Re: "Policy changes" by LDS Units

Since much of the talk about LDS differences here has centered around
Boy Scouting age boys, I would like to add a bit about some other Cub
Scouting differences (especially for commissioners).

As others mentioned earlier, the LDS program is closely tied to the
religious programs and the same is true with Cub Scouts. For this reason,
the optional GRADES that are now allowed to determine which group a boy
belongs to (wolf, bear, webelo) are ignored in favor of age (as it used to
be). For example:

A boy today could join Tiger Cubs at the age of 6 or 1st grade. LDS units
do not utilize the Tiger cub program at all since all boys must be at least
8 years old to join Cub Scouts (this is the age at which they are first
recognized by the church). So.. since the current rules say you can be 7
OR in 2nd Grade, etc., they have kept the previous age designations.
(8 = Wolf, 9 = Bear, 10 = Webelos). (Tiger Cub Trainers take note!)

For this reason, LDS units do not conduct the 2 year Webelo program.
They are basically running the program as it was before Tiger Cubs and
the 2 year Webelo changes. Again, it is up to them to make this
destinction just as it is possible for other groups to exclude co-ed explorer
units, women leaders, etc. The difference here is that the BSA
allows all these things, yet the individual charter holder is
within their rights to run the program as it sees fit. This is why the
BSA appeals to many groups. Within certain boundaries (such as following
certain BSA policies and regulations) each chartered organization has some
leeway in how it wants to present the program to its youth.

Gina Gestautass, Unit Commissioner and District Trainer

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