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We're on the front page of CNN right now, with a photo and everything. https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/06/us/boy-scouts-of-america-lawsuit-could-open-door-to-more/index.html It's nothing all that new as far as I can tell, except for another vivid tale of abuse. I can't fault any of the victims for pursuing this, they deserve their day in court. But what I do take issue with is this part of it: First, I don't raise anyone else's kids. But that's a whole other discussion. More to the point, I'm again absolutely frustrated with the notion that the BSA is still operating in the same

This is something that boggles myself and my colleagues minds. I had the opportunity to ask one of the ACSE something similar to this. The answer I got was that National likes to rely on the local councils to do their own marketing and PR. Personally, I think that's a huge mistake. GSUSA kicks our butts in terms of national marking. They have TV commercials and a sweet deal with Dunkin Donuts. The best local councils can do is maybe a few paid Facebook posts. Some larger councils are rich enough to have a marketing staff, but that's the exception, not the rule.

UPDATE: Before Christmas there was a meeting between the former CC, the incoming CC, and myself. We talked for an hour, aired complaints, and left the meeting able to at least work together on a friendly basis. In yesterday's Committee meeting we pretty much told the Den Leaders they had to be there and encouraged parents to attend. We got all the committee positions filled by people that are not me and it was explained I am not doing everything anymore. Also, I have been trying to do a better job of telling the Den Leaders what I need for them to do and pass on to their p

Hey all, I haven't been as active here over the last year or so, but have done my best to keep up. When I first joined the forum I posted quite a bit for advice, and got some great help from some folks like @Eagledad and @LeCastor. I forgot who it was, but I remember there being a topic a few years ago about when it was time to hang it up. I attempted to search to for it, but couldn't find it. This is mostly me just having a sympathetic group to post to, so feel free to skip over this post if you don't like long stories that don't really lead anywhere. 😂 More or less, the poster at th

Aside from the actual injuries that need to be attended to.... Water is the best medicine for youth, so many times they are just dehydrated Applesauce is a great treat to get things moving.....which can reduce the stomach aches Make sure the leader in camp for the unit is aware the youth has come to the health lodge, many times there may be a backstory to an "illness" No phone calls home by the Scout without consulting the leader Talk to the Scout who needs assistance as a equal, do not talk down to them and if a leader accompanies them, do not let them speak for

You forgot #4: Volunteer is replaced in their position by someone who will do the professional's will (Not only have I seen this, I was even encouraged to do this when I was a DE to have more compliant members of the district committee) #5: Pro, specifically SE, finds some reason revoke volunteers membership ( seen that happen twice, and it almost happened a third , all because the volunteers he did stand up to the professionals) As Desert pointed out, chairman have been usually figureheads who do the professional's bidding. Heck I was even told to look for malleable peo

I am very glad to hear your council does things like it is suppose to do. Sadly not every SE does that. I can tell you in my some councils I have been in, pros will ignore volunteers in charge of activities, make additional demands, and even overruling volunteers who are in charge of events to the point that they take over. It has gotten to the point the point that some longtime volunteers no longer have anything to do with the council because of the professionals.

Your scope of operation as a CHO is limited to that which the council health supervisor determines. That is who you need to reach out to.

When you get what you want in your struggle for selfAnd the world makes you king for a dayJust go to the mirror and look at yourselfAnd see what that man has to say.For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wifeWhose judgment upon you must passThe fellow whose verdict counts most in your lifeIs the one staring back from the glass.He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the restFor he’s with you, clear to the endAnd you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous testIf the man in the glass is your friend.You may fool the whole world down the pathway of yearsAnd get pats on the back as you passBu

Membership numbers are out and reflect continued growth for the Scouts BSA program. End of November 2019 is +1.2% for youth Scouts and up 7.1% for units, in comparison to end of November 2018. This certainly reflects the influx of female Scouts and LDS departures. The figures that will count will be year-end figures, as that is when the LDS relationship officially ends. After the LDS departures take effect, I'm thinking we will have a 10% Scouts BSA youth membership drop (comparing 2019 year-end with 2018 year-end). If we continue to grow female Scouts BSA units and all youth at the curre

In Mark Stinnett style, I tendered my resignation on my last national committee before the New Year. At this point, I've decided to hang up my hat and volunteer solely in my nephew's troop and niece's pack. As someone who grew up in the program. I saw the BSA go through a few short-lived changes to improve their strategy. I remember Scouting/USA and the Improved Scouting Program they had in the 70s. To one degree or another, these strategies have gone from prominent unveiling to quiet retirement. However, I find it harder to believe in the longterm solubility of the BSA with its current intern

They didn't actually associate "strong" with either male or female. They used it as an additional descriptor for both genders. So you can have a strong male or female leader, or a weak one. My reading was that "strong" in this context is used to describe "someone who puts together an adventurous and substantial program" and is in contrast to the described "weak" leader that cancels activities regularly and whiffs on requirements. Now, they did specify a need for a male leader, but that's one of those points where personal opinion is legitimate IMO. I know that while I wouldn't

