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One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simp

signs signals and codes are easy for Sea Scouts....just saying 🙂

I hope and pray my thoughts here will be articulated in a way that will generate a positive response and greater unity of understanding and discourse by those who read it. I notice that the impending separation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America has garnered much discussion about the motivations, ideology and mechanics behind this process. However, as I member of that faith, I also see that there has been an unfortunate trend by some to use this as an opportunity to make sideway comments voicing their opinions about our beliefs, our organizati

Taught Paul Bunyan. Heated our home with firewood for 35 years. Splitting: Aim for the checks in the log, where the grain has already started to naturally separate. Don't use an axe on anything bigger than 8 inches, use a maul or a wedge. If your axe becomes stuck in a log, turn it over and swing the combined axe/log down onto your stump, axehead first to get more penetration. (Does not work with double bladed axes...) Plan the arc of your swing to end at the top of your stump, not the top of your target log. (You were planning to split the log completely on half, right?) On really

This is easily lost on even the best of us ... MB completion is the scout's responsibility. If the scout does not produce a blue card with a counselors signature on the "completion" line, he did not earn the badge. If the counselor did not remember that a scout demonstrated a skill and therefore did not record it the application, the scout did not demonstrate the skill. In both circumstances it is the scout's responsibility to ensure that his portion of the properly signed blue card is in his hands -- not on any SMs list. If he chooses to leave camp without that card, then

Boy Scout Drum and Bugle Corps used to be a thing as well, see Madison Scouts.

Better than no feedback, but no....not great. The problem is that the report goes to the scoutmaster, who has 20 or 30 scouts in his care. He scans through the report, and hopefully, big problems like a scout only getting one requirement signed off, will jump out at him so he can raise a question. But there's a lot of socuts in a unit....and most of 'em are trying to earn 4 or more badges during the week....so there will still be problems that fall through the cracks. As TAHAWK says, in many camps, the "counselors" are actually scouts and the camp or council just "cheat" by pretendi

Won by who?

I think this is problem a semantic point, but... respect - n. 1.a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. 2. due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others. respect - v. admire (someone or something) deeply, as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements. I think we need to show respect for their program (as in noun definition #2 above). We need to exhibit due regard for their feelings, wishes, rights, and traditions. I do not think we need to show

My Troop did this for several years - it can be very profitable. Naturally, adults did the chain saw work. Scouts loaded the logs into the trucks and unloaded at home. Adults ran the splitter but Scouts moved the logs to/from. When someone would email/voicemail to request a delivery, Scouts would call back to schedule. Scouts would load the truck and ride along to unload and stack at the customer house. Interesting that the Scouts never minded the physical labor of loading/splitting/delivering the wood. We stopped doing it because we couldnt get a Scout who would make the phone

In my times at camp, we would get a report on the evening of the night before the last day at camp and they had the counselors available to discuss what is in the report. If we had any questions, we could talk with them about discrepancies. Not a great solution, but it helped. I would have preferred to see it daily so I could talk to the scouts throughout the week.

I heard that Rainbow Council is thinking about rolling out a program that combines soccer with scouting in the same unit. Instead of scout uniforms, kids wear soccer uniforms. Instead of learning first aid, they learn to roll around on the ground moaning like prima donas. Here's the story: https://patch.com/illinois/homerglen-lockport/new-boy-scout-program-will-combine-soccer-scouting Since Rainbow Council is clearly on the cutting edge of combinatorial youth activities, here are some more ideas for them: Combine karate classes with scouting: kids don't need to chop wood to build f

And the Cavaliers.

I think that's a terrible idea. Your typical U.S. scoutmaster has absolutely *NO* idea what is the proper pronunciation of the word "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Our resident atheist , of the non-religious variety, has not been here lately. He takes care of deriding all religious beliefs with a vengeance.

Yes. I'm a firm believer in learning to enjoy doing things badly. Like my dad used to tell me, "Son, if it's worth doing, it's worth having to do over again."

Some STEM is okay....but it needs to avoid conflicts with the core outdoor program. Nothing wrong with a kid being interested in science and going for a Chemistry merit badge and a NOVA award... Things go wonky when you take it too far. Like BSA did with the stupid "STEM Scout" program. (Or like *MANY* organizations do by watering down their STEM focus by stacking art on top of it and making it "STEAM" --- talk about a sure-fire way to guarantee that your program will be a failure!)

