AVTech

Barry- No, failure is an appropriate term. Scouting is supposed to be an experiment for the Scouts, a safe place in which they can test themselves. How else do they learn? It used to be that much of youth was a laboratory. We did stuff, lots of it undoubtedly unsafe and probably outlawed now, and we learned what worked and what didn't. Occasionally those lessons were accompanied by some injury. Broken bones generally heal, and eyebrows DO grow back... In the new childproof reality, that experimentation doesn't happen very often. As an aside, I used to work at a small private college. The school president always addressed the parents of the incoming Freshman class at the beginning of orientation. He started his speech like this: Your children will, at some point, fail at something, often spectacularly. This, in my opinion, is the best place in the world for them to do so. I feel the same way about Scouting.

Just out of curiosity, is this ASM trained? When I took my SM classroom training (and I highly recommend this over the online version if it is at all possible), the SM in charge of the sessions told us that rule one is to take a step back. He said that it is the hardest thing to do, but easily the most valuable in being an adult leader in a properly run Troop. He is correct, and any time I happen to cross paths with him in the 5 years since I took that class, I thank him again for everything he did to make me the SM I am now. As an aside, this is one of the few reasons that we have Troop bylaws. No one is allowed to be an ASM or SM in our Troop unless they can wear the TRAINED patch for those positions. I know that the prevailing wisdom here is that bylaws are a bad thing. This is one of the few exceptions, IMHO.

Getting back to the subject at hand. Which part of boy-led is this ASM not getting? If the Troop needs new tents, the Scouts should figure out what the proper tents are and then report back to the purchasing authority. If they need some direction on research, there are many online sources of information, or they could visit a large outdoor retailer (the equipment guys at REI really seem to know their stuff). If they are given some hints, they are less likely to fail at this. If they do fail, they will learn something along the way. Isn't that part of the point of Scouting?

Equal is different than fair. I have 2 kids- a son and a daughter. I try to treat them fairly. To treat them equally would be a disservice to both of them, as their needs are individual- based on gender, age and interests, just as a start. The same thing goes for the Scouts in my Troop. They all get fair treatment, as they should. But the SPL doesn't have the same needs as a Scout who has just crossed over from Cub Scouts. Not sure why anyone is having such a hard time grasping the concept. As far as YPT goes, my opinion is that any new YPT will be a combination of the current (and horribly done) YPT course and the Venturing YPT (which is much better put together). I think that requiring coed leadership in a coed setting should be the standard. But, the double standard, as set forth in the materials released, is certainly more focused on CYA. This shouldn't be news to anyone, regardless of the recent climate in gender relations.

Our Troop has NEVER offered any family camping trips, nor are we planning to. I doubt that it will ever be an issue for the families of our Scouts. That being said, we are definitely planning to offer whatever program materializes for girls.

Since there is no program documentation yet, how are families being welcomed into your Troop? How does the inclusion of families make a Troop not Boy Led? The Scouts should still come up with their calendar, and the inclusion of families should be designed to not interfere with the existing program. Have it run like a separate patrol- the family campsite should be separate from any of the other patrols, and if there are activities planned that are not appropriate for the families, they have to find an alternate activity during that time. The existing Scouting program should not be adversely affected by the inclusion of families. Alternatively, there can be a separate calendar of events for families. Individual Scouts can attend those if they wish, or not.