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Naa mate, don't you all worry about it. We Jonny Foreigners are all interlopers anyway. Life's too short to worry about whether people are unintentionally insulting, I have enough fun with the intentional insults (not from you lot, as far as I remember). The passion people have about scouting is a blessing and a curse, it can drive us to do extraordinary things, to put an awful lot of time, effort, emotion, money, everything into it. No surprise that sometimes views are strongly held and strongly put. At the core of it, despite all the protestations and machinations of HQs, scouting

What is a "visiting Unit Commissioner" doing serving on, much less chairing, a unit BOR for Life? Regardless of whether they are properly understanding the situation with this Scout or the troop or not, I don't see how it is th eir role. They are not a member of the troop committee. It sounds to me like the UC is acting like some kind of roving "boss" who gets to take over the unit when he is visiting. He's supposed to be helping and supporting and advising, not commanding. I am the Advancement Chair for our troop, and I chair the BOR's, and if I am absent, the CC does. I don't thin

I worry for things like this. BORs should be to assess how the scout is doing in the program and how the troop is doing to address the scout's needs. It isn't a retest or examination of the items the scout has fulfilled for the rank. You can see how well the scout has been taught, but you can't deny them because they no longer remember how to tie a square knot for example. (you can then go back to the SM and say, hey, we need to beef up the square knot knowledge. we're seeing scouts aren't remembering it.) For the POR, it isn't an assessment of how well the scout did in his duty, but that

Because that would allow discretion for on-the-ground leadership. Outright bans are always the choice of bureaucrats and tyrants that do not trust their subjects.

I worked as a staffer for both a summer camp and a HA sea base, DE, and for national supply. So I needed uniforms over the years. So I have a bunch of uniforms. Oldest item, a shirt is from the 1970s. Newest item, a CU shirt is from 2009. If you take care of them, they will last. Normally I'm wearing a 1980- 2009 era short sleeve uniform shirt with either unit insignia or district insignia. Necker is either the troop necker or the commissioner necker. For Eagle COHs outside of my troop, I will wear my Eagle necker. In colder months I will wear long sleeve CU shirt. Camping, I wear my 19

I am a registered adult (male) in a Girl Scout troop with 14 girls who all want to go camping. I have gone to GSUSA outdoor training and qualify as a firstaider. The troop has been around for 10 months. I would love to take the girls camping, I have been in the BSA for a total of 15 years as a boy and adult leader. None of the adult female leaders want to go camping. The female leadership of the Girl Scout troop has decided that no males (including registered adult males, like myself) are allowed to go camping with the Girl Scout troop if they should ever decide to go camping.

Flip that around, and we can say that a couple of GS/USA leaders who want the girls to camp regularly can get at least get the 15 girls in their charge out there and doing so. For them, programs like one North Face is offering can be a real boon.

As the Pasteur of our chartered organization put it very nicely. "Any youth that wants to scout should be welcomed with open arms, The Bible is about love.". While I am Jewish myself, I don't see how I can argue with him about the meaning of the Bible.

Don't forget the turkey leg eating contest...

So, you don't have a youth elections problem. You have an adult interference problem. Encourage your scout that he is doing everything right. If he's enjoying being OA Rep, he should keep up the good work. I would tell the UC that he/she is not to hold another BoR in your troop until he/she is willing to hold up the requirements as written.

Well said, Mate. I don't consider my International friends as "interlopers"...we are all Brothers (and now Sisters) in the great Movement called Scouting. I was around when much the same discussions were held regarding racial integration. We survived. I was also around when females could hold no role except Den Mother. We survived the change and are stronger for it, in my opinion. And, more recently, we weathered the storm regarding LGBTQ membership. I foresee the day when we accept Atheists as well, to provide them with the same love, guidance and growth experiences that we provide oth

Indeed! If my math is right and Joni's newborn was a boy, he's probably an SPL/Life Scout by now.... I hope they are well. Time flies!

I perhaps tend towards an overembelished uniform. Well uniforms because I picked up both a short sleeve and a long sleeve uniform. Lets see, I wear my AoL, Eagle, and den leader training knots and service star over the left pocket. I also wear an unofficial Cub Scout ring around the WOSM fleur di lis on one of my uniforms. On the right side, I’ll wear a relevant temporary patch, name plate, and 1993 jamboree patch. Left sleeve has the CSP (one of which is a wood badge csp), den leader PoR patch (one of which is the older style that only has den leader written that my mom wore many years

First, give yourself a paradigm shift ... In the scouting-verse, one does not show leadership by holding a PoR. One shows leadership by serving others. All scouts must do this. That's the main reason why every rank requires hours of service. (IMHO the number of hours is actually secondary. The scout getting into the habit of knowing what he did, how it helped, and thinking about what he can do next is primary.) So, if a scout really wants to develop leadership, he should involve himself in as many diverse service projects as he can. Most of these will probably be outside of troop life.

Heh, SOMEONE has to try and live up to Mike Rowe's safe space challenge.

We also use personnel water soaking water devices😂

Understand the "don't point water pistols at people" thing has been there a long time. And it's not about keeping people from getting wet, it's about not pointing any kind of gun (real or play) at people. It comes out of the "BSA is not military and does not train youth for war" thing from the 1960s. And yes, the you must be 14 to use a little red wagon rule is one of the dumbest in GTSS.

For me, equality of opportunity has always been a conservative value (with apologies to any Liberals on the forum). I've never been one who has seen demonstrations, protests and battles of words (read name calling and personal attacks) as a solution -- it makes those involved feel better about themselves but does nothing to find solutions. I also don't see life as a zero sum game - just because someone succeeds, someone else doesn't necessarily lose. I don't like the idea of co-ed Scouting at the Scouts BSA level. There is something unique about the program in the way it nurtures 11 to

You are correct that this issue crosses liberals and conservatives. My main point should have been emphasized that the door swings only one way (against boys). This comes at a time when boys are clearly the group failing in our society and nobody cares. Nobody. Silence. Crickets. Any expression of support for boys and their unique needs is tagged with labels of sexism, chauvinism, and patriarchy. The fact that BSA is now abandoning its mission for boys under the banner of inclusion saddens me beyond belief.

You know you're in trouble when a FAQ is so long that it needs a table of contents...

I disagree 100% with @Chris1. In WB, you will not read the SM handbook. You need to do that ASAP. In WB, you will not go over the Guide to Safe Scouting ... also need to do that. Have you taken weather safety and all of the other available online training? Is your 1st aid training up to date. Have you attended your Boy Scout breakout sessions at roundtables? How are you with an axe? The boys will be counting on you to be a good example with sharps. No wood is harmed in WB (paper doesn't count). Get your prerequisites done. They are there for a reason.

DON'T GIVE HIM ANY IDEAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously I am reading how some district trainers are not going over saws and axes in IOLS and telling students that axes and saws are not safe for the Scouts to use. I thought it was a joke until someone else posted the same thing in his area.