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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/21/19 in all areas

  1. Settle it by building a Thunderdome....Two leaders enter; one leader leaves!
    3 points
  2. So, 8 months after this trip and today my son tells me that he would like to be a sea scout when he is old enough... and continue to be a boy scout. 😲
    3 points
  3. Oh, my no. You can't even get Medical doctors and nurses to up to full compliance with regular mandatory trainings and a giant cudgel to bash them if they step out of line.😖 And yes, you absolutely do train the janitors and receptionists regarding data safeguarding - at least up to the level of "under no circumstances may you ever do X". A janitor who snaps a selfie with a patient, or a receptionist who tweets "guess who just walked in the door", is going to be in for a world of hurt. 20 minutes of training would be perfectly fine for "don't be an idiot, the medical forms are private
    2 points
  4. Welcome. The decision for the minor details is made by the person(s) who are running the "event". These details are not discussed or decided by the pack committee, but by those tasked with accomplishing the event. For example. The B&G banquet. There should be a sub-committee (mostly non-pack-committee) tasked with organizing and implementing. They are given a budget, and some parameters which are sometimes tradition (like location and date), and everyone else supports them. At pack committee, they are an agenda item to report on progress, and answer questions, but not to deliberate d
    2 points
  5. @ParkMan - that was done about 5 years ago when we updated the FAQ's. What do you think isn't clear or needs to be added? I'll just copy and paste into the thread. Here is the link: https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/ahmr/medical-formfaqs/ Q. What do leaders do with the Annual Health and Medical Records they collect? A. In all cases, the information gathered is for use in conducting a safe Scouting program. Information gathered in the AHMR must be maintained and shared in a confidential and discreet manner. Some conditions may require communication to ensure the saf
    2 points
  6. The scouts hereabouts read the new ceremonies skits, and proclaimed there was no way they were about to do them. If a pack want to write its own ceremony, fine they will do that. If the pack requests the ceremony that the OA used to do, these young men will oblige. Without sashes, uniforms, or any mention of the Order. They ask for no money, no fame, they do it on their own time, driving their own cars, using their own stuff, just so the cubs will have the ceremony they have waited and worked for since they were Bobcats. I have no authority to forbid them to do so, i'm not their pa
    2 points
  7. "You are no longer a Cub, you are now a Scout."
    2 points
  8. Greetings all, New-guy to the forum (well, I've been lurking for a few years), but not to Scouting here, looking to gather ideas for an experiment my troop is doing. The request first, details after, so you can just jump past this if you're not interested. Many, many more details if anyone wants to discuss in greater depth later... Requested: * I'm looking for ideas/methods that you may use or have tried in your unit, for noticing when Scouts are living by the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, etc. and ideas/methods that you may have use or have tried for providing recognition for t
    1 point
  9. I am on the side of this discussion that thinks you don't want the BSA to try to even self-enforce HIPAA style privacy on BSA medical forms. First, my reasoning behind the thought. HIPAA is important of several reasons. First, because interaction with healthcare is an essential activity. You might need to go to the hospital where people know you. Second, you don't have any real measure of control over what goes in your chart or who views it. This in addition to the fact that many people from your nurse, to a pharmacy technician, to the lab staff, to the billing department, to your i
    1 point
  10. Voting only helps if that is the personality of the unit committee. Otherwise, it's best done by consensus. That's my experience. Your mileage can vary. Leave details to those taking responsibility for doing the work. I'd practice a few ways of politely saying that in the committee. I'd ask the questioning parent ... as relaxed as possible ... something like ... "is that a show stopper or can we leave the details to the blue and gold chair?" ... "are you volunteering to help the blue and gold chair?" ... It really depends on your personality and whether you can say it politely with
    1 point
  11. To the do-ers go the rights to decide how to do: "We have to do X for the Blue and Gold meal, that's how it's always been done!" -> "Great! Thanks for volunteering to take care of the B&G meal! Would you like any help with that?". Or, if you're planning on doing something different -> "Well, Jim has already volunteered to take care of that this year, and I think he's planning on doing Y instead, but if you'd like to do the meal for next year, we can put you down as our lead volunteer right now!"
    1 point
  12. Just the amount of training to get anyone who would have to handle the health forms up to hipaa compliance... And it would have to cover anyone who touches a health form.
    1 point
  13. @EastCst welcome to scouter.com
    1 point
  14. It doesn’t appear to me that the current system costs anything for exactly that level of service? You you do understand that if BSA literally required HIPAA compliance, your out-of-pocket cost to participate in any BSA event would increase by probably at least $50, more likely considerably more, per person, per event? Unless you actually know what you’re asking for there, I would caution against you recommending it. You would like medical records to be more private - I don’t disagree with that at all - but your comments suggest that you have no idea of eith
    1 point
  15. Most scouts will be at activities. But the SM and I and our two other ASMs in our troop are preparing for anything. For example, if the scouts might rather split up and exchange patrols with another country, one group may just decide to bring treats and chill in our campsite. I'll have my espresso ready for any leaders who were "forced" to tag along with their scouts and come to our campsite. Likewise if some of our scouts "need" me to come with them to meet Saudi scouts and I "have" to drink spiced coffee with their leader ... well I'm bracing myself for that kind of sacrifice. We won't l
    1 point
  16. Great Question because so few troops look at their program in this way. They have expectations but don't really analyze why the scouts aren't meeting them. Instead of stepping back, reflecting and trying something new, they react by intruding and pushing. Now, I'm not saying adults should never provide input to boost the program, scouts simply run out of ideas. But, when a scout has to be continually told to wear his uniform properly, something is a miss. Scouts need self motivation to grow, not the threat of adult intimidation. The reason I rather used mixed age patrols instead of same
    1 point
  17. Your doctor probably spends 20% to 40% of the total insurance-billed-cost of your exam, exclusively on HIPAA compliance. Would you like to pay an additional $50 or so per BSA event that you attend, to have BSA handle your medical information similarly?
