Jameson76 Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 1 hour ago, an_old_DC said: By the way, I don’t worry about what a DE or DD thinks. Agree Even though our CO has the largest unit(s) in the district (Cubs and Boy Scouts) and highest FOS and community service hours I can honestly say in the last 10 years we have only seen the DE or any professional outside of RT or when they wander by our winter COH (read money time) exactly zero times. Granted we do not do any camporees, district events, council camporamas, etc. As for the fabled white unicorn of Scouting (the unit commissioner) maybe twice in the same period. They may be scared of us and we hope to keep it that way 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jameson76 Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 16 hours ago, FormerProfessional said: Every council has a list of “blackballed” scout volunteers. God I hope I am on that list...wonder if there is a patch??? Seems to be a beer for the club 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkMan Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 While it might be nice for the DE to do a little more proactive outreach, this sounds about right. The DE is a district level player. If you guys are not involved at the district level and just focus internally - then why would he interact with you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gblotter Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I have the opposite problem. Our DE seems to be a nice guy who has general knowledge of who I am and what our troop does. However, I have no idea who he is. I was in the Scout office doing some paperwork. The DE approached me and greeted me by name. Clueless, I had to take note of his name badge and later look online to see who he was and what position he held. I'm not a great people person, so that doesn't help either. He sees our Eagle applications cross his desk, and our troop recently hosting the annual District Awards Dinner, so that is probably how he knows me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParaSloth Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 A few random thoughts: Girls: I admit I'm very right-thinking, and the thought of girls in BSA turned me off at first. But the more I think about it the more I really don't mind. More thinking, and also talking to GS leaders who are excited about the decision as their troops don't camp, hike, etc. Now sounding like a right-winger I'll get upset when I see "mother" taking over and hovering over scouts...as upset as I get when I see a "father" doing the same. On the Cub Scout side (my younger is a Tiger this year - I'm taking on CM) I'm very excited about girls being included. I had always enjoyed the family atmosphere at CS camps. Girls #2: Some here are already mentioning "coed troop" options. From my limited understanding of the infogram, the only two options are separate troops (boy/girl troops, each having a different CO and boy/girl troops sharing a CO - both still being seperate troops). If I misunderstood and they were refering to the second option mentioned in the parentheses, my bad. Wood Badge: I went to Wood Badge. I took home some gems of knowledge and used them in my pack and troop, as well as in my job as a Project Manager. I was dissapointed in the lack of rigidity I thought I would see - e.g., no uniform inspections, etc. I set my bar high for my tickets as I thought all had. Then I was sickened when everyone celebrated the first beading (after only a few months), that being some rather weak tickets in my opinion. But my opinion also includes some weak Eagle projects I see out there as well these days. I have hung my head seeing some Wood Badgers - one gent was wearing his proudly with a t-shirt (I guess that's now accepted) and parading around like he was king of scouters, another cornered my troop in the woods as we were hiking asking if all the adult leaders were Wood Badgers as there is none greater than a Wood Badge Leader! I wear my beads, but with my troop necker, and strive to embrace the humility I feel every leader should, especially a Wood Badger. I also don't like a bunch of crap dangling off my uniform and drawing attention. Breaking poing: I thought I had encountered a few, but I keep seeing that the boys (now youth) just need me there. Honestly my breaking point will be when my son(s) look at me and say they don't want to do scouts anymore, and after some encouragement towards scouting they maintain that position. There are other fine organizations out there - Civil Air Patrol being one my son is eyeing. Obtaining that Eagle is a fine accomplishment that I celebrate in every boy that earns it, however it just really isn't that game-changer employers are looking for that will set you high above other candidates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattR Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 2 hours ago, Jameson76 said: They may be scared of us and we hope to keep it that way More likely they have their hands full with lousy units. