InquisitiveScouter

Welcome! Is there a female over 21 who is willing to sign up with the G-troop??

She has to say that...whether the facts are otherwise or not. Notice, no stats or raw numbers in the article...

This^^^ The only reasons we cancel trips is if the roads are treacherous (ice storms) or we have a hurricane blow through There have been many times we have changed destination at the last moment and camped in the field behind our church.

Agreed. I find it extremely difficult to believe that, over 50 years, not a single month was without camping. Record keeping, weather, unit leadership, what constitutes camping (was it in one night in someone's backyard just to keep the record going??)...too many variables, with too much possible human error, bias, and stretching, to get to something like this. Knowing what I know from 35+ years of Scouting experience, I glance sideways at things like this...much like a Scout earning (actually, "being awarded") every merit badge.

Lone Scouts with an itinerant Scoutmaster working on a grant, if the parents are unwilling/unable to be the Lone Scout Friend and Counselor.

I like the idea, and believe you should scope the idea first by defining the problem. What, exactly, is the problem you are trying to solve? And then explore the question as to whether Scouting is a solution to that problem. The way to have phrased your OP, it seems like you are putting the cart before the horse. That is, you have a solution (Scouting) that is looking for a problem (some sort of public health issue that can be addressed by a youth program, and the crafting of a policy to implement your personally desired solution.)

And there are no lions in The Jungle Book.

Naw...every time they rehearse and prep, they gain a deeper understanding of what the Order of the Arrow is... "You need seek no rocky summit. These high places are within you. All the natural world around you shows you clearly your reflection. This Ordeal is but a pattern for a journey whose directions are the whispers, urgings, promptings deep within your hearts and spirits."

All those rules should be in your service's leave regulations.

P.S. Over my 26 years in the Air Force, my commanders awarded me 3 MOVSMs... Did you know your unit commander can authorize 10 days of Permissive TDY for a military member to support volunteer efforts like Scout Camp, so they don't have to burn leave? And the first O6 in your chain can authorize it up to 30!

Yes, use the whole time they are there. Even while sleeping, you are on call as an adult leader.

I wish that was my experience and perception...sadly, it is not. I could change my perception, but then it wouldn't be based on my experience.

Without volunteers, there would be NO Scouts

@vol_scouter, very glad your experience, in general, has been positive... But, help me please... on the one hand you say and on the other, you say... Those two assertions seem to be at odds. Our entire district program is planned and run by volunteers. We haven't had a DE in I don't know how long... Council program is non-existent, other than Summer Camp...there has not been a council program event here for units in over three years... (But there are at least five council fundraisers per year...golf outings, skeet shoots, silent auctions, popcorn, camp cards, etc, etc, etc...) And the last council program event??? It was organized and run by volunteers. Professionals here are most involved in scrutinizing the budgets of these events in order to set a price which guarantees income for the council... (I have been in many of those meetings )

And here is the essence of Kosnoff's stance...see in his tweet, "BSA has forfeited the moral right to exist." https://twitter.com/SexAbuseAttys/status/1359252870462205954 Has it?? Only individuals can be moral agents, not corporations. But, when the collective decisions of those individuals in a corporation tend toward objectives that seem, much of the time, to be in opposition to the beliefs/mission/ideals of the program they exist to support, then does the corporation take on the embodiment (which is what incorporation means ) of a moral agent? That's the question I struggle with, based on juxtaposing a heap of positive experiences in Scouting (which were 99% enabled or provided by volunteers), and a heap of negative experiences in dealing with professionals employed by the BSA at all levels. As Scouts, we promise to be "morally straight." And, ultimately, we ourselves must decide, under the tenets of our faith, what is "morally straight." I also often think it is time for the BSA corporation to go, but I continue to hold out hope that there is some way to scrub it clean of the service to Mammon... The one place I see "true" Scouting is in the local units. So that is where I focus, for now.

Another great resource... http://www.thedump.scoutscan.com/scouts.html

@SiouxRanger, you are scaring me only because it is like you are inside my head...perhaps I am schizoprenic, and you are just one of my multiple personalities exposing some of the demons I face in this council... Well...expose away But do tone down the rhetoric a bit, please...

