Leaderboard

Adults are the worst enemy to patrol method. We apply our sensibilities and biases to a process that the youth see no issue with. Last campout we had 5 patrols. 1 patrol was two scouts. 1 patrol was four scouts. They had a great time, they cooked and enjoyed their meals and were happy to have only their own dishes to contend with. I subscribe completely the B-P's POV: "The patrol system is not one method in which Scouting can be carried on. It is the only method." There is another tenant of B-P I fully subscribe to: "My ideal camp is where everyone is cheery and busy, whe

When my financial advisor found out I was a scout leader and taking other people's kids in my car and out camping, he recommended I carry umbrella liability insurance. I have done so for 30 years now. It is very reasonable in cost. You can be perfectly innocent and not at fault, but if you get sued or accused, it can cost you everything to defend yourself. Such is today's litigious society that feels if my kid gets hurt, SOMEONE has to pay, no matter the reason.

Salomon Rushdie spoke on 60 minutes regarding censorship. "There seems to be a kind of growing orthodoxy, particularly amongst young people, that censorship … is a good thing," Rushdie told correspondent Anderson Cooper. "The thing that's different now is that it's also coming from progressive voices," he said. "There are progressive voices saying that certain kinds of speech should be not permitted because it offends against this or that vulnerable group." Rushdie said that when speech is suppressed, the people who are first impacted are often minority groups. "To suppor

4/16/2024: Sixteen-year-old Emily Green, a first-generation Costa Rican American is a Eagle Scout. Her family came to this country with practically nothing, living in shelters, finally getting help from the Scouts. During the Report to the State, she addressed lawmakers at the Massachusetts State House. "Scouting has been instrumental in shaping my character and learning essential life skills. I started as a little girl, joining my brother, who's also an Eagle Scout, in his Scout troops. Then I joined a progressive co-ed troop and advanced through the ranks from a cub scout to Eagle

We solved the "3x the work" cooking issue by camping next to the parking lot and ordering out-by patrols, of course. Separate patrol checks. Scouts can't cook, but at least "Thrifty" is a work-in-progress.

This was the BSA version I am familiar with.

Train them. Trust them. Let them lead. It is 3x less work for SM..... Since the adult "patrol" is cooking for 3 people, not for 11.

My suggestion is to love the past and the involvement. Then, move on. Find the next place to volunteer. Scouting is not the end-all-be-all of life.

Interesting articles in the last few days. Uri Berliner (NPR editor) published editorial about NPR, bias, DEI and other related topics. Really well thought out. https://www.thefp.com/p/npr-editor-how-npr-lost-americas-trust Uri Berliner suspended by NPR. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/media/npr-suspends-uri-berliner-liberal-bias/index.html I'm a four decade long NPR listener from three different parts of the country. My local channels have absolutely been incredible. But like the article says, I've had a hard time continuing listening recently becau

Sadly they may never be able to get back. I know someone who was falsely accused, and was never reinstated after the investigation supported her story.

She thinks that way because she didn’t have a scouting experience as a youth. Patrol method is only limited by adults fears. I used to teach a course teaching adults how to push their fears boundaries out. The adults need to ask themselves what it would take to let the patrols to cook on their own. I’m not a fan of no cooking, but some healthy easy to fix meals might help the adults grow in the program. Discussion? Barry

Girl Scout saves boy's life by using CPR training she learned months before harrowing event. I like Mom's comment at end. Scout salute.

What can we say, other than good for her. https://richmond.com/opinion/column/hanover-hypocrisy-book-censorship-girl-scout/article_ca2c06be-fde7-11ee-8aea-939bb71a3f14.html

Scoutlike discussion? Locking for now. @Eagle1993 @gpurlee @T2Eagle @MattR

No, I do not expect apologies from parasites, I expect an apology from a scout who called a large number of other scouts liars based upon unfounded accusations. (That would be YOU.)

I'm surprised we don't hear about more issues with the YMCA. Perhaps my BSA training has made me hypersensitive to compromising situations. When taking my son to swim lessons, I skip the family changing area and opt for the men's room where they still have a dedicated wing for parents of young children. The locker room is partitioned for privacy (seriously, it's like a maze), but that also would make it difficult for a staff member or well-meaning bystander to intervene if they saw inappropriate activities. We always try to get in and out as fast as possible (you can shower at home, kid).

It looks like this ill-fated program was rolled-out during my 15-year Scouting hiatus between the time I worked at my local council camp in college and when my son was old enough to join Cub Scouts. I'm guessing the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis put an emphasis on marketable degrees and the BSA (already suffering from membership declines), tried to prop themselves up by attaching themselves to the STEM movement? And people actually voted to turn Scouts into night school? 😂

@fred8033, one of the first Google hits I came across suggested that Girl Scout membership declined from 2.8 million in 2003 to ~1 million in 2021. This would be a point-to point decrease of ~65% over an 18-year span. According to a table I pulled from Wikipedia, BSA membership went from 3.2 million in 2003 to ~1 million in 2021. This would be a point-to point decrease of ~69% over the same period. While some of the BSA's issues have been self-inflicted, I do think the membership challenges are part of a larger societal trend - kids just have a lot more choices these days (and that's

@jumpingjoj, I'm not too familiar with the bankruptcy process. How exactly did a scout leader get roped into this? Aside from someone getting physically hurt under my charge, this is pretty much my worst nightmare as a scout volunteer. Unless the accused wanted to lawyer-up to clear their name (with a limited success rate and drawing more attention to themselves in the process), their efforts may be better spent elsewhere. We're only given so much time on this Earth - why spend it on an organization that would turn on them so quickly?

