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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/12/18 in all areas

  1. @lupacexi First welcome to scouter. Your post is off topic so you may want to start a new topic in our U23 ASEAN FC section. Also, Cho was offsides at 23’ so it should have been a draw. So, please return to the topic at hand... Scouting options in the Sioux Falls area.
    3 points
  2. Once again we prove the adage that ""The work is done by whoever shows up"" You can elect, you can appoint, but the boys will see who does what. And they will ultimately decide what they will do. Either by jumping in or by dragging feet. If the ADULTS decide, the boys will never have to. If the BOYS decide, they will find out how it feels to succeed at something they decided on. No matter who decides, if no one shows up, nothing gets done.
    2 points
  3. As stated I asked my children. It has been a few days so I will paraphrase and hopefully get the idea across. I started by asking what they thought about suspending the time in rank requirement for Miss Ireland. Almost in unison (one made a statement, the other a rhetorical question) time is a requirement. Me: But she has spent time working the requirements. Son: But not as a Scout. Me: But she was not allowed to become a Scout Daughter: I am not allowed to be a Venturer yet, but I have done most of the requirements, does that mean I get to count ALL of the stuff I did already
    2 points
  4. Yes, it was very nice to see the write-up of William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt in this month's Scouting. When I came back to Scouting as an adult I visited a Troop near my house and after about a month the Troop Committee asked me if I'd be their Scoutmaster. What a dream come true! Though, I wanted to make sure I knew as much as I could going into it, so I re-read my 9th edition handbook and really started to get into the other writings of Green Bar Bill. He became my personal guide. We in the BSA owe a debt of gratitude for the efforts GBB made to keep the outing in Scouting and for br
    2 points
  5. Looks like a helicopter dad with an AK-47 in the upper left hand corner. Whatcha think?
    2 points
  6. I've done the Siberian camping. The boys build snow huts, I'm too lazy so I meadow crash under the stars. Woke up one morning and it had snowed 2", the boys found me from the whale hole exhaust I was putting out. Was doing okay until I had to sit up and all the snow went down my neck. Coffee! Coffee! Where's the coffee!
    2 points
  7. I worked all my life and never qualified for any pension plans. I did my own 401k and investments on my own and was forced to do Social Security. My paltry SS benefit for what I put in is a sham. My 401k and investments, however, allowed me to retire quite comfortably as I wanted to. I am 5 years older than my wife. I turned 65 and retired and I didn't want to spend the first five years of my retirement with the wife working. I took all my finances down to a financial investment service and had them crunch the numbers and determine when the wife could retire. After a week I get a
    2 points
  8. I don't mind if my topics go afield, the whole point of my threads center around a virtual campfire. No one stays on topic very long but the conversation is always worth every minute.
    1 point
  9. You are right, but missed the point. We've all identified that same work around. The issue is BSA is marketing a contradiction. BSA is promoting "family" scouting, but hinted at single gender troops. That design would be inherently a contradiction, an oxymoron and no different than today but with girl troops.
    1 point
  10. Depends on the reason he's struggling. For my son it was often just not paying attention in some subjects, talking too much and not getting instructions, not writing down homework etc. Others were he just didn't get the info that was being taught, that was math. He struggled pretty much almost every year in math from the 1st grade to now which is 9th grade.  In grammar school after forgetting to hand in homework or forgetting he had homework beacuse he didn't write the assignment down. I did drop the hammer, I told him no more scouts, no more playing basketball, no more friends ever comin
    1 point
  11. Now I can hang out in the troop's office at the church for all eternity...that will be great
    1 point
  12. Come on now, having those bank robbers and other miscreants around the campfire will up the bar on conversation. "So Mr Smith, how easy was it to evade the FBI?"
    1 point
  13. One thing I am not a fan of: conferring rank on the basis of the squeaky wheel. There is likely some other 16 year-old girl out there quietly putting up with this "outrageous and embarrassing" situation - documenting every skill/activity/responsibility along the way, but whose family and troop is keeping her out of the magnifying glass. There are certainly other women who have the paper trail to prove they did everything to advance according to the rules of their day -- except be male. I do think the nobler thing for BSA to do is give all of those cases due recognition. But, if it is
    1 point
  14. Boys play nice or at least make the bickering more flavorful and entertaining.
    1 point
  15. I am concerned that the conceptual model of 'Family Camping' will only hold up until a few unregistered siblings get hurt at an event and a good lawyer finds big enough hole to drive a "this is really an offical BSA event" through. Even partial liability will be worth a few new pages in Scouter. I guess it gives risk management job security along with the headaches.
