Re: How does world Senior Scouting work?
Mark McCormack (markmc@ecn.net.au)
Mon Jan 26 07:55:12 1998
Hi Bill and all,
I'll try to answer some of these questions, I may have to defer a few to my
other fellow leaders who can help, such as Joanne in Canberra or David in
Albury (now i've put you both in it (heheheh)).
I have to say Bill My Gosh going to the Canadian Moot. Will the BSA allow
this blashpemous activity? No Pun intended. I have heard of Rover crews in
the US but they are mainly along the Canadian border.
This also goes for any swampy's (Sea Scouts) that are Venturers,
>
>They call us "web-footed" Scouts in the USA.
>Can young adult Rovers drink at your Rover Moots? What about cigarette smoking?
The simple answer to this is yes. The legal age for drinking is 18, and if
you are in Rovers you must be 18. The main criteria is that you do not
bring scouting, the uniform, and the Rover Crew of which you are a member
into disrepute. You can not legally stop someone from drinking if they are
of legal age unless they are in a dry area that has been declared by one of
the layers of government. Rovers are very much self governing and the
hierachy has very little say into what they do. It is far safer to have
people drink at the Moot in a designated area than to have them go off site
to a pub and come back drunk (if they make it). Smoking once again it is
legal to buy cigarettes at 18, but not younger, but it is not illegal to
smoke under 18. This law varies from state to state. Smoking is actually
more controlled at times at Moots in Summer because of the potential threat
of Bush Fires.
>> >We all get along here in the USA even though many of our Senior Scouting
>> >programs are widely divergent. Is that also true in Australia?
>> >
>> We all get along except with the Poobars, they are the ones how wear purple
>> tabs.
>
>Who and what are the purple tabbed poobars? They sound a little bit like birds.
Well that could be another way of looking at it, especially when they start
strutting around full of their own self importance. I am referring to the
commissioners.
With the uniforms being all the same for all sections the way you can tell
what type a leader is, is by the colour of the Tab they wear on their shoulders.
Joeys - Brown (We all call Baby Shit Brown)
Cubs Scouts - Yellow
Scouts - Green
Venturers - Marone (is that how you spell it)
Rovers - Red
Goup Leaders - White
Commissioners - Purple - Also calle Poobars.
>
>Queries:Why did Australia try to abolish (Swampies) Sea Scouts?
Not Australia - QUeensland, and I have no idea, probably politics.
>Do you still have Air Scouts?
I don't think we ever did. What we did have was Air cadets which is a
different organisation.
>What percentage of available youth are Rovers?
Is this a question of the participation rate from the general populace or as
a percentage of youth member? Rovers age is 18-26 years. This is a broad
age band. Queensland has 3.5 million people and about 850 Rovers. Victoria
is the Strngest State for Rovers with several thousand but its population is
close to 5 million.
>What percentage of available youth are Venturers?
There are about 1200 Venturers in Queensland. Paricipation rate no idea
>What are your numbers in comparison to the rest of the Australian BSA?
BSA? The word Boy was drooped by Act of Parliament in 1985. It became the
Australian Scout Association. Last year this was changed to Scouts
Australia. Check out the Web site on www.asn.net.au. I think this is correct.
>What would you suggest to make your program grow?
I got to learn the new one that came out last September. But after having a
look at several differnt systems around the world, ours is one of the better
ones. A lot of countries do not have such a program and this is co\ausing
problems.
>What support does "Senior Scouting" get from your BSA?
Plenty, maybe more than our fair share considering the percentage of the
Venturers to total youth numbers. There is a lot happening at the moment
but a lot of it is behind the scenes tha we meer plebs don't see.
>We kept Sea Scout Quartermaster and are bringing back Ranger and Silver.
>Hopefully, ACE will also return.
>Did you ever have Senior Scouting advancement beyond the Queen's Scout Award?
Yes we do, but you have to be in Rovers to get it. It is called the BP
Award, and maybe a total of 10 Rovers might get this award each year.
>Do you think such an award or awards would be valuable?
>
>YISS;
>Bill Sills
>
Mark
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