Leaderboard

UK story...last year I was on a plane with 56 other scouts all in matching t-shirts and neckers, on our way to summer camp. We clearly and obviously and unmistakably had girls amongst our number. There was an angry man on the plane. Got on red faced and cheesed off. He sits behind three of ours. I'm not sure what happened but I was sat across the aisle and a seat or two away in the same row, and I not infrequently heard him spluttering "****** boy scouts [inaudible muttering]". He was quite old. In the UK we dropped Boy from Boy Scouts in 1967. Nineteen sixty seven. Actually 50 years previous.

Is the quality of a camporee any different than the quality of a troop? Doesn't it depend on how it's run? I'm the district camping chair and the key seems to be to keep mixing it up. It also has to be relatively inexpensive and work with 200+ scouts. This is a lot harder than figuring it out once and then getting into a rut. All of the bad stories that have been mentioned seem to stem from people looking for a quick easy plan, and that means doing what has already been done before. Advancement is super easy to plan. But doesn't every single troop have the same problem? It takes ima

In my experience, almost no one outside BSA knows or uses the BSA acronym for the Boy Scouts of America organization. It's "Boy Scouts" colloquially, and "Boy Scouts of America" more formally (like the first sentence in news reports, before they switch to just calling it "the Boy Scouts"). So a lot of folks will not automatically make the connection between "Scouts BSA" and "Boy Scouts." And the shortest, simplest explanation is, "It's Boy Scouts." Because of single-gender troops, we're officially organizing the youth program to differentiate between one gender and another. In effe

Just got the email - we got a 12-day slot arriving on 7/18/2020. Who else got a spot?

How does one experience repercussions of behavior without accountability. You lost me, the community (National) reputation of the Boy Scout Eagle is leadership, character and integrity. The BSA program mission is developing moral and ethical character. And you believe that the reputation of behavior outside of Scouting activities should be off limits! By the way, have you seen this? Its part of the Number 2 Eagle requirement: As a Life Scout, demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Tell how you have done your duty to God, how you have lived t

We need to be careful with labels. "Criminal behavior" may be accurate but it is also strongly biased. In Illinois, the penalty he faces is about the same as a large speeding offense. I suspect most of us at one time or other was speeding at least 10 miles over the speed limit. Probably in our lives, at least once significantly more than that whether intentional or by accident. That is also criminal activity. We are also definitely at a point where we are discussing whether it should be treated as criminal. It is easy to for impressionable youth to get caught up in those dis

We have a swear jar. Its a virtual one but we do use it to remind adults to watch their language. Ex: Joe says the f-bomb someone will pipe up and say $5 bucks to the sear jar and we move on.

It is how to refer to individual members in the Scouts BSA program. From page 10 of "Family Scouting Questions and Answers," the FAQ under "Scouts BSA Program Resources" on the BSA Family Scouting web page, https://www.scouting.org/familyscouting/ : Q: What will the members of the program be called? [A:] Just as today, they will be called Scouts. For example, “I’m in Scouts BSA, so I am a Scout.”

The Scout Spirit is the one subjective part of the requirements. The rest of the checklist is pretty much just objective actions. Granted, rarely does National refuse the Eagle for lacking Scout Spirit because it is so subjective, but then I've never heard National having to consider an objective arrest as part of Scout Spirit. I agree with qwazse, this comes under the heading of tough love. We must consider what is best for the young man's best future. While the Eagle represents the highest moral values, the title is just status. Character and integrity is measure by actions, not status.

I had to do a quick google search to verify that this is not, in fact, the rallying cry of some unkind troop somewhere.

HI @desertrat77 & @69RoadRunner, I fully acknowledge that there are lots of Scouters who get their beads and then walk around like self appointed experts. There are many, many more who do not. Scouters come from a wide array of backgrounds and there are numerous archetypes. I try not to make fun on them in my posts. I just seems to me like it's considered good sport for some reason to make fun of the WB'ers - so much so, that it's considered the "thing to do" to make fun of the WBers. It's like they're the OK group to kick around. Feels like folks do to them the exact same k

In my limited experience, when I've had an adult leader outside our group be critical in a condescending manner, it's been a WB. That does NOT mean all or even most WB are condescending. They aren't. The ones who are give the others a bad reputation. I'd suggest that all WB training include some time spent on being helpful and friendly. Also knowing when it's a good idea to not be "helpful." For much of my time in our troop, we were a smaller group of mostly younger scouts. We've had a couple with Autism and one with Down Syndrome. We're not perfect. We do the best we can and t

Scout Salute and Farewell

PROVIDENCE, R.I. U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island says he credits his current position in the House to former President George H.W. Bush's signing the Americans with Disabilities Act. At the age of 16, Langevin was injured while working with the Warwick Police Department in the Boy Scout Explorer program. A gun accidentally discharged and a bullet struck Langevin, leaving him paralyzed. The Democratic congressman went on to become the first quadriplegic to serve in the House of Representatives. Bush signed the ADA, which is a civil rights law

I notice that whenever somebody wants to wear an item that is disallowed by the most current Guide to Awards and Insignia, they bring up something along the lines of "Well, it's such a little thing that nobody should make a big deal out of it, and after all, isn't this about KIDS, and not about worrying about such a little thing?!" The problem with this approach is that it is ultimately a distraction from the real issue - adults who want to get away with improper uniforming, and throwing up the smokescreen of 'concern for the program' when actually they just don't want people to bother th

Thanks ParkMan. The gent at the camporee was a fellow staffer who had spent the better part of the evening trying, in the most ham-fisted manner possible, to upstage and otherwise challenge me for the "camporee director" title. I bit my tongue and let him have plenty of leash. But when it was just the two of us, I used the cracker barrel question to let him know where we stood.

