David CO

Earning eagle scout is not an incredible accomplishment. Anyone can do it. Most people don't think its worth the effort, and concentrate their time and energies on other activities, like work, school, or sports. Being recognized for eagle scout isn't bragging. Pretending that it is an incredible accomplishment is bragging. Yes. BSA is making too big a deal out this "inaugural class" of eagle scouts. But BSA makes too big a deal out of eagle scout in general. They make it sound like the end-all and be-all of scouting. It isn't. BSA is once again pushing the eagle scout award because it is the simple and lazy thing to do. It is much easier to put a spotlight on eagle scouts than it is to demonstrate the benefit of scouting to the 96% of scouts who do not pursue the award.

Not cool.

Don't know of any. Our church/school fish fries leave a lot to be desired. I prefer Culver's restaurants. They serve fresh Wisconsin walleye on Friday's during lent. Cod sandwiches year round. I don't suppose they do much fishing in the mile-high city. I've heard of flying fish, but I don't think they can quite reach that altitude.

They have driven BSA into bankruptcy. Why would anyone listen to them?

Since this is the question you asked, this is the question I'll answer. The skills that are needed to be a good scoutmaster are very different from anything you have experienced in cub scouts. You shouldn't automatically assume that your dissatisfaction with cub scouting means you will be unhappy with boy scouting. I'll tell you why. I was an athlete and a coach. I have a very outgoing personality. The hardest thing for me, as a scoutmaster, was to step back and do nothing. I wanted to take charge. I wanted to command. Every cell in my body wanted to lead the troop, and run it my way. But I couldn't do that. That is not the way a boy scout troop needs to be run. I found it very frustrating. It sounds to me like you may have an untapped advantage over people like me. You will find it much easier than I to step back and let the patrol leaders run the troop. Understanding this may help you enjoy scouting more.

I believe the youngest boy soldier who fought for the United States was John Clem. It was said that a Confederate officer got the drop on a very young John Clem and ordered him to surrender. Instead of surrendering, John Clem raised his weapon and shot the Confederate officer dead. The officer died because he didn't have it in him to kill so young a boy. I wish we knew where that Confederate officer was buried so that our scouts could honor him.

Of course, women and children die in every war. Many women and children died in the Revolutionary War. The surprising thing about this story is that the boy died in uniform. When I study the American Civil War, I am a little shocked that adult soldiers would so callously kill a 14 year old boy. The bugle boys and drummer boys were intentionally targeted as a means to disrupt an army's communications. The Union army hanged a confederate teenage boy as a spy.

I would imagine that this made their sales increase.

Yes we are. The thing I find so strange is that there seems to be an inverse relationship here. The more we protect (bubble wrap) kids in the real world, the more the literary world has kids endangering themselves. I am not usually a psychology type of person, but I think there must be something going on here. Maybe the kids' reading preferences are a reaction to having an over-protected life.

True. The Harry Potter series would be a good example. In the final book, the teachers lead the students into war. At least that series didn't have children murdering children as in The Hunger Games.

It's not just about child soldiers. We exemplify the behaviors we prohibit. We put kids, both real and imagined, up on a pedestal for acts of courage. Then we tell our kids not to do it themselves. Strange. I saw a movie the other day on Netflix about kids treasure hunting in Hawaii. Basically a remake of The Goonies. The movie characters (teenagers) put themselves in ridiculously perilous situations. The movies POV is clearly that the kids are praiseworthy for doing so. Think about it. Have you ever seen a film in which the teenage characters wisely refrain from placing themselves in danger, and are praised and rewarded for their good sense and obedience to the rules? Can you name one?

I don't see the point of relating these stories of past teenage heroes to our scouts. It would be different if we encouraged current-day teenage boys to follow their examples. But we don't. We prohibit it. So what is the point of pointing out the fact that our scouts are expected to behave like total wimps in comparison to the actions and attitudes of past teenagers. Are we trying to shame our kids for obeying our rules? It doesn't make sense to me. It's bad enough that the boys have to follow our rules. Let's not rub their noses in it.

If the parents volunteered the contact information, it's not cold calling. They intended for the troop to contact them.

I'm giving up downvotes for Lent. It's going to be rough!

I gave you an upvote for using an appropriate expression on the first Friday of Lent.

A council can prohibit an activity. It cannot require one.

I don't know how a lawyer's hourly rate is determined, but I suspect that it includes a lot of stuff added on to the money the lawyer actually gets. It is certainly true of other workers. A plumber's hourly rate seems pretty high too. So does an appliance repairman's. But their rates include the cost of their truck, warehouse, dispatcher, accountant, etc.. Joe the Plumber doesn't get to keep every cent out of his hourly rate. I am a teacher. If you included all of the supporting costs of running a classroom in my hourly wage, it would probably seem like I am overpaid too.

Ooh. That's what we need. A barista merit badge. Forget the cooking merit badge. Requirement #1. Make your scout leaders a perfect cup of coffee first thing in the morning. ☕

If a scout asked me to do that, I might get the impression that he doesn't have the right attitude. A boy should take on a merit badge because he is interested in learning something. If he feels that he already knows it, and doesn't need to repeat it again, I would suggest that he try a different merit badge on a new topic that would challenge him. I understand why a boy might want to test out on a school class and get some additional academic credit on his transcript. That's school. Scouting isn't supposed to be like school. I don't like the idea of boys doing merit badges just to earn badges and ranks. Merit badges should be about having fun and learning something new.

A good lifeguard should always be ready and willing to demonstrate his knowledge and skills.

Yes. The safety of my swimmers is too important for me to trust to anyone whose knowledge and skills we have not personally verified. Even if the scout had already earned his lifesaving merit badge, he would still need to demonstrate (to us) his competence as a lifeguard.

But please don't combine it with a mandatory meeting. Also, please notify people in advance that it will be a part of the event so that the people who don't want to attend will have the choice to opt out. If youth members are present, OA should count it as part of their ordeal.

Love and discipline are not mutually exclusive. We can love children and still discipline them.

I'm afraid I have to agree with you there. They might very well be our future leaders. By all appearances, our current national leaders were raised by people who never taught them what to do and what not to do. I think this is a big part of the problem with the world today.

So do I. I am very old-school Catholic. I think everyone is bad. There are two kinds of people. 1) Bad people who recognize the evil in human nature and strive to overcome it. 2) Bad people who don't recognize the evil in human nature and enthusiastically embrace it.