InquisitiveScouter

So, Little League websites, social posts, email blasts, electronic newsletters, "Annual Key Touchpoints", imagery, sponsoring searches, etc. etc. etc. are all aimed at the youth?? Who knew those kids were so savvy?? https://www.littleleague.org/downloads/annual-guide-marketing-assets/ If kids just wanted to play baseball, they'd go to the park, backyard, open field, sandlot, (like we did as kids) and hit the ball around.

Ask. Also, you are not required to attend any of these events. If any particular camp requires you to attend some event in order to qualify for some award or recognition, you can simply go off on your own and have your own "spiritual experience" according to the tenets of your beliefs, and count that. If anyone denied that opportunity to you, I'd gladly come and side with you to oppose them. And although I'm not going down the metaphysical rabbit hole again 😜 I'll simply say your beliefs are your business. And if you believe that any value system contortions are acceptable in order to participate, then have at it... I have my own garden to tend.

Just curious... why the downvote @Scouterlockport??

I do not believe you have to worry about this... For example, we have Hindus, Muslims, one Buddhist, Jews, Protestants, and Catholics (Roman and Eastern Orthodox) in our Troop. We all get along together 😜 The Scout Oath does have a phrase each Scout promises, "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law,..." This is the first part of the Scout Oath. The 12th point of the Scout Law is, "A Scout is Reverent." At each rank milestone along his Scouting journey, your Scout will be asked to define what he believes to be his duty to God. This is totally under the purview of you as his parents, and the Scout. It is my job as an adult mentor to challenge the Scout to do this, and to challenge him to live up to what he believes his duty is. If at any point, you find someone is trying to proselytize your Scout, you should identify this to the Troop leadership so that it can be stopped. However, religious-affiliated chartering organizations who use Scouting as their youth outreach program may certainly encourage Scouts to attend events that are faith-based, but they may never "require" it. Also, questions to your Scout about his faith, and other people's sharing of their faith are fine... A Scout is Reverent means "A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others." And further... "It is your duty to respect and defend their rights to their religious beliefs even when they are different from your own." Also, you signed an application which said: "Excerpt From the Declaration of Religious Principle The BSA maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God and, therefore, recognizes the religious element in the training of the member, but is absolutely nonsectarian in its attitude toward that religious training. Its policy is that the home and the organization or group with which the member is connected shall give definite attention to religious life. Only persons willing to subscribe to this Declaration of Religious Principle and to the Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America shall be entitled to certificates of membership." So, basically, as the current policy is written, your Scout (or you) can not be an atheist and be a member of the BSA. If you are, indeed, atheist, as is your right to be, there are other Scouting organizations in the US you could investigate. One of them is Outdoor Service Guides https://bpsa-us.org/join-us/find-a-group/ In hope this answers your question.

I love the idea, but how do we reach that as reality? Parents are a target audience. Without them, how would we have Scouting? Adult volunteers are a target audience. Without them, how would we have Scouting? BSA National has made itself the target audience for the dollars. Without them, we could still have Scouting 😜

These are the two words for the youth! As I laid out earlier, there are several target audiences for Scouting, not just the youth. Any strategies to increase membership must identify and appeal to each of those audiences.

Illuminates purpose!! I have thought for a few days on this... and the article below points to the why. https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/teen-girls-struggling-mental-illness-record-levels-many-persistently-sad-data-reveals BTW, the points in this article specifically apply to males, as well. https://www.familyeducation.com/teens/values-responsibilities/helping-teens-find-purpose https://yourteenmag.com/health/teenager-mental-health/purposeful-lives https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_help_teens_find_purpose Read those three articles, and you will find Scouting at its core. Without a sense of purpose, life is meaningless and unfulfilling. As Scouts mature, starting at about the 11-12 year mark, they seek this for themselves. "Why am I here." I contend that Scouting helps them find their way to answer this for themselves.

Bring it With sleeves, too, please.

Wanna send a picture of your uniform, and I'll tell you if you are in "standards"???

Really, @mrjohns2???

He is asking for you to educate him out of any potential ignorance... That is not "chosen ignorance"!! C'mon man!! A Scout is Kind!!

Straining at a gnat, and swallowing a camel?? Love you, man... come be a part of our Troop!

