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Thought I would post a few updates. We have added 12 Scouts since January (8 girls and 4 boys). One of the boys joined with his sister and another joined when the parents learned of us adding girls (that boy’s sisters will join in the fall as they have too many conflicts now). We have 1 more Girl Tiger registration in progress and a couple more possible but we are looking to stop new registrations soon and restart in the fall. Note we did decide to have the Girl Tiger den meeting during the same time/place as the boys. We have separate leaders so they can be segregated. We will

Upstairs has 2 open rooms, down stairs has open area with built in storage that are also for sitting. Has a conference room and a washroom. There is a basement with 3 fairly large closets. This is a Bungelo style house that are common in midtown Memphis.

It really does depend on who leads it. My mother was in GS for years even after my sister aged out. She was the one that was in charge of all the camporee s (100+ Scouts at each one), planned all the weekend trips, activities, etc. I was able to go once when I was young and it was a fantastic experience. I mean there was all these fancy cabins with toasters and stuff, but so many were tent camping as well. And they did low cope just like Boy Scouts do, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

My daughter will be attending her first Cub Scout meeting in a few weeks. She is currently a Girl Scout and plans to remain active in both. She is so geeked to be a Cub Scout that she has been using her tablet (we don't have any of the books yet) to research Bobcat requirements and she has asked her older Boy Scout brother to help her study so that she can earn her Bobcat at her first meeting. On an unrelated tangent, my son built his improvised natural shelter over the weekend for his Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. He plans to sleep in it next weekend. <-Proud papa.

@Treflienne, welcome to the forums! Thanks for your insight. FYI - If you were anywhere near the Tiber (or the Po), your daughter could join Scout's Italia today, and she would have a "Boy Scouts Italy" patch on her shoulder. At least that's what an exchange student from there had on her uniform when she joined our crew.

Mash, How long has this been going on? Was he engaged before and you're noticing the withdrawing behavior? Are there any Scouts in your unit who have been closer to him in the past and he's withdrawing from them too? Was there a close friend he had in Scouts that has left Scouts or moved away? Is he withdrawing at school too? Has he suffered a loss recently - death of a grandparent, a friend, a beloved pet? What gives you the idea that he has social anxiety? If he's withdrawing from his closer friends, it may not be that at all. Even people with social anxiety usually have one or

I earned Eagle 35 years ago and was a brotherhood OA member. I have not been involved in scouting for 35 years but have missed it and reflected on my time in the scouts very often. My girlfriend's 12 year old son just joined a troop and I'm as excited as he is to get involved. I'm here to share my experiences and ask questions about how things have changed in the past 35 years and what to expect as a scouter.

True, and I have no problem with this. Unfortunately, BSA doesn't allow too many responsibilities to be placed on the Scout either, which is why I sadly just called it quits as Advancement Chair for my Troop after over a decade and 50 Eagles. Far too many parents earning Eagle. When I realized I was ready to tell a couple of parents the Scout store product ID# for an Eagle medal and just go to Council to buy one to save everyone time and paperwork, I knew it was time for me to leave.

Fantastic way to help him. It’ll make him want to come, provide a safe environment, etc. If the leaders are still all “gung-ho” after talking to them, I would tell the leaders to not to interact as much, as it can also cause more issues to the scout then he already has.

I've been lurking for a little while, trying to learn a little about the differences between BSA and GSUSA culture, but I guess I'll jump in and speak up now. I have a 6th grade daughter, who after hearing the BSA plans to admit girls in 2019, and after reading an old Boy Scout handbook, tells me she wants to become a Boy Scout as soon as the program is available to girls her age. So we are thinking about crossing the Tiber. A couple of comments on the differences: BSA has camping and outdoor skills built into the rank advancement. GSUSA does not: outdoor stuff is compl

Summer camp is a great place to do the observations requirements.

Great article. I've seen another recently that I thought was timely and good. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/opinion/boys-violence-shootings-guns.html I think scouts is the perfect environment to address many of the challenges our scouts face. BSA is going co-ed, but that does not mean we have to dumb down or emasculate the program. IMHO, keep the challenge and keep the out door focus. Use that to define character through each individual's own crucible.

International games ?: Look for Ga-Ga Ball. Invented by an Israeli-American camp in New England. Played at the Jamboree, and our home Troop indoors, with tables turned on their sides to form the play area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ga-ga look here for more Scout type games: http://www.sendacow.org.uk/lessonsfromafrica/resources/african-childrens-games Remember "Steal the Bacon" ? Here is "Steal the Bacon, Low Fat" : https://www.dropbox.com/s/7780ukvye5ups6p/GamesStealtheBaconLowFat.docx?dl=0 And some of my favorites, "Morley Games", especially Frazleerham.

