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To coin a phrase...and try to refrain from saying this to everyone (though you want to) Boy Scouts (11-17 year olds) was NEVER intended in any way shape or form to be a family event or group. If parents feel the need to interpret it that way, they are missing the point. The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is 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. The aims are character development, leadership development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. The method

Our troop went to Grand Teton National Park in July. We have been many places and this has been the most challenging and most rewarding trek we have ever taken. Sounds like you use the High Adventure bases quite often. Have you ever considered rolling your own?

I'm sad, but not surprised. That's a common result of adult conflict. It's very hard to get a troop to change it's ways. What you said reflects a troop that wants the scout to support the troop instead of the troop supporting the scout. It's as simple as that. What you describe in your email ... scouts sitting and being talked at by adults ... committee meeting adult conflicts ... extra rules established to manipulate the scout into a specific troop's goals ... IMHO ... this is what is killing scouting. At this point, I'm becoming a scouting deconstructionist. I'm really tired

I am really sad to here this, not so much because of the move, but because it's so hard. Passion is amazing; it has the power to move mountains, but the softness to bruise easily. You have been talking about this troop for a few years and I admit that I rather you had applied your effort toward a troop more like your youth experience. Looks like that will happen now. Still, this experience isn't without purpose, you have some rare knowledge for future scouters with similar experiences. Adults are desperate for help that will ease their struggles. You certainly have a lot of experie

Ahh.... that would be fun... which is why I write out some emails and just send them to the delete bin. 😀 Camping with a Troop is no longer required for scouting adventure or AOL. Only an outdoor activity. One could argue they didn’t follow the patrol method. However, if you did take that path I think it could make the situation worse as the existing leadership would point to a “disgruntled ex leader” and deflect blame. In the end, I see silently leaving as a louder statement. FYI.... not to derail this thread. With your Webelos den leader, parent, or guardian, particip

My scouts think the same about Summit. We have rolled our own to Isle Royale, Porcupine Mt and SHT but we are looking forward to Sea Base 2019 and Philmont 2020. The scouts pick from a list of options based on what activity they want to do. If we roll our own they pick the route and plan the food.

We had a crew go to Swapbase this summer the heat and humidity wasn't bad until it was time to sleep. The mosquitoes were almost none existent I didn't see any until our last night. We spent a bunch of time taking breaks for swimming since I over estimated the difficulty of the trek and we spent a lot of time canoeing before our trek. If you are looking for an outdoor adventure do trek 2 its camping outside every night in hammocks rather than house boats and cabins. We are looking at getting a crew together to go to MOHAB for 2019. I recommend giving them a call or send an email with

We've done a mix of our own and official high adventure bases. Each has a different flavor, but I'll never forget all the ones we did on our own. Our selection was mainly triggered by what was within an interesting driving distance. Sometimes that distance was 10+ hours.

I understand the desire to get them thinking big but I would suggest that you not present any ideas. Rather - challenge them to come up with ideas by asking what they want to do. Do they want to canoe? hike? fish? raft? bike? swim? sail? You could say something like "Ive heard great things about XYZ" or "I know of a Troop that did THIS and had a great time" to give them someplace to start. But in my experience, if you present some ideas they will pick one of those because it is easy. Another approach is to set some limits first - usually cost or duration (how much vacation tim

http://alaskascoutingadventures.org http://mainehighadventure.org

Agreed. When I hit the online recharter process it becomes a bit of a game of how to adjust my actual leadership structure into the BSA requirements. For example, I have a great den leader who is also Cubmaster. If I followed BSA I would either have a weaker Cubmaster or a weaker den leader. Yes, ideally I have competent parents tripping over themselves volunteering. I don’t, so we run the pack with the leadership we have (always looking for more), following YPT and adjusting our charter renewal to match requirements.

Remember what the DE mantra is... More applications equals more green.....

