can only attest to being personally aware of two concrete cases of abuse in scouting. One resulted in the individual being permanently banned, with the local police being the ones who did not pursue the case any futher. The other resulted in the individual being sentence to 12 years in prison. To state that a letter admits that BSA covered things up and allowed people with credible accusations to move from one unit to another, while not providing the actual quote is disingenuous at best. As @fred8033said earlier, with as many millions of adult volunteers who have been registered with the BSA it would be next to impossible to expect the IVF to filter them all out. It could be as easy as someone using Bob instead of Robert on an application for it to slide through. That doesn't mean that BSA "allowed" them back in; it means they were able to fool the system.

Please tell me that this is tongue in cheek.

Where on earth is this, and who thought that would be a good image for BSA?????

Your post kind of confused me, as that is not at all what I see in this statue. I might have been inclined to leave off the wings and torch, but other than that this is a girl in uniform; merit badge sash, neckerchief and all.

Just got a blank look from pretty much every current youth member in all BSA programs! Jethro who???? 😁

I was in the same boat (dad pun intended) as a young scout 6 decades ago. We were in a military family and until I was almost 12 we did not live close enough to a pool to learn to swim. Had swimming not been required for advancement I likely would never have learned. My last 2 merit badges were swimming and lifesaving, as by then I was a fairly good swimmer, but still did not care much for it, and back in the dim ages there were no alternate merit badges on the Eagle required list.

I would agree that an award by any association on the list at your link would be fine, and personally I would be in favor of BSA authorizing a knot for BSA members who have earned the Gold Award. The directory linked here is members of the World Organization of Scouting Movements, of which GSUSA is not a member. As I said though, it would be a simple thing for BSA to say that in a spirit of unity among Scouts we will offer a knot for those who have earned the GSUSA Gold Award. I would then hope that GSUSA would not object to said knot.

The part most folks miss on page 9 is that this applies to awards from a scouting association in another country. It does say that female members of crews and ships who have earned the Gold Award may wear the pin on the left pocket flap. At this time it does not mention female troop members, although I would not be surprised to see that change soon, as I am sure we probably have a number of female members who have earned both the Eagle rank and the GSUSA Gold Award.

We seen to be on the low end of the spectrum as far as our council program fee goes; and on the high end as far as what benefits we see as a result of that program fee: During our Fall Membership Recruitment season, the newly recruited Scouts will pay (which includes the National Council’s one-time youth joining fee of $25.00) $165 for a 12-month membership cycle. Thus establishing their membership anniversary month. Later in the Fall, Scouts and Scouters currently registered in the Central Florida Council will recharter for the 2024 calendar year in the amount of $140* for youth and $100* for adult leaders…please note the adult fee provides enhanced background checks and general liability insurance. *Members are excited this registration fee includes the Central Florida Council Program Fee which covers the event fee for Scouts and Scouters to attend: • District Cub Scout Shooting Sports and or Adventure Days • District Cub Scout Family Campouts • District Webelos Woods • District Scouts BSA Fall Camporees • District Scouts BSA Spring Camporees • Annual District Banquets • Certain District Adult Leader Trainings • Central Florida Council University of Scouting The Central Florida Council Program fee also provides a subsidy for each registration for NYLT and Wood Badge courses.

Agree 100% with this. Scouts do notice properly uniformed leaders, both youth and adult. While I was a scout in the early 60's, when we would never dream of being out of uniform, I have to say that over the years I have mellowed quite a bit when it comes to "complete uniform". Our C.C. suggested several years ago that we "require" scouts to wear the complete uniform to all meetings. Kind of fell through the cracks, considering that the C.C.'s scout was rarely in a "complete uniform". I had an Assistant Cubmaster question me (as the U.C.) at his pack Pinewood Derby about wanting to prevent several scouts who were not in uniform from participating. Response was very much to the point: not everyone can afford to buy a complete uniform, and not every pack/troop with a uniform exchange will have something to fit everyone who might be in those circumstances. No scout will every be denied ANY scout activity, BoR included, because they are not in uniform. Hard to not say the uniform is mandatory while refusing to grant a BoR or while being "persistent what uniform is required". I will point out to one of my scouts what should or should not be worn on the uniform and where the correct places for said items to be worn. I will bite my tongue with scouts / leaders from other units, unless I know them well enough that it doesn't make the feel attacked. While the uniform (properly worn) is one of the methods of scouting, the method falls by the wayside if we run them off due to lack of said clothing.