cchoat

Our council does not put on a Commissioners College, but those of us who are interested travel to outside councils that do host them. We will get together a few commissioners to split driving and hotel costs. I hold a Doctorate in Commissioner Science.

Pale Horse, that's a good catch. What I mean to say is with all the controversies swirling around scouting today, and the increased potential legal issues that could arise due to the policy changes in admission of girls into the program, possible gender discrimination, YPT issues, potential for medical issues involving scouts under one's care, etc.., should scout leaders carry liability insurance?

Congratulations on your choice to seal your membership in the Order. I went thru mine in 1984. Of course, many things have changed since then, but the bonds of Brotherhood are lasting.

With all the discussions about the potential for lawsuits over recent policy changes made by the BSA, do you, as a Scout leader, feel that it may be necessary for either you or your Chartered organization to take out personal liability insurance to protect yourself / itself against lawsuits? Is anyone already doing this?

Sadly, even if you had two deep leadership, with both adults registered leaders, all the BSA procedures followed, and both adults being highly trained emergency doctors, there would still be a potential lawsuit. That is the way of today's society.

I know this is a strange thought, but while I was reading several posts about the admission of girls to the 11-17 age group, and the potential for a rush to be the first "Eagle", I had a funny thought... In today's PC focused environment, with all of the other changes the BSA has made to date, why couldn't a "girl", who gender identifies as a "boy", be permitted to join a scout troop today and begin advancement? Think about it....and expound.

Fully agree, as you could be talking about my chartered organization when you speak of shoehorning in another troop meting. They would not get a good time or night. In my very large sized, very low population density rural district, (at highway speed, 65 miles an hour, it takes about an hour and a half to travel from one end to the other north/south and 45 minutes to an hour east/west) we currently have eight registered units, three of them LDS, who will be gone in 2020. All of them are small and clustered around the two major population areas. We already have to few "leaders" who step forward to give of their time and so few youth (boys) that actively participate in the program now. To form new units for the small handful of girls currently in the Cub program now is not realistic, and I fear that if forced to maintain two separate, but equal programs, would cause greater damage to enticing young ladies to join and stay in the program. Who would want to be in a troop of say, two? What kind of leadership raining would they get taking turns leading each other? Why would a sponsoring organization choose to have "Two" troops, when it already has a small, but effective troop already running? If BSA says that they embraced "Family Scouting" because it would give parents a one stop opportunity to participate in Scouting, how would that happen if the parents have to make meetings on two separate nights, at different locations? Each unit doing different separate activities on different days and locations? Who thought this would work? Someone who knew that this was a false flag, a way to get the proverbially camels nose under the tent, and open the way for co-ed troops.

With the departure of the LDS, I see National very quickly moving to do away with the separate but equal plan. What they will do is let it roll out, fail, and announce that its ok to have co-ed units because "that's what the volunteers want. All boy/all girl patrols would work for YPT purposes, but I see them also being "optional" in the future as well. My two cents.

