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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/18/18 in all areas

  1. Exactly. When paintball is perfectly fine for the church youth group but banned by the Boy Scouts, we have a problem.
    7 points
  2. Last time I camped out with the troop, sitting round the campfire, some of the older scouts asked for a scout story from the old days. So I told them one or two , then turned to go. They asked for another, then another. Surprised and somewhat pleased they were so interested I never once thought I was getting myself in trouble. But the next PLC it seemed all the scouts demanded to know why they couldn't do fun stuff like Mr Oldscout did. I dont think I'm gonna be allowed to tell stories without supervision anymore. And I had left out all the crazy ones. When I joi
    7 points
  3. ...If the Boy Scouts want to attract a new generation of members, they’ll need to stand for something more than inclusion. Because being inclusive doesn’t make you relevant. If I were calling the shots, I’d take a stand against the safe space movement and everything it embodies. And I’d do it in the most public way possible. But of course, that might also require a level of risk completely inconsistent with current orthodoxy. As we all know, in 1974, a chipped tooth or a black eye didn’t lead to lawsuit, and today, I’m pretty sure a boxing ring and a trip to the shooting range would make
    5 points
  4. When I teach scouting safety to youth or or adults, I explain we're trying to bring them as close to their Creator as we can without making it a permanent stay.
    5 points
  5. Rowe is right in some ways. G2SS should be written to actually prevent serious injuries and not to lower insurance rates. My 9 YO son went to a non BSA camp and used power tools. He went on a raft that he and other kids built... on a river. They were in life vests but I’m sure not all would pass the BSA swim test I’m sure it was overloaded, it broke they all fell in and they had a blast. Adults were present and had the situation under control. He probably got a few bumps and bruises but no issues. He asked if we can do this with our Pack...
    5 points
  6. How about swinging from a rope, from a wobbly tree limb, into a swimming hole, while skinny dipping, as other scouts are trying to pelt you mid-air with water balloons. We did that. (Moderators should feel free to delete this post. I'll understand.)
    4 points
  7. Survival campout- we held one every summer just before school started. Limited to firstclass and higher. you were allowed a canteen ,a knife (any size) and whatever you could fit in an altoids tin. shelter? make one. food ? go find some blackberries or cattails, or catch a fish in the lake. Fire? bow and drill isnt that hard if you have practiced, or find some quartz and cattail fluff. 3-4 day canoe trip, camping on islands if possible catapults and water balloons! every patrol makes their own. and is issued 40 small and 15 big balloons. Firing to beg
    4 points
  8. The Girl Scouts have gone down the path from practical uniform to (impractical) dress uniform to (today) no uniform at all. The early uniforms were sturdy cotton, in a color that did not show dirt, and with bloomers to wear under the skirts so that the girls could move freely without worrying about immodesty. (May not sound practical by today's standards, but was much better for active and outdoor activities than the then-fashionable clothes for girls.) The uniforms stayed in sturdy fabric through the 1940s. By the 1960's, they had changed to being dress uniforms. Still unifor
    3 points
  9. 3 points
  10. It is not adventure unless there are surprises. In the past, our scouts have taken a game concept from Monopoly and carried a ? box or envelope on hikes. At time or distance intervals, they would take a ? card and complete the task on card - everyone do 10 pushups, form a human pyramid, switch your socks/check your feet, carry patrol leader to nearest shady spot, what do you see at 60deg True, take a pic and send it, EMERGENCY, your PL broke his leg, simple fracture, administer FIRST AID and when done draw next card (scouts busily splint leg and then draw next card... NO! THE OTHE
    3 points
  11. One of the older scout’s teaches woods tools safety on the first new scout camp out each year so the new Scouts can use their knife. We require all new adults attend the class as well, mostly so they see boy run in action. I remember one new adult was a little perplexed about how the older scout instructor taught knife sharpening. The technique was different from how he learned when he was a scout. He very politely asked the instructor about it and the instructor responded by giving the adult a page number reference in the scout handbook. You never know how some adults react to these
    2 points
  12. I think that was a rhetorical question, and that you probably know the answer.
    2 points
  13. OMG, my son's first troop the troop guides wouldn't let them cook or light the stoves. We switched troops.
    2 points
  14. What I want to hear "WE DID IT!"
    2 points
  15. Yep, there is a troop about 5 miles away from me that has banned axes, walking sticks, and only adults are allowed to light stoves. All in the name of " safety" I was very much tempted to buy a giant roll of bubble wrap from Costco and hand it to the SM.
