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  1. Today
  2. I see this idea often, not just from @HICO_Eagle “The BSA would have done something if only the abused kid would testify.” First, that’s pretty classic blame the victim. Second, in my case in the 90’s, an ASM did raise concerns and was told it was fine and the YP rules were being followed. After several years of abuse I did testify, on my own with the support of my family and zippo from BSA. So it’s always frustrating to read that because in the instance I know, the exact opposite happened. I doubt I’m one in a 100 thousand. On balance wouldn’t it have been much much bette
  3. Traveling in convoys or caravanning used to be specifically prohibited. Not anymore, insofar as I can see, either. The practice itself is not bad. It's that, as pointed out above, drivers have a penchant for breaking laws and creating unsafe conditions while "trying to keep up." The focus is now on distracted driving, which is a leading cause of accidents. And the admonition to obey all traffic laws... The drive to and from any Scouting event is the highest risk / most dangerous part of the event. Here are a few resources for reference: Guide to Safe Scouti
  4. The Marshall Project, according to their website, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system....We don’t approach any issue with an outcome in mind. Our reporters examine all sides of an issue and follow the facts where they lead. We focus on criminal justice as an arena where power is often abused; our goal is to expose injustice. Article begins discussing the tragic Sarah Birchmore case in detail. Attorneys for the Boy Scouts responded by calling child sexual abuse a “broad societ
  5. I'm looking for the following in some scout pants: Baggy/loose fitting Low priced Will last a long time If anyone has recommendations I'd appreciate it
  6. One of the reasons I was surprised to have them eliminate the filing of the Tour Permit. That was another check to try and make sure rules were followed, as the permit had them and also included verifications of insurance and so on.
  7. Should still be there. National added it when they found scout car accidents occur more often in convoys. Following drivers pay less attention when the aren't navigating and often break traffic laws trying to catch up to the lead car. A lot of motorcyclist have accidents in group rides for the same reason. We found that all the cars typically show up to the destination within 15 minutes even after a 600 mile day. Of course the the SM always showed up first. Barry
  8. That is good to hear! How dumb to take the old one down before putting the new one up.
  9. I did see in somewhere. I will look. It isn't a good idea, so don't do it. Copy for 1999 has it: Guide to Safe Scouting (scoutingbsa.org)
  10. There are a number of helps for this sort of thing. Unfortunately, I can't point you to them! The site https://troopresources.scouting.org/ is undergoing an upgrade due out this month. However, it's not too hard to leaf through the handbook and ask the scouts to pick a chapter to work on for the next coming month. Usuallly after summer camp the scouts' advancement starts to diverge, then the PLC's are about asking what is the skill that most boys in their patrol need to master, and how would they like adults to help with that. DON'T focus on advancement per se. DO focus on skills to
  11. I was just having a conversation with another scouter, who asked me why we were not traveling to camp in a convoy. I told him that even though our Troop normally does it that way, it actually specifically says in the GTSS that caravaning is not allowed, so on outtings where I am supervising, we won't do it. He said back to me back "ya right, show me where". To my shock, when I tried to looked it up, I couldn't find anything, even though I swear that it was there in older editions. Am I just imagining things or was it removed? Old posts like this one, even quote exact parts of the GTSS tha
  12. Yup, I considered(and offered up) different options for plc meetings. They just weren’t happening before bc SM and SPL didn’t even call them. One good change that is bringing better attendance, is having them after the meeting rather than before. Still had no patrol leaders 😕 , but had some enthusiastic younger scouts. That was really my first step- just trying to get them to have plcs, and actually get something decided at them. Occasionally they do stuff in patrols, but that is rare. There are rarely breakout groups to discuss what rank requirements people need help with. I truly
  13. Yesterday
  14. A leader parent is an involved parent. Every Eagle Scout I’ve known has had a parent/guardian at their side supporting, encouraging, motivating them along the path to Eagle. Doesn’t have to be a registered parent as a leader, but a parent that cares enough to see that they succeed. Involved parents are not just leaders, but the parents that check on their kids status, talk to leaders, ask questions, and make sure requirements are being met. The parents that just dump their kids off often have no clue what their Scout is doing or how well they’re doing. Some probably couldn’t tell you
  15. All good points. I’m just not feeling enough parental presence to even gather them to have a discussion. Mine are hoping to do NYLT in the winter, so I’ll need to get them ILST. I just feel like I’ve been sticking it out forever. I’m definitely not a quitter, but I’m just getting a vibe. Our cubscout pack is completely opposite in terms of our adult leaders putting time in and working together. (Answering texts even!)
  16. Not really. The parents just sit in the other room. Scouting is the main topic of discussion but I either get the sense that they don’t think there’s a problem, or if they see it, they don’t want to help. CC(on his way out) and SM can say they welcome change as much as they want, but if they don’t support/back me up, the others just think I’m trying to take over.
  17. I asked my dad, but it was the generation before him that experienced the change so his experience was pretty much like mine... at this point you really need a historian, the people who lived it are almost all dead now. I did find out that during his time, our troop was a sea scout ship. They spent a lot of spring meetings readying the boats. We still owned some of them when I came through, moored at the same dock. Even though we were a troop we did learn to rig and sail gigs, probably because the troop used to be a ship!
  18. Totally agree! We actually work with the local multicultural community center in town. We are starting our first, hopefully not last, pack yard sale with all proceeds going to the center to help support their after-school and summer programs. In turn, hopefully we have enough exposure to recruit some of those youth that go to the center. If not, oh well. That was never the aim anyways.
