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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/07/19 in Posts

  1. As someone who was not elected to the Order as a youth, I have to say that much of what I witnessed at my Ordeal (this past August), was lost on a good number of the youth assembled there. That also goes for some of the Elangomats who thought little of having conversations with many of the Ordeal candidates, despite the rules that had been clearly spelled out for all of us. I am going to hazard a guess that other than showing up for their Brotherhood weekend, most of them will seldom feel any sense of obligation to the Order (pun intended). For me, the weekend was amazing, and was capped off b
    2 points
  2. I am Scoutmaster for a 22-member all-girl Troop that is "stand-alone" and not linked to an existing unit. In fact, we are the only youth program at the church that serves as our CO. I'm a 30-year Scouter and have done it all. I will observe that the girls attracted to our group represent a normal cross-section of girls in our city in terms of income, race and interests. 8 crossed-over from an all-girl Webelos den at anther CO, which they just loved. 5 came over from GSUSA for a variety of reasons. Two remain dual-registered. We have had four troop meetings, one day hike and go on our f
    2 points
  3. I very much agree. With the current election procedures allowing every scout on the ballot to be elected, it seems that more and more troops expect every First Class scout should be in OA. Many of them do lack the maturity or character to be an Arrowman. When I was elected 50 years ago, we were able to elect a maximum of 4 scouts, regardless of how many met the rank and camping requirements. As I recall, I was the only person elected that year, and we were a fairly large troop. I am all for progress, but changing OA election procedures is one change I wish had not happened. W
    1 point
  4. It is the unique nature of the outdoor program. Seeing Scouts grow and mature as they play and have fun in that environment. Then when they are 16 - 17 and realize the method to the madness, and that they have experienced what not many of their friends may have been involved in. I was raised in a basically suburban area, but we had acreage and with neighbors there was 60 - 90 acres i wandered with friends. Scouting was an extension of that and the fun of going off for the weekend and longer term camps. My goal is to get these guys out and about. Working with the unit seeing the S
    1 point
  5. As a Scout I was drawn towards adventure and stayed for the community Service. The OA was a large part of what kept me in Scouts as an older kid. The Camaraderie that the Scouts had and the Leaders had along with the relationship with the community. As an Adult I want my Children to have access to that experience. I enjoy being a part of an organization that builds up the community and are role models for others to emulate.
    1 point
  6. Howdy, ma'am. I think there's a lot of us here who are volunteering because we have scouts in the program. Lord knows, I could probably find a more dangerous use for that "1 hour a week"...
    1 point
  7. You will find the OA is very accommodating to solo Scouts as well as groups. You should absolutely go. My son was the only one active from his troop at first, now other go as well and he is now Lodge Chief. He has made friends with hundreds of Scouts in the Lodge and in several other Lodges as well. Join your chapter meetings as well if they are active. Volunteer with the Lodge, join a committee and try different tings. Odds are you will find something you enjoy and can have a positive impact on the Lodge and Scouting. Most importantly, have fun, and don't worry about being sol
    1 point
  8. Like I said to my kids ... go out there, have fun ... be sure to talk to strangers!!!! I wasn't that involved with O/A, but as I became an older teen I did a good bit of scouting stuff on my own ... that is, with guys who weren't in my troop. It's kind of natural ... expanding your circle of friends like that. It gets you ready for college or military life. Son #1 ... he did scouting with the guys and girls in his troop/crew (and really they were scouts/venturers from his school) or not at all. And, they were good kids mostly, and that worked out well for him. So, I can respect that
    1 point
  9. Welcome @octo. You will find that much of your involvement with OA will be of a "solo" nature. That doesn't mean you won't find other members of your troop participating, but it would be a rarity that if you chose to be part of your lodge ceremonies team you would be with members of your troop, or if you ran for an officer position that you would have other members of your troop also on the same officer group. Look at the OA as the brotherhood of scouts, and consider it an opportunity to be around scouts from other units/backgrounds/interests to learn and form new bonds beyond those you hav
    1 point
  10. Very fitting that the logo looks like a big, round ball. That's exactly how you'll end up looking if you sustain your habit of eating foods with palm oil (which is over 50% saturated fat).
    1 point
  11. What is a Junior Scout and who picks him? I don't see the OP getting much support from Scoutmasters for his concern. The reason is Scoutmasters continually receive a lot of heat from parents for how they run the troop. Of course Scoutmasters can abuse the privilege, but they are the designated person to draw the line for minimum quality of a scout. The SM is the gatekeeper for keeping the program fair and equal for each and all scouts. If the SM is taken out of that role, then who sets the standard? As mashmaster points out, it will be the squeaky wheel parent of the week. Once
    1 point
  12. Personally, I have told scouts when they had the camping and rank requirements but not my approval. 100% of the time, the boys understood and agreed. 100% of the time I got an angry email from the parent. It was never a blanket statement of mine but each one on an individual basis. I have been called many names in those emails. And I still stand by each of those decisions. I also have never been a fan of "Scout of the Year" awards. Scouting is a personal journey and these awards imho tells a scout he is better than the other scouts which I disagree with.
