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Arrow Points - how many is too many?


rjscout

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Talking with a Den Leader, we were thinking that five Arrow Points look pretty good without going hog wild. I saw one uniform at a Council Spring Camping Event with seven silvers and one gold. That looks a bit crowded. How many Arrow Points do you like to see on a uniform?

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How many can they earn?

Youi can't designate a number.They earn what they earn.

My son has 9. As a tiger he had just as many elective beads.

Maybe I'm jsut good at adding up what he's done.

Just like there may be boys who earn all actvity pins and sports and academics beltloops and pins. Someboys may earn 0 and others all.

 

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I admit having a smile or two when I see a cub with arrow points all the way down his shirt, especially when he tucks it in...

 

It makes me think, "oh there's an eager young fellow whose family supports his active involvement in scouting." And any conversation that starts with "I see you have some arrow points, how did you earn those?" pretty much always ends with a boy beaming with pride at his accomplishments. Not to say that the arrow points are necessary for a boy to have a good scouting experience, but I agree with Eamonn. Let these little guys enjoy the recognition, however many arrows they earn!

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Those are all good points. I like working with my son on the electives. I just didn't want it look like I was pushing him, or others think that he was trying to brag. I'll let him decide how many he wants to get.

 

Thanks for your comments.

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Ok. I'll admit it. I stopped adding them up too.We go and do lots of scout activites. So it was easy to get the points. Summer camps really help too. ALso when I would tell him he would get credits for doing something and get out the book and read it he would say "AWESOME". Now that the arrows are on his uniform he asks what he did for each one. I go back and read the list and he loves to remember all the fun stuff he did.

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Greetings All!

 

I picked up a vintage Cub Scout shirt, circa 1956 (the year I was born, hence my interest) based on a dated badge. This boy had his Wolf, Bear, Lion, and Webelos rank. He also had three gold and nine silver arrow points. All of this, plus Denner and several other patches (on the sleeves) make for a pretty striking display.

 

If youre out there Cub Scout from Den 11, Pack 76, Kansas City, MO Im impressed!

 

YIS

Mike

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

My son ended up with 5 silvers arrow points. He was short two electives to get an even number, but was busy with some other school projects to finish those two. The Uniform Inspection Sheet states that the silver arrow points are worn below the gold arrow point in double rows. How do you handle a single silver point at the bottom? Do you leave it off, place to one side, or center it?

 

Thanks!

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For a Wolf, I'd say 1 gold and 12 silver were too many. But that's only becuase there are less than 130 possible electives in the handbook.

 

A Wolf scout who has a year-long goal of earning as many Arrow Points as possible should have no trouble 6 to 8 Arrow Points while putting in a meaningful amount of work into each requirement.

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For me, as long as the Den Leader is convinced Mom and Dad are folk of integrity, who sign off for a kid doing their best...

 

... What did Garfield say 10 years ago?...

 

Too much fun is never enough!

 

Too much deserved recognition is never enough either.

 

(Integrity issues are a sad and different matter altogether).

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Well, I've seen Cubs with 8or 9 arrow points that I know had dedicated parents and put genuine efforts into it. I've also seen Cubs with only one arrow point that I know didn't really put any effort at all into it. Cub Scouting is organized around family participation though, and as much as we can promote making earning something worthwhile, in the end we have to acept the parent's signiture. We aren't supposed to be the "Bling Police" in Cub Scouting, as much as we sometimes think it is deserved. It their parent says it was done, then we have to take their word for it.

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I was never questioning a scout having more than he deserved. I enjoy working with my son on the many activities. I would like to do more of them, if time allowed. I didn't want it to look like I was trying to fill the shirt with arrow points, but I let my son decide when to stop and how many of the arrow points to wear.

 

How do you display the odd silver arrow point since the inspection sheet mentions "the silver arrow points are worn below the gold arrow point in double rows". Should the single silver arrow point be centered? It does look better that way.

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I don't believe that there is any offical statement for the odd arrow point, other than the vague statement "centered." It can be placed on one side, but typically the odd one is centered on the gold arrow point, usually displayed immediatly under it, alough it could also be on the bottom.

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