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwaihir Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 2 hours ago, ParaSloth said: Obtaining that Eagle is a fine accomplishment that I celebrate in every boy that earns it, however it just really isn't that game-changer employers are looking for that will set you high above other candidates. Nope, it's not. Maybe it was 20 years ago... it's not any longer. The BSA marketing it as a resume item was and is a colossal misstep. The amount of paper eagles has grown and will continue to grow to the point earning the badge really doesn't mean a thing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwin Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 25 minutes ago, Gwaihir said: ...earning the badge really doesn't mean a thing. I don't think you believe that. Even with an increase in so-called paper Eagles, only something like 2% of all scouts make Eagle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwaihir Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Just now, Hawkwin said: I don't think you believe that. Even with an increase in so-called paper Eagles, only something like 2% of all scouts make Eagle. I still think it matters today. I'm speaking of 10-15 years down the road. Since inception, it's 2%, but the number annually is up to 6% and climbing. The "since inception" number will stay low for a very long time since that's how percentages work, but the annual numbers are relevant to the living, and when Eagle scout is the chief marketing tool, you'll see that number continue to climb and the requirements to earn it diminish. I want to be proven wrong and in 15 years, I'll return here and see if I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gblotter Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 2 hours ago, Gwaihir said: Since inception, it's 2%, but the number annually is up to 6% and climbing. There will be an entirely-expected spike in Eagles next year as LDS Scouts prepare to exit BSA, followed by a big drop off in 2020 and beyond. Who knows how many years it will take to regain previous levels (if ever). If you believe there are too many Eagles (in numbers and percentages), the LDS church just fixed that problem for you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peregrinator Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 15 hours ago, gblotter said: There will be an entirely-expected spike in Eagles next year as LDS Scouts prepare to exit BSA, followed by a big drop off in 2020 and beyond. Who knows how many years it will take to regain previous levels (if ever). If you believe there are too many Eagles (in numbers and percentages), the LDS church just fixed that problem for you. What % of LDS scouts typically earn Eagle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle94-A1 Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Extremely large one, more than 18%-19% that is their percentage of total membership. That's because there is intense pressure to earn Eagle from the LDS units I've seen, and heard about from LDS Scouters. Just look how Utah, which has 80+% of its membership in LDS units always leads the country in most Eagles produced. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buggie Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 I'm fairly new as a scouter, having transitioned from being a parent who volunteered when there was a need to be met. A change of job expectations of being available 24x7 regardless allowed that to happen. My kids are still below 18, but one's turning that magic age this year. I'm old enough that most men my age are within the "grandpa-hood" phase of their life, so I'm more mellow and experienced in some things. And I'm quite capable of not being mellow and certainly I have a lot of things left to learn. Yet I do have some breaking points. If I find I can't assist in some way then I'll bow out. Corollary to that is if I'm more of a hindrance than a help, it's time for me to go If the troop I'm with turns exceptionally sour or goes into an adult led type of direction that I can't some how turn back to scout lead? I'll find a different troop. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkMan Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 18 hours ago, Gwaihir said: I still think it matters today. I'm speaking of 10-15 years down the road. Since inception, it's 2%, but the number annually is up to 6% and climbing. The "since inception" number will stay low for a very long time since that's how percentages work, but the annual numbers are relevant to the living, and when Eagle scout is the chief marketing tool, you'll see that number continue to climb and the requirements to earn it diminish. I want to be proven wrong and in 15 years, I'll return here and see if I am. I'm not sure if you're talking about today or in the future, but I don't find the Eagle to be the chief marketing tool. Honestly - I don't see a lot of BSA marketing at all, so I don't think "Join Scouts and earn Eagle" is that much of a thing. In my area, Scouts generally join because it seems fun. Many stick around to earn Eagle, but I've never seen a Scout openly say - "I'm only, or even primarly, here to earn Eagle" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisconsinMomma Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 (edited) My whole family is in scouting. My husband is an ASM and I am a Cubmaster and Troop Secretary, working on Wood Badge tickets. We have three sons in Scouting, a 2nd Class, age 13, Tenderfoot, age 11 and Webelos, age 9. The boys have a nice pack and a nice troop and we have to reason to leave. Sometimes our Pack and Troop are frustrating, but big picture, the people are nice, the kids are nice and we make it work and do our best. Why would you quit with kids still in the program? Give them the best experiences you can! Edited May 26, 2018 by WisconsinMomma 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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