mrkstvns

I was disappointed when I looked in to Scoutbook and checked to see if I showed up as MBC for certain badges. I do....but somehow, Scoutbook says I'm "willing to work with any scout in my district". That's no really correct. On the MBC registration form, I actually checked the box saying I would work with ANY scout. To me, "any" means "any". As in, scouts in other districts, scouts in other councils, scouts who are male, scouts who are female, scouts who are christian, scouts who are buddhist, scouts who are gay, scouts who have disabilities, even scouts who are downright ugly.....ANY scout. I'm a scouter because I believe in helping youth grow: I'd have to be a pretty big dirtbag if I said "No" to any scout who asked for my help...

Good sounding call....what would it be used for?

They are, indeed. Wasteful and messy. From the perspective of effectiveness in getting hands dry and germ-free, they are not to be beat --- except maybe by shaking hands dry, which can be a problem outdoors in winter where some days, some places (outside Texas), you might shake your hands frozen before they get dry. 😉

I used to think that "Scouting Professional" would be a dream job: get paid to do things with scouts and go to camporees, summer camps, and other fun things? Awesome! As I read some of the discussions in these forums, it doesn't sound so good. Folks talk about... * low salaries * long hours * boring jobs (meetings, budgeting, marketing with little real hands-on "scouting") In the past, I've been switched off by "Commissioner College" that was nothing of the sort....just really boring topics. Now I see a couple of legit university programs being offered that look like they might be fun, but that seem to focus a whole lot more on boring managerial content than on the real meat of what makes scouting (or any outdoor adventure) fun in the first place. For example: * Scouting degree program offered by WVU * Adventure Recreation Management degree program IMHO, volunteering in scouting is probably a heck of a lot more satisfying than doing it for the money.

Christmas tree projects seem to have more ways to potentially benefit conservation and help scouts in myriad ways: 1) raise funds, 2) earn Eagle rank, and 3) earn Hornaday awards. I've posted her about some of these ways before, including a favorite approach of mine, re-building sand dunes to combat beach erosion. Now, I see an article about a California scout whose Christmas tree recycling project is being used as a way to provide habitat for juvenile fish: https://www.chicoer.com/2020/01/12/boy-scouts-recycle-christmas-trees-to-help-lake-oroville-fish/

A Boy Scout troop in San Antonio had their trailer stolen from a church parking lot, despite having had a boot locked to the wheel and chains padlocked. Thieves cut the chains and cut the boot too! (How you "cut" a boot, I don't know...) Here's the story: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/stealing-from-the-boy-scouts-thieves-snag-trailer-from-church-parking-lot/ar-BBYLyQS

Fairly simple, eh? My son was a troop bugler for a while and the only calls he ever played were "Taps" and "Reveille". I'll bet 90%+ of scouts have never heard any of those other myriad calls required by the merit badge. (I never have either). I think there's a reason why Bugling is the least earned merit badge in scouting, and esoteric calls is that reason. Note: that isn't a criticism of Bugling merit badge. Quite the opposite. It's good that there are still some merit badges that can't be earned by simply being present in a classroom for an insignificant classroom activity. When something requires effort, it has value to the scout.

I like Treflienne's suggestions. Hand sanitizer is a quick way around the problem, but it really isn't a substitute for actual washing with soap and water. Washing in a trickle of water, followed by the hand sanitizer can be a good approach. Even if the camp turns off water spigots in the winter, cubs usually car camp and tossing in a couple extra water jugs so you have water for hand washing seems like prudent planning. I would also add 2 points: * provide a way to dry hands, towels are environmentally friendly, but paper towels are more effective at reducing bacteria * consider temperatures: water freezes, wet towels can freeze, wet hands get cold fast, sanitizers sap body heat faster than water

Cold weather might be a good motivator for one of those myriad "sleep over" events, like a Night at the Museum (if your local museum offers such things). In our area, there are multiple opportunities, including a zoo sleepover, a sleepover on a de-commissioned aircraft carrier, etc.

Dunkin Donuts will begin selling Girl Scout Cookie coffees beginning January 1. Flavors will include Thin Mints and Cocunut Caramel. Info: https://news.dunkindonuts.com/news/dunkin-brings-back-beloved-girl-scout-cookieTM-inspired-coffee-flavors-coconut-caramel-and-thin-mintsR

You may be right, in which case we should be bracing ourselves for another steep drop off in membership, given the size of this year's cost hike.

