CalicoPenn

Seems the consensus is to drop the non-active merit badges in favor of more outdoor/activity oriented merit badges. I thought about it in terms of the mission of the BSA: The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. I don't see anything in the mission of the Boy Scouts of America or in the Scout Oath and Law about Scouts becoming better outdoorsmen. Its all about making ethical and moral choices. Its about, as the DRP puts it, becoming the best kind of citizen. Its those non-active merit badges that seem to fit in much more with the mission that the active merit badges. Just something to ponder, I think.

The only one saying you no longer have a home in the BSA is you. It's your choice - not anyone else's.

Do you really want to be pedantic about "requirements". Fine - there are service project hours required of younger scouts and those service projects may require the use of wagons and wheelbarrows to complete. As for risks present for younger scouts in the use of wheelbarrows or wagons? None that I can think of for wagons, something young boys AND girls use outside of scouting all the time. For wheelbarrows? As long as they are working with wheelbarrows of an appropriate size and are not trying to steer a wheelbarrow up or down a ramp into a truck or building, the only real risk is that the wheelbarrow tips and spills its contents. Instead out outright banning wheelbarrows, how about emphasizing that Scouts need to use wheelbarrows that are appropriately sized for them (ie a smaller garden-style wheelbarrow and not a large mason's wheelbarrow) and that Scouts can't use wheelbarrows on makeshift or other ramps?

Thanks for answering in the spirit in which the question was asked - I wasn't trying to make some backhanded comment - I truly was curious - and correct me if I'm wrong but it seems your answer can boil down to you dislike the hypocrisy inherent in the 3 act story. I'm not a big fan of these type of conversion stories either - from any political/religious/etc. side. You're absolutely right - they are so cliched.

Just curious - do you hold the same disdainful opinion about the "3-act story" when its a conversion from sinner to righteousness? Is "I was a sinner and hellraiser until I met a preacher who enlightened me on the glory of Our Lord, Jesus Christ and now I am a deacon of my church" any different from the 3-act story you seem to mock?

I would never cancel a scheduled campout for a fundraiser.

You mention that the Committee is frustrated - is there perhaps someone on the committee willing to step up to the plate and take on the role?

I hope you didn't use Coleman fuel to clean up the splatter on the tents - that's a sure fire way to destroy all water resistance in that area of the tenant.

You are still confusing sex with gender. Everything you've mentioned is about the sex of a person (and humans have been able to surgically change someone's sex for decades - we won't even get in to the animals that are able to change their sex to fit conditions).

You are not born in to a gender. You are born in to a sex. Gender is how one expresses themselves - and yes, it's as much a choice as choosing one's religion. It's just a lot more uncommon to choose to express a gender that is opposite of one's sex. So liberals need to start treating people like human beings? How is treating someone the way they want to be treated not treating people like human beings? It's not liberals separating children from their parents and putting them in to internment camps on our southern border.

Gender is a social and cultural construct - not biological (its a common error to use gender when what one really means is sex). Since gender is not biological, it is very fluid - both on an individual level and on a societal level. Why would it be a bad thing to use language that does not reflect a gender bias in school? Is it really that difficult for people to say "firefighter" instead of "fireman" or "police officer" instead of "policeman" or "flight attendant" instead of "stewardess"? As for "the fact that the BSA now holds that a child can participate in Scouting as whichever gender they choose", why stress over it now - it's a moot point next year.

You're right - its not the online version that I was looking at - it's the print version which says this: Adult Supervision Two registered adult leaders 21 years of age or over are required at all Scouting activities, including meetings. There must be a registered female adult leader over 21 in every unit serving females. A registered female adult leader over 21 must be present for any activity involving female youth. Notwithstanding the minimum leader requirements, age- and program-appropriate supervision must always be provided. All adults accompanying a Scouting unit who are present at the activity for 72 total hours or more must be registered as leaders. The 72 hours need not be consecutive.

That's not the actual G2SS that you're quoting - it's a summary put out by National. The actual G2SS does not contain the "effective October 1, 2018) language - and that's the version that BSA legal counsel will use if anything happens that they need to defend the BSA over.

