Leaderboard

First of all, thank you for the link to that article @Eagledad. I found it well-written, level-headed, and much-needed voice of sense in society's ongoing war against families. As for the idea of Scouting focusing on "leadership training and character development," and those being "gender-neutral" (never one of my favorite terms) -you will find after reading through Scouting's published materials over the years that those have been pushed and emphasized far more now in the past two decades than they ever were before. Yes, they were always a part of it, but you are failing to recognize tha

Yes I do. Just as much as you do in fact, and your question, while rhetorical I assume, brings out an important point that must be made. It is a bit condescending to imply that, if one really knew BP's writings (as you do), he would come to different conclusions than the ones I have drawn. You imply that you must have a broader knowledge of his works than I do. However, I have also read nearly all his writings available in the US, and a few still found only in Britain, so I'm afraid your attempt to undermine my comments by labeling them as "unique interpretations" cannot be based on a gre

A local SM retired after 25+ years at the helm. Get got a great picture of Rockwell's "The Scoutmaster" that was framed. Around the border, all the Scouts and parents got to sign special messages to him. Thing was huge (36"x30") and very well done. Nice hardwood rustic frame. Brought the guy to tears. Nice shadow box of patches Scouts donated of various memories over the years was also presented. Total cost was $200 and was paid by parents and Scouts (past and present).

That is so 2000, Seriously BSA did, don't know if it is still around, have Scout Soccer from 2000 onwards. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/511-035_wb.pdf

$600 is crazy. How about a $50 gift card to a local restaurant for him and his wife to go to dinner, and then get a Scouting book of some kind and have everybody sign it at a pack meeting or the B&G.

Perhaps it really is that what BSA offers, "the skills and knowledge [kids] need to become strong, intelligent, honorable [adults], is also greatly desired by girls (and their parents) in this modern age and they don't think they can get the same experience from Girl Scouts. I think of the so-called "masculine skills" as things that adults of both genders need in our society. One hundred years ago, those skills were neither needed nor really desired by girls. Now with girls/women being active in all aspects of our society and economy, they are looking for the same (or very similar) experience.

Sadly, my most problematic Scouters have been Eagles. Others seem to be more willing to not fall back on, "When I was a scout..."

What I am starting to see is several dads who only had daughters volunteer to be leaders. One was a former ASM, Eagle Scout and OA member. He only had girls so stopped his involvement if BSA and is now interested in volunteering as his girls are getting involved. We are also seeing other parents volunteer as they are talking of having their daughters join. Right now we have the possibility of adding 26 scouts to our pack of 71 over the next 2 weeks. 4 are boys and 22 girls (2 boys joined along with their sisters). 7 of the girls are from a separate school who’s Pack is not adding girls

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/455874/toxic-masculinity-myth-fuels-culture-wars Yah, I change the title just a bit. But the article described, at least to me, exactly what has been going on in the BSA for the last 15 years. For many of us, Boy Scouts is where a boy becomes a man of character. A man proud to be a husband, father, civic leader and a moral role model. It wasn't a boys club where male boys huddled together conspiring to bring out the worst of humanism, just as some here still believe. Scouting is a culture that challenges the masculinity of young men so that they can l

Is anyone on here familiar with camps that may have units adopt a site or two in a council camp and make sure it is maintained as needed? I could see, with the right parameters, a win-win arrangement. Units would get reduced fees, depending on the level of their involvement, and the camp would possibly have more consistently maintained sites. Years ago, when our camp was new, our unit was involved in a major way in its development, and they had their own spot when they went there. That has long since gone away, but some variable of this might be an incentive, not only for camp upkeep, but

I think the terminology is tripping the whole forum up too!

Our meetings are active, not just sitting and the boys helped to write the code of conduct and decided that was the rule. They also require boys to be in a field uniform shirt or not attend. Their rules that they wanted to follow, so we all follow them. Adults shouldn't feel that they don't have to follow the rules because they are older.

