David CO

Got it. You can come on the forum to gripe about how you hate the job, but I can't comment. OK.

I'm surprised. There may be hope for you yet.

I would guess not. But then again, I doubt if the strip mining company asked the residents if they wanted the top of their mountain ripped up either.

They should at least be more honest about their argument. I think they are saying that BSA is targeting a specific segment of the "market" that can easily afford club sports, designer clothing, major amusement parks, celebrity concerts, etc.. They aren't looking to attract lower income families anymore.

There should be a special rate for adults who behave like they are in kindergarten. $$$

Lone Scouts started out as a separate organization from BSA. It was founded by Chicago newspaper publisher W. D. Boyce, who had earlier founded BSA, as a working-class alternative to BSA. Boyce saw a need for a scouting program for the newspaper boys who delivered his publications. Though it started as a program for urban working-class boys, it soon became popular with the young, rural, farm workers as well. In those days, the biggest industry in Chicago was the stockyards. Chicago was the "hog butcher" to the world. Many of the largest meat packing plants were in Chicago. There was a lot of social interaction between the urban and rural boys when the farmers brought their produce to market. Lone Scouting was huge in the Midwest. I don't know how well it went over in Maine.

Yes it is. This argument is used so often that it makes one wonder if BSA is making a declaration that scouting is now an activity for the middle class. Low income families not wanted. It sure sounds like it to me. My father grew up during the Great Depression. He told me that middle class boys joined Boy Scouts of America and working class boys joined Lone Scouts of America. As a boy, he peddled vegetables off a street cart in Chicago. He and his pals were working kids. They joined Lone Scouts. If BSA intends to make their program an expensive middle class activity, they should split off Lone Scouting into its own organization again so that blue-collar working-class families can have a scouting program too.

True. Many can't afford it already. The skyrocketing unemployment rate isn't going to make it any easier. I don't know who these guys are trying to fool when they tell us that scouting families won't have any problem with the increase.

The executives seem to think they will still be around in 2022. Wishful thinking?

I think there ought to be a moratorium on scouts complaining about what is fair or just during the pandemic. 100, 000 of our countrymen have died. 40 million are unemployed. Under these circumstances, whining about advancement seems selfish and un-scout-like.

As I, and others on the forum, have demonstrated time and time again.

I agree. It is not a just remedy, but it is the only remedy they have. The plaintiffs cannot sue to have the BSA executives removed from their positions. They cannot sue to have BSA reorganized and returned to greatness. I wish they could. Our system doesn't allow for this. It only allows the plaintiffs to sue for money. That's it. There is no other remedy. Like you, I don't like to see the sins of past generations visited upon todays youth. But I also dislike the idea of having the victims left with no remedy at all. I am left with the hope that the approaching financial disaster will do more than just wipe out BSA. I hope that it will fertilize the ground for a new scouting organization to take its place, and provide a better scouting experience for many future generations of boys.

The upper management of BSA will try to hold on to their jobs, salaries, and pensions. Everything else is sacred cow.

Fortunately, that foul mouthed cable TV personality is nowhere near my troop. We don't need him. Gordon Ramsay, and others like him, are not allowed in my home. I am aghast at the suggestion that he be a role-model for leadership in BSA.

Very true. I think upper management has to go. If this can be accomplished without liquidating BSA, that would be great. If not, then liquidating BSA might be the only good option. We can rebuild after a liquidation. WOSM isn't going to give up on having scouting in the USA.

Yes. Even in a crisis, they do somehow manage to keep a focus on their priorities.

Recommendation: Split off the Puerto Rico Council into its own scout association. Support: Puerto Rico already has its own Olympic team. Having its own scout association would not be unprecedented. BSA is going under. There is no reason to drag Puerto Rico down with the rest of BSA. The native name for Puerto Rico is Boriken. The new association could be named the Boriken Scout Association, allowing them to retain the BSA acronym.

I would rather suspend the program for a while than adulterate it. Scouting is an outdoor program. We should keep it that way.

You apparently never attended a Catholic school.

I would tend to agree with you if the OP said outside forces were telling the unit this needs to stop, but this just isn't the case. It is the unit committee who is telling the scoutmaster this needs to stop. I am much more doubtful about the claims that this is working and succeeding, as I am with the assertion that it has unanimous support from the boys' unit. The opposition from the unit committee might indicate otherwise. In any case, if the scoutmaster and the unit committee are at loggerheads on this issue, I think the COR needs to step in and settle the issue.

I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that one or more of the boys actually objected to having a girl run for SPL of the boy's troop. The current climate of the two units might be such that the boys felt like they could not express their opinions about the election without facing condemnation for being sexist. Continuing on that thought, it might also be remotely possible that some of the boys expressed these feelings to their parents, who consequently raised these issues at the committee meetings. Having some committee members object to the election is a problem. If it is actually the boys who object to the election, it is a much bigger problem.

You should be aware of the fact that both the COR and the IH have the authority to step in and tell you how to run the program. If the committee knows what they are doing, they will go to the COR, the IH, or both. Maybe they have already done so. The committee doesn't need to go to national. This can be handled in unit.

I think this stuff just reminds people that BSA is not what it used to be.

I think you're right. It's like calling dodgeball "avoid-a-sphere" and claiming it's a different game. I have no doubt that there have been sex offenders who have used scouting to make contact with vulnerable youths, and then arranged to meet them in a less safe (non-scouting) environment. I don't deny that this has been a problem. This is a classic strategy for pedophiles. As much as we want to prevent predatory relationships forming in scout units, we can't just ignore the fact that many scouts and scouting volunteers have pre-existing relationships (like membership in the Chartered Organization) that they are unwilling to give up in order to participate in scouting. We need to find a way of recognizing these pre-existing relationships without creating loopholes for negligence or abuse.

What if Tom & the other kids were friends before becoming scouts? What if they have been doing sleepovers since they were toddlers? Are they now expected to stop doing sleepovers? BSA should make it clear what the rules are before people sign up. If it means that Tom has to stop having sleepovers with his friends, he should be told this before he joins the unit. It should be clearly stated on the application. It should be clearly explained at scout night. Full disclosure. No surprises.