Mrjeff

Well said! For many many many years the BSA followed a straight and narrow path and now the path is crooked and wide with far less travelers. Members knew the rules and followed them and great rewards were achieved. Now the road is wide and the rules were changed to please the masses and many who followed the old path picked a different rout and there are not enough new travelers to replace the old. Great and meaningful rewards are fewer and many are no longer available. Feel free to interpret this story as you like, but the ending shall remain the same.

No duty to God is not the same as duty to other humans. Its not hard to understand duty to God unless your trying to make it into something else which seems to be the modern trend.

You're welcome for my input. In reality the BSA does require an acknowledgement that there is a higher being and that the individual has a relationship. Therefore if someone disagrees and refuses this concept then they need to go play in another sandbox. The BSA is a private club that requires an application and a fee. Just like every other club, if you don't like the rules, go someplace else or start your own club with your own rules. The BSA is so far removed from what it once was its hardly recognizable. Look at the broad picture and its easy to see that the BSA wants to be accessible to everyone and this accessibility it eating the BSA alive.

Oh my heavens, sometimes its necessary to look into your own imagination and turn to your own ideas and close the books. This yelling and cheering and patrol flags and names and ribbons are all simple tools to have fun. Its just that simple, introduce the concept and stand back and watch. If you really need a book, I would look back, way back, at some vintage scouting literature.

The down vote is simply because it isn't politically. I agree with explanation %100

Since someone mentioned Woodbadge, think about how it was done there. First, provide material for each patrol to create their own patrol flag. Then encourage them to come up with a patrol yell to signal its time to gather up at that flag. Then encourage them to come up with a patrol cheer. Make this a fun activity that everyone wants to participate in and reward them with a Baden Powell ribbon to hang on their flag pole. That's one way to do it but the encouraging needs to come from the SPL and other troop officers. Adults can still encourage and provide the necessary materials. Then the adults could present the patrol with a spirit "spirit stick" as a patrol reward. Thats one method and like everything, it takes some extra effort along with some practice from the adults so it doesn't look like they are interfering or taking over. The grown folks can do the same thing to act the example. Most importantly, MAKE THIS A FUN AND STRESS FREE ACTIVITY!!! If you don't, it ain't going to work 😃😃😃

Well, somebody dropped the ball somewhere if the older kids can't tie knots.

What an awsome and inspiring message, thank you. It sounds like you are right on track, the only thing that I can offer as food for thought is have fun and don't take yourself too seriously. Scout On and God bless.

Hmmmmmmm........the answer to your question is yes. You do allow them to figure out the knots themselves. Older kids who have know how to tie knots should be instructing younger or less experienced kids how to do things.

Or maybe they got answers to the questions that they expect and maybe those answers were so overwhelming that they have to reevaluate their thinking!

Unless you have a direct line number all you will get is an answering machine and maybe an email.

I just wish that the BSA would just leave the administration of the local councils alone. They make up policies and rules that they really can't enforce, they have lost the trust and confidence of the members, they have over priced everything, and made it very hard to enjoy. Get a grip people, if the BSA keeps heading in that direction a lot more people will just figure that the aggravation is not equal to the value and will just go support something else😞

Thats a great observation, thanks!

No one, no matter of their precieved or actual positions, can control another person or exercise authority over others unless the "others" want to be controlled. The only real way to have such authority one must be able to control the "others" money or freedom. Just sayen😉

With all due respect back atcha, this "causality" is what adults expect from Scouting, not the kids. Not everyone should be a Scout and its a huge mistake to turn Scouting into an everything for everybody program. Obviously the Scouting program has gotten so watered down so everyone feels comfortable and is never disappointed it is scarcely recognized as the Boy Scouts of America of just 10 years ago. And that is not a positive thing. This so called "causality " should be the result of enjoyable and FUN activities that will develop the "causality ". I have made this point from the beginning and now it would appear that we are word jousting over verbage and semiotics .

I agree, the decision has already been made. It was made by a committee of self serving adults without regard to what the youth members want. Nobody at any level has ever answered any direct questions about anything. Even face to face those people answer with nonsense and vague information. Exactly who are the native Americans who object? What particular tribe do they represent? What standing do they have within their tribe? Are they acting with authority of tribal leaders? If these questions could be addressed there could be validity in these concerns. Or maybe the BSA is worried that native Americans have claims to the Summit property or Philmont and they're afraid if they do something the BSA will loose those assets.