It is titled the "Guide to Awards and Insignia" IMO, anything that is a "Guide" takes a far back seat to common sense and judgement... ("Guide" to Safe Scouting anyone??) Here're some other examples... 1. Velcro... I put velcro on my uniform to be able to change patches when desired (like the yearly JTE, or the temp patch on the pocket, or the leadership position patch, etc). But, if you are a uniform martinet the "Guide" says "No alteration of, or additions to, the official uniforms, as described in the official guidelines or the Rules and Regulations covering the wearing of the uniform and the proper combinations thereof on official occasions, may be authorized by any Scouting official or local council." and that would strictly be verboten... 2. Wood Badge beads & woggle... Our PLC has selected a specific neckerchief for our Troop. Our unit leaders wear the same neckerchief as our youth when we are doing unit events. I wear my WB beads and woggle with my Troop neckerchief. Boy, you wouldn't believe how many people this has riled up... 3. OA Sash & ribbon without a flap... I wear my OA sash to OA themed events, without a lodge flap. I also wear my Vigil pin on the OA Pocket Device almost all the time, with no flap. Again, people have tried to "correct" me on this (even on this forum). I just smile and say "Thanks" https://www.scoutshop.org/oa-pocket-device-604942.html https://www.scoutshop.org/oa-vigil-of-honor-pin-604944.html

Why not? Written correspondence is just fine

There's more than one way to skin a cat... Among those ways... 1. You can call your insurance company and get a temporary policy increase. Make sure you activate it before driving the van, and make sure you remove it after coming home. That will keep costs down. (NOTE: make sure you look at your policy to verify you are covered by your primary policy while you are driving a rental car. Bring a copy of your insurance cards with you!! Some states allow you to use a digital copy (a file or picture of the card on your smartphone). Be Prepared! Bring both paper and digital.) 2. The rental car company may offer Supplemental Liability Protection (SLP). Call them to see if they do, and at what limits. (NOTE: SLP means your own insurance pays primary for liability!! If your primary policy does not cover you in a rental, you have a more complex problem to solve.) 3. If you rent the van with your personal credit card, your card may provide some additional insurance protections. Obviously, this is wildly variable depending on the card... https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/rental-car-insurance/#does-my-credit-card-offer-rental-car-insurance Good luck researching your options!

The best source for current knot line up is the Guide to Awards and Insignia page 64-66 in the 2022 Revision. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33066/33066_Scouting_Honors_And_Special_Recognitions_WEB.pdf https://www.scouting.org/resources/insignia-guide/ To find the requirements for each knot, start on the official BSA Awards Central page, and look up by name... https://www.scouting.org/awards/awards-central/ I recommend you only use "official" BSA requirements sources (if you can find them). Requirements and criteria do sometimes change... As for the Wearing-of-the-Mentor-Pins on the uniform, I do not... my shirt would weigh about eight pounds 😜 I do like the "Proud Parent" type ribbons for displaying these. They are "non-uniform" wear, but I wear it with my uniform at Courts of Honor. (Here's my current...) https://www.scoutshop.org/bsa-proud-parent-multi-program-neck-ribbon-620092.html https://www.scoutshop.org/bsa-proud-parent-ribbon-643292.html (There are no parent pins for Summit or Quartermaster... that I know of) As for service stars... I kept losing them, so I don't wear them any more... the clutch (or back... we called them "frogs" in the military) would come off frequently. I have littered many a camp parade field with them 😜 I'll start correcting adults' (and Scouts') uniforms for those when 100% of them can do any First Class skill upon demand (knots/lashings/map & compass/first aid/swimming/lifesaving/etc). (I've been working for that goal many years... come close a few times, but then some newbie comes along and ruins it!!!)

Ostensibly, it is to make sure the Eagle Scout candidate planned the project. A 16 year old's level of planning usually is not going to be anywhere near an adult's level of planning. Oftentimes, I actually let the Scout experience difficulty, and then let them figure out how they are going to deal with it. And, if they did not plan properly (did not have enough boards or bolts or cement bags, or whatever) they will learn from their mistakes. Once the project is signed off, isn't that sufficient to say that, at some point, the planning came together so that the Scout could finish his project? Leave that discovery for the EBoR. Finding out what went wrong, or what obstacles were encountered in a project, and how the Scout dealt with it speaks volumes more about his personal growth than how well he planned it. When I see a meticulously planned project, I also hold it a bit more suspect as having had too much parental or leader involvement anyway... in my experience...

Agreed.

