Leaderboard

We haven't heard enough from them this year?

It would be even better if people can communicate, cooperate and compromise in a reasonable manner rather than having edicts handed down from on high. I am wondering about this scenario, which is hypothetical but still related to Cubber's situation: Webelos 2's (or I guess they call them Arrow of Lights (Arrows of Light?) now) are about to cross over and are all deciding which troop to join. One choice is the troop at the same CO (Troop 1), which has lost all its boys, and the crossovers from this pack will be the only boys in the troop. (Which as we have recently learned is not necess

The people she is describing as naturalists are not naturalists (ok, they could be naturalists also but not in the context she is using the term). Naturalists study nature - especially plants and/or animals. In the context of climate change, naturalists are only concerned with it as a way to study how animals and plants react to it - they aren't advocating a position either way. Environmentalists work to preserve the environment - and yes, these days, it's pretty much done in the political zone. What she is comparing environmentalists to are better referred to as Conservationis

The first line of BSA's position description says it all. Everything that the Cubmaster does is aimed at helping the individual boy.

Neither are we. Compared to the Ordovician-Silurian and Jurassic-Cretaceous periods, we have lots more people, cattle, and internal combustion engines. CO2 levels were 4000 and 2000 ppm by volume, respectively during those periods. Poor Ginko trees. I think we can make it worse than it has been in the recent past, and have, but I cannot swallow all the Flavor Aide. And the issue has become political. Main problem seems to be too many people for the size of the aquarium. https://www.wfp.org/stories/10-facts-about-hunger-bangladesh

I have observed the same things as Cleveland. The museums, groups, and non-profits that offer Merit Badges close to their area of expertise often do a much better job than the actual BSA ones. In addition in the last few years I have observed it is many of the Scouts, not just the parents that want the easier rapid badges and advancement. I'd like to blame it on the worksheets that started as tools but seem like the goal all the way into High School, perceived hyper competitiveness for stellar college applications, and a shift toward being able to retrieve the answer via the internet over

I consider Baden-Powell, Seton, Beard and Audubon to be primarily naturalists. They studied plants and animals and/or encouraged others to study nature. They didn't spend much time on thinking about or encouraging the conservation of natural resources. Hornaday and T. Roosevelt I put in the ranks of conservationists (though Hornaday was zoologist which pretty much automatically makes him a naturalist too). Both were leaders in the forefront of conservation. Were any of them environmentalists? I would suggest no - they weren't really concerned with the systems of nature, the syst

In case I am too busy this holiday in the pond with the Turtle Family...Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

I sympathize with you. This has been our biggest problem this year. Fortunately, the two biggest crossover rabble rousers have transferred to another troop. God help them!

This sense that certain kids "belong" to a given unit has been around "forever," and is unseemly and bogus.

National Camping Standards require that a Camp be "certified" by BSA only if the camp has a Merit badge Counselor for each MB offered. I have attended numerous council camps over the last twenty-five years. Not one had Merit Badge Counselors for a majority of the MBs offered. That is on the paid Scouters who run the camps and National that elects to ignore its own standards. "Why if we did that, we could only offer a couple of dozen badges." Truly, if unit Scouters were doing there jobs and being "trustworthy," most camps would either stop cheating or close for lack of victims. S

No he not. He is looking out for the best interest of his Scout. I would argue CM he has that obligation for all of “his” Scouts.

Yes, in fact those are expressly verboten (read Officially discouraged) by the OA. Any difference in level is not allowed (read Officially discouraged) in flaps. The only items that can be distinctive to level are the sash and for vigil a device on the dangle. I have seen temporary patches like mini sashes, I am not sure if those are approved, discouraged or if National just turns a blind eye.

