Leaderboard

I attempted to start something like this once. It's a lot of work, and I was burned out at the time, so it didn't happen. But, in the little effort I gave, I must warn that patrols of SMs teeter on the edge of becoming the dreaded ego-rich fraternity that so many folks dislike about Wood Badge. I apologize that I must harp, again, but such a program requires great humble leadership. A leader strong enough to coach large egos, and humble enough to mentor growth. The program requires a Scoutmaster's Scoutmaster. I know of a few and they don't volunteer for such honors because they believe t

I like this idea. IMO, it should not require a SM give up more free time . Just as public school teachers allocate school days to professional training maybe so should scouters with their troop meetings and activities... No troop meeting this week, I'm at training. Service project instead of campout this month as I will be patrol camping with other SM's (patrol camping? ).

I think this is getting closer to the crux of the problem. There is training and there is coaching mentoring and encouragement. The troops use both. In fact, it's heavily weighted towards the latter. The councils barely use training. For other than safety related training, the model is one and done. So, how to run a scout troop? It's based on the lowest common denominator and one and done. Outdoor skills? One and done. Everyone here says one needs to seek further on one's own to improve. This doesn't match the problem of having fewer parents with outdoor skills. They don't know what they don't

My sister is sponsoring an international high school student from Germany and he is excited to experience the American Thanks Giving holiday. In fact, his family back in Germany have expressed that they are also excited for him as well and can't wait to get a report. Another family in her neighborhood is also sponsoring an international high school student from Norway. Since the two students have become close, my sister has enjoyed getting close to both of them. Turns out the parents of the student from Norway are here visiting their daughter, and had no plans for Thanks Giving. When my sister

I read through the line of credit document for Philmont. https://ministrywatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Mortgage-Agreement-Philmont-without-exhibits.pdf Some interesting findings: 1) It appears that Philmont is not the only property to be mortgaged to secure the line of credit. One could only guess that most properties (notice the offshore reference … Sea Base Bermuda) are now probably mortgage Section 12.13 Counterparts - This Mortgage is being executed in several counterparts, all of which are identical, except that to facilitate recordation, if the Mortgaged Prope

I think this more geared to the idea that girls are often forced by relatives to be more affectionate than boys. However it is a good reminder that if a kid of either gender really doesn't want to hug someone, it shouldn't be forced. I can't fault the GS for doing this and it's in line with their mission of supporting girls, which is something positive linked to their organization. Imagine how great it would be if BSA sent out a press release around Memorial Day, Flag Day, or July 4 reminding people that scouts are one of the few organizations charged with the solemn task of properly retiring

If a child hasn't seen a family member in some time it is going to be very natural to be shy and reluctant. Encouraging a gesture like a simple hug to a distant family member helps reinforce that family bonds exist between family members who live at a distance. Decisions like this as full of pros and cons. A big part of parenting is to guide a child through these sorts of pros and cons. I don't mind a group like the GSUSA bring awareness to a parenting question so that we think about it. My only concern with this is that it perpetuates a false conclusion. It is simplistic to conclud

But they are right in this case. Don't make your kids show more physical affection than they are comfortable with people who are basically strangers. Its not "Don't hug" instead its "don't force your kids to hug."

I see a lot here that is what causes me grief and frustration. Anyone notice I get frustrated? I was a Cub Scout in the early 80's and crossed over to a Troop in '85 or '86. I lasted about a year in Boy Scouts for various reasons. 2 1/2 years ago my son came out of school saying he wanted to join Cub Scouts because he could shoot BB Guns and camp, and stuff. School talks did their job. We went to join scout night and I had absolutely no interest in being a leader when the DE called for that. It was a few weeks in when I finally decided I better step up. I did my

To answer my own question, from the 2017 Annual Report page 19 Assets page 4 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements($ stated in thousands) Note 5. Land, Buildings, and Equipment At December 31, 2017, land, buildings, and equipment comprised the following: National office, less accumulated depreciation of $19,212 9,301 High-adventure bases, less accumulated depreciation of $30,383 60,300 National Distribution Center, less accumulated depreciation of $6,948

IMHO the program skills training which is lacking, and sorely needed: 1. Patrol Method 2. Training youth to be leaders. 3. How to be a Scouter. 4. Advancement as a method, and the process. all of the above should be specific "how tos" and also include counter-examples.