This Scout had put excruciating detail (as the district/council guy requested before approving) in the proposal section (number and dimensions of boards, exact cost, amount of fasteners required, perfect drawing of the bridge from three angles, exhaustive list of tools (nearly), complete list of supplies, job tasks to be done, number of people and manhours required to complete, etc., etc., etc...) Both his project coach and beneficiary went over his plans with him and were satisfied (IMHO, that should be enough). He did his project with the planning he had done, and was successful. (With a few minor changes, as is always expected.) He wrote up the after action and got it signed, and left the Plan Section blank, as a sufficient level of detailed planning was done and approved by the beneficiary. When he turned in the completed and signed Workbook to request his EBoR, the district/council guy writes back telling him (and I quote exactly...) "Your workbook has a blank Project Plan section. Please send me the Project Plan you completed with your Project Coach, Mr XXXX. This is an important document as it shows that you "developed the planning"." So the Scout called me, asking about what to do. I advised him to either write up everything in detail in the Plan Section, or report in the Plan Section something to this effect.... (the route he chose, and I think he nailed it) "My project will not be different from my approved proposal. My project coach and beneficiary believe there is sufficient detail on the project proposal and the project plan is not needed." (This after the Scout called his coach and beneficiary to tell them he was writing it this way... and they both concurred.) (Although, I think he should have written that last bit as "the Project Plan Section of this workbook is not needed..." Throughout the Plan Section, wherever there was additional detail requested, he simply wrote "See Project Proposal" or N/A When he re-submitted his updated workbook (again, the project was already complete and signed off in the Workbook as complete by the Scout, beneficiary, and unit leader), he got this answer back: "When I sent you the email the other day asking for the Project Plan, I assumed you had just not included what you had completed back in the planning stages of your project. However, it seems that you filled it out after I asked, which is not the point of the Project Plan, which is to thoroughly plan your project in detail, thus all the various sections pertaining to materials, supplies, logistics, safety, scheduling, etc." There are more details, but to shorten this... the Scout will now have his Board of Review and understands he must be ready to explain his planning verbally to the EBoR when/if requested. I do wish there was some way to avoid the four to five days of hand-wringing (on the Scout's and his parents' parts), re-writes, miscommunications, frustration, (and now tension between the council rep and our unit), etc. etc. etc., other than to have the Scout spend an unnecessary amount of time trying to satisfy one person's request for redundant information that is not required in the first place. It isn't supposed to be this hard. To quote @Eagle94-A1's son... HORRIBLE PAPERWORK.

Is this helpful? https://seascout.org/advancement-central/ 33239 Errata 7 20220228.pdf

Um, I think that was a simple mistake... take a breath and step back from the ledge.... But, nothing wrong with introducing a geocaching activity to Cub Scouts... the Den Leader puts in the coordinates and helps the Cubs find the treasure. If you wanna make it into a map game, then have at it. But, for Cub Scouts, hunting the treasure is fun. Roaming through the park to find the treasure is fun. Finding the treasure box is fun. Looking at the goodies in the box and picking one is fun. You are just creating interest in the activity. Tell them that, in Scouts, they will learn to use the device and put in coordinates and find the treasure on their own. I do think @5thGenTexan may have been confused for a moment, and not realized we were talking about Cubs versus Scouts when he mentioned the MB... let's give him a chance to clarify before we duck him at the yardarm...

Unfortunately, in these parts, the district or council proposal reviewers are asking for more "planning" details in the proposal phase than are needed, IMHO. This is before they will green light the project (with a signature.) I think we should put in some way to restrict input/demand from the council advancement reps. In my seven years here, this has always been the hold up... often with a back-and0forth of two or three times requesting "sufficient detail" on the proposal in order to grant approval. So, the Scouts do the research... for example, drawing up specific plans for a 16 foot footbridge, including board dimensions and length needed, and the number of screws needed, along with a schedule of work, etc. Again, these are Planning details, not Proposal details... Around here, the phrase is "feed the dragon." With the Dragon being the council advancement rep who is approving the proposal. In the military, the joke went like this: The major says, "I want a rock!" The sergeant brings a rock. The major says, "That's not the rock I want!" The sergeant says, "What kind of rock do you want, sir?" The major says, "I don't know, bring me another rock and I'll let you know if that one is right!" That's kind of how the ESSP workbook process goes here...

Awww.... I wanted to see that 😛

Have you looked at geocaching?? Younger Scouts tend to love this exercise! I always bring a map and compass, and have Scouts show me where we are on a map while geocaching.

The comments other leaders put on the blog article are really good, too. Recommended reading. Thanks for your comments so far... the great majority of us are thinking along the same lines... Overall, there are two big problems with the ESSP Workbook... 1. Too much project detail required in the REQUIRED proposal section, which leads to little or no detail written in the NOT REQUIRED plan section. 2. The Plan Section is NOT REQUIRED. Both are easy fixes, IMHO. 1. Rewrite the proposal section to be just that... more of a proposal than a plan. 2. Make it a requirement that the Scout present his Final Plan to the beneficiary, and secure a beneficiary signature BEFORE work begins. A registered unit leader should be at this meeting (do we require that?), but IS NOT an approval authority. However, there must be a clear understanding that the Scouters providing the two-deep supervision requirement for the ESSP may AT ANY TIME stop work due to health and safety concerns. Thoughts??