While I agree in part, the effectiveness of marketing is multi-layered 1) Brand Awareness in general 2) Regional general brand awareness 3) Locally focused brand awareness and acceptance. It would take a concerted effort to layer this and being about a good brand awareness for the BSA Take for example our good friends at say Mercedes Benz. For the Brand awareness in general there are the commercials for the cars, what you can get, nice looking people enjoying the car, etc For the regional for example they sponsor sports stadiums, golf tournaments, get their name mentioned not

Their social media accounts aren't much better. They're on Twitter maybe 2 times per month lately. It's definitely too quiet. Almost seems like they're not responding to all of this bad PR because they don't have anyone to respond to it. The overall picture of BSA marketing and social media seems to be that no one is at the controls.

When it comes to marketing for recruitment, I'm not all that opposed to leaving a lot of it in the hands of local councils and units. It would be nice to see the occasional regional or national TV spot, but I think a big part of recruitment is local appeal and local messaging. But in terms of the abuse cases, the lawsuits, and that we're front-page national news on a somewhat regular basis now, and abuse victims are making these suggestions that today's BSA is the same as yesterday's, ignoring all of the YPT training we go through, that's PR nightmare that the BSA absolutely should be fig

Several years ago, one of our districts overwhelmingly elected a long-service volunteer as DC. The SE vetoed the election, with no reason given. Consensus is that elected DC was regarded as insufficiently servile. The vetoed guy was and is much liked and respected. Every year, there he is every day of Summer Camp, running the Health Lodge (ER RN). Does really well with kids and adults. Supernaturally calm in emergencies. Another election. Same guy elected - unanimously this time. Vetoed again. No reason given. Another election. No one elected DC - no votes for any can

Ideally this is how it should work. But here are the usual results, from my personal experience: 1. Pro shouts down volunteer. Sometimes in public. 2. It isn't always the DE. It can be another pro throwing their weight around, sometimes the SE. 3. The district chair is often no help because a) they are a name on a spreadsheet and not a real chair b) they meekly go along with the pro and won't back the volunteer, usually because they aspire to be a future WB CD, have an award pending, etc.) or c) they're completely in cahoots with the professional staff and won't back their

Very true. There are lots of great volunteers who have been disrespected by pros, and they vote with their feet.

Actually, I think you missed my point...at any level--unit, district, or council--if these mundane things are not being done, or being done in a substandard manner, the pros should have a vested interest in getting them fixed. At some point a pro will have to set the right vision, recruit the right vols, and offer the appropriate resources and support so these things get done. Or it definitely will impact their fiefdom. The pro/vol relationship dynamic and duty breakout should not be planets apart.

Agreed, the pros have their duties. However, in my travels and scouting experiences, I've seen many pros that are so completely focused on their insular world of professional scouting that they've forgotten or never knew what scouting is really all about. I've dealt with several pros who have had nothing but open contempt for anything that happens in the field, and especially toward unit level scouters that called attention to council shortcomings (poor service to units, low quality summer camp, etc). Yes, the pros are focused on money and manpower but somehow many of them don't r

It's the first required reference on the Eagle app. Plus, parents spend more time than anyone else with the scout. They often can provide useful insight.

None of you took-up my challenge and made your own membership predictions with support. I believe that new growth at this point shows that the female additions to our program are having a great impact on our membership and I further believe this will ultimately more than offset the recent and near-future departures. There is no math to "de-fuzz". We will lose a significant percentage and absolute number at the turn of the year from the LDS departures and there will be doomsayers predicting our demise as a result. But, this will all be offset. Four years from now I predict we will have 35%

To be fair though. The LDS loss is not indicative of anything about the program. That we're up 1% in membership is 1000 times more important to the longevity of the BSA than a 10% drop due to their departure. I say this not to demean the LDS church - not at all. They made a strategic decision to part ways and that is their right. That we nationwide are seeing growth exclusive of that loss is very, very promising. Thanks for sharing the news @Cburkhardt!

By Larry Geiger on January 25, 2012 in Scoutmastership,The Patrol System Adult leaders often say things like; “I don’t override the boys decisions at all. ” “I asked them what they wanted to do.” “This was their decision.” What most of us fail to recognize is that many of these ‘boy led’ decisions were probably coerced, at least in part, by the presence of adults when they were discussed. It’s not that the adults shined bright lights in their eyes or twisted their arms behind their backs – it is much more subtle than that. When adults are present youth leadership – th

Please don't associate being a strong leader with being male or female. It's incredibly sexist. As of the update last fall, parents retain full control over their Scout's accounts and have the ability to edit advancement. It cannot be removed by an admin. It's still up to the Den Leader/Advancement Chair to approve the awards. If you have concerns about them being completed, don't approve them.

One parent was so made that the son was enlisting in the USAF that not only did they refuse to write the letter, but also kicked him out of the house. He was delayed entry, and spent his senior year living with the SM and his family. It was a mess.