While I was not involved in Cub Scouts at the time, a quick Google search brought up an article from the September-October 2008 edition of Scouting Magazine detailing how to use those beads, along with the white diamond that held the lanyards for them as a part of Tiger Cub advancement and immediate recognition. How to use beads to encourage Tiger Cub advancement - Scouting magazine

I was a Cubmaster during that period and am not familiar with this. Looks like a local Unit-specific thing, not official BSA.

04/19/2024 Iowa: Just before deadline, Gov. Reynolds signs statute of limitations bill for Iowa Boy Scout abuse victims. Sources: https://dailyiowan.com/2024/04/19/iowa-gov-kim-reynolds-signs-law-helping-boy-scout-sexual-abuse-survivors/ https://www.kcrg.com/2024/04/19/gov-reynolds-signs-bill-help-boy-scout-sex-abuse-victims/

"...the most damaging development at NPR: the absence of viewpoint diversity." Thanks. Ironically perhaps, I find myself reading bbc.com more and npr less for balanced US news.

04/17/2024: U.S. to Pay Victims of Larry Nassar $100 Million Over FBI Failures "The agreement with around 100 women brings the final price-tag for settlements over the former gymnastics team doctor close to $1 billion." Sources: https://www.wsj.com/sports/olympics/larry-nassar-fbi-failures-18067a65 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/justice-department-settlement-talks-pay-100-million-larry-nassar-victi-rcna148235

This part I hate - the DE's job shouldn't be number of units, it should be number of Scouts! A few well-run units is much better for the youth than a multitude of badly-run/tiny/dying units. It's better to keep the Scouts than lose everything, surely!

The kind found by advertising done by legal vultures. Jus t saying.

I know you are right. The whole not knowing the accuser, not knowing what was alleged, where, when. Is all so wrong. What kind of person ruins a person and makes this accusation just to get $3500.

We have no idea how many of those claims are real. And this link suggests this is also just the point of the iceberg. The tar and feathers is due most likely many schools, the Y as here noted, Boys and Girls clubs, uncounted sports groups, and any other youth group the creeps manage to get into. That is the point. The issue is not just BSA, and indications are that based on membership over many decades, the percentages of proven abuse are low in comparison to many. But, the stats are vague, and more is likely unreported or acknowledged than is known. IF the legal vultures decide to go af

82,000 claimants in BSA Bankruptcy. I guess when an organization has more claims against it.

Awesome. I just wanted to get it out there. It feels better to be validated.

That would be three separate menus/shopping/cooking/cleanup in our unit, so three patrols. 3 olders is enough for a "patrol."

It is my understanding that yes it is. One would think they would keep the domain and just forward it to scouting.org forever. The lab coats aren't on scoutshop.org any longer. After I wrote the above, I realized that it used to be on beascout.org and isn't there. I used the waybackmachine to see that sometime between April 2022 and August, the option to search for STEM Scouts was removed.

After drifting away from it, our PLC has set "Return to Patrol Method" as a goal for this year. We bought more stoves and refreshed the gear, building patrol boxes that have the same contents so every Patrol can operate distinctly and without disadvantage from another. It's a great start. And it's been working great, but ... on outings I think us adults have sidestepped a part of the Patrol Method that I think maybe the Scouts "just get". Here's the crux: A patrol "should be" 6-8 Scouts. We went with 10, to improve the odds that 4-8 would attend outings. For meetings, this has been

Heretic!

Poor forecasting is an understatement. A big problem is location. Not near a major airport, so using it for training opportunities is pretty darn tough. We've got municipal airports in the northeast that dwarf Raleigh County Memorial Airport, and you can't get flights to it without zig-zagging around the US from some destinations. I suspect that is why things like the annual meeting, OA national committee meetings, etc. are not often making the rounds to be held there. There is limited onsite hotel accommodations at the Summit, but to me, we are in a camping-oriented program, so use it for NOA

Take a freaking chill. I guess the 6 different versions of the handbook that span a few decades I have that don't mention this must all be wrong then? It was your SM that had the requirement, as SM has the final approval of who goes on the ballot. Accept that and move on. I see no reason to mandate what should already be an SM function- heard directly by a member of the National Board who is a former Associate Lodge Adviser from my Lodge that this question has been posed to them before, and was raised last year again when the discussion to allow Venturers and Sea Scouts in (as those p

That's not an apology, bud.

Where do you get your information? Are you part of the settlement trust? When you say "many cannot", how many are you saying, what is the percentage? Have you read the claims? Except for what you have read do you know the lawyers? Do you actually even know a claimant? Have you walked in any of our shoes? As a survivor who was well vetted by a law firm who has filed 1600 claims I am disturbed by your constant attitude of trying to make the BSA look like the victim in all of this. It was the BSA who filed the Bankruptcy and ran their own ads for survivors to come forward. I know this becaus