Leaderboard

Follow-up: Assembly was this last weekend. My son went through Ordeal and did great IMHO. The old SM was there but didn't interact with him at all so that was perfect. Best thing of all, my son came home super jazzed about OA and Scouting. So it was a great outcome.

Tough love time (Hawk's already heard this pep talk) ... We parents and unit and district and council scouters can beat drums for these one or two girls here and there and never find a finger-hold to get a BSA4G troop up and running. The responsibility for starting a patrol then a troop, rests squarely with the youth. These girls need to dig really deep and ask other girls if they'd like to hike and camp together every month. This probably means talking to strangers ... every girl in their class ... every sister of a boy scout ... even if she is a couple of years olde

Nothing stopping said parents from making that plan and putting it into action.

There is no "higher honor;" the awards you mention are all nice but you should be looking for an award that fits their accomplishments, not whichever is the "most prestigious" or "higher" award. Also remember that most of these awards are offered by your local council upon meeting specific qualifications. One is not "nominated" for the awards; the candidate must meet certain criteria which are reviewed by a council officer or committee. Your Cubmaster may be qualified to earn the Unit Leader Award of Merit; you can google the application and check if he does. He may also qualify for the

Hi @shortridge. I was a scoutmaster for 12 years. The real question here, if I may be so bold, is will your wife be okay with all the hours? Scoutmaster conferences, eagle projects, packing for said trips, going to blue and golds, training, just spending time figuring out how to crack some nut. Those are some of the things you've forgotten. I'm sure there are more. Some of this has to do with the size of your troop as well as how many adults will actually help. We estimated 1 hour per month per scout in the troop is what all of the adults put in together. How much of that will people

Patrol method is where Scouts grow from the practice of making ethical and moral decisions. Growth comes from values learned by applying the the Scout Law and Oath in their decisions and the results of their decisions. That only works if the Scouts are given the independence to fail. How will adults give the Scouts the independence to fail if they aren’t willing to accept failure as a requirement for learning? They can’t even decide if bad behavior should be reported. Bad behavior is an opportunity, not a dilemma. Barry

Taken from Facebook. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/Implementation-Details-for-Scouts-BSA-FINAL.pdf IMPLEMENTION DETAILS FOR FEMALES ENTERING SCOUTS BSA Temporary Transition Rules On February 1, 2019, the Boy Scouts of America will begin admitting girls into Scouts BSA. One of the characteristics of Scouting—for over a hundred years—is that no matter when you join, however long you stay, or the rank you attain, the Scouting experience prepares you for life. And for some, the pinnacle of their Scouting experience is achieving the highest rank of Eagle

I would say leave them be on this one. I feel like you could only make it worse by being involved. Unofficial online communication between youths is up to parents to police not Scout Leaders. If for some reason an adult is invited, make sure at least 2 adults are included as being the sole adult involved in the communications would be a big no-no.

Thanks, like I needed something ELSE to make me feel really old.

Richard, I respect that you hang out here and take the abuse. But give me a goshdarn break! We cannot police all online, digital or social media contact among our Scouts. That is simply an impossible task. Even the attorneys in your shop have got to recognize that. We cannot force Scouts to let us in to their private Instagram conversations, copy us on text messages, or friend us on Snapchat - all arenas for a “private online situation.” If we approached their parents asking us to let us do such a thing, we’d be laughed out of town. This is happening in school, on sports teams,

Focus on the first meeting, the first month and the first camp out. Everything will seem clearer after that. Start by focusing on the first meeting. Get the PL Handbook and SPL Handbook to plan the meeting. Basic meeting is Opening, Patrol Corners, Program and Closing. I typically ask the SM to play the part of the SPL (or PL if you wish) for the first meeting only to set an example and get the momentum started. Opening- SPL delegates scouts to run a very basic opening. Pledge, Oath, Law, Prayer, and quick Announcements. Patrol Corners - PL runs through a basic agenda of

I agree, to an extent. But we also need to keep in mind that starting a troop completely from scratch is something most boy Scouts will never ever be asked to do. For the most part, they have an automatic program pipeline from Cubs to Scouts BSA and don’t have to lift a finger to join — whereas we’re telling the girls to be masters of their own destiny and complete a task that plenty of grown men and women have failed at before them. These first few years of girl Scouts will darn sure be earning their badges, and their tents and packs, and their summer camps, and their flags, and their ri

I can't think of any policy that would cover this, other than to say that YPT rules DO NOT APPLY because there are no adults involved and it's not actually a troop account.

Maybe my tone wasn't clear. I wasn't complaining. I was trying to say that I was appreciative of the helpfulness of the local boy scout troops. (And since they are willing to be helpful, we need to be willing to be patient and go at their pace.) I was also trying to hold them up as an example of how existing scout troops can be helpful to the new girls troops -- even if they don't want to become linked with girls troops. And it might even take pressure off the boys troops to be linked with a girls troop -- if there is a girls troop already getting started in the area. We li

My son is going, just registered.