When I first asked " Why have Scouts" I said that I have never heard a kid say that they wanted to be a Scout because they wanted to be a good citizen, learn leadership, or become a good money manager. Every kid says that they wanted to be a Scout in order to "HAVE FUN" and its just that simple. Everything else is just a byproduct of having fun thats supervised and directed by adults. Unfortunately horrible people took advantage of their trusted position and bad things happened. Now Scouting is overregulated and common sense has been removed from the equation. Throw in some egocentric and controlling adults and the fun is often times watered down and replaced by misery. I challenge myself to at least try to make every event as fun and enjoyable as possible. That takes work and preparation but at the same time I enjoy what I'm doing and want to do it. When I no longer enjoy what I'm doing and no longer want to do it I will put my Scout handbook on the shelf, put away my Woodbadge beads and Seabadge trident, lovingly fold up my uniforms and neckerchiefs and move onto something else.

Unfortunately, another major issue is how people have embraced theidea of suing one another. If I went on a Scout trip and fell down and broke my arm I went home, explained what happened, got fussed at for doing something stupid and went back with a cast on my arm. Unfortunatly today the supervising adults could face a law suit, not just to pay the repair bills, but to make the unfortunate youth who was subjected to needless danger and negligent supervision in an environment that should have been known was dangerous and was devoid of any warning labels or cautions that should have been clearly visible in order to protect the poor, uneducated, inexperienced and innocent victim of each and every hazard that could be found and without signing the proper hold harmless and release of liability form, and should therefore be made whole.. For Christmas sake, the kid ran through the woods and fell, breaking his arm, but a lot of people don't think like that and everything is someone's fault, other then their own. ☹☹☹☹

I was traveling on I-75 and my mind drifted back to the days when I was a Boy Scout. We climbed, went swimming, chopped down trees, built campsite gateways and lashed together camp gadgets. We built fires, carved things including our fingers, slept in old canvas rents, played in the rain and snow and even went swimming in our skivies. If we got hurt someone fixed us up and we went back to what we were doing. We stayed up all night and chased each other through the woods, and most of the time the only adult there was the ole Scoutmaster. I also remember that our adult leaders were all part of "The Greatest Generation", sure there were a few very young baby boomers around who were JASMs but thats it. Well, most of the greatest generation have moved on to their final reward and the boomers are all getting long in the teeth and after a while we'll all be gone to. This leaves the job to X,Y, and Melinianials. As such Scouting will reflect the values, ideas, social norms and opinions of those who are left to carry on and there's nothing that anyone can do about it.

Amen, amen, and AMEN!!! You hit the nail on the head. Thank you for sharing your insite!

I think that you have this absolutly and completly backwards and the proof is displayed in the decline of the whole Scouting world. The focus must be on the fun and the byproducts are all the things that adults think are important. I would hate to be involved in a unit that has this backwards. What a terrible and distasteful this would be.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. Whats wrong with focusing on the activities prescribed for that age and let them grow into the activities for Boy Scouts?

The Little Guy Stuff refers to the children who are just too young to be Boy Scouts. Here's how I need it, a little guy joins Cub Scouts and is part of an inactive pack or den. Thats clearly the fault of the leader and in a couple of months they quit and never make it to Boy Scouts or Venturing. That's it, done, finished. Or perhaps they are part of the best Pack or Den in the world. They learn to camp, use a map and compass, even build a fire and cook. Great, after a few years of that they move into a Troop and stick around for a couple of years and get board with the Scout stuff and quit. Thats it, done, finished. This is my experience and is not some theory that I came up with while sitting around a campfire. If cub scout activities are horrible I would suggest making those activities better.

Well, that may be how it should work, but I don't think that's how it does work. Food for thought: who would want to stay where they are not wanted; you can't really fire a volunteer; what harm can be done by frivolous complaints; whose version of the story do you believe and why; anyone can tell someone that can't play anymore, but by what authority; if the allegation is slanderous but false, whose responsible; how many times has a CC, SM, CM or District Committee member "fired" someone without proper authority? Unless it's a criminal offense I would tread very carefully. Personally, if I were informed by just about anybody that my services were no longer needed I would just gather up my tea set and teddy bears and find something else to do and somewhere else to spend my money. Just sayen🤔

Ok, gotcha, thanks.