David CO

You got that part right.

Yes, that is a good point. I would add that the IH and COR are supposed to be representing the Chartered Organization. They are not doing their jobs right if they are acting on their own private agendas.

You would need to check your charter. Every unit must have a designated Institutional Head (IH) and Chartered Organization Representative (COR) listed in the annual rechartering papers. In my unit, the Athletic Director is the IH, not the principal or the pastor.

The IH and COR can change any unit policy without a vote. It might upset some people, but they can do it.

It always was, to some extent. I guess I am a little more aware of it than some folks because I was a Lone Scout. I didn't grow up with the same scouting experience as those who were part of a troop. Yet, Lone Scouting has existed since the very early days of scouting. It is not some new experimental program. I sometimes roll my eyes when members of this forum go on and on about leadership. Leadership is not a big component of Lone Scouting, so that was not an emphasis in my childhood scouting experience.

The scouting program, as delivered to the scouts, has never been consistent throughout the organization. There is actually quite a large difference in the "product" from unit to unit. Always has been. Some units are wealthy. Some are poor. Some units are expensive. Some are free. Some units are uniformed. Some are not uniformed. Some units are religious. Some are secular. The list of differences goes on and on. BSA does not promise boys a consistent scouting experience. Not every boy gets to go to Philmont. BSA doesn't promise that they will.

That's half right. A good scout unit operates per BSA policies, but under Chartered Organization ownership, oversight, and supervision.

If you didn't understand the joke because you have never watched an Adam Sandler movie, I salute you.

The heroic character, Gunga Din, was a water bearer for the British army in India in a famous Rudyard Kipling poem. Adam Sandler played a comic character, a water boy for a football team, in the more recent movie, The Waterboy. One of these was a great work of art. Can you guess which? Anyone? Anyone?

No dues. My CO is an Athletic Department of a school. Scouts help raise funds for the CO by selling tickets and concessions at home games.

Neither am I. Organizations have by-laws. A scout unit is not a separate organization. It is owned by a Chartered Organization. Creating by-laws for a unit implies autonomy. Boy Scout units are not supposed to be autonomous. Rather than wasting a lot of time and effort on writing by-laws (and arguing about them), a scout unit would be better off by strengthening its relationship with its CO.

It is a very generous gift, but I agree with RememberSchiff. Keep it private. Keep in mind that any money donated to the unit is the property of the Chartered Organization.

Like Boy Scouts of America.

This is the third time that you have suggested that other people get out of scouting. Give it a rest.

Gender has everything to do with it. There are women and girls who become highly agitated when confronted by men. They feel it is demeaning to be in a subordinate role to a man. We have had male teachers point out dress code violations by girls, and had the mothers respond by filing complaints stating that the male teachers shouldn't be noticing how their daughters are dressed, implying that the men are leering at their teenage girls. Apparently, the best defense is a good offense. I put up with this nonsense at school because it is my job, but I don't want to have it in scouting.

I wonder how many male leaders had seen her inappropriate behavior and chose the safer path of not confronting her. I wouldn't hesitate to correct one of my female students at school, but I wouldn't want to do it at a scouting activity. It is a lot less safe to do the right thing as a leader in scouting.

I wish that were true. In my experience, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts behave no better and no worst than the average kid.

Is that why you Civil War reenactors are always firing at Will?

Why does Will always get blamed for everything?

Easy for you to say.

Again, I wouldn't say that there are a lot of false claims, but there are false claims.

I could share hundreds of stories of false accusations against male teachers. I wouldn't say there is a "rash" of false accusations. Nor would I say that it happens a lot. I would say that it happens often enough to give men a good reason to not volunteer to work with girls.

When women do it, it is a misunderstanding. When men do it, it is a crime. We have the same problem at school. We often have to tell the women that they cannot go into the boys' washroom. They should know that without being told.

We have recently seen many instances of people being accused of bad behavior many years after the incidents are said to have occurred. I have no idea if these specific accusations are true or not, so I won't speculate. I have no sympathy for the guilty, but it makes me shudder to think that an innocent man might be accused of misconduct. My concern is not so much that girls in the scouting program might make false accusations today. It is twenty years from now that worries me. I am really glad that we didn't have girls in scouting thirty or forty years ago, when I was a young scoutmaster. I don't think I would advise a young man today to become a scout leader, like I did.

Except in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. There was an old Indian trail going all the way around the lake. Even though most of the lake shore properties are privately owned, they have a public easement for people hiking on the trail around the lake. But since the easement only covers the trail, hikers must stay on the trail. They can't stop to picnic or fish. They can't use private piers and docks. They can't cut across yards to enter or leave the trail. They can only enter or exit the trail at public access points. It is a fun hike. I've done it with my scouts.