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I remember the first year girls were admitted the annual report emphasized that some 77K girls joined cub scouts, but neglected to mention there were 91K fewer boys in cub scouts. That trend accelerated. Compare the number of girls in the programs today (175K or so) to the massive decrease in the numbers of boys served (somewhere in the range of -1.1 million compared to 5 years ago. Maybe it was never about "serving more youth." Maybe it was about serving different youth. Remember, Surbaugh said the legacy clientele was no longer good enough for the BSA.
- Today
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Bruce Russell; a prize winning political cartoonist of the WWII era. So, likely copied from a newspaper of the time. -
"Tells me that inclusivity isn't the problem. " There lies the problem. For whatever reason, the wider media has chosen to stigmatize BSA, and really other positive (with the known aberrations) groups such as traditional service organizations for adults, and too often our own civil servants. This has metastasized in the modern era of overly available media output with little control for the larger good. And this problem is rampant in our political machines, socalled entertainment industry, and our educational entities. I have no answer, other than to try and put the positive images forwa
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Did the addition of girls actually improve numbers? The chart doesn't indicate that. The various changes (and I wouldn't call BLM support and the LDS departure an "outside change") haven't brought in the numbers that we were told they would. The numbers in the Boy Scout program didn't change all that much from 1979 to 2019. Even with COVID, if the changes were to have had the desired effect, I would expect the bars for Boy Scouts to have remained the same, not 75% of the previous numbers. COVID has been over for more than a year and the numbers have dropped even more. Tells me that inclu
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Of course it is 5 years old. I used it to illustrate a strategic choice and the thinking process behind it. Let's not kid ourselves though. "Bringing scouting to more youth" is easy to rally around. Reality? BSA is serving 1 million fewer youth than 5 years ago. 1 million fewer (50% less) is not more youth. Perhaps it is a non starter for most of the youth as you say, but I'm not so sure. 50% of them are simply gone. In the last 5 years BSA has failed miserably at serving more youth.
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Interesting article, but it is five years old. On the other hand it reinforces what I have said from the start; that allowing girls is a good thing, and the issues the so called experts raise are pretty much non starters for most of the youth. As always, the adults cause the most waves. The likelihood of coed is almost a reality, and it will in time be just the norm, though a few specific troops likely will still remain.
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And let's not forget that as late as 1990 about 18% of boys in the target population age were in a BSA program and that percentage was still about 15% in 2000. I believe it slid down from there to about 9% by 2017 when Surbaugh and the higher ups decided there were two paths forward. One was to juice the flywheel with laser focus. But, Surbaugh and others thought that meant becoming a "very small, boutique organization serving what's probably a legacy clientele" (quote from article referenced below). So they decided to transform into something else--a saving grace of bigger is better because a
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Fascinating graph. It explains a lot. The rise in scouts was tied to the baby boom a lot more than I realized. I joined in 1971, which was both about the peak and near the end of the baby boom. I don't know what happened in 86 but there was a big bump in cub scouts but no change boy scouts. The other thing I noticed is the connection to the family savings rate and this graph. Nobody even measured it before 1950 because it was so low, but then there was a huge surge in the 60's and a drop off mid to late 70's that has been going down since. Maybe I'm seeing what I want but the lesson to me
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So..if there are folks who were at the Annual meeting, what else was put out as solutions to the decreasing membership numbers. Did any in attendance stand up and scream "how can we fix this before we go out of business" or just death by powerpoint? Name Change....personally don't see hundreds of thousands of youth flocking the council offices to sign up Coed Troops...is the official position that this too will increase membership? Seems like existing co-located units MIGHT merge into one but that isn't assured. CO still have the say. Slides on how many girls are in
- Yesterday
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In the first three decades of our troop it was an NRA club as well. The SM owned a ranch and it had an arroyo. He built a range in the arroyo where the scouts trained. We still have remnants of that in historical items, including an interesting journal of names and scores, along with ammunition used. Sam also ran the local camp range for years, and then someone else from the troop took it over. During WWII, all the members that went in the service were marksmen or experts. Below is an interesting target that apparently was used during the War years. I have no idea where it came fr
