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Let me provide an example. I'm Mormon. My 13 year old son is also part of a community troop, which typically camps out Friday afternoon through Sunday mid-morning. Generally, he will go through Saturday evening. After the campfire, he and I will head home. He makes sure he's on the duty roster plenty on Saturday, so noone can accuse him of bailing on work. It's not 100% ideal. On the other hand, these scouts are his friends, and friends support each other, particularly in personal choices.

My older son had one of his letter of recommendation written by his younger brother (who just joined the troop from cub scouts 4 months ago).... detailing how his older brother has mentored him, served as den chief for his wolf den, etc... through the younger lad's entire scout career thus far. Pretty cool that the older boy asked his kid brother to do that. Even more cool that the 11 year old put together a letter of recommendation that was better than a lot I've seen from references when I've done hiring actions for adults applying for jobs.

Oops, I just used "Mormon" on the other thread. Gotta get out my PC correction tape!

@gblotter, not trying to poke the bear. Just want to have know the range of what scouters are planning to do. Suppose your father-in-law stumbles across a CO that says, "Great, but we also have these five girls and a teachable Mom ..." Will he flex for them? Or, will he move on to the next CO? Are you enthused about the new LDS offerings? The global focus impresses me. Looks good on paper -- like something I try to arrange for my church's youth. But I'm getting an apprehensive vibe from folks at street level. I have a friend who is in the LDS church and he always touches base wi

I would argue that having scouts sit in merit badge classes is a much bigger departure from traditional scouting than the Introduction of females. Solution: more doing, much less passive sitting and waiting for information. But that would require counselors who are only teaching 1-2 scouts at a time, and that's not cost effective for camps.

Wow, there are a lot of false claims in here by a lot of people with misperceptions! As a lifelong LDS Scouter (*since Wolves in 1993!) let me correct some of the mistaken ideas thrown out today. Mind you, what you may think is a loss for us will only be replaced by something better. It's the BSA that is losing by changing the very fabric of its nature, as time will eventually prove. So! Some facts. - Yes, we limit camping for young Scouts. You list this as though it were a negative, but we do not believe that is so. When a child is "ready" or not for any given experience is not som

Simple. He realizes that girls in BSA is a radioactive topic and he is trying to avoid stirring controversy as he encourages LDS families to continue on with Scouting. Dahlquist doesn't want to remind people of more reasons to dislike BSA and their recent decisions (even while he himself helped craft those decisions). Nobody should assume that having daughters or granddaughters makes one a supporter of girls in BSA. Nobody should assume that being female makes one a supporter of girls in BSA. I dearly love my wife and three daughters, and we all disagree with this decision to include girl

Another pic

I teach the Leatherworking Merit Badge and I allow the scouts to make anything they want as long as it is a tripod stool. This makes it much easier to know my costs upfront. They can make whatever design on the stool, use rivets, sew, transfer patterns and learn edge detail. Best part is that they all bring these on campouts, save room in the trailer and because most put their names on the stool they know which is theirs. Tribolts sold at Tandy, legs made from dowels from Home Depot, I buy a discount 3/4 leather Veg tan side for around $70. I make straps to go around the legs with scraps.

I find it interesting that he speaks about a desire to have his grandsons become Eagle Scouts, but seems to preclude the possibility of his granddaughters following that trail. For the LDS members on the forum. When scouting is no longer the Church's youth program for young men and recedes to the same position in an LDS family that say a sports team, 4H, or similar extracurricular activity would occupy, would there be a church prohibition against a young female member of the LDS joining scouting? If so what would be the reasoning?

Keep in mind that while you may know the person was convicted of a crime, it might not show up in the criminal background check. The main example would be if the conviction has been expunged. The fact that a person had a ”record” at one time does not necessarily mean they have one now. For more info see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expungement_in_the_United_States.

The forum should take up "Conditional Scouter" as a symbol for quality scouting. Both Baden Powell and Bill Hillcourt are Conditional Scouters by definition of how they presented and protected the scouting program. Both these men are held in the highest honor for youth scouting. In the Spirit of scouting's founders, Conditional Scouters are a brotherhood of guardians that protect the mission to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. I am a Conditional Scouter and proud of it. I am a Scoute

Where I am, adult interference under the guise of Family Scouting is already being implemented. Even before "Family Scouting" was announced, some adults were bringing non-Boy Scout children to events. Now that Family Scouting being announced and promoted, those adults are emboldened. Some of you have read my posts about the family with the Second Class Scout sneaking into the parents tent. The troop officially didn't do a camp out this month. 4 families within the troop went whitewater rafting, and just happen to use troop gear and work on advancement in addition to the rafting. Already have b

So, I'm reminded that no matter what the deadline, there will always be people who push it. If national said "you can finish you tenure as an adult". Someone will start their 6 months of tenure the day after their 18th birthday. There would then be an article about the great Scout who had to complete his tenure as an adult, but was denied the rank. If you keep saying "we'll make an exception", then it will never end. It stinks, but it's reality.

I think J. R. R. Tolkien expressed my feelings best in regards to the coming changes, and my place during and after them: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.” I find these words touchingly a propos for me now.

I firmly believe that the BSA change regarding girls was not made in a quick decision, and that it has been in the works for some time, probably at least since Stephenson and Surbaugh et al took the reigns. The LDS would have had that knowledge, and could probably have seen the handwriting on the wall. The doesn't mean they were not throwing around the idea of a global program, but, then again, isn't Scouting a worldwide program, and isn't Scouting in most other parts of the world fully coed? Coincidence that they wouldn't be looking to do what they had done here in those areas? I don't thi