What you have there is a case of the men being men. Men do not want to upset the ladies, if the ladies are getting things done the men just back off and fade away and let the ladies run things. A grand experiment would be to let your troop have a dad trip were the dad's show up on Friday afternoon and just wing a camping trip, that could be a grand adventure. See how it goes. See if the boys have less fun or more fun.

STEM Scouts are chartered by schools. They are called Labs. The volunteers are registered with BSA and are required to have YPT. The youth are registered with BSA and you will see them listed on membership reports for district and council. They fall outside the "Traditional Program" when referenced in reporting. Their uniform is a lab coat. They do several hands on experiments per year. It is not an inexpensive program approximately $100 per Scout per year. The experiments use a lot of materials and all of the Scouts get hands on experience. In that regard, they are out pacing many

No room at all for expanding or massaging the membership numbers with that plan (what!! I'm registered with who??) ... just move along Citizen Scout, nothing to see here

My experience has been that moms get stuff done...but usually end up taking away a learning opportunity from the boys. Dads do this too, but not with the frequency of the moms. I would think as long as the boys are using the Patrol Method and executing the program -- if that means it is not done to the efficiency of the moms or dads -- then that's what you want.

Thanks for the feedback so far. This is helpful. To provide some more context. I've got no idea what's going to happen with our troop in a year or two. Will we be co-ed, will we be boys only, no idea. I'm not concerned with either outcome as we'll adjust and run the best program we can. When I read the original article, my thought was "yep, makes sense." I've got a son and two daughters. I don't really raise them differently - that all get the same feedback and opportunities from me. I teach my daughters how to use power tools and my bring my son to the ballet. But, I can clearly

Is that also the mission of STEM Scouts? I ask because while I don't know a whole lot about it, my impression of it is that it is separate from the BSA program.

One aspect of "learning to be a good man" that I see in our troop learning to work as a team to get a job done. The boys learn to get along with new guys that are difficult to deal with, as the bonds between the boys grow things become less difficult and the boys start to see that troublesome former new guy as a welcome resource to the team. The guys state their beliefs and views on the world and have to defend them when they get called out by someone that feels different. The guys keep things friendly, because they are close friends after all, they know the other boys have their backs. It i

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/12/21/scoutbook-lite-to-replace-bsas-internet-advancement-platform-in-early-2018/

I agree paperbook is not a good backup. But he has a zippered cover with zippered pockets on the cover where he stores his incomplete MB cards. For backup, sure let an adult enter in the data. Or use the online system to show the complete list of MBs. It's just that I want to encourage my son to be accustomed to working off line. Even at 10 years old, these scouts are very comfortable online and using online systems. I want him to benefit in scouting from using the paper copy and learning to stay organized and to work interactively with people. the last thing I want his him

We do it too. It prevents injuries.

FOR THE HORDE!!!

We do it to be consistent. No open toed shoes at scout functions; meetings, outings, service projects, etc. Just easier to implement and our meetings are very active.

When discussing Baden-Powell, the Boy Scouts and Masculinity, we can't forget to consider the time period where his ideas were formed. Baden Powell was very much a Victorian - as such, his ideas on masculinity were heavily influenced by the Victorian attitudes toward masculinity which were mostly formed within the religious and spirituality sphere of Victorian life. Masculinity wasn't about being a hero or a protector - it was about being pure, about having the proper sexuality (indeed, masculinity was never really a concept that was discussed until the Victorians started trying to figure ou

$600 does seem a might steep. We had a long term SM retire. We did not even entertain a gift card. We gave him a troop flag folded into one of the display boxes with the troop numbers showing, also we dedicated a portion of the scout area at the CO in his name. We did invite many of the scouts from his tenure to come to the meeting, then we passed the microphone around and they shared brief memories and thank you's. That was the best part.

My issue with the "masculinity" mantra is that, having met scouts from other countries who are no more or no less paragons of their respective sexes, I found men who are no less masculine nor women who are no less feminine than our own citizens. My impression is that boys become masculine with or without the presence of girls in their troop. The cultural influences that foster gender dysphoria (or identity discovery, as a progressive may call it) may overwhelm notions of male or female mystique. This may be especially true in (BSA or GS/USA) troops who value ideals to the near exclusion o

$600 is obscene and most leaders I know would turn that down. A $50 plaque and a nice goodbye. A picture signed by all the scouts. Put the other $550 to use for the boys.