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Sadly, that would truly not surprise me in the least. So many of our challenges relate directly to people being too self-centered or simply completely clueless. That, of course brings us back to why Scouting IS still important, if we could just work the basic programs with arm distant adult mentoring. Oh, and lock the lawyers up unless they have a valid reason to be let out. If our society would simply "live the twelve" and see that foundation for what it still is, and was with a few sad exceptions, we would maybe be better off. But blinders seem to have taken over the role of glasses and
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May 11, 2024, Mississippi Valley Council : ADAMS COUNTY, Ill. - An ammunition shed at Saukenauk Scout Reservation’s shotgun range caught fire Thursday, destroying $8,000 of ammo. Mississippi Valley Council Scout Executive Ricci Dula said the shed, constructed as a Wood Badge project, was gutted leaving debris on the range. Only leaders and the reservation’s ranger were onsite at the time. “We’re still determining the cause of the fire,” Dula said. “Nobody was harmed or at any risk of being harmed. The Mendon Fire Department did an exemplary job; the fire could have bee -
Stage 1 .... We are well past this now, but were there in the 80s and 90s.... Another characteristic of stage one decline is the loss of the adventurous, open-minded, searching orientation for continuous learning. Answers are believed to be found in the years of experience, which might be useful, yet often can be blinding in new situations. Typically, generational and positional gaps present themselves with one-up-man-ship dynamics by those with positional power or organizational tenure. The past filters the present so that a true future cannot be created without showing “due” and “respec
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2 gold devices. Or here's a wacky thought... ask the Scout to read the requirements and tell you what he thinks he has earned!
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A panda walks into a bar and eats shoots and leaves OR A panda walks into a bar and eats, shoots, and leaves. Let's eat, Grandma! OR Let's eat Grandma! Commas kill! Or, at least, the lack of one can cost you money! https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/think-commas-don-t-matter-omitting-one-cost-maine-dairy-n847151 Without the comma, the clause causes confusion, but grammatically belongs to its immediate predecessor only. With a comma, it would be an independent clause, and therefore an additional requirement for all. The preceding "or" makes this more potentially more co
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To earn the Cycling Merit Badge a Scout rides a minimum of 150 miles if taking the road cycling option, or 52 miles if taking the mountain bike option. (NB if they do Motorboating they have gone a minimum of a mile, if Horsemanship 60 feet). I do not interpret 2a to be 100. miles in addition to the merit badge, I interpret it to be including the badge. So, if taking the road cycling route the Scout needs an additional 50 miles above and beyond the Cycling Merit Badge. This does illustrate some of the inequity in the award, it is easier to achieve road cycling than mountain bik
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National Annual Reports
InquisitiveScouter replied to RememberSchiff's topic in Open Discussion - Program
And love this one from Stage 2, Undisciplined Pursuit of More - Coinciding within this stage is the loss of key talent. “The right people” begin to leave because the organization has lost sight of its core. Mediocrity permeates performance as tenure supercedes actual performance or growth economies forgive incompetency. Either way, the organization regresses developmentally from people first to product or strategy first. The flow of cash and/or profits hide the inefficiencies so that cost growth is compensated by price increases instead of greater efficiencies through disciplined action a -
National Annual Reports
InquisitiveScouter replied to RememberSchiff's topic in Open Discussion - Program
Hmmm... Stage 4: Grasping for Salvation - Grasping for salvation suggests the organization has lost awareness of the soul of its own greatness. (check) - Change for change sake through a series of “silver bullets”, such as leaps into new technologies, new markets or new businesses become the thread of searching for the “home run” that can bring the organization back into the black (check) - The gap between the ideal and what is real gets larger as “hype precedes results”. No longer wedded to the brutal facts, the focus shifts to imagineering the organization’s saving grace -
Random thought this morning, what happens when people realize that Tenderfoot is a derogatory name for a beginner and people get upset at being called a "Second Class Scout"? Is that suddenly where BSA/SA will put its foot down? Seems kind of arbitrary. If you can change the name of the organization, why can't you change the names of the ranks? On top of that, why have ranks? The rest of WOSM doesn't have ranks, except for the top one in each program. How inclusive is it to say you can't be a certain rank if you haven't spent this certain length of time as the previous rank?