I certainly understand where you're coming from. No harping at all. And yet, a few points (while I wait on the potatoes). First, I just threw this out. I'm open to other ideas. My main point is that the BSA does not follow the model it professes. Consequently their training is hard to believe or get behind. It bothers me when companies don't use the products they sell. The BSA is selling servant leadership. They talk about it, yet they don't really mention how to teach it. They certainly don't model it, not at the national level, not at council (at least not mine), and while our district

Corporate BSA does an absolutely horrendous job at training middle managers. When i attended an advance professional training earlier this year, the staff told us that the majority of DE's leave after 6 months because of a poor manager (staff leader as we call them). It's not hard to see why. We promote based on performance (and the only measurable indicator the higher-ups tend to care about is membership growth). So obviously, you have a lot of dudes from LDS and Scoutreach districts who don't have to lift a finger and "excel" because of easy membership. They get promoted and are trash staff

That seems to be massively over reading the GSUSA statement. The earlier stuff is about why teaching about consent is important, not that grandpa is to be feared but that if you teach that someone must give physical affection even if it make you uncomfortable, it can be taken advantage of. This is no more saying families aren't to be trusted than the BSA requiring YPT is saying that all scoutmasters are abusers.

Good thing they didn't mention kisses. Mediterranean heads would explode! At the same time, I agree that it's important for children to know that their affections are theirs to give. They certainly aren't "owed" to anyone because they gave the kid a gift or toy. I remember being told how much our kisses bring our elderly relatives happiness, that's it.

Meanwhile 😏 huggers.mp4

What I find saddest is that an organization like GSUSA actually thinks it is okay for them to intrude into family dynamics. They clearly don't think mom and dad are responsible enough to raise kids in a way that protects them and that also strengthens their family bonds. Sad.

@TAHAWK I’m just happy they are listening and adjusting a bit in this case. However, given that they hocked Philmont, I wouldn’t recommend giving them your bank account info any time soon.

Or, find something close and never mention it to anyone. Nobody, and I mean nobody, will be looking for that. My guess is the uniform description manual, or whatever it's called, does not specify fonts. So anything is good. Use comic-sans, or something else fun. Great way to start a conversation.

@Eagle94-A1 maybe this points to my own blind spot. I look at my unit or other units and I see issues with volunteers, because I already have the experience aka "unofficial training" to supplement the BSA official training (required or otherwise.) Perhaps more of the unit issues are on the BSA or a Council leadership than I initially realized. It makes me worry a bit about my impending departure from the my own Troop. As @Eagledad points out, once experience leaves a unit, the BSA resources are not sufficient to replace that lost experience. That makes me worry about my own departure from

I'd upvote this three times if I could.

Do you really think we even need this? I think this should be dropped. The real cyber issues kids face are far beyond what is in the BSA program and are often emergent. The BSA's program, from what I've seen, is largely static. Most school districts are doing this kind of programming and are a much better source of this kind of information or training in my opinion. Handle it the same way they do with drugs/alcohol in Second Class -- get a sign off showing you've participated in a school or community digital safety program, talk, whatever. More and more schools are pushing technology down to

While there is less community it certainly isn't less relevant (look at suicide rates over the past 50 years), and I think that's the key to your last question: what image should the BSA project? There may be fewer parents interested in developing responsibility and self sufficiency in their kids, but the BSA isn't even close to getting the attention of those that are left. But I do agree that the image problem is a wreck. Part of the problem is the need for some better PR. Maybe we can get our UK friends to ask the Duchess of Cambridge if she'd pop on over and visit some scout troops aro

They want to sell the BSA mailing list. Just another fund-raiser to put more cash in their pockets before the bankruptcy judge fires them all. See the other topic about mortgaging Philmont to gain an enlightened view of Irving's trustworthy intents.

So a number of random thoughts, most of them pessimistic..... One might argue that the BSA was most relevant when communities were most relevant. By community I mean small groups of people living, working, and serving together (and actually knowing each others names) within a geographic region. Could be a small town, neighborhoods in larger towns, etc. It made sense for the local parish, church, Legion, Moose, Rotary Club to sponsor a youth program for the boys in their town or neighborhood. It helped keep the boys out of trouble, and, provided guidance for the next generation of lead

The BSA has said, to paraphrase, "That's just legal mumbo-jumbo that the law requires. We promise we won't do anything other than the usual criminal background check, same as we've always done. Scout's Honor." I can't believe people are being so naive about this. As my dear late dad used to say..."I was born at night, but it wasn't last night."

Yes, private organization can discriminate if they can prove it conflicts with their organization mission/values. The Supreme Court has been fairly consistent. While I personally believe BSA made a mistake banning gay youth in the first place and an even bigger mistake fighting it so publicly in court, I don’t believe it was a primary cause of our massive membership drop. Nor do I believe that reversing the decision was the primary cause for further loss. If this was the case, the Coed Campfire program and the conservative Trail Life program would each have hundreds of thousands of yo