The future of the BSA

[Ojoman]

4 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

C'mon @AwakeEnergyScouter!  How else are we going to generate the revenue to pay those quarter to half million dollar salaries?

OK, some council execs get paid 100k plus benefits that often end up north of 200k but the field staff are generally paid less than $50k and if they are doing a good job are regularly putting in 55+ hours a week including evenings and weekend activities. Entry level is often below 40k. Some larger councils pay those high salaries and some national support staff get it. Let's be fair... 

 

 

 

[Ojoman]

8 hours ago, Eagledad said:

I disagree. Almost anyone in the world can identify a Boy Scout uniform. It represents character and integrity. Even after the Girl Scouts did away from their traditional uniform, it was still the uniform used in movies because it identifies with the organization worldwide. I understand that the GSUSA is moving back toward that uniform.

Barry

I just looked up the costs for a cub uniform. You need the belt for the loops so belt, shirt, slide, neckerchief hit $69 and then add numerals and CSP. Pant and hat add another $56. This on top of the National and local council fees to  join and then the hat, neckerchief and slide change each year for $44 more annually until the kid outgrows the shirt and pants or goes into Webelos for a whole new uniform. BSA does fund a good deal of the retirement with Scout Shop sales but let's get serious. Families are tired of all the expenses. Something needs to give. Go Basic shirt and belt with jeans... IMHO

[mrjohns2]

You didn’t include world crest, handbook, and socks. 

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

And the short sleeved shirt needs a long-sleeved base layer in winter, as does the skort if you choose it for the bottom. Not to worry of course, they have official BSA leggings and base layer shirts. And bows if you don't want a hat.

What scout wears a bow in the woods? There's a reason the first Swedish girl scouts only pretended to scout in skirts. It's the same reason I've seen zero scout bows in the wild.

[InquisitiveScouter]

9 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

And the short sleeved shirt needs a long-sleeved base layer in winter, as does the skort if you choose it for the bottom. Not to worry of course, they have official BSA leggings and base layer shirts. And bows if you don't want a hat.

What scout wears a bow in the woods? There's a reason the first Swedish girl scouts only pretended to scout in skirts. It's the same reason I've seen zero scout bows in the wild.

Bows?  Really?  Have a link? I gotta see that... LOL

[T2Eagle]

11 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

What scout wears a bow in the woods? There's a reason the first Swedish girl scouts only pretended to scout in skirts. It's the same reason I've seen zero scout bows in the wild.

I assumed I saw no scout bows in the wild because the GTSS strictly restricts them to use on an approved archery range.

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

2 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Bows?  Really?  Have a link? I gotta see that... LOL

I can do better than that, here's my scout's never-used official scout bow. Well, ok, there was that first meeting during which they discovered that these giant bows always slide out of your hair very quickly and just turn into a hassle. 

I knew it was a waste of money when I agreed to buy it, but I really wanted them to be excited about scouting, so I bought a bunch of useless stuff like this bow and scout socks just to build the energy. The socks are always declined also.

[InquisitiveScouter]

8 minutes ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

I can do better than that, here's my scout's never-used official scout bow. Well, ok, there was that first meeting during which they discovered that these giant bows always slide out of your hair very quickly and just turn into a hassle. 

I knew it was a waste of money when I agreed to buy it, but I really wanted them to be excited about scouting, so I bought a bunch of useless stuff like this bow and scout socks just to build the energy. The socks are always declined also.

Pfffttt...

It does look like this item is discontinued...

https://www.bsacac.org/shop/cub-scout-hairbow-tents/

And the item number (647705) cannot be found on scoutshop.org 

 

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

40 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

It does look like this item is discontinued...

That was a wise decision.

[SSScout]

Hot glue it to a 1/2"  pvc pipe, make a heckufa necker slide...

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

You're right, that would be one heck of a slide! 😂

Although the weight of that thing probably would make the slide fall off all the time, too, worse than the existing slides 🤦🏼‍♀️

My scout lost an official cub scout slide on a night hike, and is now sporting a classic homemade valknot slide. 

[BlueandSilverBear]

My Bear loves her bow and usually picks to wear it over her hat 🤷‍♂️

It was also $0.99 on sale when it was discontinued. 