  19. They know the deal when they sign up. Usually they are friends with someone in the Pack. We get most of them back.
  20. Now we are talking about BSA in general. You are way off on the homosexual vs bisexual comment. The great majority of pedophiles are heterosexual. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1556756/ On whether the Boy Scouts did their best... I don't think I can add anything that will change your mind but note that your description of how an SE or TCC would have analyzed the situation has no mention of doing the right thing and is all about liability and reputation.
  21. This is Hooey, When the initial allegations came forward about the nude photos he could have been removed as a member of the BSA period. There is no god given right to be an adult member of BSA. How many young boys could have been saved? And they did have standing as he was part of their organization. Taking nude photos of young boys and having sexual relationships with them is neither homosexuality or bisexuality. How can you possibly say they removed the threat as best they could when after the nude photos came up they allowed him access to children. That is called gross neglig
  22. You misunderstood what I was saying: my recent posts are not about one single instance.
  23. The thing is neither BSA as a national organization nor the troop involved had standing. The Scouts involved were the ones who should have filed charges. The problem for BSA then was that accusations without proof of criminal conduct could have had serious repercussions and exposed the organization to liability. Put yourself in the SE or TCC shoes -- you have hearsay witness testimony but you don't know this yourself. You could file a charge with the police but you know the youth and their parents just want it to go away and may not testify. You know under the laws of the time that he
  24. For families they “just stop coming” how hard has it been to get these items back?
  25. This statement I can't get out of my mind. I am a child of the 60's having been born in the early 50's. I had long hair, I smoked pot, I questioned authority, and I witnessed and read about all that was going on in that time period. Not once was Free Love about sex with children or taking photos of young boys to satisfy perverted sexual desire it was about consensual sex with consenting adults and not feeling guilty about it.
  26. I’ll go one further: integrating the local community is the only way forward. There are hundreds of ways to do this. Waiting for National’s next marketing campaign is the least effective.
  27. And from the Boy Scouts who very prominently purportedly hold themselves to a higher standard!
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    • I see this idea often, not just from @HICO_Eagle “The BSA would have done something if only the abused kid would testify.” First, that’s pretty classic blame the victim.  Second, in my case in the 90’s, an ASM did raise concerns and was told it was fine and the YP rules were being followed. After several years of abuse I did testify, on my own with the support of my family and zippo from BSA. So it’s always frustrating to read that because in the instance I know, the exact opposite happened. I doubt I’m one in a 100 thousand. On balance wouldn’t it have been much much better to have been sued for defamation from a false accusation and erred on the side of protecting kids? 
    • Traveling in convoys or caravanning used to be specifically prohibited. Not anymore, insofar as I can see, either. The practice itself is not bad.  It's that, as pointed out above, drivers have a penchant for breaking laws and creating unsafe conditions while "trying to keep up."  The focus is now on distracted driving, which is a leading cause of accidents. And the admonition to obey all traffic laws... The drive to and from any Scouting event is the highest risk / most dangerous part of the event. Here are a few resources for reference: Guide to Safe Scouting - Transportation Section :  https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss11/ SAFE Transportation Checklist and Pre-Trip Inspection:  https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/680-696(21)-SAFE-Transportation-Checklist-FPO3-5172021.pdf Risk Zone Training:  http://www.scouting.org/filestore/healthsafety/pdf/632-006_wb.pdf BSA Drive Safely On Line Training, SCO_805, found in my.scouting Training...  not required One of the hardest things any of us will ever do is take a drive and obey EVERY traffic law perfectly.  Give it a real try sometime, observe your driving practices, and evaluate yourself honestly... 😜   
    • The Marshall Project, according to their website, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system....We don’t approach any issue with an outcome in mind. Our reporters examine all sides of an issue and follow the facts where they lead. We focus on criminal justice as an arena where power is often abused; our goal is to expose injustice. Article begins discussing the tragic Sarah Birchmore case in detail. Attorneys for the Boy Scouts responded by calling child sexual abuse a “broad societal problem.” “This abuse can occur anywhere, even in Scouting and Explorer programs,” the attorneys wrote in a court filing. They argued that the organization wasn’t responsible for the abuse she alleged because the officer had violated Explorer policies. ... In 2022, the Boy Scouts agreed to settle with more than 82,000 people, most of them men, who said they were abused as minors in Scouting programs. The Scouting organization did not say how many Explorer cases are part of the settlement, which is now about $2.5 billion. ... Michael Johnson, a former police detective who investigated child abuse, said he became alarmed by the sexual abuse in Explorer programs after the Boy Scouts hired him in 2010 as the national director of youth protection. “They have these Explorers with them riding around at night and the officers do a nonexistent-to-poor job of maintaining clear boundaries,” he said. He said he tried internally to root out abuse, especially on overnight ride-alongs, though he was also publicly promoting Scouting during those years. Johnson said the Boy Scouts fired him in 2020, and he became an outspoken critic of how the organization handled cases of abuse. ... Allegations of Explorer abuse did not always result in criminal prosecutions. Of the 156 officers identified by The Marshall Project who faced professional or legal consequences in connection with the allegations against them, at least two-thirds were criminally charged. Among those charged, about half were sentenced to time behind bars — from weekends in jail to decades in prison. And at least 20 had to register as sex offenders.   More at sources: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/05/01/police-explorer-sexual-abuse-boy-scouts https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-explorer-boy-scouts-sexual-abuse-allegations-rcna145347 https://www.exploring.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/LFL-safety-first-guidelines_final-copy_-28229.pdf https://www.exploring.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ridealongcertification.pdf  
    • I'm looking for the following in some scout pants:  Baggy/loose fitting  Low priced Will last a long time  If anyone has recommendations I'd appreciate it
    • One of the reasons I was surprised to have them eliminate the filing of the Tour Permit.  That was another check to try and make sure rules were followed, as the permit had them and also included verifications of insurance and so on.    
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