    1 point
  18. The OA is already signaling a return to the original ceremonies. Weren't there principles in the black robes at NOAC? This is one of a few items in the trading post referencing the original three tests, https://tradingpost.oa-bsa.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=2018-E-003.
    1 point
  19. "Today, your journey in our Pack ends, but your journey in your Troop begins." Cubs are still Scouts, so I would spend less focus on what kind of scout they are, just defer to describing as what type of unit they are/will be in as a compromise.
    1 point
  20. The challenge with positive feedback is it has to be sincere. I love my father, but he isn't a sentimental or emotional person. I'd bring home my report card as a kid, and he'd say "Pretty good." In his usual flat and unexcited tone. He was pretty much the same when I earned my Eagle, got accepted to college, graduated from college, got accepted into graduate school.. That's just who he is. I know he cares and he's proud of me. If he was to start giving effusive praise, it'd only be because my mother made him and it wouldn't be meaningful, because it wouldn't be totally sincere. I do t
    1 point
  21. Definitely, the more immediate the feedback, the more effective it will be. Unfortunately there are a couple competing goals here that don't always line up perfectly. Immediate thanks maximize the reward/satisfaction potential, but public rewards maximize the "hey, I want some of that" potential for getting more scouts participating. Public doesn't always allow immediate and vice versa. I'm definitely interested in input regarding how to optimize, and what has worked, or not, with different mechanisms for different units. We're doing out best to turn the "thanking" into a scout-led ac
    1 point
  22. Point it our right away don't wait until another time also make it a big deal without making the scout embarrassed. A simple " Thanks Billy for helping the new scouts with knots tonight its great to see a scout step up without being asked" during a scoutmaster minute means more than you could ever know.
    1 point
  23. I don't have anywhere near the wisdom or experience of the people who have already replied on this thread (and I think you've had some GREAT advice) - but I do have a couple of thoughts. Give me a moment to tell you where we are and what we're doing, and then I have a few ideas for you as well. We have moved to a different Council entirely since my older kids were Scout age (my first two kids are adults now). So we started over entirely last year when my then 7 year old daughter joined a Wolf den. We signed up with what at the time was the only Family Pack in the area and it didn't work o
    1 point
  24. This reply doesn't really apply to the OP, but this is one of the few times where I disagree with malraux. At my first Blue and Gold as a CM, I went over to talk to the two Webelos dens who were crossing over that night. Most all the scouts were going to one troop. I asked the scouts why they chose that troop, and the general answer was that troop had the best game of all the troop meetings they visited. A year later I checked and 90% of those scouts had dropped out. I believe adults should have at least 50% participation in finding a troop. There should be a family discussion along
    1 point
  25. That is cool, and super cold. Our kids went to Philmont in the first week of the year. It was -8, and super cold. OMG I was so cold. The kids like that they were on water in a different "state", lol. They were even pictured on the Philmont facebook page.
    1 point
  26. You are doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Kids don’t burn out if they are having fun. The reason those Webelos were excited to cross over is likely a good den leader. We had two Eagle dads join our pack who couldn’t wait to be leaders. They both planned to be SMs, and would have been great. I encouraged them to wait a couple years, but both had to be leaders then. One took over as CM and the other a DL. They were fantastic and the cubs loved them, but both burned out took a few years off after their sons crossed over. We lost two really good Eagles dads that way. The adults nee
    1 point
  27. I started writing a long story about an issue I had with parents not wanting to disclose. I decided to delete that and not to post the story even though no names were used. Long story short, I am accepting responsibility for their youth and others. Any medical condition that may effect that youth OR OTHERS around them, I need to know about. I may need to communicate that to other leaders as well. It is never discussed with other Scouts or parents. Beyond that, I keep the files in a locked box that has 4 keys which I distribute to other leaders in case of emergency. If you are
    1 point
  28. The new program name is "Scouts BSA", but the Scouts themselves are just called "Scouts": Scouts BSA Program Resources: FAQ (page 10) Also the Guide to Advancement: https://www.scouting.org/resources/guide-to-advancement/mechanics-of-advancement/scouts-bsa/
    1 point
  29. That sounds like what the Pack in the original post did, essentially add time to the cars so that it becomes difficult for them to win. Cars still run, kids still get to see their car on the track and cheer on the races, and the only difference is that the end results will basically eliminate those cars either through disqualification or penalty time added. Interesting that it seems to have 2 entirely different effects between Packs. Yours seems fine with it, while for @karunamom3 it caused a lot of distress. What else I'd suggest beside what I already posted earlier here is just w
    1 point
  30. Even shorter.... Her: “I heard you left the Troop because of me, is that true?” You: “Yes” The letter was great, but probably better for the SM and CC vs a parent; however, I think I remember you already talked with them and they have responded. For her, you can simply say the Troop was not aligned with the primary mission of Boy Scouts, even after attempting to change it, so you sought out a Troop that was. I am concerned that there are many others like her (both men and women) joining scouting....
    1 point
  31. Even shorter than @ParkMan's, I would say ... This is definitely one of those "less is more" situations.
    1 point
  32. I know the World Jambo is not the same as the Nat Jambo but for those that were there last year, would you recommend people with day passes and limited days go to the Jambo at the beginning or the end?
    1 point
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