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Started Scouting as part of the early '80s Tiger pilot program. Made my way through Cub and Boy Scouting, with a stint in the OA. Trekked Philmont in '89 & '91; canoed the Maine High Adventure Base in '90 before it closed. Our Troop ran a lot of Klondike Derbies, and we had a great time doing it. Active Scouter through college and beyond. Scouting fell to the wayside when I joined the Coast Guard. Now that I have a Scouting-aged son, I've been quite happy to put the field uniform back on... Currently, I am a Den Leader for Wolves. I just went to Cub Scout Resident Camp for the first

I wonder if BP envisioned BORs in the process. BORs used to be done by scouts, which is a variation of the COH that you are talking about. I been promoting "boy run" BORs since I've been an adult leader just for the reason you gave "Surely this would demonstrate a truly boy-led troop". In fact, we started including one older scout on our BOR. I'm not sure where the present style of COHs were brought into the program, but they were the same in my troop during the 60s and 70s. Barry

Scouts get flustered all the time. And, scout oath and law were requirements for a specific rank. It's troop program that keeps the skills up and not the advancement program. A good way for a troop to keep that skill current is to have the scouts say the oath and law before every meeting. Your example about camping nights seems slightly different. The scout said he didn't, but it's signed off. As such, the scout said he had not met the requirement. IMHO, you can ask the scout to recite oath and law at BOR, but you really can't suspend the BOR because he flobbed it.

In my view one always advances after a BoR. If a board finds that the scout has not met the requirements for a rank, then the BoR is suspended until the scout rectifies the situation. The board gives the scout, in writing, where he/she falls short and what must be done to rectify the situation. IMHO, I would like a board to suspend its review any time it finds that a scout hasn't fulfilled a requirement. If he could recite the law flawlessly, and with gusto, but as a practical matter refused to live by a point, that's a reason to suspend. I would not like a board to suspend its

Here is one for you in the same vein... "Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly." Will Durant

I started providing ILST to the PLC a couple of years ago as an ASM, and continued to do so once I was appointed SM. I tried to schedule it as soon as possible following SPL/PL elections (usually the first Saturday after the elections). This year I discussed with the SPL about moving the training out a couple of weeks (we will be at camp for one of those weeks) in order to give him and the ASPL time to prepare, because I am wanting them to give the training this time around. I am certain it will be rough and disjointed, but it's important for them to step into the role of troop leader.

Most (all?) troops utilize the Court of Honor as a ceremony to bestow awards. I am curious if any utilize it as BP described it in Aids to Scoutmastership. To wit, "The Court if Honour, as its name implies, has a rather exceptional mission, such as dealing with cases of discipline and questions of awards." I wonder how many discussions/controversies of this forum in regards to behavior and requirements could be mitigated by incororating BP's COH into the troop structure. Surely this would demonstrate a truly boy-led troop.

I'm a little different, I think a BOR member should consider misquoting the Oath or Law as a red flag of the SMs program. After all they repeat it several times a month. But, this is a difficult example because I agree with fred that scouts often misquote, and completely forget, such things under stress. I do believe most experienced unit leaders can tell the difference between stress or incomplete scouting experience. I would pass this scout, and then meet with the SM. Consistent Scout performance is indicative of the program and if the BOR observes a consistent flaw, the SM is res

I know. I was responding to Barry's attraction to these types of quotes.

That's different. A scout is answerable to having the requirements reviewed and tested. The signature in the book indicates it's been tested and judged worthy. It's not the BORs place to re-evaluate or retest or rejudge if a scout met the requirement.

In right margin use Search by clicking on Magnifying glass icon, the Search the Community page appears. Select Content Search tab. Search Term: ILST Content Type: click All Content or Topics If Topics selected a Forums selection box appears and you can search a specific forum, e.g., Patrol Method or Open Discussion Find results in: click Content titles and body Date Created: recommend click Any as old topics regarding ILST may have been revived, but experiment. Find results that contain: click All Last Updated: selected an appropriate "lately" timeframe

There have been some good discussions of ILST lately, I'm not sure the best way to find those discussions (mods?). They are pretty good, but with a lot of content, so starting the discussion over is difficult. I'll just say (repeat in short) that I think ILST is a good way to start team development for a new program, but looses it's effectiveness quickly because the syllabus content does not mature with the troops program growth. Youth this age don't enjoy training, especially when they have seen it before. They learn best by watching their older scout role models repeating the lessons l

Update July 17, 2019: note OP @The Latin Scot SALT LAKE CITY — The new initiative to replace the Boy Scouts and Personal Progress programs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is called "Children and Youth" and will be rolled out in September in a special worldwide satellite broadcast. President M. Russell Ballard, the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will lay out the new initiative to replace those programs in a broadcast on Sept. 29, according to a letter sent Monday to general authorities and officers of the church and local leaders around the

Good list. I'm not sure how our scouts learned courtesy during trips. But, I know that generally abuse came from younger scouts. Problems disappeared with troop age maturity. Same goes for wearing the uniform during travel, older scouts had no trouble, it's always the 12 and 13 year olds in their self-identity years who complained. Barry

Knowing how much work can go into an Eagle project, I'm sure that this was very discouraging. However, we must keep in mind that the project belongs to the beneficiary. While we always hope that it will provide a long lasting legacy to the Scout who completed it, the needs of the beneficiaries change over time. I have a relative who has a really hard time with this concept as well. This relative will give a gift, but will get quite upset if the recipient does not keep and use the gift. Once that gift is given, it belongs to the recipient/ beneficiary to keep, regift, or otherwise dispose

John, Standards go back into the 1920's - Post WWI, units were advised to do week long camp during the summer. It didn't always go well. Standards where introduced shortly after. Source is the letters / pre-Scouting Magazine. I am pretty sure they are electronically archived, it has been a few years since I reviewed. @mrkstvns 2013 was when the NCAP program was rolled out and while I haven't found the direct link or source as above, it's my best guess that the origins of ACA's (and a couple of other) original standards came from those early ones of the BSA. I've got some ne

We had National Camp inspections back in the 70's. I recall being a provisional camper, helping tidy the waterfront up. The guys from "National" came though. That's what I was told. As a Program Director and Camp Director we had specific inspection standards and review in early 80's. Again, the mysterious guys from "National" came though

Earplugs. Baby wipes. Apparently a margarita machine is frowned upon.

I will miss @The Latin Scot he had a sense of humor, loved scouting, and was a voice of common sense. You could see this coming a looong way off still a bit of a shock. I can understand their dilemma. I am active in an international religious organization and the very conservative (and growing) members in Africa, South East Asia, and South America are much opposed to the social policies proposed to appeal to North Americans. You go where the growth is. But I too am sad that a story rich in Scout history is ending.😢