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And the Hawaii tragedy was on a council property... https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/06/17/boy-scouts-admit-30-shooting-investigations-near-misses-prior-big-island-scouts-death/
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They aren't safer... but they have insurance coverage 😜 It's all about the money, brother... Yes... our local fish and game clubs are some of the strongest supporters of our Range and Target Activities (RTA). And they adhere to all range operation restrictions of the BSA. Do those all go away? Seems like it from this pronouncement. Bet the fundraisers will still go... they'll just be adult only. It's all about the money, brother... Dollars to doughnuts the HABs get exempted from this. It's all about the money, brother...
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I am not that worried about a DBA, or Trademark name. I am also not concerned about co-ed troops. I understand the concerns that some have expressed. However, if the Patrol Method and Scout-Led is done correctly, I see those as the mitigating factor for all the concerns. For example, one concern was that some boys want to be separate from the girls; to do their own thing without having to worry about primping etc... Then the Patrol Method and Scout Led is the solution. In a Scout Led, Patrol Method troop, the scouts choose their own patrols so these boys can choose to be all together as a
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I wonder if work culture has also had an impact on membership declines. Both of my parents had good, steady jobs with the same employer for 30+ years, but they rarely worked over 40 hours per week. Today, my wife and are always within 20 feet of our laptops. We log-in during off hours to get caught up or work ahead. At times, I wonder if this is really necessary since our jobs aren't that great; however, they are good enough where we don't want to lose them. I'm sorry to say the thought of taking kids camping for a full weekend sounds exhausting.
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Agreed. I do not know the settlement of the wrongful death suit (August, 2023) against Aloha Council/BSA. Some random concerns I do not understand why "commercial ranges" are assumed safer than member-only sportsmen clubs (prohibited?) or more cooperative with an outside group program. This will likely end Council relationships with local, non-commercial sportsmen club which not only teach firearm safety and marksmanship but often host Klondike Derbies and scout fundraising events (turkey shoots, clay-breaking). The Marksman Experience at Bechtel will have to drop high-po
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@AwakeEnergyScouter, do you really see a lot of damage and suffering caused by men who cling to traditional gender roles? Can you provide an example? I do believe there is such thing as "toxic masculinity" (where one's narrow focus on perceived masculine attributes becomes a net negative on society or their personal relationships), but men embracing the traditional "provider" role is still largely a good thing. Think of how many of today's problems could be solved by a present father who ensured his children were housed, clothed, and fed. I view the lack of masculinity as the greater pitfall.
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Posts
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By ToKindle96 · Posted
I remember the first year girls were admitted the annual report emphasized that some 77K girls joined cub scouts, but neglected to mention there were 91K fewer boys in cub scouts. That trend accelerated. Compare the number of girls in the programs today (175K or so) to the massive decrease in the numbers of boys served (somewhere in the range of -1.1 million compared to 5 years ago. Maybe it was never about "serving more youth." Maybe it was about serving different youth. Remember, Surbaugh said the legacy clientele was no longer good enough for the BSA. -
Bruce Russell; a prize winning political cartoonist of the WWII era. So, likely copied from a newspaper of the time.
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"Tells me that inclusivity isn't the problem. " There lies the problem. For whatever reason, the wider media has chosen to stigmatize BSA, and really other positive (with the known aberrations) groups such as traditional service organizations for adults, and too often our own civil servants. This has metastasized in the modern era of overly available media output with little control for the larger good. And this problem is rampant in our political machines, socalled entertainment industry, and our educational entities. I have no answer, other than to try and put the positive images forward the best I can, and to not dwell on things over which I have little control. Time for a nap.
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Did the addition of girls actually improve numbers? The chart doesn't indicate that. The various changes (and I wouldn't call BLM support and the LDS departure an "outside change") haven't brought in the numbers that we were told they would. The numbers in the Boy Scout program didn't change all that much from 1979 to 2019. Even with COVID, if the changes were to have had the desired effect, I would expect the bars for Boy Scouts to have remained the same, not 75% of the previous numbers. COVID has been over for more than a year and the numbers have dropped even more. Tells me that inclusivity isn't the problem. -
By ToKindle96 · Posted
Of course it is 5 years old. I used it to illustrate a strategic choice and the thinking process behind it. Let's not kid ourselves though. "Bringing scouting to more youth" is easy to rally around. Reality? BSA is serving 1 million fewer youth than 5 years ago. 1 million fewer (50% less) is not more youth. Perhaps it is a non starter for most of the youth as you say, but I'm not so sure. 50% of them are simply gone. In the last 5 years BSA has failed miserably at serving more youth.
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