David CO

That is exactly my feeling. At my school, the boys and girls seem to naturally segregate themselves (in the lunchroom. playground, hallways, etc.). It's only when the adults assign the kids, do they work in coed groups. If we let the kids be kids, we would still have separate boys and girls youth programs.

That is such a latitude-ist statement! How offensive! It clearly implies that South is inferior to North! Please stop! Oh, for pity sake, please stop! [sob]

It's true. Kids today are not as safe as many parents expect. The parent in the article says that he would not even allow his kid to sleep over at a friends house. A scout unit could never achieve the level of safety that he wants.

I thought it was fair. The article clearly identified the abuse as having occurred many years ago. Not a recent case.

I agree. But, of course, I think just about everything should be handled at the CO and unit level.

I didn't know that technology skills are now a component used to determine the literacy rate. If that is true, I am not surprised that the literacy rate has fallen. There are many old-timers like myself who were once considered to be well educated/literate, but haven't kept up with the new technologies. Unless we are talking about bird imitations, I would have no idea how to tweet.

Renewable resources.

We are. God never intended for us to be here forever.

There are far more carbon based energy sources on Earth than we could possibly ever use. Most of it is not economically retrievable. This may change as new technologies are developed.

It's just you.

Boy, I wish I got a little less snow. I have never seen a scientific study which says what the ideal climate would be. Would it be colder? Would it be warmer? They don't say. They always want to talk about climate change, but they have no idea what the ideal climate would be. Until we know what the ideal climate would look like, we can't say if climate change is good or bad.

Yes. We need to give our kids positive messages about their emerging sexuality, but that doesn't need to include sexual behavior. The author sounds like he thinks the two things are intertwined. They aren't.

Because we have Freedom of Speech. In the USA, people can build statues or name things in honor of anyone/anything they please. I wouldn't want that to change.

BSA isn't concerned with program. Their focus is on finance. If commissioners had the power to "make corrections" in a unit, they would very quickly start using that power to mandate fundraising. The commissioners job would be entirely about $$$.

or...they could elect 5 or 6 youth leaders who will listen to them. They do have unit elections, don't they?

Let each patrol get together and decide for themselves. They don't need either you or the scoutmaster to do this. Once they decide, suggest that they take their plans to the committee.

This is the part I dislike the most. Too many people are promoting boy scouting as a tool to build a resume.

Unsolicited requests for help from outside organizations go to the Chartered Organization. If the CO wants us to look at it, we will. If the CO wants some other branch of our organization to look at it, they will. Otherwise, the CO responds to the outside organization with a polite refusal letter. It's better if the outside organizations feel like they were turned down by the Chartered Organization rather than the boy scouts.

Some sports programs have the same problem.

Same thing.

Really? I've known quite a few. It seems to me that, if scouting had little risk of long-term negative consequences, there would be no YP training. It wouldn't be necessary. YP training is necessary because there is a risk. I think, perhaps, it is more fun and glamorous for us old folks to complain of our old football injuries. It is a statistical fact that there are more old people of my generation who claim to have old sports injuries than there were athletes when we were young. Funny how that happens.

Sports teams usually have a much closer identification with their towns and schools than scout units have with their Chartered Organizations. As a result, the towns and schools come out to support the teams. This often makes kids feel like they are playing for the honor of their town or school. I think it was a big mistake for scouting to replace the name of the community (on the uniform) with the council patch.

Have you ever read mythology? Zeus would never be compliant with YP. He is constantly taking strange forms and sexually molesting young people as they sleep. Zeus is the perfect example of what BSA is trying to keep out of scouting.

That is certainly true.

Not hypocritical at all. I don't drink. But that doesn't really matter. One doesn't need to be a "teetotaler" to hold to the policy against alcohol use at scouting activities.