    1 point
  16. Yes...and I would encourage it if he's really good. I would advise you to also identify other guys who could under-study him should he get re-elected.
    1 point
  17. Don't know about the pocket rocket, but compared to my Whisperlite, the noise of my Trangia and Batchstovez 2.0FE is astounding. Instead of jets on afterburner, I actually hear birds, cats, and my hoodlums.
    1 point
  18. What if the parents are registered as Cub Scout leaders and the siblings are Cub Scouts? Yes, we had that happen. ASM brought his TDL wife and Tiger to camporee. When I brought it to the adults in the troop's attention that Cub Scouts, except Webelos checking out troop, were not allo wed to camp at camporee, I got so much pushback that the family was "family camping," and that the Tiger would not be an issue, I said the heck with it. DE brought this on by allowing a Cub event at the same time and location as camporee. I had bigger issues to deal with, especially since I had to redo a camp
    1 point
  19. Faster than Light speed is too slow.... Prepare for ... LUDICROUS SPEED
    1 point
  20. The first fieldbook is one of the best publications ever done by bsa. I would argue that it is possible to have an awesome scouting program if patrols focused only on the fieldbook and did the pow wows.
    1 point
  21. IMHO, families will view their BSA unit as "tour guides" and hold the BSA and unit responsible for anything that goes wrong on any outdoor activities. Perhaps when a scout activity transforms into a family activity, the SM pulls the plug on any troop/BSA involvement. No troop gear used, no discussion/planning of Family Outing on troop time, not on the troop calendar, no advancement, .... For a scout activity, the SM/TC needs to manage the adult herd to only those needed for supervision and logistics, similar to the way schools chaperone class trips. My $0.02
    1 point
  22. @lupacexiWelcome to scouter.com . As @Eagle1993 reminded, please stay on Scouting topics . The Sioux Council of Boy Scouts should have information regarding scout troops in Sious Falls. https://www.facebook.com/siouxbsa/
    1 point
  23. It came at Roundtable tonight. Does anyone know what the Lone Scout requirements are for Eagle and how they differ from the standard requirements? With the small boy units in small towns, getting 4-5 girls together to start a female troop would preclude any gals wanting eagle. Lone Scout for Girls might be the fast track needed to get Ms. Ireland into first place in the race to eagle. After all, I highly doubt Ms. Ireland got the Canadian award by showing up at their weekly meetings being from the US. Do the Canadians have an equivalent Lone Scout program? It might be nice t
    1 point
  24. I just got back from my UC/roundtable meeting and this issue came up on the rechartering discussion we had. If a mom and/or dad shows up for a scout outing and are not registered (and to be registered they need YPT) , they are NOT covered by any BSA insurance. Neither are unregistered siblings whether the parents are registered or not. One has to be registered to be covered. Also the parent who is not registered and YPT trained as the 2-deep puts not only themselves in limbo, they open up the CO to any liability issues as well. One might be wise to find out what the CO's insurance is and
    1 point
  25. Some new info from TroopWebHost: ” TroopWebHost will support the ability to transfer advancement data to the new Scoutbook Lite program. The BSA has confirmed that Scoutbook Lite will provide the ability to upload advancement information from a CSV file, similar to the Internet Advancement upload function. TroopWebHost will be able to produce a file in the required format. We are in direct communication with the BSA IT group and expect to receive detailed specifications in plenty of time to allow our customers to make a smooth transition.”
    1 point
  26. If that were a major concern, why doesn't BSA address the issue? There are plenty of opportunities for growth other than PL and SPL. And once again the adults get their hands in it and the boy's wishes take a back seat.
    1 point
  27. In all honesty, it depends on the size of the troop. My troop has 12 scouts, with only 3 senior. Two of them do not want to be SPL so I was it again. If it’s a big Troop, everyone should get a chance if they want one.
    1 point
  28. Good questions. The assumption is that because it is a 'family camp out" with each family responsible for themselves, they do not have to follow BSA rules. But I bet if an accident happens, things will hit the fan.