    1 point
  13. The existing Webelos program works perfectly. My spouse was the den leader for the 8 girls who gradusted into our troop and they loved it. My motivation is that we can easily have den meetings in a different room and this becomes a feeder organization for the troop. We meet on Saturday mornings, which was the same time we had our Webelos meetings. We would operate it as a pure Webelos troop and not a “young patrol”
    1 point
  14. As long as we're dreaming about changing national, here's another option for cub scout burnout: Take webelos out of the cub program. The first year of scouts could be mixed in with it as well. The idea is to have an intermediate stage between cubs and scouts. The only purpose would be to develop teamwork and start doing a consistent outdoor program. Adult led patrols would be fine. The mantra would be "as soon as you get to scouts you'll do this on your own, so learn." Before anyone says that's what webelos is supposed to be, I agree, but for the simple reason that a webelos den looks a l
    1 point
  15. Interesting photos....I've always thought that Rifle and Shotgun were merit badges that really leant themselves to being taught entirely outdoors, but if you've got limited range time, then the classroom intro makes sense..
    1 point
  16. One might go even further. Simply holding 9 - 12 camping trips a year might be insufficient if only say 10-20% of scouts are attending. Some percentage of scout-nights-camped would be a better pure metric to track.
    1 point
  17. JTE is definitely a corporate Lean type site measurement that was brought it. We typically get Gold status, but not sure it's something we focus on, but moving on... In JTE measurement the challenge I have is that Budget for the unit has the same equivalency as Short Term camping. A troop can be a Gold unit and in a year do only 4 short term campouts and going to summer camp. The JTE certainly does hopefully move units to do certain things, but clearly (IMHO) any unit that is "GOLD" should be camping 9 -12 times per year as short term, some of those campouts should be backpacking or
    1 point
  18. @WAKWIB, I've been a trustworthy contributor (well, at least a contributor ), and have opposed @SSScout's motion. Hashing out how we help American boys mature in their faith is the program for some of us. @RememberSchiff's tagging is a good suggestion. We should use that more often.
    1 point
  19. Added topic tags "Faith", "Chaplaincy" - the most we lowly Members and Moderators can do.
    1 point
  20. First, I’m adamantly opposed to blanket rules. I prefer that each Scout be judged on his/ her attitude and accomplishments. However, one of the requirements for being on the ballot for OA is approval of the Scoutmaster. We do that because the SM should know the qualities of the Scouts in question better than anyone else in Scouting. OA is not a rank or merit badge where the requirements can be checked off. It is an honor, where first the Scoutmaster must approve and then the Scouts. I have watched thousands of Scouts go through Ordeal and some have been 11-12 years old. Most o
    1 point
  21. One of the tenants of Catholicism is that each of us has an obligation to attend Mass on Sunday unless grave circumstances would prevent it. Going camping does not typically constitute grave circumstances, but Clergy can provide dispensation to miss mass. (Which is how practicing Catholics attend Philmont). Plenty of Catholics don't attend mass every Sunday, but it's a requirement of our faith and teaching of our Church. So it's less of the CO in that particular case trying to be "Imperial" and more of the CO and Troop Leadership making sure that the Catholic Scouts meet their duty to God. May
    1 point
  22. I like this one. Our pack is doing crossover this Thursday night, I may suggest that to them.
    1 point
  23. BSA's highest dropout rate is with first year Troop scouts. And from my studies, those actually are in the first six months. In other words, if the new scouts are around after six months (after summer camp) they will likely stay with the troop several years. We found the number driver one of dropouts is the sudden jump from an adult culture to a self-independence patrol method culture. The drop out rate isn't something new, I found it a problem as far back as I could find records, 1960s. The problem is boys lack of maturity for the confidence of making a lot of decisions about their envir
    1 point
  24. You probably already know this, but... I'd just make the conversation positive about what you and your sons want to see in a troop. This change is not really about what you dislike in the current troop. This move is about what you all want to get from Scouting and the difficult realization that you need to go somewhere else to get it. In an ideal world, the current troop would be providing this. It's only through painful reflection that you've realized you need to seek that elsewhere. If he asks why you cannot get that here, then by all means, give examples of how the move towar
    1 point
  25. As an at-home CPAP user, I have to agree that providing the ability to use the devices at summer camp is ill advised. If you TRULY feel that your health would be compromised by not using the machine for the duration of your stay at camp, don't go. Many leaders don't subject themselves to potentially dangerous situations for a variety of limitations and health reasons, you can be in that group. No shame in that. If you are so acclimated to its presence that you cannot sleep comfortably without it, that's on you. You don't bring the adjustable frame Tempurpedic either, do you?
    1 point
  26. I'll be blunt - if an adult can't go to summer camp for a week, or camp out for a weekend, without using a CPAP machine, then they don't belong in the woods with the Scouts in the first place. These machines are being used to treat something the doctors like to call "obstructive sleep apnea" and I like to call snoring. The medical community has come up with a new way to separate people/insurance companies from their money by declaring something that has been happening for millennia a "severe health problem". Severe? Deaths by sleep apnea are extremely rare - like immeasurably rare.
    1 point
  27. In all honesty, if the adult can’t provide it for himself or pay for it himself to “rent” something, then he shouldn’t be using the camps limited funding for it which will take away from others and it’s not selfish, it’s just don’t go if you know the camp can’t accomdate.
    1 point
  28. Three camps that I am aware of do not provide anything, nor do they allow running of cords for safety reasons. It was the same for Jamboree. Adults that require CPAPs are on their own to manage their needs. Frankly, I would not be in favor of camps redirecting funds away from programming for youth to these type accommodations.
    1 point
  29. Not sure if this is the right forum or not. But today I was asked by a scoutmaster of a Troop with girls in it to help a couple scouts with a merit badge since I am a counselor for it. Of course I said yes. The Scoutmaster told me after my response that a majority of counselors are saying no to her because they don't want to work with girls. I don't understand why a scouter wouldn't want to help any youth out.
    0 points
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