    2 points
  16. As the outgoing District Vice-Chair of Membership and the incoming District Commissioner, I helped get six new Crews started as we moved into the rechartering season and now am hoping to make sure these new Crews get all the support they need to be successful. This evening I hosted the first Venturing-specific breakout at our District Roundtable and all Crews were represented by at least one volunteer! I think the most important thing was for these folks to meet each other and know there are people they can lean on for help moving forward. I also facilitated a discussion on the ALPS (
    2 points
  17. Tell that to Son #2 who held a swimming partial for 5 years, then decided to earn Hiking at age 17.9.
    2 points
  18. Nothing advertises Scouting to the public and keeps Scouts in the community's eye more than scouts in uniform. Otherwise it's just another group of kids. Doing away with the uniform , heck even Going to middle ground with "class b" just makes us like any other youth group. No thanks. "The uniform makes for brotherhood, since when universally adopted it covers up all differences of class and country." - BP "Show me a poorly uniformed troop and I'll show you a poorly uniformed leader" - BP It's an essential part of the game of scouting and quite frankly, the other coun
    2 points
  19. Nice to see what we Brits have exported around the world. Our Explorers seem to think it's banned, so they play French Poodle, in which everything is exactly the same as British Bulldog but the name.
    2 points
  20. Heck, when I was a Scout, my brother broke his leg playing a certain game with a football (whose name we can’t say these days). He had to sit out until he healed. Fortunately, we had enough people to play without him.
    2 points
  21. Mike Rowe mentioned the epic British Bulldog battles at his troop meetings.... Troop 190 at Elmendorf AFB Alaska, we played BB as well. But outside and tackle, vice indoor and lift. Same result though, a heck of a lot of fun. One my troops in Arizona raised Steal the Bacon (always indoors) to a form of warfare. Full contact! We scouts loved these games. Even the non-athletic kids joined in and did the best they could. [Edit: reflecting...I can't recall a single scout that asked not to play.] Sure, scouts got hurt, but not badly. If you just got knocked flat on your back, o
    2 points
  22. We have shooting sports- but only in a controlled sterile range environment. Don't dare point a Nerf gun, or a paintball gun, anywhere in the direction of another scout! And don't talk about using those guns and bows for hunting, no way! Not permit by the GTSS. It wasn't always that way, common sense had a place. Sadly, Mike is correct it is lacking today.
    2 points
  23. I think there are too many troops that do not do this, and that's the biggest problem.
    2 points
  24. This old Eagle Scout is still learning new skills inside scouting even after being back in the program for over 15 years. Or it might be that I am so old now that I have just plain forgot stuff as I have grown older so it now seen new all over again.
    1 point
  25. Don't trust me then. I've known a number of students/scouts who seemed to be liked better by their teachers/scouters than they were by their parents.
    1 point
  26. there is probably enough in Supply that it will be 2-3 years before they are out. And I bet a death by chocolate Dutch oven cake they will be a demand for them, and supply will make them again. Look at knee socks. They keep getting rid of them, and demand for them brings them back.
    1 point
  27. I feel your pain. Just last night before we started our Pack meeting, a Committee member and I realized we had differing understandings of the forthcoming rules. In spite of having just attended the same Roundtable where the discussion focus was Family Scouting. It's no wonder my District & Council are suggesting not to encourage any sign-ups of girls until August. So does this mean that all boy dens now require at least one male leader too? Or is sexism a one-way street?
    1 point
  28. I don't think this program is intended to be a replacement for scouting. It looks more like a replacement for the Knight's of Columbus youth program, the Columbian Squires. It is almost an exact duplicate, only parish based. The Catholic Church recently directed the KC's to transfer its scout units over to the parishes, because it wants all youth programs and activities to be parish based.
    1 point
  29. Reminds me of the tv commercial that's out now for a low-cost life insurance company. The guy is wrapped in bubble-wrap and explains that he is wrapped in bubble wrap because he can't afford life insurance. It is somewhat funnier the way he says it than how I am describing it.
    1 point
  30. Wife HATES current uniform. When she was a WDL she wanted to wear her Venturing uniform since any gray pants or shorts would work. Since she could not wear it as a WDL, I got her a complete vintage 1950s Den Mother's uniform, complete to patches, tie, and hat. But it is impractical in the field. She wore a pack t-shirt, hiking shorts and boots. OK, I know officially starting June 11 2018, all Webelos are SUPPOSE to be in the tan and green uniform. Me personally, I'd stay in a "vintage" blue Webelos uniform until he completely out grows it, or crosses over into Scouts, BSA. A S
    1 point
  31. God will be gone from BSA soon enough, but that won't halt BSA's decline anymore than gays/trans/girls did. With the departure of conservatives/traditionalists, BSA will become the Scouting choice of liberal/progressive families (who have fewer children). That doesn't represent a broad enough membership pool to sustain the movement. Given the huge debt load for The Summit, I honestly don't see a future for BSA. I expect we'll see some sort of bankruptcy reorganization within the next decade, with possible sale of assets.
    1 point
  32. We've only been part of our crew for three months now, but here's what I'd like to see, plus something you could suggest for your crews. Advertise, advertise, advertise. Very few families have ever heard of Venturing. When I talked to the mothers of my daughter's two best friends about signing their kids up, they had no idea what Venturing is, and were surprised to find out that the BSA has been running a co-ed program for years. With all the conversation about allowing girls into the Cub and Boy Scouts, this is a great opportunity to let folks know that this isn't the first time girls
    1 point
  33. I don't know in what sense Troops of St. George is supposed to be an "alternative" to the BSA ... it's not scouting, as they will tell you if you ask them.
