Leaderboard

To everyone on scouter.com, Now that girls are already in the cub program and they are about to enter the scout program it's time to welcome them. That's a nice way of saying stop complaining about girls in the BSA. Every thread that is about girls entering troops has gone off the rails. There have been complaints about how the decision was made, the negative impact on boys, what's wrong with the BSA, and just a lot of anger. I understand that people want to complain in general but we can't have complaints about the decision to include girls any more. The reason is simple. No scout should

That would be up to the Chartered Organization to decide. I know of no rule that would prohibit a CO from having an election to choose the Scoutmaster. Many CO's have elections to choose their IH.

An effective manager, or leader, in scouting or elsewhere will strive to guide their subordinates rather than dictate to them. Hopefully the subordinate will then be able to realize the impact of their decisions while retaining their autonomy and without feeling as though they are being undermined by their manager; e.g. Instead of a manager saying to his employee: "You're doing that wrong You need to do it this way." The manager could say to the employee: "Why do you think that things aren't working in the way that you would ideally like them to? Are there things that could be done d

I started reading this forum last year, as a parent of a girl who wants to join BSA, with the idea of learning more about the BSA as I prepare to become a volunteer. It has been extremely helpful to read the range of opinions. I have been impressed by the number of people (too many for me to remember all their names) who, even though preferring for Boy Scouts to remain single gender, have been kind and courteous to answer my questions and give good advice as to how to have a good program for the girls. And I have been encouraged by the number of people who are obviously genuinely enthusiast

Week 7 July 21-27 at Philmont Training Center For both Youth and Adults. Sign up now!! These tracks will cover more than just paper targets. One track will follow Venturing Scouts–try your hand at shooting large bore rifles, sporting clays, cowboy action, three-gun, competition, and black powder rifles. Venturers even have the chance to get into Philmont’s backcountry! The second track allows Venturing Advisors to earn the NRA Instructors Certificate in pistol and shotgun! https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/PTC/conferencesO/VenturingShootingSportsSpectacular/

Hello fellow Scouters and thank you for letting me join this forum! I wanted to share something with everyone that I recently created for a group of scoutmasters I met at a University of Scouting event here in the Omaha metro. When my boys bridged over from Webelos the former scoutmaster found out I was an Eagle Scout and military veteran, so he asked if I wanted to take the reins of troop since his sons had made Eagle scout years ago. While I have years of Scouting under my belt and years of experience utilizing my survival skills in Afghanistan, I was very nervous. Hones

The bigger problem is the power and influence Some of the SMs have at District and Council levels. They are above the law, and fill course staffs and programs with like-minded friends. If anyone has the audacity to give them any type of feedback, or point out policy, you can be sure to be blacklisted and retaliation will continue for some time. Oh and don't expect to ever get an award at District or council level. I wish someone would take action, but council seems to look the other way. I have wondered how many good scouters drop out due to these self centered SMs.

"BSA doesn't have a mechanism for enforcing quality standards in units. For all of its hand-wringing about membership numbers, BSA seems to ignore the direct relationship between unit quality on the one hand and member recruitment and retention on the other. All recruitment is by local units. All retention is by local units. Membership numbers could be improved substantially if the vast majority of those units met quality standards of the kind found in the Commissioner Helps book." 👍

BSA used to have a manual called Commissioner Helps for Packs, Troops, and Crews, no. 33618. The last version I have was updated in January 2011. It is organized as a number of unit operational elements, with each element having one or more standards to be used by Commissioners in assessing a unit. It also includes a number of suggested actions Commissioners can take to help the unit achieve each standard. The standards for "Top Unit Leader" are: 1. The unit leader is fully trained, is respected by youth and other adults, and has a keen interest in youth. 2. [Troops a

Venturing Scouts ... deep sigh

Thank you for this. I’ve also gotten tired of the constant arguing and trying to turn back the clock. After years of advocacy for girls and gays, we finally have an inclusive program. The decision has been made and these girls - our girls - are going to be Scouts. Let’s give them an amazing welcome!

Thank you all for your input and advice. I have been following the thread, but unable to comment until this morning. Last night my son received a call from the district leader, who it turns out was the gentleman who told us to appeal. He told my son that even though in the original meeting they did not have a unanimous decision, there was another meeting where they went over his qualifications and reviewed his project again. This time he was approved. He is now an Eagle in waiting. He was told that the papers will be sent to National as soon as they get a signature from him due to it