Leaderboard

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

That's good stuff. I might say that scouts become good decision makers by learning how to take responsibility for their bad decisions. This subject is not about the scouts, it's about the scouters. I have personal experience with the first scout, not the second. Ironically the 16 year old scout (my sons best friend since first grade) announced his situation to the troop at the end of a long day of his Eagle project. His parents showed up to support him, because that was probably the most difficult announcement of his life. That scout now has three kids all going to the same sch

Question for the OP. Are the boys getting their work done? Is the troop running well? Have you had any actual reports of wrong doing? For 100 years our goal has been to get boys to work together to run their troops. Train them, trust them, let them lead is the catch phrase. Now we're being told adults have to intervene. There's no faster way to crush the spirit of a group of boys who have bought into the actual vision! The policy quoted above is technocentric and technophobic. Would we demand to see hand written letters between the scouts? What if they decided to use an enc

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.

This underscores the younger generations' point that us older adults really do not understand digital communication and are scared of it. Imagine this scenario, on a campout a group of boys are in their tent having a conversation. BSA HQ changes guidelines to require that an adult stand outside the tent to monitor their conversation. What do you think? The word "ridicululous" comes to mind. In the current teen generation, a group chat on their phone is no different. Monitoring kids conversations whether in person or digitally is ridiculous. The mere fact the rules require the

Aye, in both cases some sort of overcoat would have been advisable.

We teach our scouts that leadership is not only about making good decisions, but taking responsibility, reflecting, and accepting the consequences from our bad ones. The scout in the first case, appears to be applying those leadership lessons, while the scout in the second case does not. Was it is his marijuana? And if so, he had it either to smoke or sell? If I gave a SM conference to the first scout, the discussion would be long and focused on what he has learned in scouting about being a man and a father. If I gave a SM conference to the second scout, the discussion be about

So lots of questions. How many girls? Will you have your own equipment or share with the boys unit? Will you be meeting at the same time/place or separately? Take this for what it's worth, I restarted a troop with 6 boys. It was winter so I spent the first month or two working with the boys on simple scout skills, setting up tents, setting up tents in the dark, setting up the kitchen (we mostly plop camped at that point), hooking up the stove, cooking, fire starting, woods tools, shopping lists, menu planning, etc. Plus a lot of team building games and working on patrol identify. It

Hi folks, Thank you all for being a sounding board here... not much progress is being made. Monday marked e-mail number three to the SM to ask about talking with SPL etc. Still no reply. There was a general "who was elected to what" e-mail that went out before my last e-mail on Monday. I thanked SM for sending it out and asked if he had thought about my suggestion of talking to senior boy leadership. Over the weekend (during popcorn sales - the only event we are allowed to participate in at the moment) I briefly mentioned to the troop committee chair that we had reached o

If this is really the rule, then I think National has sailed right off the deep end. You know, @RichardB, adults can harass and verbally abuse other adults, and it unfortunately happens in workplaces all the time, and it can sometimes lead to liability for the employer. In BSA National Headquarters, and in councils, are employees allowed to email each other? (That's a rhetorical question, I'm sure they are.) If so, how do you know that some nefarious activity is not taking place by email. By the logic of not permitting troop communications by email, then people at BSA National should not

Exactly - which is why I figure we have to apply some common sense here. I'd rather they just write down what they are trying to achieve and let us sort it out. Now, if I was being pedantic I'd argue that email is no more a form of social media than a telephone call. I think most of this boils down to: no one-on-one adult youth interaction. for adult/youth communication - two adults must be present (two way communication like chat or phone) or copied (one way communication like email/facebook/etc.). in a group communication setting (such as email list or facebook), two

I won't go that far. I've met a few really passionate and wonderful pros. What the YPT rules on communication lack is nuance. Should adults monitor a troop facebook page? Yes. I doubt any of us argue that. If there is a facebook or groupme or group text for the plc should troop adults be in on that? Yea. If the Scouts make some impromptu group to just shoot the breeze, should adults be in on that? The rules are well intentioned and say yes, but now I'm sitting monitoring the random thoughts of my scouts 24/7. Or they'll ignore the group and chat elsewhere since adults are in

