David CO

Perhaps we are establishing a new expression (Out Like Flynn).

There is a thread in Open Discussion.

There seems to be some confusion here. Even scouts with special needs don't get merit badges for just trying. There is a process for making adjustments to the merit badge requirements to accommodate special needs scouts, but the requirements are still challenging and involve real learning. The boys must earn their merit badges. Anything else would be a slap in the face to all the other special needs scouts who earned their awards.

I'm a Health teacher. Sit a girl down in my classroom and I will have that conversation. I just don't feel comfortable discussing it in the context of scouting.

TMI

TMI

Regardless of what BSA might require, I would want my boys taught by a skilled, trained, and experienced professional. Nothing less would suffice for me.

Physical fitness can't be achieved in a short period of time. Unless it were to be turned into a bookish topic, with scouts just reading about and writing a paper about personal fitness, I don't see how it could be done any other way. Your goal should be actual physical fitness, not just the merit badge.

It would seem very strange to me to receive an award from a subordinate. Awards are usually given by, or recommended by, a higher ranking authority. If an award is to be given to a COR, the IH should be the one to do it. Of course, there would be nothing wrong with unit leaders making a gesture of appreciation.

I hope not.

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

Subjective evaluations are also impartial, unless the instructor is actually cheating. If an instructor is properly trained, a subjective evaluation is much more than just an opinion. Anyone can have an opinion. A highly skilled instructor uses a trained eye to observe and subjectively evaluate a student's performance.

How about, "As a guest, I will do my best..." It rhymes. It also conveys the message that, as a guest of this country, they should do their best not to mess it up.

What is wrong with subjective evaluations? As a teacher, I do subjective evaluations all the time. Any hands-on coursework will require at least some subjective evaluation. The only way we could remove them from grading would be to make the class all bookwork, and I definitely wouldn't want that, either at school or in scouting. My favorite Physical Education class requirement was about swinging the bat with a level swing. Now, anyone who has actually played baseball or softball could tell you that nobody ever actually uses a level swing. I know what is meant by a level swing, and I can grade accordingly, but there is really no such thing as a level swing. The same is true with swimming. It is not important that in a strong manner be precise, just so long as the instructor understands what it means and how it should be evaluated.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned pets. One of the reasons why I was restricted in some of my scouting activity choices was my dog. I could leave my dog alone in the back yard for a couple hours during a ballgame or a meeting, but not for a weekend or a week. He was a good doggie...yes he was...yes he was.

You can't compare a game with a campout. A campout is an all weekend affair. I can fairly easily schedule my other work and family responsibilities around a game/practice schedule. Scheduling around weekend campouts and week long summer camps is really tough.

Hello Muddah. Hello Faddah.....

Ooh. I do like to talk about art. But I suppose that would be straying too far off topic.

A brother? How can a girl be a brother?

Not really. There is usually no need to go to such extreme measures. It is easy enough to simply not interact with units you don't like.

You are an intelligent man. You understand that people of certain religions object to, and even condemn, the beliefs and behaviors of certain other people. Yes, we have disagreements. Very serious disagreements. You trivialize these disagreement when you lump them together with benign characteristics such as hair color and food preferences. You insult us when you compare our disagreements with racism. If, for this and no other reason, we were to distance the scouts in our units from those in yours, just to avoid the insult and indignity of being called out as bigots, that would be reason enough for us to not participate in a district or council scouting activity.

Some do. How is he at running? Can he sprint 100-200 yards? Endurance is not something you can develop overnight. Neither is muscle tone. If general physical fitness is a problem, you might want to work on that first.

Nor is there anything preventing a girl-led boy scout troop from making the same choice. Imagine the frustration she would feel if she were to join a boy scout troop because she wants to go camping, and then the other girls voted against it.

Too bad. I got a lot out of it. I think I may have enjoyed it even more than the boys. Frankly, I had a blast! Of course, I was a Scoutmaster back in the days when scouting was a lot more fun (for both the leaders and the boys).

When I write out a check, I feel like I'm a consumer.