By its very nature, anything that is "porn" is generally lumped into that category of "negative messages", especially since we're told that it's bad because it objectifies women. Porn is usually about instant gratification. I suppose the "healthy patterns" would be the traditional, family-focused marriage in which we're talking only about a lifelong, loving commitment between a man and a woman. Of course, the LGBTQERILX community will argue that point too, so I doubt we'll ever find common ground in defining "negative" vs. "positive". What is a parent supposed to do?

I wonder if it would be a nice gift or a lame idea to give a scout a trip to a High Adventure camp...

In 1988, Tipper Gore made waves when she published her book, "Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society". Her argument was that with porn and violence and bad role models increasingly easy to come by, that parents needed to remain ever more vigilant and that government should help families in their struggle to raise decent kids. I can only imagine what Tipper thinks of today's society where kids can get access to porn on any smart phone. Few sites require more than a mouse click on an "I am over 18" button in order to download images and videos that would have been scandalous just a few short years ago. "Psychology Today" recently ran an article discussing this problem and its impact on parenting today. How CAN a parent place reasonable controls on what a child can and cannot access? Is it even possible today to keep porn out of the hands of kids? What should parents do? Here's the article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/talking-apes/201912/adolescence-in-the-age-internet-porn BTW: Anybody else recognize themselves in the story about discovering nuggets of porn treasure in a Boy Scout paper drive?? Oh, for the innocence of the 1970s...

Quite right. There are definitely some advantages to doing the "fair/blitz/midway/university/weekend"....and as long as the event is well organized and MBCs are encouraged to put on a quality class, then the scouts can benefit greatly by being exposed to something they might otherwise not be able to do. A few things that I think could improve MB events: more time: Some MB events have classes as short as 2 hours. Aside from Fingerprinting, no MB can be adequately covered in 2 hours. 6 hours (or perhaps longer) woiuld be good as the "standard" time for a MB class. more "DO" less "LISTEN": Classes where the MBC talks the whole time are inappropriate. They bore the scouts and ignore the requirements (which usually say that the SCOUT should "explain" or "describe", not the MBC). Try to make things hands-on as much as possible. When scouts have to "explain" or "describe", try to have them do it while doing something relevant. get out of classrooms: go do the class in an appropriate setting. For Chemistry, do EVERYTHING in a lab. For Canoeing, do EVERYTHING in a canoe, on the water. Etc., etc. The good MBC will TRY to find places and ways to make the subject exciting and relevant. Scouts spend all week in a classroom. They don't need to be bored on Saturday by sitting in class again...

It's really astounding to me how long a wikipedia article can be without really saying anything useful or enlightening.

Do or do not, there is no try. - Yoda Are expectations lower for Girl Scouts than Boy Scouts? Could they be better motivated to excel with a few small tweaks to their oath and law? One writer thinks that because the Boy Scouts use language like "I will" while the Girl Scouts use language like "I will try" that we're collectively implying that we don't really expect Girl Scouts to succeed, but hey! trying is good too. Here's the story: https://www.nj.com/opinion/2019/12/why-is-it-that-boy-scouts-will-but-girl-scouts-try-change-the-promise-please-opinion.html

Arguably the most prestigious award in scouting, only about 10 scouts per year manage to earn a Hornaday silver medal. Here's a story about a scout who, this year, earned "an Olympic medal bestowed by the Earth". Huge kudos for his initiative and social responsibility....a real role model! https://billerica.wickedlocal.com/news/20191216/making-history-billerica-teen-earns-prestigious-boy-scout-medal

I keep hoping they'll revise it so that A and B fit on 1 single piece of paper (front/back). It would make it easier for troops to maintain their set of forms and it would be half us much paper for camps.

I'm disappointed to hear of the loss of any resource my fellow scouters find useful. I've never known about events there though, and when asked about online merit badge classes, I just mention Scoutmaster Bucky.

I suggest banning the CC from PLC meetings. He/she has no business there anyway.