(Resetting the trip line - and adding pink warning tape to it) COH's held four times a year. Rank patches are handed out at the next meeting after a BOR (yes, that means someone has to go to the Scout Shop that week). The rank cards and parent pins (used to be "mother's pin - now we give one to each parent) are handed out at COH. Merit badges are handed out at COH - but the SPL (not the Scoutmaster) announces at the end of every meeting who has earned a merit badge that week (if any). POR patches are presented at the Spring and Fall COH - but we also use the COH as the start of someone's term of office. Regular elections are held twice a year 3 weeks before the spring and fall COH's. Appointed positions are appointed two weeks before the COH by the incoming SPL. The time between election/appointment and the COH is used to transition so that the new Quartermaster, SPL, PL, etc. can hit the ground running. We have a short ceremony where the outgoing POR holder gives the incoming POR holder the patch for their position - the old Scribe gives the new Scribe his patch, etc. The ceremony ends with the old SPL giving the new SPL his patch. If someone is becoming a JASM - they get their patch from the Scoutmaster before the PL's, ASPL and SPL gets their patch. If someone is re-elected or re-appointed to the same position, it is simply acknowledged during this time. We make sure all PORs are recognized in some fashion during this period - even Den Chiefs who will get their cords from the SPL. If a POR changes between these two COH's, the person will get the patch right away and be recognized at the next COH. (As an aside - once the new SPL gets his patch in that ceremony, he takes over the meeting right away. This handover is done near the end of the night's COH so the "Old" SPL starts the meeting and the "New" SPL ends the meeting - we find it really drives home the point that there's a new sheriff in town).

Just a quick note - this is already effective - no waiting until October. The Guide to Safe Scouting is updated online quarterly and this sentence (without the effective date modifier) is already in there.

Only if you were planning to bring along any Scouting youth.

This is not a complete sentence - it is missing the part that says "with all Scouting youth." The actual sentence reads: "Registered leaders must follow these guideline with a Scouting youth outside of Scouting activities".

Just as an aside - the DRP was created in the first decade of the BSA (which is why it's in the Bylaws and not the Charter) and it appears that James West was a primary reason for it - but not in the way that the above implies. The DRP was created to assuage the Catholic Church which was worried that because the BSA was closely tied to the YMCA at the start that the BSA would become a Protestant organization under James West and not be open to Catholics, not because James West wanted it. Another aside, since it was mentioned - the BSA stated back in 1920 that Buddhism was compatible with the BSA and the DRP so hopefully we can put that one to rest.

I think you put in to words exactly why people think Mike Rowe would be a good person to head up the BSA - he gives the impression that he's interested in getting the job done so that's how people think about him. The thing is, no one really knows what he is like in the real world. Mike Rowe has a degree in communications - he is essentially a journalist. Mike Rowe's claim to fame is a character he has created named Mike Rowe who starred in a "realty show" doing "dirty jobs". We didn't get to see the behind the scenes stuff where everything is set up for Mike Rowe the person to exit his comfy trailer to become "Mike Rowe" and do some kind of "real work" for 5 minutes or less while he was being filmed, then heading back to his comfy trailer, or the food stand, or just chill out in a chair gabbing while the next scene was set. What people are seeing is the character Mike Rowe, not the person Mike Rowe.

My apologies to the fine folks in the UK - I meant to say that Bear Grylls job is to sell Scouting to Boys AND Girls in the UK.

Want to know whose job it is to keep the program grounded and cool? Not the executives at the BSA Corporate. Not the members of the Board or Executive Board. Not some figurehead like a Bear Grylls (and lets be very honest here - Bear Grylls is in that role for one purpose - and one purpose only - marketing - to sell the Boy Scouts to boys and their parents in the UK). Every volunteer Scouter should look in the mirror if they want to know who is responsible for keeping the program grounded and cool. When it comes right down to it, the Scouts in your units aren't looking at Surbaugh - most have never heard of them. They are looking at US. WE are the ones that put on the program on a day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year basis. If the program is not grounded and cool, its out fault. Even in the "infamous" 1970's program, the Troops that thrived were the ones that kept on providing cool outdoor programming.

The BSA already trains adult leaders in the Patrol Method - its part of the Scoutmaster-specific training. The expectation is that Scoutmasters will learn this, that ASM's will learn this - and that they will bring it back to the units, and implement it. The Scoutmaster is the "chief program officer" of the Troop - one of his responsibilities is to bring the committee/parents up to speed on what the program is all about - and that means "training" the committee/parents in the Patrol Method and how it works.

Not keen on having a Bear Grylls type as a BSA ambassador - Grylls show is a "realty - yeah right" kind of show - he's made a name for himself on TV faking survival situations. I think someone like Paul Sereno, a Paleontologist from the University of Chicago would be a much better ambassador. Why settle for a fake adventurer when you can have a real adventurer?

Can you point to the documentation for that? I've read the insignia guide and though it does say where specific patches may be placed, and limits the large patches to one only, I can't find where it limits other patches.

There is something that is a bit unclear. Was this leader on the unit's recharter application and the Council struck them from the re-charter or did this leader just not re-apply? It's just a question of curiosity though, as it's a bit of a moot point. Sometimes, National will "revoke the membership" of former, non-registered Scouters so that there is both an official notification to the former Scouter that they are no longer allowed to be a leader, and a notation in the records so that a "persona non-grata" cannot re-register in a different council - and that may be the case here. In addition, if a background check reveals issues with someone who is a former leader or a person who has never been a leader that would have resulted in their removal from Scouting, they could be barred from Scouting - even if the event took place when they were not registered. Welcome to the forum.