Sure, continue the movement, but do not shuffle it into the hands of that organization. Get a new team together, and do it much better than they... Heck, I'll sign on...full time...at $100K per year. That's $900K less than Surbaugh got in 2018... https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/Form-990-2018.pdf

Never underestimate this as a legal strategy some might take in order to achieve their desired ends... Insurance companies, in order to pay the minimum they'll have to pay... BSA, to a much lesser extent, but, still, in order to pay the minimum they'll have to pay... Kosnoff-ites, in order to bleed BSA into a Chapter 7 situation... As @David CO points out, "Bankruptcies are about money. Period." No matter what else we want this one to be about...

Nope...does not put a damper on it. A mentor of mine pointed out long ago...yes, there is often a price for telling the truth, but there is also a price for not saying anything when the truth needs to be spoken.

You mean, STILL required for Eagle, right? http://usscouts.org/usscouts/eagle/EagleHistory.asp

You wanted some advice on being a Merit Badge Counselor (MBC)... 1. Read the current Guide to Advancement (G2A) https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf, particularly Section 7. Read it again. 2. Get a current Merit Badge book for each Merit Badge you wish to counsel. Read them. Read them again. Read them a third time. 3. A Scout must complete the requirements, AND NOTHING MORE!. A Scout must complete the requirements, AND NOTHING LESS! (see above) Too many times I see MBCs cutting corners, skipping requirements, or adding stuff that is not in the badge. (This happens particularly at Summer Camp.) 4. Requirements change from time to time. Stay up on the current requirements for your badges. Here is your best resource: https://www.scouting.org/programs/scouts-bsa/advancement-and-awards/merit-badges/ Know the rules for Scouts who start a MB, and then the requirements change while they are working on the badge. (Basically, the Scout decides whether to continue under the old, or take on the new...with no mixing and matching) 5. You don't have to be an expert on every requirement, but you need to know where to find help to in mentoring a Scout to complete a requirement. An example specific to you Medicine, "7a. Visit a physician's office*, preferably one who delivers "primary care." (This may be that of your counselor.) Discuss the components of a medical history and physical examination (an official BSA health form may be used to guide this discussion), and become familiar with the instruments used." I see from your profile you are a Paramedic, so, do you have a primary care physician contact that you can call upon to help a Scout meet this requirement??? Go back to step 2, and make sure you have an avenue you can guide a Scout down to help them meet a requirement. 6. Get familiar with blue cards and the blue card process...both manually, and then through Scoutbook or other electronic means. There are three people involved in the MB process...the Scout, a Unit Leader, and you. 7. Scouts sometimes stop working on MBs....if you have been "assigned" to a Scout, and there is a long break, touch base with the Scout, and then the unit leader. Don't be surprised if some Scouts start and never complete a badge...it's OK 8. Keep blue card records. Sometimes a troop's record keeping system isn't agile, responsive, or comprehensive, and a unit never records a Scout's MB. Subsequently, a Scout loses his Applicant's Record, or the Troop actually took this portion from them (a pet peeve of mine). It rarely happens, but it has happened for me five or six times over 30+ years. The only record of the Scout's accomplishment then lies with you....and when the call comes, it is usually because Jimmy is running up against a deadline to submit his Eagle Application. You can be the hero and save the day 9. It is not your job to teach the Scout requirements, or make arrangements for them to complete requirements. Scouts should be figuring that out themselves, and then coming to you to "Show Their Stuff". Obviously, they sometimes need to be shown the way, and you can help with that, but don't fall in to the trap of you having to gather all the materials to teach every requirement. You are not a MB teacher, you are a counselor...the Scout is supposed to do the work From the G2A, "Earning merit badges should be Scout initiated, Scout researched, and Scout learned. It should be hands-on and interactive, and should not be modeled after a typical school classroom setting. Instead, it is meant to be an active program so enticing to Scouts that they will want to take responsibility for their own full participation." 10. Find a way to have fun!

@SiouxRanger, concur. For all...whenever they ask for your opinion on surveys, they don't really mean it...and never put your name in the "yes, you can contact me" portions if you have given input on anything that could be interpreted as criticizing the organization. For the professionals, "feedback is not a gift". And I have several personal experiences (scar tissue) in this, having questioned finances, program, YPT, condition of properties, etc. And your decades of volunteer service don't give your opinions (or facts) any weight 😵

It's more like luring or baiting a trap.

@yknot we must live in the same neck of the woods...you anywhere near Lakehurst, NJ?