It's the time of year when Webelos often complete their Arrow of Light and are ready to bridge over to a Boy Scout troop. But WHICH troop? That's the question. Every year, 10-year old scouts (and their parents) try to answer that question. For some, the answer comes easily and naturally. For others, anguish ensues as it seems like such a hard decision to make. Here are a few ideas for things that I would consider if I were a parent advising a 10-year old as to what kind of troop will best fit his (or her) personality, and personal goals. 1. WHERE DOES THE SCOUT WANT TO GO? When you visited troops in your area, some were probably friendlier, or more fun than others. Those might be good troops to consider. Fellow Webelos from the scout's pack might have already decided....so where will the scout's friends go? If the pack and troop have a formal or informal "feeder pack" mentality, that might help make the decision easier, but it is always up to the individual scout to decide: no Webelo scout is required to go to a specific troop just because the Cubmaster and Scoutmaster are friends. 2. WHICH TROOP DRESSES MOST LIKE SCOUTS? Uniform is one of the classic "methods" of scouting, and while it is absolutely true that the appearance of an individual scout at a given time is no guarantee of his personal character or performance of a scout, it is definitely true that a unit with a tradition of adhering to uniform guidelines and encouraging scouts to wear a full uniform is a sign of a quality unit. A good scout leader is a role model, and the role models take their role seriously, modeling good behavior, regardless of whims of fancy. If the adult scouters model good uniforming standards, they probably embrace the entire scout program well and know how to model scouting values, leadership, and personal integrity. A scout unit full of haphazard uniforming does not model the full scouting program. Leaders who can't be bothered to wear a correct uniform might not be the kind of role models your son deserves. 3. WHICH TROOP HAS THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC SCOUTS? It's one thing for the adults to talk up their troop, putting appropriate spin on things....but youth tend to shoot straighter and to sometimes be brutally direct. What do the SCOUTS have to say about the troop? About the adult leaders? About the number of activities and variety of outdoor trips? 4. WHICH TROOP GIVES SCOUTS THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES? Be wary of troops that don't camp at least 10 times per year, don't send a contingent to summer camp, and don't have crews going to High Adventure camps. If the troop cancels campouts more than about once every 5 years, if they don't participate in camporees, or if they only schedule "family campouts" in nearby areas, then they aren't a troop that is likely to provide enough opportunities for a scout to advance at a normal rate and to just plain have fun and grow to his or her potential. Take a look at their track record: do they have a photo gallery with at least 10 campouts this past year? Keep in mind that some ranks require a certain number of nights camping. If the troop rarely camps, it will take a painfully long time to ever move up. Meanwhile, the Webelos who joined better troops will be rolling right along... Does the troop go above and beyond the minimums? Do they do really cool trips? Activities in addition to camping? Those might be the most fun troops to be in. 5. DOES THE TROOP REACH OUT? Some troops are lazy. They just assume that Webelos will want to join them. Their scoutmaster doesn't reach out to the cubmaster. They don't participate in Cur or Webelos activities. They don't provide Den Chiefs to packs. They don't invite webelos to their meetings or campouts. They don't even bother to have adults attend roundtables. Then they wonder why Webelos go to other troops... 6. SIZE MATTERS. The size of a troop affects the kind of program they can deliver and it will affect how a new scout is likely to advance. Both big and small have advantages, and both can be "perfect" if the parents are engaged, the troop fully embraces the complete scouting program, and a young scout embraces the troop's strong points. Small troops definitely provide better potential for scouts to succeed in positions of responsibility. Big troops definitely provide better potential for a large number of activities and deeper involvment in the full scouting program. ---------- There you go folks, 6 aspects of prospective troop that you might want to look at. Prioritize them as you see fit. Ponder their importance. Find a great troop for your son!

The International Scout Organization (scout.org) has a membership report that lists numbers of registered scouts in each country with a national scouting organization. The report (as of December 31, 2016), shows six countries had a scouting organization with more than 1 million registered members. 1. Indonesia: 21,599,748 2. India: 3,647, 843 3. United States (BSA): 2,536,872 4. Philippines: 1,934,255 5. Kenya: 1,312,422 6. Bangladesh: 1,112,293 Source Report: https://www.scout.org/sites/default/files/library_files/Grand Total Membership with Genders at 31 Dec 2016_0.pdf

Saw an interesting article about scouts in Hawaii who are cutting Norfolk pine trees in their local scout camp and selling the cut trees for Christmas as a fundraiser to help them earn money towards the 2021 National Jamboree. Seems that in Hawaii, Norfolk Pine, IS an invasive species, so cutting the trees helps the camp be more environmentally responsible.... Gotta love a project that delivers multiple benefits! Story: https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2019/12/scouting-out-the-perfect-tree-at-camp-maluhia/

Yep, the more you delegate, the more you can get done! Just curious: what's your role in the pack? I think packs work best just like troops do....the Cubmaster works with the boys, the CC and his/her committee take care of back-office stuff like chasing down parents for recharter fees and paperwork.