I started to write paragraphs of my and other parents’ experience with GSUSA but I decided I was becoming not Scout like. I’ll just say when we started girls in our Pack my wife, other leaders and I were very protective of GSUSA. After my daughter’s experience and hearing reports of others we have all lost respect for that organization and unless something changes I plan to pull my daughter out (as do others).

Medication is like putting a band aid on it. I feel like if he says “I want you to stay”, etc. may pressure the scout. I know it would pressure me.

Thanks for the updates Eagle1993! It’s kind of fascinating watching this play out in real time.

First of all bless you for caring about this boy. I have a little experience in this area and as bad as it sounds there are positive signs 1) his parents actually care about him (that is rarer than you might think), and 2) if he is getting professional help that is a gigantic step forward. If he is suffering from depression than medications will help a great deal. Nothing "cures" depression, but medications can make the symptoms less severe and less frequent. I would recommend the following as things that can help: 1. Always be positive in your interactions. 2. Let him

I agree that summer camp is a terrible place to offer book study merit badges (Eagle required or otherwise). When I see camp schedules listing Citizenship in the World MB and Communications MB, I think what a waste. Perhaps one exception might be Environmental Science. That merit badge is rather bookish, but earning it at camp seems to be most effective because of ready access to so many resources. I'd hate trying to earn that one at home.

There is nothing wrong with having anxiety. Successful people can have anxiety. I even had anxiety for few years and I suddenly snapped out of it as I matured. I would try your best to keep him in the troop. There are many things you can do to help this scout. - 1 on 1 (in front of other people of course) with the scout to help him - Have a adult(s) that he feels comfortable with - Make him do things that aren’t obvious that you are doing to make him feel more comfortable. (Ex. Asking him to get something from another scout that he is somewhat comfortable with) I’m sur

I can't thumbs-up your entire post because I think this thread went a little off the rails on the subject of the OP's motivation for starting the thread (which should virtually never be a subject for discussion, in my opinion, and it always leads to trouble.) But I think the quote above captures the essence of the issue, and I agree with it. I think we can, and should, keep the advancement program itself separate from the issue of "local variations" on the program that sometimes make it too "easy," and less often make it more difficult. Quite often the discussions of advancement in this for

I just finished a unit in my program on mental health. Im sure you already know this, social anxiety is when someone is afraid is talking to others, being in groups, friends, etc. It can either go away after a while, the person seeks help, or they unfortunately live with it. He does need professional help, there’s nothing you can do that may help him. Forcing him / nagging him to do things or involve with others will make him even more distant. He most likely needs therapy to learn coping skills, social skills, and so on. Sidenote, if he does get medication it will not help “cur

I did a follow up on this and one does NOT have to register as a volunteer, just have a parental permission signed and a photo waiver signed. I checked with our local council and there is such a thing as a Red Cross Club that allows members to register and get ongoing partnership communications with the local chapters. Learning for Life and/or Venturing could easily be set up for this (keep the 16 year age limit in mind). First Aid/CPR/AED instructors can be as young as 16. 18+ year old volunteers who register with ARC get all training for free and are allowed to be deployed to nationa

Uh, no. Size 12 shoe not tasting too good right now.

You know he posted that in 2003 right?

I was talking to a friend recently who got as far as Star and even though he loved being in scouts he lamented how much he regretted not making a greater effort to go after Eagle. Not to be facetious...but seriously, what would scouting be without advancement...a group of boys just hanging out, occasionally going camping, hiking, fishing, etc., playing dodgeball...where and when would they learn first aid, ecology, pioneering, orienteering, swimming, civics, lifesaving, emergency preparedness, develop personal fitness, healthy family dynamics...the list goes on There are actually sco

great question I think....and some great responses here too it. My thought...and this is just an initial thought that I recon' could be developed much further....is that no, I don't for a second think that eliminating the stuff would be a good thing. I think the whole concept of advancement and achievement is somewhat a core of the program....but the focus in all of it, IMO, should change from an EXTERNALLY driven one to an INTERNAL FOCUS. Each individual scout should be working on "X" because HE wants to, because he's driven to, for whatever reason is his and on his own pace. Here

If there was no mbs or advancement then in my opinion, would be basically like a church youth group.

A half-hour north of me, there is one of the oldest Troop cabins in the country. Huntington Beach Troop 1 has been meeting in the same place for a century, and it's a treasure trove of Scouting artifacts. Here is a link to their website's images: https://sites.google.com/site/troop1hb/about-us/inside-the-cabin

I can only speak about the WB'ers in my area. They are so high up on their pedestal they can't see us little folks. Surely not all are like this, but in my area they are rabid, nasty and back-slappingly self-aggrandizing.

Somebodies got to do the jokes and heckles from the back of the room, they aren't writing themselves

Reading the 2016 annual report about income, liabilities and the audit notes are, indeed, interesting. As are the notes from page 17 on the three most important issues facing national and it's finances as of this report.