IMHO, the NCAC practice you describe is an excellent demonstration of PITIFUL servant leadership. If the scouters in Council were GOOD leaders, they'd be checking "downstream" --- looking at the blue cards or electronic advancement records *WHEN THE SCOUT EARNS AN AWARD AND THE TROOP BUYS THE BADGE FOR HIM*. That way the scout has an opportunity to correct himself, and the troop can discover their sloppy advancement processes in time to nip future problems in the bud so they don't end up with a years-long procession of non-compliant sign-offs. Waiting until an Eagle BOR to verify t

The problem with the Soccer and Scouting idea, in my view, is the notion that you can make Scouting more appealing by watering it down and making it look like something it isn't. I'd put STEM Scouting in that same category. Soccer is great, and maybe BSA should get into the soccer business, but don't call it Scouting. STEM is great, and BSA has gotten into the STEM business, but don't call it Scouting.

Interesting you mention karate. Some of my parents recently took their Girl Scout Troop to an Martial Arts gym for an outing. They loved it. Exercise, good lessons in bullying, when to fightback, etc. When the parents suggested it to the Cub Pack we had to decline because it was on the no-no-way-too-dangerous-we-don't-want-our-scouts-to-learn-fighting-skills-o-m-g-what-are-you-thinking-list!

A couple of comments. The video shows the use of a splitting maul. Few scouts learning to use an axe can even control a full sized axe, much less a maul. There are different sizes of axes. The sizes are 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and full. A 1/4 axe is a hatchet. A 3/4 axe is often sold as a "boy's axe" and is really good for younger scouts. I have a half axe (be careful how you say it) that I really like because I can hold it with one hand and, with a sharp blade, can split most of the wood I deal with. I didn't watch the whole video but something I noticed is that the guy is standing with his feet

There might be ways to get partials done on those anyway. Our local council has a "Shooting Sports Fulfillment Weekend" where they open up the ranges at a nearby camp and provide certified instructors to help the boys --- any scout from any unit is welcome to come. The council also provides NRA and USA Archery instructor training periodically for adult scouters. We have several adults in our troop who have taken those classes and are now registered as MBCs. They provide qualified instruction for the troop as a group, but also work with individual scouts to complete merit badge re

Something has to fill the vacuum since Risk Management removed dodgeball from the program! By the way, the next time someone tosses out "OK, Boomer", just reply "That'll be Civil Rights Generation to you, post-modern nomad."

What? Your camp generates more wood than scouts can burn? [confused] Our local Scout Network (aged 18-25) help a local farmer who is very scout friendly to down and log a few trees a couple of times a year, and the local pub that has an open wood fire buys the logs from them. Not a massive money spinner, but an honest days work.

I don't see where anyone is singling out the Mormon faith. In fact, the opposite seems true. For decades, Scouting worked to accommodate the wishes of the LDS church, to the point where BSA allowed a customized program within a program. I personally was never comfortable with that as I think Scouting should generally work in any faith environment or in any interfaith mix. Any minor accommodations should perhaps be more appropriately limited to the CO and unit level. I also personally had an issue with the gender disparities in the LDS church, as I do when they occur in any religion from Chris

In the last two paragraphs, you both seem to agree whatever it is that you are arguing about should not be in a Scouting forum? Common ground! So...do you really want a Moderator to step in and tell you to stop or can the civil discussion mentioned in the OP proceed? @desertrat77 @MattR @John-in-KC

This is also what I have seen at summer camps. Usually Thursday afternoon / evening they make the reports or blue cards available, and the Scouts have Thursday night / Friday to finish stuff up or discuss with MBCs anything that was marked incorrectly. As for partials, depending on the merit badge, the Scout might be able to finish the requirements at home, but would still need to find a registered MBC for the merit badge in question in order to get the final approvals.

Why is it demeaning and derogatory to ask the question? This strikes me as a question worth some objective discussion. "A group (LDS church) creates different roles for men & women. The group has a very visible role (Priesthood) which is limited only to men. The group highlights traditional roles for women (family focus) and underscores that they are equally as important. This is a model that is different from what we generally see today in society where there is tremendous momentum to create equal opportunities for women." A follow up question would be "the group in question

Three to six camp outs per year and one long-term camping trip -- there was a second video released last Sunday with further details: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/broadcasts/face-to-face/?lang=eng&cid=email-OCA_CYD_111719_CTABroadcast @swilliams You might find some satisfaction at the 34:50 mark.

You mistakenly conflate the methods by which one learns as the same things as the topic being taught. Yes, people (let's acknowledge that not all boys or girls learn in the same way) have different methods by which they assimilate knowledge but none of that should have any bearing whether or not a person, should be taught how to tie a bowline knot or how to use a compass properly. BSA teaches life skills, not boy skills.

I respect your passion on this, but we're never going to get anywhere in building Scouting back up again if all we do is simply bemoan what once was. I think the biggest thing that impacts our outdoor program is the fact that we're a few generations away from a time when most adults served in the military. I'm not sure what council you're in, but I'm in a pretty big one. There's no-one on our council training committee or any of our program committees that got there through a big check. They are all experienced Scouters who showed an interest and networked enough to be asked. T