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I'm not sure I should respond in this discussion because the easy answer is hard. But I want to respond this this part about homesickness. We found that preparing the parents did indeed help the majority of our homesickness. What I personally believe is the parents are the ones who are homesick. For most scouts, the first summer camp is the first time the parents are separated from their kids for more than 1 night. They respond by telling their kids "I can't wait until you get back", or "when you get back, we will have fun doing this or that". Their kids are being programmed that being aw

I'm not sure if you are being deliberately stubborn in refusing to understand what I'm saying or if you are just completely unfamiliar with how summer camps and kids work. Homesickness is a well understood phenomenon with kids and sleep away camps of all types. This all assumes you start with the premise that everyone thinks the ideal situation is for the child to stay at camp. Most young kids get homesick occasionally when at camp, even when they are having a great time overall; usually during slow periods and down time and before bed. In general, phone calls home are to be avoid

Which ones? All of them! (Mostly.) You're kind of asking for answers which I don't think I'm allowed to give. Judge not, lest you be judged. Sorry, I didn't write the rules. Here's the thing. Time and time again, I've seen scouts who've done these projects be the ones "in the room" (classroom, job, theater of war, community, or church) when the next big project rolls around. And, they are the ones who say, "We got this!" It's really not about the project. It's about the scout. Are we setting our most ambitious scouts on a trajectory where they start their first major project whi

Glad you were faster.

The statistician in the forum has doubts: If I understand Thurber's research (Thurber C, Walton E. 2007. Preventing and Treating Homesickness. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 16 (4), 843-858), it is based on a sample of convenience in a camp in New England with no controlled trial. Most of us aren't talking about treating homesickness. Most of us are talking about preventing it. And from the time we walked with our SM and our homesick buddy so he could use the payphone to call his mom, we should have learned that the phone isn't the problem. His study su

The Museum of the American G.I. (College Station, TX) is proud to present the Eagle Scout Project of Grant Hanson – “We Have a Job To Do Too: The Boy Scouts of America in the First World War”. On display throughout the summer of 2019 will be a uniform in the style worn by WWI scouts as well as some standard equipment carried by Scouts, an example of the literature they would’ve handed out, and one of the awards a scout would earn by doing his bit to help fight the Germans! More at source links: http://americangimuseum.org/exhibits/exhibits-bsawwi/ https://www.kbtx.com/cont

I dunno. Never cared much for redundant awards . Some of us gaffers have outlived our old troops, but we will tell stories to any who will listen. Save your palms to applaud. Now have I told you the story of how my Philmont buddy was eaten by a bear....

I found a more detailed article which had a photo of scout Grant Hanson and his Eagle project. Hanson participates in historical reenactments with the 6th Cavalry Historical Association and with the Museum of the American GI. In addition to a love for history, he has a passion for scouting, and put a lot of preparation and planning into what would become his Eagle Scout project — the final step before becoming an Eagle Scout. Such a project requires scouts complete a major act of service while working in a leadership position. Last year, Hanson — who gets much of his love for the past

It's not a matter of keeping the kid against their will. It's that when you have a nervous kid that is away from home for the first time, if you can keep them busy and having fun, they don't WANT to go home. But if you let them start talking to mom and dad and thinking about how much they miss them, the kid that was doing just fine and having a great time the first 3 days is suddenly sobbing about how they hate everything and want to be picked up early. It's the same reason that the camp doesn't allow parents to go back to the campsites on "parent night" after the fire-bowl. The kids h

I'd be kind of amused to confiscate a Scout's cell phone and then have him call the police on me. I can only imagine how this goes... operattor: "911. How can I help you?" scout: "I'd like to report a theft" operator: "Please tell me what what was stolen and your location." scout: "I'm at the Scout Camp. My Scoutmaster just stole my cell phone." operator: "OK, please tell me what happened" scout: "My Scoutmaster told me to stop using my phone. He then told me I had to give him my phone. I did that. I'd like you to send police to the camp." operator: "Under

The other thing to remember when retiring flags, particularly with younger scouts, is the hazard presented by melting and dripping synthetic fabrics.

So - The United States Flag Code, Title 4, Section 8k states-“The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem of display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.” Pretty much that is about the only instruction. There are many ways to do this is a dignified manner, and that interpretation (dignified manner) would be up to the unit and those performing the retirement

I have gotten requests to talk to reporters about this on TV this morning. I very quickly turned them down about pointed them to the press release from BSA. We have to all remember, we do not represent BSA in any official manner but can do inadvertent damage to the program by talking about the issue publicly without any real in-depth knowledge and specific background/training in the domain.

Posted on my Council FB page today.... Today the National Council held a press conference call to address the inaccuracies and mischaracterizations that were made in yesterday’s press conferences held in New York and New Jersey. Below is the transcript for your review. Prepared Remarks of Michael Surbaugh, Chief Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts of America I am here today to correct inaccuracies and mischaracterizations about our organization and the efforts we have taken to protect youth, which has been and continues to be our absolute top priority. First, I want t