First - trying to get a youth to e-mail is tough. Should be a knot for accomplishing that task. We just copy another leader / parent and drive on. That is public and two deep leadership. Gotta deliver the program right? The wizards at National who generate the rules and YPT are governed by lawyers. There are no people involved in this that have worked with an actual unit in at least the last 10 years. If the professional group could raise money and earn salaries without having the bothersome youth around, they would be all in for that

Agree on Family Scouting Sadly many have lost the focus of Scouting in the rush to "Family" scouting. Scouting was NEVER intended or designed to be a "Family" event or activity. The dens were designed to be "patrols" with the Den Leader as the patrol leader. They are supposed to do things as a group WITHOUT Mom and Dad and family being involved. Go off and do stuff that they experience from THEIR perspective. Over time the family camping, the siblings, etc have lessened that and made it more the circus that Cubs is. Now we can see that creeping into Scouts. We

I guess the troop will have to buy a stingray system now. 🤣

Please don't shoot the messenger, but I think this is the section that requires adults to monitor it. From: https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss01/#a To help ensure that all communication on social media channels remains positive and safe, these channels must be public, and all communication on or through them must be public. This enables administrators to monitor all communication and help ensure there is no inappropriate communication between adult leaders and Scouts or between Scouts themselves. Therefore, no private channels (e.g., private Facebook groups or invite-only

Concerning Social Media (so called)…. If it were my Troop, all I would do is congratulate the Scouts on taking "Scout Led" seriously, and remind them that the Scout Promise and Scout Law applies even in virtual space.... And if they ever need some counsel, I am here. Two deep.

Could you be more specific and point out exactly where you see it not meeting Scouting's Barriers to Abuse. As described this is youth to youth communication. If a scout texts or emails or snapchats another scout is that now a violation or a situation where we adults have to require we are copied in? Pointing to several pages of verbiage and saying read here is unhelpful.. If it was obvious we'd all see it, if you want to be helpful, and help us both both serve our scouts and keep them safe then spell out exactly where you see what we apparently cannot.

If you’re doing a 4-12 and can get up OK on Saturday, consider helping with special programs and events - Cub family weekends, PWDs, chariot races, Klondikes, camporees. They all would welcome somebody to run an activity / station for a day or serve on kitchen crew. Training also likely has a place for you with Saturday courses - SM Specific, YPT, den chief, LNT awareness, maybe helping with an IOLS or BALOO module. Maybe offer a special Saturday/Sunday afternoon course package designed just for second-shifters? You’re not the only one out there! If you’re a member of the OA, I guar

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.

UPDATE: Good news, bad news. The Cubmaster found a female registered DL to camp with the female Webelos. We will be meeting the new YP double standards. That's the good news. Bad news it's one of the helicopter moms with the troop. This was the mom who showed up last year to camporee to camp with her Lion Cub Scout. This was because the DE decided to have a fishing derby at the same time as camporee. Sadly the Lion Cub was not closely supervised and did cause some problems. This DL is also asssuming all camp outs with the troop to be family camp outs, and doesn't see why it's a probl

@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

If you’re tracking bike riding or pushups, or daily the,peratures, some form of worksheet makes sense. If you’re asking questions about the town council meeting, TALK WITH THE KID Scouting. Isn’t. School. Moderator note... moved to cub scouting forum.

You can have a big impact without spending a lot of money I learned. I did my project last year and I spent around $500, with all of it being donations. I built two moving carts out of trek wood, put stone down around the building, build a horse shoe built, and some little stuff. The beneficiary is a adult day center, and was so excited just for these little things since it helps them move activity to activity. The stone helps with drainage and improved the overall look of the building and more. On the other note, I know a Eagle who painted a basement and all the paint chipped up a week l

I'm following your point. I do think it would be good for a Troop to apply the same standard to any member. But, I do think folks would look at behavior problems warranting a parent and physically or mentally disabled scout requiring specially trained individuals as unique cases. I don't think being a girl is an exception case like these. A "boys only" troop asking any invited, co-ed dens to provide proper supervision seems like the right way to go. So, in cases like the one in this topic - there is an easy solution with no impact on the troop. I do understand that this specific