Membership Decline Reasons

[Eagledad]

>>As for Scouts Canada - again, we're quick to point to external policies such as going co-ed and then trying to use the data we know to bolster our case, yet there is no definitive proof that Scouts Canada membership numbers dropped because of going co-ed.

[BadenP]

Calico

The need to keep scouting relevant to todays society DOES NOT mean we abandon the very essence of what scouting is all about and that is the OUTDOOR program. If you are ready to gut or push that aspect aside then what you have left is no longer scouting, and it would be better in that case to let scouting die with some dignity. As far as calling for Mazzucas head, he is ultimately the one responsible, and his actions since taking over as CSE have been nothing more than detrimental to the BSA as a whole. As one who has worked for him in the past I know his MO and vision for scoutings future, the result will be a shell of the current organization, and one I personally want no part of.

[Eagle92]

2 quotes from the "World's SPL"

 

1) "OUTING is 3/4 of ScOUTING"

 

2) " Scouting is Outing."

 

You take the outdoors out of the program, and you don't have a program.

[Twocubdad]

Then you guys need to lobby to change the mission statement.

[Basementdweller]

so if you abandon the outdoor program what does that leave.....

 

Night school????? Community service night?????

 

Camping will become hotelling, Gratuity merit badge?????

 

You want more boys add ATV, Dirt biking merit badges.

 

Our youths sense of adventure is different than ours.

 

Hiking three miles to most Boy Scouts is a huge deal.

[Twocubdad]

I'm not recommending it, just noting that if our mission is to teach ethical decision making to young people by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law, you can do that on school nights, in hotels or while driving an ATV.

 

If the mission statement is our goal, Mazucca's whatever-it-takes approach to recruitment becomes an effective means to that end.

[acco40]

The mission statement (goals) are as Twocubdad stated. That goal may be accomplished on school nights, in hotels or while driving an ATV but that is not the BSA program. If the goals or aims are accomplished utilizing the 8 methods - that is the BSA program.

 

So again, the mission may be accomplished in numerous ways but not all are the Scouting program.

 

As Scouters, we are supposed to strive to accomplish our mission, not by any means possible, but by using the methods of the BSA.

[GernBlansten]

Scouting needs to abandon the leadership mantra and return to the outdoor mantra. Getting boys into the wilds will foster leadership. Focus on adventure. Keep it simple. That's what BP really intended. And it IS still relevant. Boys are drawn to fun challenges, not team building exercises.

 

Kudu is right, woodbadge 21, EDGE, and manager training killed the BSA.

[Eagle92]

Although I am an old fogey now, as a youth I remember that I wanted excitement and adventure. I wanted to try new things and test myself. When I got Eagle, I asked "What's else is there?" and found Sea Scouts and OA.

 

Maybe it's my genetics, but my kids want the same things: excitement, adventure, and trying new things. And My Wolves want it too.

[Twocubdad]

You can argue the point if you like, but where do you think Mazucca's head is when he says you can teach character with aerospace and computers or that we need to adapt the program to suit families who don't trust sending their son's into the woods with "strangers" for the weekend, or that camping isn't a big deal to a lot of boys.

 

If the prize is character development, the methods are subservient to the mission. That includes the outdoor program and patrol method.

 

I don't agree with it, but I promise you these guys are reading the demographic tea leaves and thinking to themselves that the only problem with the '74 Urban Scouting program was that it was ahead of his time.

 

But wasn't that the point of this thread about page three?

 

 

[OldGreyEagle]

Sat in on an Eagle Board of Review last night. it's pretty common as I am on the District Advancement COmmittee. The candidate was asked why he wanted to be an Eagle. his response was because being an Eagle was about leadership, about knowing how to get things done. He didnt mention camping at all. His fondest memory of being a Boy Scout was working on an Arrow Corp project in Roanoke Va.

 

I thought of this thread and thought about past EBOR I have attended, Camping and Adventure rarely come up any more, the boys talk about leadership. Gien the boys will only talk about what they have heard, I wonder how to turn things around

[Eagle92]

Eagle equating to leadership is all to common, and the scouts will say whatthey think adults want to hear. I'ld ask questions about their first campout with their troop, first summer camp, and how have they grown since. I'ld also ask specificaly about their favorite trip.

 

As for ArrowCorps, I thought that was an outdoor camping expereince combining cheerful service? That's a question, not being snarky.

[Eagledad]

>>I thought of this thread and thought about past EBOR I have attended, Camping and Adventure rarely come up any more, the boys talk about leadership. Gien the boys will only talk about what they have heard, I wonder how to turn things around

[OldGreyEagle]

I thought it strange the only time the scout talked about camping was with the OA, he couldnt remember a troop camping trip that stuck out to him. That was the point, perhaps obtusely made

 

Since I was the District rep, I would have a hard time running the program of this scouts troop

[BadenP]

twocub

 

Your logic and argument is as faulty and full of holes as Mazzuca's. The reason some boys don't mention camping/outdoors anymore is because many troops have scaled that activity way down or eliminated it completely. I saw a troop car camping last weekend, the SM had a huge trailer with a satellite dish and he and the boys were watching tv. I asked him in the middle of this beautiful forest why was he doing this non camping camping, his answer was "because I really hate camping." So why the hell is he a scoutmaster then. This is the same type of ignorance and arrogance that Mazzuca brings to the BSA. It is truly naive to say you can teach leadership with a science program. Mazzuca's plan will eventually fail and the numbers will decline even further as he continues to disrupts what once was a great program. The BSA needs a true leader at the top and soon or Kudu's prediction will probably come true, and we will all witness the end of the BSA in our lifetime.