    1 point
  29. My troop does not allow consecutive terms for any elected PORs. Appointed are a different matter. But there is now a push by adults to change the rules so that you only get 1 term of office in a position. That's because the other adults say same the same people keep getting elected, and it's a popularity contest. My opinion is that the Scouts know best who will get the job done, and vote for those Scouts. One person upset has a son who, when he ran for PL voted for the other person. Another son ran for PL and was not elected. Due to extracurriculars, he has been to only 1 meeting since electi
    1 point
  30. What is shocking about the Boy Scout brand right now is if you go onto Google and do a search for "Boy Scouts" most of what you see is NOT what we should be seeing from a healthy and loved program. Most of what you see are about Girls in the Boy Scouts and most those pages go out of their way to attack boys. There are many stories about pedophile scout leaders. Many pages about getting God out of scouting. While talking to boys ages 11 to 17 about joining scouts, I get an earful of bad impressions young men now have of scouting that was not the case back in the 1970's when I was a sco
    1 point
  31. Hmmmm, if rule making by adults is important to the operation of the troop, why not have an opportunity for each boy to be SPL for a 1 week, 1 term election and then everyone can mark it off on their resume/college application they were an SPL. From all the negative feedback about SPL's not doing their job very well, most troops wouldn't notice any difference. As a UC that goes around fighting fires in units all the time, when it comes to elections in troops, I would venture to say about 100% of the times people are upset about leadership selection in troops is because of adult made up r
    1 point
  32. Comrade, the survey will have overwhelming support regardless of the outcome. (You will of course not get the survey.) And as for you Citizen Stosh I here the camping is delightful in Siberia this year.
    1 point
  33. After 45+ years, I took my boys out for a camping/fishing outing this past fall. We got out there in the rain and it literally down-poured while setting up camp, in the dark. I had warned my boys that this day was going to be coming down the road someday and voila, there it was in full fury. After helping the boys get settled in, it was my time to set up my tent..... NO WAY. I crawled into the back of my pickup truck to get out of the rain, blew up the air mattress so I didn't sleep on the rippled flooring, changed into dry clothes and went to bed. The mattress leaked so I got up every ho
    1 point
  34. I encourage patrol camping over troop camping. 2 vehicles is usually enough for a patrol (6-8 scouts) and gear plus the two adults driving (3 at most). No need for trailer, or plethora of adults. Most locations for awesome trips don't have space for 20 people to camp, many areas do not allow groups sizes that big anyway. The ones that do are car camping sites. Many issues troops have, as referenced in this thread could be mitigated by focusing on patrol camping. Save the troop-centric camping for the camporees, etc... There are many other benefits as well. For example, Imagine a patrol trip wi
    1 point
  35. Did we change topics? I get confused when we sometimes we’re told to stay on topic and other times we go so far off.
    1 point
  36. I’ve listened to my dad preach this to PLC during training every year, but wouldn’t everyone going rafting need a swim test and certain training? Don’t you need a trained adult to particant ratio too? I can tell you if my unit went family about 90 percent of the scouts would quit. We use scouting to be with friends and not hang with mom, dad and little sister.
    1 point
  37. ^^^^^^ This a 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times!!! Why would you take away something that gets him outdoors, teaches him things and builds character. Take away all screen time. No phone, computer, laptop, game console or anything else until grades are up. Take away sleep overs, sports or even something special (no Halloween or special trip) if he isn't performing. My kid missed trick or treat one year because he had zeros in English class. Another time we had a stay-cation because my daughter decided to openly fail a class. No Disney, we stayed home. Recently I took my teena
    1 point
  38. Some of the finest people and Scouters I have encountered have been, are or were council employees. The impressive council employees have been, were, and are a distinct minority of all council employees. This have been true here at least since 1981. The impressive council employees tend to leave for better-paying jobs with shorter hours and less frustration. Even the "lifer" types tend to be gone in under three years. This have been true here at least since 1981. In other words, the ones you want to keep leave. Those who stay until ? are usually the "otherwise unemployabl
    1 point
  39. When you actually see that a patrol isn't having fun! Even then, the first (or even second, third, or fourth) discussion isn't about reassigning leadership positions. It's more after action review: what went well? What didn't go so well? What should we do differently next time? (A.k.a., thorn, rose, and bud.) Get the patrol in a circle and have each member rattle off an answer to each question. This gives the PL feedback on the next move in leadership development. If you get a patrol to do this automatically, You'll have intervened without them even knowing it. If leadership change i
    1 point
  40. I've never been completely convinced by that, at least not in a scouting context. What is true is that girls become more articulate than boys at an earlier age which can give the impression of maturing more quickly. I think it a mistake though to necessarily see that as a sign of excessive wisdom. Boys and girls tend to bring different things to the troop/patrol.