That’s ridiculous.

Character building has been central (emphasized) from day one. Often BP when talking to scouts asked if they had done their good deed for today.

I agree with the plaque idea; in fact the Scout Store offers a number of examples that would be perfect, appropriate gifts. Have it engraved with a lovely message and relevant information regarding his tenure, and it would be just the thing. Regardless of whether it's entirely appropriate or not, I feel a gift card is the gift that says you don't know me. A nice plaque or even a statuette is a dignified memento he can put among his personal effects in a place of honor. I would go with that if possible.

I was stationed on a small NATO bombing range north of Munich in the late 60's. We were remote, so we had our own little clubhouse where we had fussbol, a pinball machine, small jukebox, and where we showed our own movies from a reel machine. There were only 9 of us stationed there, and we had local German workers for building target stuff on the range and even keeping up the little house we used for a barrack and office. When we showed movies, which we would get from Munich fifty miles south, we opened the clubhouse to the locals if they wanted. They also would play bingo with us once a w

I know when I became a Scouter, it was a VERY hard transition. First summer camp after turning 18 proved it. I was the ASM in charge since the SM and none of the other ASMs could be there the entire week. To put it mildly, I turned into a dictator. When the SM showed up for his 1/2 week, we had a long conversation about how I screwed up. That's when the mentoring started. In all honesty it has never stopped. I still come here to get advice.

Axe Men and Shield Maidens.

Silly @desertrat77, Native Americans are not sophisticated enough to know when their culture is being appropriated. So their approval is irrelevant; others must be offended on their behalf. In fact the whole name of the organization is bad. Order of the Arrow? Arrows are sharp pointy things and an obvious slur on native americans, medes, saracens, and Tolkien elves. It is an honorary organization so name it the Order of the Garter once we start letting girls in. Should make the initiation ceremony a whole lot more interesting.

I'm still struggling with the "masculinity" part of the equation. For starters, I never felt like cultivating masculinity was ever a keystone of Scouting. The whole "turning boys into men" thing, I know that's the ultimate goal of Scouting for some folks here, but officially it's leadership training and character development, as it has been for ages. Two things that are gender-neutral and not dependent on masculinity to achieve. Masculinity isn't under attack as the author of the article in the original post suggests. It is being redefined, and I think rightfully so. The writer longs for

There are plenty of scouting forums that ban discussion of the 3G's and politics and general. I don't mind that there's a mix of both. I'm trying to get my head around lots of things. Only some days is it the patrol method or scoutcraft. This week I'm dealing with a couple of young relatives (an their dad) who are about done with scouting because the SM vetoes the boys requests to camp every month, freaked out when the one 14 y/o boy wanted to spend the night sleeping out in 30 degree weather (south Floridians) , and avoids back-country like the plague. On top of it, the dad and I go

The best camporees are never at a boy scout camp. No soliciting. Period. I would however encourage leaders to put up a "flyer wall" announcing troop fundraisers and such. Some of us are looking to visit some breakfasts/dinners on the weekends. All soda machines, lunch carts, ice cream trucks, etc ... 2 miles away. That said, it wouldn't hurt to have some venturing advisor (especcially one in a wide-brimmed leather hat ) and your council/district VOA officers wheeling around a keg of root beer and ice cream to undisclosed locations ... doling out rootbeer floats. Or, from "nuggets" pat

I know what the Scouters look for....

What difference does it make? The scout oath and the scout law are just historical artifacts from a bygone age. BSA doesn't have moral standards anymore.

In fact, tonight I had to tell an Eagle Scouter that he needed to wear shoes to the troop meetings..... It is on our troop code of conduct and adults should follow it too. Then I go to check on the meeting. And an ASM comes to tell me how they are saying "where in BSA does it say we have to wear closed toe shoes.....". Later he starts talked about all the BSA training he has taken. sigh