Kudos on the great camporee. I've found in our district that they are begging for people to lead camporee planning. I know our district camping committee would welcome a camporee just like you describe. Huge props for organizing it. Nice story and good point. I most respectfully just wonder why the need to keep make it at the expense of WB folks. There's 10 posts around here critical of people who have taken WB for every one supportive of it.

Some good guidance and info regarding Scouts BSA recruiting and how to handle questions about GSUSA. I would highly recommend reviewing these if you plan to setup a Scouts BSA Girls Troop. This was released to councils today. Brand-Guidance-Talking-Points-for-Scouts-BSA-Info-Sessions-1.pdf BSA-Messaging-to-Staff-and-Volunteers-12-5-18.pdf FINAL Brand Training 12-4-18.pdf

Camporees have changed over the years. When I was a scout, camporees/freezerees were held in wild, open spaces. Bring your own "everything." Nothing provided. Campsites far apart. Plenty of time to sit around the fire, work on camping skills, explore the forest/prairie/desert, shoot the breeze, take a nap, etc. I don't find camporees enjoyable today. Common characteristics: - Troops are directed to camp too close together - Almost always held at a council property (same place you've been a bunch of times) - Over-reliance on established shower/latrine facilities

A young scout salutes the casket of former President George H.W. Bush during public viewing at the U.S. Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Melina Mara/Washington Post) via https://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/guest-columnist/cedar-rapids-remembers-george-hw-bush-20181205

Camporees while put on with good intentions seem to end up being some groups version of what they seem to feel an ideal Scout campout should be. As we can see as demonstrated by this forum, what is perceived as ideal is open to interpretation. One group mentioned a movie at one, others speak of different activities, and some camporees aim to ONLY have skills for lower rank requirements. One we went to the guys came back to the site and said they worked on lashing for about 30 minutes then some old guy told them how wrong they had done it for another 30 minutes. Not really firing them

A different view of this scout, shot from behind with a full view of the coffin in background, was the home page of the Washington Post yesterday. I couldn't isolate the picture to post; I was sure you would be able to get a version for the forum.

In the old days, the response was first class scouts are trained for survival in the woods. There is very little the adults can add that the trained first class scout doesn’t already know. Many adults today don’t understand the trained skills of a true first class scout. Ive told this story before: our senior scouts set up a simulated car wreck for the rest of the troop hiking to the campsite. As the scouts realized they were walking into a very serious accident, they hesitated at first, then walked quickly to the scene. Once they realize the scene was set up, you could feel the re

These days this violation is relatively minor. Plus, youth are affected by societal changes. States are legalizing. Current culture openly shows contempt. Youth are bound to be caught up in these changes. I find it hard to blame him any more than a 1950s youth that experimented with smoking when he comes from a home where a mom and dad smoke. Generally, I think your focus is wrong. If he is a member of your troop, he deserves the right to have an advancement path forward. That's part of being a member and one of the core scouting tools. We as leaders do not lay in the weeds wait

We had a scout arrested on a Friday right before an outing for trespassing into a closed factory. Obviously he missed that outing, what with being in jail and all. Scout was a Life Scout, this was his first offense, the legal system worked the issue. He had been and continued to be an active scout. The Scout did seem to gain lessons from the arrest. During the Eagle SM conference the issue was discussed, what he had learned from the arrest, what he would have changed and what he needed to take forward from the incident. IMHO - Key is you as the SM may need to have the conversatio

In our very active, urban District, we hold EBoR twice a month in two sites. Our District has at least (last time I checked) three or four long time serving Eagle Coordinators, who organize and check these EBoRs . Each Eagle Candidate is expected to schedule their EBoR (after his Troop's BoR) with one of the EBCoordinators, on one of the evenings. Sometimes, if there are truly extenuating circumstances, I have heard of the EBoR being scheduled another night, but not often. Each Eagle candidate is expected to be accompanied by his parent/guardian(s), his SM (or designee) and anyone

I think there are two issues. One is getting a kid to show up. The other is what happens to the kid once he shows up. We make a big deal of the SPL talking to the visiting scout, introducing him to the troop, and asking him what patrol he'd like to visit with. Then the patrols go crazy inviting him to join them. Making a kid feel welcome once he shows up is just as important as getting him to show up.

Earlier this week there was a picture posted on the town middle school FB page showing a class of 8th grade boys and girls cooking outside. I emailed the teacher and this is what I found out. I KNOW there is the interest with the kids now for sure I just want to get to them to talk about Scouts. I asked if he thought there might be interest with those girls in starting a Troop since we have nothing anywhere close. They are for sure not doing Girl Scout stuff. Anyway they teach is a coach and asked that I let him finish football for this year and he wants to meet to talk abou

As Jameson76 said, it’s all about the program, that’s what they come for, and your existing scouts are the best way to do that. Word of mouth is powerful tool! What you can do to support them in that is give them some tools. If the troop doesn’t have it already give it an internet presence. That doesn’t have to be an all singing all dancing website, it can be as simple as Flickr photo stream or a Facebook page. Make sure that on it are two things 1. Photos of the scouts doing fun stuff. Canoeing, hiking etc. Don’t worry about uniforms or courts of honour, that doesn’t sell. Show off

National, and generally Council, have Zero, nada, none, desire to fail a scout on the EBOR. Unless there is clear convincing argument to show the scout hasn't completed all the requirements, they won't mess with it. That two out of three members don't agree proves there is not a clear convincing argument. I also agree that the SM should ask the EBOR member be removed until they are trained to the proper interpretations of their responsibilities. It might help carry some weight for the committee chairs looking for reason. I have done this myself. Barry