    1 point
  41. I just had a conversation with a very young second class scout who already completed a term as PL. I'm not sure how youth-led his troop is. But it does show that other SM's are willing to let this sort of thing play out. The boy said he wants to try to be troop Scribe for a while. He's starting to get good at it.
    1 point
  42. I let my boys know up front that they have 100% of my trust in all their decisions they may make. However, if that trust is ever broken, they will never again achieve 100% I then leave it up to them to decide how they wish to proceed. Out of the past 45+ years, that trust has been broken maybe a half-dozen times. The interesting thing about broken trust, the boys that want to earn it back work harder than those that simply maintain it in the first place. The biggest obstacle to this whole thing is whether or not the adults wish to trust in the first place. A few, like me, do. Most d
    1 point
  43. Keep it in mind that females at this age are scientifically proven to be on average 2 years more mature than males. With that being said, one could feel fairly confident that she would be on par with an equivalent 13 year old male.
    1 point
  44. I don't think you should override the youth decision in this case without actual evidence, either from her prior behavior or their prior judgement that the decision is necessarily a poor one. I would probably watch a little more closely and check in with her patrol mates a little more directly as to her performance, but you don't have reason to do more than that. As to her leading the patrol on an overnight, who else is in her patrol? Is she leading a patrol full of other 11 year olds? If she wasn't the PL would the make-up of the patrol change significantly. It may be true that
    1 point
  45. We often have the new scout patrol choose their PL from among their ranks, so that boy could be around 11 or 12 years of age. BSA no longer lets members hike or camp independently with their mates, so official solo camps are off the table. But, this is Western Pennsylvania, so keeping some clusters of boys (and, sometimes, their girlfriends) from soloing would be like keeping the wind from blowing. Those clusters, however, tend to be older. So, your instincts about pushing a young PL too hard in that direction are probably sound. The ground truth: most of us are only as good as our assist
    1 point
  46. As Tahawk says, the patrol system runs a bit differently here. Ultimate call does rest with the SL albeit they give as much responsibility to the scouts as possible. The view of the forum is simply to get some outside opinion. In any walk of life it's sometimes easy to miss something that you may wish to consider when only seeing things from the inside. Getting an external view can be very helpful!
    1 point
  47. I have found the Scouts know who is better to do the job than us old fogeys. My son was 10 when he was a PL. Ok it was a New Scout Patrol with other 10 and 11 year olds with an older Scout as Guide, but he was in charge, and in all honesty the Guide didn't do much. At the end of his term of office, he was nominated for, and elected by the troop. Senior Patrol Leader. He was 11 years, 2 months old when elected. You trained your Scouts. You need to trust your Scouts. NOW LET THEM LEAD! to paraphrase Green Bar Bill.
    1 point
  48. Why is it important that the forum give feedback on this issue. Shouldn't the patrol members be the one's to give the yea or nay? After the past 10 years of having the boys in the patrol pick their own leaders, the problems have been reduced to near zero. Occasionally a PL will not uphold his responsibilities and get replaced, but for the most part when the boys pick their leadership, they really can't complain down the road. As far as the gal's age, it shouldn't be a big problem. I have had a lot of new scout patrols that have not selected an older scout to be their leader and have
    1 point
  49. Scouting is a volunteer organization, By definition most of the work is going to be done by a few of the people. This is not a fact exclusive to scouting. Your school PTA, your church, and your hobby club all work the same way. There may be events where most everyone pulls together and helps out (e.g., Blue & Gold, organizing a concert for the school band, painting the sanctuary, etc.), but the daily grind of moving forward is usually done by the hearty few. My guess is that almost everyone who visits this forum and makes posts are either members of the hearty few or those who haven't
    1 point
  50. I wondered whether you were kidding. So I decided to find out. You weren't kidding. https://www.inthelighturns.com/boyscout-memorial-urns.html
    0 points
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