No award is more "valuable." Any and all awards have equal significance within the sphere of influence they honor or recognize. Yes, that recognition may be nice for some, but again, if you are trying to find out which award carries more clout, you are missing the point. First of all, leaders shouldn't serve for the 'honors of men,' and second, there are no ranks nor tiers of honor among BSA leaders, nor amongst the honors given them. There is only one "rank" that supersedes any others - the rank of Eagle Scout. So don't try and give the "highest" or most "valuable" award. ALL awards carry eq

Regardless of religion, they’ll be able to transfer over the same as @fred johnson described. Just let them know what documentation you accept as authoritative for their advancement records. They should also know what your dues are (LDS troops don’t have them).

As a Latter-day Saint Scouter, I want to confirm that there are NO differences in our advancement requirements; any boys transfering from an LDS unit should be held to the exact same standards as those coming from any other troop. @fred johnson hit the nail right on the head and is absolutely correct. Hope that helps!

Yes. I've had some experience here. There are no requirement differences. The advancement program is the same. LDS troop can do things differently, but it's not a formal published difference. For example, we've had scouts from LDS troops come for an EBOR who are absolutely great kids, great scouts, done cool things, but they might not have a shirt or might not have done patrols or ... The program can vary greatly. But this is really true for non-LDS units too. The simple fact is troops often implement the program very differently. I'd focus on helping the scout have a positi

Back to this Scout and how things are going in the troop. @GSleaderSG is your son new to the troop? How old is he? I'll share my son's early experiences in Scouting. My son has ADHD and social skills challenges. After his first summer camp, the committee chair called us and arranged a meeting to discuss our son not fitting in, and it felt like pressure on us to leave, except, we had no intention of leaving. Unfortunately our CC was not very sympathetic to working with a scout with special needs. That CC, who was overbearing himself, ultimately left Scouting. He suggested that my hus

@dbautista5, welcome to the forums. As a former Crew Advisor, I can tell you that venturing is not the lead to follow. I only say that because they come in all over the map with a vague vision of where to go. So the interest survey that we give those late teens is more of a Chinese menu of take it or leave it. Here's how I lay this all out from comparing my scouting experience with that of friends and strangers (including present company): A troop forms with a built-in vision: the pinnacle experience of hiking and camping independently with your mates. Achieving that visi

Hmm, summer camp 7 x 24 hr. Spread over 52 weeks 7 x 24 /52 adds 3.23 hrs/wk.

In the SM role I am giving about 80 hours per month. I also am in charge of recruiting and help the Outdoor Chair but most of these hours are co-mingled with my SM duties. My wife calls it my second job and only gets upset when she hears other parents complain they have to spend an hour here or there to help the troop. Last week a mom told me I need to spend more time with the troop and give her son more one on one attention - they moved on to a new troop when I asked her to spend time on the committee.

Here's another view of @Eagledad's observation of failure. All of the YPT reporting rules are dependent on what the offender did. I think you also have to look at how the target of that offense took it. Back to the girl being picked on by the cub, if the girl was upset but an adult noticed it soon enough to talk to her and validate her concerns that what the boy said was wrong, then this doesn't need to escalate to involving the council. The girl learns some kids should be ignored. Hopefully the boy learns that he's wrong, or at least that's his last warning. Problems should be opportunities t

But, there is that discussion of adults trying to figure out if an 8 year old Cub Scout is bullying a new Girl Scout cub, and what to do about it. Should they report him to the Council? These adults are eventually going to be leaders in a boy run Patrol method troop program. Patrol method is supposed to be safe place where Scouts grow by experiencing the consequences of stepping outside of the Scout Law and Oath. How can a troop be a safe place if adults are debating whether or not to report the scout to Council. Please convince me the future of Patrol Method isn’t hopeless? Barry

So where and when is this campout? I'm a female; I like camping; I'm registered; I have YPT. Can I bring our girl Webelos den?

It has been discussed here and elsewhere for a Scout unit to have a "Behavior Contract" or a "Troop Constitution" or some such. The de facto Scout Behavior contract is the one each Scout is asked to renew at every meeting. The Scout Promise and the Scout Law. Each and every adult Scout Leader and Scout needs to measure their response to your son by those standards. Review those with your son, and allow him to discuss how they apply to his Scout buds and to him. How do these ideals help to create a desired atmosphere or world even? Yes, you and your Scout need to speak to the SPL and

I actually found this solution to be much better than what was being asked. There was pressure to shorten the time period between ranks or even give credit for work done before joining Scouts. They are offering to this to boys as well and are not changing requirements (other than max age)... plus you have to earn this within 24 months so it is not for those who want to abuse this exception. I would have been completely happy with no modifications and I’m surprised they are allowing the exception, but at least they didn’t follow some of the suggestions that would have weakened the rank.

Reminder that all troops may not be able to and equipped to handle the wide range of Scouts that come their way. The leaders are volunteers, and they bring only their experiences with them to their roles. You have identified some issues your son. It appears he has some accommodations that have been worked out with the schools - One such plan was to "check for understanding" similar to his what is implemented at his school There may be some troops that have more experience with these challenges

And in 20 years, the word "accomodations" will be offensive. There is no need to continually revise the language to not offend. The most innocuous term today will end up offending tomorrow. For example, handicapped was the nice way to say things (much nicer than crippled), then "disabled" took over, and now, it's "differently abled." When does this stop?

Scout leaders are volunteers. We can't be forced to follow the actions of the schools. While I agree with the idea of helping Scouts if I can, I would chafe at being told I have to follow an IEP as a volunteer.