    1 point
  34. "If the Boy Scouts want to attract a new generation of members, they’ll need to stand for something more than inclusion. " Standing for something by definition means you are going to leave someone out. If you include everything, then you stand for nothing. Over the years I've noticed that standards of all kinds have slowly changed. Not so much the standards themselves, but what are actually considered to be standards. The Personal Fitness badge (Scouts Canada) is a great example. One requirement involved six events (pushups, shuttle run, situps, standing long jump, 50m sprint, 16
    1 point
  35. But a wobbly branch will give you more of a springboard effect on lift-off. Springiness = velocity = big splashes.
    1 point
  36. It matters of dispute, you are correct. I am very familiar with the Cathechism. Francis in no way contradicted the authority he has as primary bishop, he simply saw that mercy and kindness is more to the mission of Christ than hate and scourn. The Catholic church is clear that homosexual acts are not acceptable to God, but then neither is premarital sex, adultery, etc. I know plenty of Christians that have regularly engaged in those acts as well.
    1 point
  37. Variations of orienteering - find the clues, the food, canoe orienteering are popular. Our PLC was brainstorming about a night-only orienteering. During the day they would set up solar panels to charge flashlight and phone batteries, "like The Martian". Oh forgot, they would only eat potatoes.
    1 point
  38. Yes. It is bad enough that BSA has so drastically changed the scouting program. Do they really need to edit out our history as well? I not only hesitate to talk about the old days with current scouts, I am reluctant to discuss them with other old-timers as well. There are too many people who will get mad thinking that I am trying to undermine their current program. It would be nice to have a safe zone where I could reminisce with my old friends without being held suspect.
    1 point
  39. Parallel Scout organizations are not what is being implemented. Local troops can remain single-gender, but everything else in BSA (every national, council, district event) is moving to co-ed. Where is the parallel organization?
    1 point
  40. I'm just trying to figure out how to build a bridge here.
    1 point
  41. I think it's a variety of things. Top of the list is top-down risk avoidance, which results in some policies that provide the basis of the "scouts are going soft" narrative. I'm thinking of things like rules against water balloons, wheelbarrows during service projects, Lazer tag, etc. Every time there's another "you can't do that anymore" we take a hit. You can be safe and be adventurous and challenging at the same time. You just have to accept some level of risk. Perhaps a good start would be to accept the same level of risk as a high school football team.
    1 point
  42. If you prefer, you can replace safe with mollycoddled.
    1 point
  43. "being safe", "lack of adventure", "prohibiting use of tools, instead of teaching how to use tools", " adult-free hikes/campouts" , "solo patrol outings"...
    1 point
  44. Absolutely agree. There were (and are) things in place to handle most if not all of the various membership issues as the local CO has the say as to who can and cannot be a member. National BSA sort of muddied the waters, kind of like they are doing now. With the addition of girls, and there will not be enough units or units will go COED or something in the middle. BSA National hopes to be all things to all people but also falls back when convenient on "local unit control". I have never seen a company, organization, or group that spends as much time and energy hoping to placate and ap
    1 point
  45. Lief Ericson explorer, Boy Scout*, Coffee achiever. *post humus, honorary
    1 point
  46. Did you notice in the "lifetime of leadership" video, one woman was labelled as "Celine Dion Girl Guide & Singer". The inclusivity is including other WAGGGS member countries.
    1 point
  47. The amount of pride in any accomplishment is directly proportional to the amount of effort expended in achieving it. I still remember pacing back and forth waiting my turn outside the room where the troop committee held its monthly boards. Every scout in the troop was always tested on something. Almost always it was our weakest skill. It seemed that the committee actually asked our patrol leaders about us. Sneaky old adults that they were! If we failed and I mean totally failed not just struggled a wee bit we were kindly asked if we felt that we truly deserved the rank. I
    1 point
  48. This sums up many of my own feelings, and I want to clarify a few things. First, we aren't here to please others, @gblotter - we're here to do what we think is right. As Gandalf observed, "all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." Next, I am not one to beat a dead horse, and I feel this topic is starting to circle in that direction. SO! A few brief thoughts of my own: 1. Many of you have expressed kind words on my behalf at this coming change. However, you aren't done with me yet! We have a solid year 1/2 to go in Scouting, and I intend to give my 100% right
    1 point
  49. Wonder what 'Expert Fitter' means. That wasn't a option for a degree in fashion, patternmaking OR merchandising when I was in school. Maybe it is now, and I'm just too damned old, lol. Not sure how I feel about the whole untucked thing. I have to admit, tucking in the shirt and wearing a belt is a pain, but at the same time, untucked just seems wrong - too undisciplined, maybe, as much as I'd rather not do it.
    1 point
  50. "Good afternoon, sir, My name is Russell and I am a Wilderness Explorer in Tribe 54. . May I be of any service to you? "
    1 point
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