Leaderboard

Packsaddle, Getting left behind is one thing, changing for the sake of change is another. Adapting is something else entirely. We disagree. I think boys ought to have their own program. I think the BSA has lost its soul for the sake of pleasing certain folks and the almighty dollar. With all of that said, as I mentioned earlier, all scouting is local. Scout troops are becoming family camping clubs, and the OA is becoming a service organization (can't wait to hear the new name). There's no brotherhood, or cheerfulness, just the service. I truly and sincerely wish every

The three words no Scoutmaster wants to hear.... "HEY ! WATCH THIS !" Would that be a male or female voice?

The theory of staring a separate girls' troop is great. The reality is that it won't happen. The troop will become coed. As more and more adults use to a coed Cub Scout program move into the troop, they will see no problem with being a "linked troop," which is national's codeword for coed. They will start promoting the concept, and their numbers grow and/or they get into key positions to implement the change, they will. The camel's nose is already under the tent flap.

What strikes me is that you're assuming both an extreme lack of knowledge on the part of the parents and an extreme level of complexity for youth running a program. How would you be doing this if you were starting a new troop for boys --- as has been going on for 100+ years? There could be some value in the girls observing how the boys run their troop for a few weeks, but mostly I think what you need to do is get the girls to jump in and start putting together THEIR program. Get your troop together, see who wants to be the leaders, have them work with the their fellow scouts to pl

Not to me. And we'll take your word on their gender.

Ian is absolutely right. There is reason girls come to us rather than girl guides, because they are getting something that they are not getting there. This is one of my favourite photos of this year, some of my girls in the Scottish Highlands back in April. Do these look like girls that want a watered down program?

Bingo! From what I've experienced in the UK, that's exactly how it works. You don't join the football team to play basketball. We get the girls that like the running around and poking fires and camping. Okay, we get a few girls that are being sent by parents because they want their kids to be more outdoorsy, but plenty of boys are sent for the same reasons.

Surely a parent that doesn't do everything for their child is just a Conditional Parent. Ian

It exists, and we created it. Let me provide some examples. Pinewood derby - when the winning car comes from the kid whose family has the tool set at home to build the perfect racer or art object. They get the awards, while the kids who actually did it himself goes home discouraged. The next year, other parents learn the rules of the game and take over. Campsite pioneering projects - where the camp rewards the 2:00 AM dads, while the Troop of boys whose gateway is a lashed collection of random poles and lines (but with proper knots) does not place. The next year, adult leaders either

Family Scouting is nothing more than a marketing concept designed to attract membership. I've yet to see a single BSA guidebook or training updated to reflect any change in program or program mechanics. No offense meant, but I'd argue that a troop that hears "Family Scouting" and then throws patrol method out the window is a troop that doesn't really understand what it is doing. If a troop was correctly implementing the program, they'd figure out how to leverage Family Scouting in delivering the program - not change their program to fit Family Scouting. Nothing in the new YPT rules is