Edited October 6, 2023 by BlueandSilverBear

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

2 hours ago, BlueandSilverBear said:

My Bear loves her bow and usually picks to wear it over her hat 

Whoa!! It stays in her hair??

[LiveWakeLertThusiast]

On 9/26/2023 at 5:02 PM, fred8033 said:

It's very important, but even with the training I've seen ... people run the program they've learned from the previous unit leaders or they do what they want.   Training is very important but not a failure root cause.

 

This is a fundamental issue in my view:  the broken connections between packs and troops. 

Directly related, "emphasizing" troop shopping is bad.  If the unit is not a good match, then switch.  Fine.   BUT!  It's bad to have individuals shopping around causing splits and breaks in continuity.  A few big units thrive.  Smaller and medium units hurt.  Worse, long term relationships get damaged as people move for various reasons.   ... In this day and age of driving around and shopping, people are used to going further and looking for the best deal.  IMHO, this is bad for scouting as it moves youth away from their immediate community.

My view is a single unit committee that oversees a program from youngest cubs to oldest scout / explorer is critical.  New parents see where what their scout could achieve.  Youth have older scouts to look up too.   Plus, experienced older scouts could help run some younger programs at times.

 

Yep.  Also bad.

Replying to this for convenience. Hi all!

Not sure whether to make a new thread for the question, since it seems to be the theme of forum (political segment) discussion since COVID. If the BSA folded (or practically folded, like all current members transfered to an alternate org), how would a new org be designed? Suggestions have been made here about cost-saving (the most abhorrent issue) such as uniform-policing, but is there space to construct a possible solution in the forums that a National council could implement?

Or in another way, how could we let youth organize a movement they want to be part of? There are multiple appealing avenues which Scouting teaches life skills... For myself, the merit badge program had the promise of introducing topics which were more interesting and relevant than the severly limited selection of K-12 subjects. (And as I went through the program, allowed youth to teach youth topics they were interested in.)

I'm sure there have been good initatives from Council and above to increase youth ability to do things for themselves and discourage adults from creating obstacles to that. (For instance, the flop of "BSA Open Source Initative".)

Do we scouters need to document and promote ways youth can take up the promise of Scouting? Specifically, to percieve problems and have a strong program to lead themselves and others toward solutions?

What is your account of how scouts get interested in joining and retaining their membership? Is this question best addressed at the volunteer level - and if not, is there an organizational change that needs to happen, such as moving towards a more OA way of doing things - tasks are more or less availible to "opt in" to an existing list, or projects are easily proposed at an Lodge Exec Council meeting (an all-volunteer council-level mostly-youth org)? (Including consideration that most scouts only are active ~3 years in the troop, before high school life presents more appealing opportunities.)

And for the population of scouts who you see excited about scouting (the contingent of girls excited to 'legally' participate in the program comes to mind), are there other resources that should be considered or created? (As a foil to the OA/LEC example: does your council have a strong Venturing program, and how is the VOA? Which gets more "political" or "in-group"ish?)

For the proposals that the BSA culture reorients toward the 18-30 y/o demographic for volunteers, how do you propose that is implemented?

 

For related threads in this theme, see:

https://www.scouter.com/topic/32944-will-the-bsa-survive-bankruptcy/

https://www.scouter.com/topic/33190-what-happens-if-bsa-goes-chapter-7/

https://www.scouter.com/topic/32928-is-it-time-for-the-bsa-to-change-its-leadership-model

https://www.scouter.com/topic/26256-what-changes-would-you-make-if-you-were-robert-gates-the-new-bsa-president

https://www.scouter.com/topic/33134-why-do-we-need-a-national-council/

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by LiveWakeLertThusiast
Add references to other threads relevant to message

[BetterWithCheddar]

On 10/5/2023 at 6:48 PM, mrjohns2 said:

You didn’t include world crest, handbook, and socks. 

They usually give us the hard sell on uniform pants every time we visit the Scout Shop.

Guy, my son is 6. He'll have the knees blown out of them in 4 months if he doesn't outgrow them first. 😂