There are other troops out there, seek one that meets YOUR Scouts needs. Troops are like musical groups, while the vast majority seem to have 2 guitars, a bass, and a drummer, they can be vastly different and can appeal to a variety of specific tastes

Heh. I have the impression that the other troop we are considering will not present an issue with a signed off SM. Edit: Oh trust me, I have been brimming with snark for two months over this issue (and it has occasionally spilled over) but I had to keep reminding myself that this is for my scout and anything I do that is NOT IN SERVICE to the aims and methods of what he is trying to accomplish simply benefits me and not him. If I had to grovel and look meek to placate egos, then so be it.

12, First Class. I am hopeful we can find a home in the other Troop but if not, we might have to wait for Venturing age. No Sea Scouts in our area.

Thank you all for the support . This has been a tough decision. Just found out one troop is not accepting anyone currently. They are over their limit, but that is because two of their Eagles will age out in the very near future and turn into ASMs. Once they age out, they will become ASMs. IMHO, one of the signs of a good troop is their ability to keep Eagles active to their 18th birthday, and possibly beyond.

Talked to the two older ones with the wife. They see it getting worse, and while they don't want to leave their friends, understand why we want them to transfer to a different troop. One of the nice things about wife being RSO this weekend, she saw all the troops in action. She's in agreement with the two troops I would like to see them in. One may not have any opening as their CO limits them to 36 max. That's her favorite. One troop reminds me of the troop I grew up in, and I hope they pick that one. Plus I know a bunch of their Scouts from when I worked CSDC. I admit, I can't remember all t

The snarker in me would make the final act in that troop to ask the sm to sign off on the smc and completion of rank since he did meet with the sm.

My council's course is held on the South side of the DFW metroplex and I live about 40 minutes from the OK border on the Texas side. To have to get down there on a weekday morning in time to start is a big obstacle for me. The kind of obstacle where I have about decided not to do it no matter the benefits.

He should talk to his Scoutmaster and ask for the names of local Swimming merit badge counselors, then contact a counselor and explain his circumstances. Going with a buddy, he should meet the counselor and discuss what he still needs to do and how he plans to do that. Then he should do it! 😃 If there are no counselors near you, he can ask the Scoutmaster to talk to the District Advancement Chair and see what his options are. There may be a counselor in a neighboring district, or perhaps the district can contact some local experts - a YMCA aquatics director comes to mind - who would be wi

This could quickly turn into an I&P thread at this rate, but as a health professional, I am going to say that I also believe that the BSA should come out as pro-vaccination. High vaccination rates have kept these things from being an issue for a long time, but that may not be true for long. While I acknowledge that parents currently have a legal right to decide not to vaccinate, that doesn't mean that these families have a right to have their children around mine. Summer camps, winter camps, and all sorts of other BSA activities are high risk for disease transmission of all kinds.

Do you realize that the same words you just used to describe the NRA have been used by some to describe the BSA as well? In my area, the makeup of the BSA is very close to a mirror image of NRA membership. Many of the boys who are in Scouts have parents that are NRA members.

Maybe where you live. Where I live abandoning the NRA will have the same effect. It would be just one more step in turning the BSA from a national program into a big blue bubble suburban day care program.

This actually isn't particularly unusual, nor is it a new or obscure regulation. You DE was simply following the correct procedures according to BSA policy. A volunteer can't serve in more than one position within a unit; admittedly smaller units sometimes bend this rule but it's not supposed to happen. So you shouldn't have anybody serving as both Cubmaster and Den Leader either. Here's the link to an article from the Scouting Magazine blog that should hopefully help you understand the rationale behind this principle: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2016/04/29/can-volunteer-serve-mult

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

Long overdue update. The committee meeting was interesting. Felt like my own board of review (or military promotion board in reality - felt like I was trying to make Sergeant again). It was me, surrounded by all the members of the committee while they all argued against me. I won't elaborate further other than to say it was a less than pleasant experience - with no real result. The only concession I was given, almost as an after thought, was that I was offered the opportunity to recraft the rules and send them to the incoming SM for his consideration next year. I gladly accepted the oppor