We already know what National will do if there is pushback on tougher requirements: CAVE IN (emphasis). I say that because National caved in on the new Cub Scout requirements less than 18 months after they came out. National also caved in on the camping requirements for Second and First Class within 18 months of them becoming required. And National caved in on the Eagle Palms TWICE! First time they ignored 94% of those polled who believe strongly or very strongly that palms should not be awarded instantly and the 3 months tenure is important. Then when people were upset with the arbitrary

Then there be no Eagle Scouts. At least not in the age of the Eagle project. One may stumble across the shiny stones called merit badges, maybe even the positions of responsibility, but not the Eagle project. The project, by nature, requires a plan and thus a goal. No goal, no plan. No plan, no project. No project, no Eagle. Besides, as teachers, we should be teaching our youth to set goals and strive to achieve them. If not, then they are in for a rude awakening as adults. Must their goal be Eagle Scout? No, but if that is their goal, we should not discourage them, or dic

The most important thing in the Boy’s journey is just that, it must be the boys doing, not his moms. We find the most successful Scouts come into the Troop with a group of friends and all work together and push each other towards Eagle.

My troop has had 4 Eagles in less than a year. We had a total of 5. 2 earned it young, 2 at the last minute (BoR after 18th birthdays), and 1 at 16. My son earned Eagle at 14, almost 4 years ago. He was done his badges by 13, but wasn't ready to head up a project. A project fell into his lap and he pulled it off by 14. We were in an 'Eagle mill' troop for his first 2.5 yrs of Boy Scouts. They did Eagle badges each month in troop meetings, pushed the boys to go to MB fairs and to max out their summer camp schedules with badge classes. His first CoH he got 4 Eagle Required badges and 4 mor

Hmm. Does that apply to performance in school as well? To future employment? To the military, if they go? I think part of the purpose of the advancement program is to give the Scouts experience in setting a goal and achieving it - or not achieving it, and learning from the experience either way. As for your shiny-stone-on-the-path analogy, I think the requirements are really a mixture of things that one might happen upon while walking down the path (such as learning outdoor skills while on a camping trip and advancing accordingly) and things where one has to make a special trip (such as,

I agree with what everyone else said - CC cannot mandate where Webelos go, that's up to the individual Scouts and their parents. That being said, there are some advantages to starting a Troop from the ground up in that the boys will have instant leadership opportunities they may not receive in other units. We started a new Troop with all Webelos and one sibling who was a Tenderfoot, he was our first SPL at age 13. On the other hand, many boys may prefer more established programs. Best of luck!

There is nothing inherent about MB Pow-Wows (sorry, love that term over University) that would prevent scouters from following the process to the letter. The Pow-Wows that I attended taught me the process. The SM posted the announcement about it on the cork board (which the SPL dutifully announced) we decided to go, I started looking into the requirements for the MB's I was interested in tried out a requirement or two, told my SM, went with my card, met a counselor, partialed, follow-ed up later.

I started scouts as a cub. Earned Life by age 14. Completed the last bit of stuff 4 months before my 18th. I enjoyed the program. I got a lot out of the program and it very strongly influenced who I became as an adult. For the intervening years between 14 and 18, I always thought it would be nice to be an Eagle scout, but I didnt really care enough. Too much like school work for me. Parents put their foot down and strongly encouraged me to wrap things up the last six months. Glad they did because I needed the encouragement. I have two sons. One didnt join scouts until couples mo

Yes, exactly. What we found is the troops would attend the MBC and the scouts would come home with a hand full of MBs. That was easy, a lot easier than managing a program where scouts searched for a counselor, called the counselor, filled out the Blue Card and got the SM signature, and then set up a series of meetings with the counselor. Taking a path of least resistance, the adults got in the habit of letting the MBCs and summer camp do the hard work. IN THE PROCESS of going this route, scouts didn't learn how to search for counselors, didn't learn how to communicate with the counselors

I know when I Crossed Over in 1985, my buddies signed up for First Year Camper, and the rest of those going to summer camp signed up for MB classes. I didn't go that summer, so I cannot comment. When I did go to summer camp in '86, I was taking MB classes. That troop, the one I grew up in, essentially had a policy: 5 MBs classes max, preferably 4. Everyone, adults and Scouts, wanted you to have at least 1 free period to have fun doing free swim, boating, and shooting. Plus a lot of the MBs required extra work outside of class. I remember many a night that I was working on MBs under a lant

I have a very different speech that I gave to all of my athletes and scouts. I told them that, in 5 years time, if any of them still cared one iota about any of the victories or losses they experienced in school, I would be very disappointed. All youth awards should have an expiration date on them, for those who get them as well as for those who don't.