Live long scouter, started as a Cub Scout in 1971, Arrow of Light (a new award back then), Boy Scout in 1973, going on to earn Life Scout and OA before moving to the Explorer program in 1978. Served in various different Audit positions around the world (served 21 years in the Army) from Den Leader to Cubmaster; Committee Member, Assistant Scoutmaster to Scoutmaster; Merit Badge Councilor, member-at-Large, District Roundtable Commissioner, ADC and finally District Commissioner. Wood Badge Troop Guide, T3, Doctorate in Commissioner Sciences, Silver Beaver, DAM, Distinguished Commissioner, Unit Leader Award of Merit (Scoutmaster), Scouter's key (Commissioner, Scoutmaster) Scouter's Training Award (Commissioner, Scoutmaster, Cubmaster). BS degree in Business administration and Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership. In BSA parlance, "Over trained". So... Society has come along way since I started in Scouting. I was able to experience the great mistake of the 70's (when national took the "OUT" out of Scouting) but to me, that was what scouting was. So when it reverted back, I had to change . Along the years, many other changes have occurred, each one bringing out the doomsday forecasters, but the BSA moved on. So maybe because I was a member of a General Interest (Outdoor orientated) co-ed Explorer Post, my views on co-ed scouting are slightly different from some of the others here, but I do have some opinions that are mine, that I would like to get out. 1. This has been coming a long time. Scouting has been co-ed for decades. Maybe not at the Scout level (11-17), but there have been girls in the program as Explorers, Learning for Life, Sea Scouts, and Venturing without the problems that many have stated will happen with new co-ed programs. Unofficially, girls have been participating with their brothers at the Cub level as "Tag-alongs" or other local designations for years as well. the recent change to allow girls into Cubs is the natural progression of these actions in the past. By bringing them in, they are now covered by insurance, become dues paying members, and get credit for the work they do. 2. Cubs become Scouts, and if we allow girls into Cubs, we must offer them a path into the Scout program. It is only right. 3. Where I disagree with national is their mistake when they think that separate troops are the answer. Not going to work in my neck of the woods. Why? There is already a limited supply of leaders, and units to start with, and they are already stretched thin. To expect new units to be formed just for girls only isn't going to work. Therefore, one of two things is going to happen. First will be that girls aging out of Cubs will have no troop to move into, or, and this is where a change will eventually be "justified", due to a lack of leaders, number of girls, or whatever reason they come up with, local units register two "troops", but in reality will have separate patrols in one troop for boys and girls. Paper units, paper leaders, it will on the surface look "legal" under the current plan, but will be anything but in reality. 4. National will in 2020 announce a change to allow mixed troops, with separate patrols. 5. A year or two later, claiming success, will allow mixed patrols. So... As a Scout leader, I will do my best to continue to deliver the best program I can to those youth that have been entrusted into my care. While I will still sit around the campfire drinking coffee with other old time scouters and reminisce about the good old days, change is inevitable, constant, and happening in the BSA. How we as Scouters embrace this challenge will determine whether or not it will be a success. I for one, will not stand and allow the ship to sink, nor will I be the first to board the lifeboat.

"Win all you can" is dropped in the new "Wood Badge" syllabus currently being field tested.

Actually, the District Award of Merit is for service at the District level, as opposed to the Unit level. So it really wouldn't be appropriate to recommend the COR unless he is active at that level. And the Scouter's training award has requirements attached to it, that the COR may not have yet completed. We have several awards in my district to recognize leaders at the unit level. The "Spark Plug" award is for those leaders that encourage and set an example of service to scouting to others

As the District Commissioner for a large geographical, but sparsely populated district with only eight registered units, running a roundtable using the BSA guidelines is not feasible. There are not enough people to break out into smaller groups, so we do a combined Roundtable. Our normal roundtable starts with every unit leader present giving a short summary of what their unit did over the past month, followed by the DE putting out information about the council's activities, a short training session based on prior requests or changes in the program and then we throw the floor open to anyone who wishes to ask a question, (which sometimes leads to the topic of the next roundtable training session) with the group sharing ideas and past experiences that helped them. Throw in some free food and fellowship and it's a fair experience. is it BSA standard? No, but it works for us.

As a Scoutmaster, two trained and qualified ASM's I have, but what my troop really needs is a Troop Committee. There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that really needs to be spread out, to avoid burnout. I need people to do the back office stuff (Advancement Chair, Transportation Chair, Activity Chair, treasurer, etc.) so that we can concentrate on our jobs. A national campaign advertising not only for youth, but for adults is an excellent idea, that can only aid us in recruiting leaders. Training is a problem we can overcome. But without the adult volunteers, all the training in the world will be taking place in an empty classroom.

Just added a copy of "Mr. Scoutmaster" staring Clifton Webb to my collection along side "Follow Me Boys"... Next addition will be "Moonlight Kingdom" Not boy scouts, but a good movie that we showed during a staff workup weekend for a Wood Badge course I staffed.

I as Scoutmaster, hold a mandatory "Welcome to scouting" meeting for all new parents when their sons cross over from Webelos, and sit one on one with parents whose sons join during the year. The purpose of this meeting is to explain how a troop is run differently than a Cub Pack, and that as Scoutmaster, I am the official "Air Traffic Control Operator" and that all "Helicopters" are grounded, no exceptions. Parents seem to understand this when presented with context, why we do things this way. I keep parents who wish to stay for the meeting separated from the scouts, and remind them that they are not to interfere with the meeting, unless they witness a serious health or safety issue. It works. Those parents who feel uncomfortable are given the name and number of the troop down the road. Of course, they don't tolerate helicopters either....