Mike Rowe: Death of Boy Scouts?

[Saltface]

1 minute ago, perdidochas said:

 

I've always just used the 90% rule. If I can bring 90% of them home, we're doing fine. 

What if 90% of each boy comes home?

[David CO]

13 minutes ago, Saltface said:

What if 90% of each boy comes home?

That would be the ideal scout summer camp. Play so hard that you lose 10 to 15 lbs. in two weeks. 

 

Edited May 18, 2018 by David CO

[NJCubScouter]

 

19 minutes ago, Saltface said:

What if 90% of each boy comes home?

After two weeks maybe, as David says.  But if its a two-day camping trip, losing 10% of your body weight sounds like a problem, no matter how overweight you are.  Even over two weeks, it's probably not a great idea.

Edited May 18, 2018 by NJCubScouter

[Oldscout448]

28 minutes ago, perdidochas said:

Wow. Now, I do understand banning axes outside of the ax yard, but other than that, I think those leaders need to go to IOLS to learn the safe way to teach the Scouts those things.  As a parent, if that were the case, I would have yanked my boys out of that Troop in an instant, and would have found a real Scout Troop. 

The insane thing is that IOLS. training in that district teaches that axes are too dangerous for scouts to use.   In fact scouters are discouraged from using then as well.  Sets a bad example for the boys don't you know.  

[Oldscout448]

9 minutes ago, David CO said:

That would be the ideal scout summer camp. Play so hard that you lose 10 to 15 lbs. in two weeks. 

 

I think I lost about that much at Philmont. 

[HashTagScouts]

34 minutes ago, Oldscout448 said:

The insane thing is that IOLS. training in that district teaches that axes are too dangerous for scouts to use.   In fact scouters are discouraged from using then as well.  Sets a bad example for the boys don't you know.  

Uggh. That is just awful. 

[Saltface]

3 hours ago, David CO said:

That would be the ideal scout summer camp. Play so hard that you lose 10 to 15 lbs. in two weeks. 

 

I was talking about accidental amputations, but that works too.

[SSScout]

" Not to worry.  If we go out with ten Scouts, we have never failed to return with at least ten Scouts. Sometimes eleven, but never less than ten...."

[David CO]

6 minutes ago, SSScout said:

" Not to worry.  If we go out with ten Scouts, we have never failed to return with at least ten Scouts. Sometimes eleven, but never less than ten...."

Ah yes, coed scouting.

[Eagle1993]

8 minutes ago, David CO said:

Ah yes, coed scouting.

I wish there was a groan voting button.   You would have earned your share today.  😀

[ParkMan]

I'd be interested to get Mike's opinion on what a troop should do.  Much of what I see in his comments a unit could do today.

Increase the adventure in your troop program.  Make your troop program less coddling. Etc.  I grant that National has restricted too many things in the name of safety.  But I bet there is lot troops could do now to start the process.

[Jameson76]

6 minutes ago, ParkMan said:

I'd be interested to get Mike's opinion on what a troop should do.  Much of what I see in his comments a unit could do today.

Increase the adventure in your troop program.  Make your troop program less coddling. Etc.  I grant that National has restricted too many things in the name of safety.  But I bet there is lot troops could do now to start the process.

We played British Bulldogs the other day, it was glorious and the Boys Scouts thought it was geat

[CalicoPenn]

On ‎5‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 9:13 PM, Chisos said:

Exactly.  When paintball is perfectly fine for the church youth group but banned by the Boy Scouts, we have a problem.

Right you are - why, the BSA should be the leader is teaching youth how to shoot other people - not church youth groups.  /s

[CalicoPenn]

• No youth drivers   This has been true for a very very long time - at least since the 1970's - and now, many States actually have limits on the number of people a youth driver can have in a car.
• No skinny dipping   This was pretty much true in most places back in the 1970's as well.  Even the all-boys private (read Catholic) schools were ending the practice of swimming classes and practice without a suit back then.
• SM/SPL screen every song/skit   We did this back in the 70's as well - though mostly to prevent embarrassing the Troop at a Summer Camp or Camporee campfire but it also made sure that skits weren't mean spirited or singling out any individual.
• No boxing   I hate to break it to Mike Rowe but boxing wasn't allowed back when he was a Scout in the 1970's.  
• No independent patrol overnights    Patrols can certainly go camping on their own - they just need approval from their Scoutmaster and have appropriate adult leadership around.  My patrol camped on its own every June - and always had a couple of adults on the troop who just sat back in camp and read (we did feed them) - we needed someone to drive us after all.
• No one-on-one contact, down to electronic correspondence   And in what way is this a bad idea?
• Pioneering project height limits    No longer in the G2SS - have at it.
• Power tool restrictions   I'm not sure that this is a bad thing at all - at least not these days.  Lets think about it - we moan and groan about all the adult volunteers we are able to attract who have no outdoor experience, don't seem to be interested in taking IOLs, and whose presence tends to "dumb down" the outdoor adventure aspects of the program.    I would argue that the majority of our adult volunteers aren't experienced enough with power tools themselves to be able to safely teach and supervise 11 year olds in the use of power drill, let alone a circular saw.  People get so bent out of shape whenever that dreaded, evil National announces something new - imagine the outcry if National were to put together a "Safe Power Tool" program?
• No PL sign-off in Scoutbook   Who, at National, ever said a PL can't sign off a requirement in a Scout's handbook?  Uh uh - this is a unit decision - that has infiltrated the far reaches of Scoutdom like a bad cold virus as people in their units make up their own rules then go on to District positions and then start training other people in the way's of their Troop instead of the ways of the BSA program.

[CalicoPenn]

On ‎5‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 5:17 PM, perdidochas said:

I pretty much agree.  We need a better balance between risk and adventure.  Some of the BSA rules are just patheticly overcautious, and while I understand where they are coming from, they make us look too risk averse almost to the point of cowardice. For example, when I was a Tiger Cub Den Leader, we had a family camp at a local military recreation area.  One of the Tiger Dads brought his canoe.  As the Tiger DL, I was the one who had to tell him the Tigers couldn't go out on it.  The water was flat, and was shallow for quite a ways. The breeze was onshore. There was no logical reason that any Cub with a parent (or adult who had canoed before) couldn't go out on a quick 5 minute trip with their Cub that day.  The boy ended up dropping out before crossover to Wolf.  SImilarly, our rules about paintball are almost irrational.  Not to mention most of the things that Qwayze mentioned (except skinny dipping) 

 

 

I have to ask - where-ever did the idea that a Cub Scout couldn't go out in a canoe with their parent?   Canoeing is allowed in the Cub Scouts - they just can't canoe in moving water (aka a river or creek) or on float trips.