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  1. Scouts with Disabilities

    Where parents and scouters go to discuss unique aspects to working with kids with special challenges.

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  2. Going to the next Jamboree?

    A place to chat about Scouting's biggest gathering

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9751 topics in this forum

  1. Merit Badge classes

    By sctmom,
    • 5 replies
    • 1.6k views

  2. Other Forums

    By LongHaul,
    • 2 replies
    • 1.4k views

  3. Is there a Scout Troop in Mesquite Texas?

    By OldGreyEagle,
    • 1 reply
    • 1.2k views

  4. Other Forums

    By LongHaul,
    • 1 reply
    • 1.4k views

  5. "Who Teaches?" "Who Signs?"

    By LongHaul,
    • 14 replies
    • 2.6k views

  6. Merit Badge Counselors

    By sctmom,
    • 13 replies
    • 2.3k views

  7. Webelos Woods

    By evmori,
    • 5 replies
    • 1.7k views

  8. How do you handle? 1 2 3 4

    By sctmom,
    • 45 replies
    • 8.3k views

  9. Music To Scouting Thunder

    By OldGreyEagle,
    • 8 replies
    • 3.6k views

  10. Integrated Hispanic/Anglo Troop

    By StanF,
    • 5 replies
    • 1.6k views

  11. Special meal arrangements

    By jps,
    • 11 replies
    • 2.2k views

  12. Seton's Woodcraft

    By sctmom,
    • 0 replies
    • 1.2k views

  13. A bit of a heads up....

    By le Voyageur,
    • 1 reply
    • 1.3k views

  14. Patrol Sketchbook and Other things.....

    By mthughes,
    • 0 replies
    • 2.5k views

  15. The purpose of Merit Badges

    By yarrow,
    • 7 replies
    • 2.3k views

  • LATEST POSTS

    • SiouxRanger
      1915 Society Endowment Program

      By SiouxRanger · Posted

      Not to put too fine a point on it, but lawyers work FOR their client, they are not the client. Lawyers give advice based on their evaluation of the law, and just about any other factor, legal or not, they believe relevant, limited only by their creativity and wisdom. (The "other factor" component of the lawyer's advice is immeasurably more complex than mere legal reasoning. The law part is easy.) What a client actually does, that is, what we see them do, is not a reflection of the quality of the legal advice given.  The client could have followed lousy legal advice, or rejected superb legal advice.
    • BetterWithCheddar
      Cost of Scouting vs Cost of Sports

      By BetterWithCheddar · Posted

      Once again, I think youth sports are the winner of SA's recent action. They manage to stay squeaky clean while Scouting has been stuck in the mud since before COVID. The two aren't perfect substitutes (as this thread has established), but they still compete for a finite pool of time, energy, and money. My son is just barely hanging on to Cub Scouts. Sometimes I wonder if he's doing it just to humor me. Most of his favorite den mates dip in and out for youth sports (as does he, occasionally).  The few regulars are mainly "indoor kids." They've tried team sports. It wasn't for them. Now they're in Cub Scouts because they like being part of a team, but the stakes are much lower. I'd like my son to stick with Scouting, but I'm running low on energy. One thing this thread hasn't acknowledged is that sometimes parents just want to see their kid win. I'll surmise it's especially true for fathers and their sons. There's just something primal about seeing your genes rise to the top. Even my wife, who is pretty well-grounded and considers herself above the fray, takes satisfaction in knowing that her son is better than so-and-so's son. This feeling probably drives spending more than most care to admit. With all of the membership changes of the past decade (of which I'm largely supportive), pretty much anyone can become an Eagle Scout if they attend enough merit badge seminars on the weekend. Membership is 1/3 of what it was at the turn of the century, yet the number of new Eagle Scouts per year has remained fairly consistent. For those parents who value excellence in youth programming (and those too sheepish to admit it), it's become more difficult to point to the Eagle Scout award as a mark of superiority. I'm not implying that Scouting is bad (still a huge advocate) or that it needs to change (it's still pretty good), but it's not meeting the needs of some high-achieving families.
    • BetterWithCheddar
      1915 Society Endowment Program

      By BetterWithCheddar · Posted

      Yeah, this is really bad (if true). If you're going to solicit large donations for an endowment, there's a professional and moral obligation to ensure they're protected to the fullest extent. Beyond the endowments, there has probably been a working-class family in every council who gifted their own modest estate in order to have a new health lodge or shooting sports range built at their favorite camp. And now that camp is gone. I'm just glad they're no longer here to see their life's work squandered.
    • BetterWithCheddar
      It's about time that Scouting WOKE up

      By BetterWithCheddar · Posted

      The knee was already bent with the membership changes and Citizenship in Society merit badge. Now it's being hyperextended the other way. In between it filed for bankruptcy. Let's face it, we're really limping along here.
    • BetterWithCheddar
      Citizenship in Society MB Discontinued

      By BetterWithCheddar · Posted

      This was my biggest issue. It catered to one side and felt very reactionary. I'm not thrilled about the roll-back either for the same reasons. The damage is done. There are no winners.
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