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Good advice, with the exception of no smores! That combination of puffed sugar, melted onto a chunk of sugar, and sandwiched between two wafers of sugar is every Scoutmaster's favorite thing for his/her scouts to consume just before bedtime! 😂

Note to moderators: this is in the wrong category. Scouts BSA for girls is not "Girl Scouting"

No quibble with the tools as you note; just have issue with the, to me, foolish and narrow minded concept that the term "Scoutmaster" is out dated or negative, or somehow derogatory to the scouts. Surely we have more serious concerns, say for example, making the best parts of Scouting visible and prominent to the communities they serve, and doing it well enough that the crazies that are trying to destroy it just give up. There was a reason that the Rockwell Scouting themed paintings were popular and still are, or that major advertisers used Scouts and Scouting themes in their ads, or that in

I just want to be able to down vote some of the ads!

"gettting to Eagle as fast as possible"...I find that sad. Scouting is about the journey, not having something to prove. Advancement is a by-product of the journey, not the purpose of it.

It's a hundred year old program with hundred year old titles, oath and law. What's more, I first got into it just about 50 years ago. So, that makes me old and I've never really thought about the titles. I honestly don't care whether the titles change or not. If it works for new scouts and parents then we should do that, as it's for them anyway. I'm not sure they would care so who knows. While we're here I would like to add a 13th point to the scout law, however. I think Humble would be a good one. Maybe the assumption is that in order to be all of those other things like courteous and he

I have never, in all my years of Scouting, encountered this 'problem.' As I have always interpreted it, the Scoutmaster is not a master over the Scouts - he is a master of the skills of Scouting. Likewise, the Cubmaster is not the master of the Cubs - he is a master of the skills of Cub Scouting. In Scouting, the label 'master' is used as a term of respect for the Scoutmaster or Cubmaster's superior abilities and skills, not as a submission to some (imagined) superior authority or status. This is perhaps a finer nuance of meaning than many are accustomed to consider, in the which case I t

69roadrunner - that is awful and I feel your pain. This is really going to make recruiting a challenge this year. Nevermind the $25 new to scouting fee in addition to registration fees & Council fees. It would be helpful to be able to tell returning and New parents - we will meet at XYZ location every ‘Wednesday’ at this time unless there is a holiday or unsafe weather.

Since you are new to the forum, I should tell you that I am not in favor of admitting girls to Boy Scouts. I do have a few suggestions though. Don't copy the Girl Scout activities. No smores. No journeys. Don't focus on all the self-esteem and girl empowerment stuff. That's Girl Scouts. If they want Girl Scouts, they would join Girl Scouts. Boy Scouting seems old fashioned because it is old fashioned. Don't knock it. Embrace it. Girl Scouts changes its program every 10 minutes. Try to avoid that. Try not to think of scouting as being in competition with other acti

It is possible that there is simply an auto-generated ad box at the top and that the ad is based on the content of the site and/or you browser or IP search history. I do not think the admins are picking these ads.

"This sure sounds like what a youth gets out of Scouts to me." It does, but it also sounds like 4-H, FFA, organized sports, Boys and Girls Club, Band, Drama Club, etc. I'd start by figuring out who you are competing against for these girls time, what differentiates you from the options available to them, then sell the differentiation. If you try to sell the stuff on your list you are no different than all the other options, at which point you have to compete on price and convenience. You'll lose that fight more than you win it.

This is why I have continually whined about the overburdened Cub Scout program that drives away families before they get to the Troop age. The troop program in general does not drive scouts away, so if you can get them there and hold them for the first 6 months, they generally stay for several years. Not true with the Cub program. It grinds on the adults every year to the point of driving them out. If the parents leave, their kids go with them. I was never able to add the numbers because the data is so confusing, but I believe that well over 50% of families that start out in Tigers drop out b

When I googled what are employers looking for this is what I found. What are employers looking for Communication skills Honesty Loyalty Dependability Teamwork Flexibility Self-reliance Eagerness to learn Confidence Work ethic Determination Problem-solving skills Positivity Ambition This sure sounds like what a youth gets out of Scouts to me. These days many kids have low self esteem so my thought is to use the tag line, "What makes you stand out?" Getting them to think standing out is not being the

You can change the word all you want but people will still use it. In the UK we changed "master" to "leader" in the 1960s, I forget when, and half the people I meet outside of scouting still refer to scout masters. I really wouldn't worry about it.

A few statistics from our female troop: 56% of the scouts came because a friend or a sister was already in the troop (or proto-troop) and the scout invited them (or the scout's parents invited the prospective scout's parents) 11% came because a brother or cousin in a boy's troop was enthusiastic about scouting. 18% found us through the web (beascout or the troop's own website) The remaining scouts were part of the initial organizing group that started talking up the idea of a girls troop in town. It wasn't specific recruting materials that brought in each new scout. I

There are many here who are offended with any opinion that doesn't agree with there post. Some are identified by their constant rebuttals; probably believing they win if they can get the last word. But a lot of us don’t like to get muddy (comes from wrestling with a pig only gets you muddy and makes the pig happy). Some posters here want to be clever antagonist. Usually they start out claiming they are neutral or are a good guy (I’m religious), then they follow with offensive trigger words. Ironically, many of those posters don’t see their hypocrisy, so it’s easy to call them on it.

Well said. I agree. I doubt it's the highest priority.

While I agree with the ridiculous trend of re-parsing language so it is less offensive to some, I have to say, Scoutmaster and Cubmaster are weird titles. At least I've always thought so, especially for an organization that is in such trouble because of youth protection issues. I don't have a problem with "master" when discussing technology, music, computer science, electronics,etc. I just really don't like it when we are talking about a youth organization where the use of the term kind of implies that youth are in a subordinate position to adults in a non educational sense. I'm fine with lead

I agree. I'm never upset by a down vote, but I do hope that someone will at least explain, courteously, why they think I'm wrong. How else do we learn to see other perspectives? Isn't that why we keep visiting the forum? I always love to hear other points of view, even if I don't agree.

I disagree with you. I've been thinking all day about your post. I'll risk hijacking my own thread and reply as it allows a point I feel is important. I'm happy to post "I disagree with you" - and I'm thankful you posted your disagreement with me, without a downvote. Words move the ball forward. But there's nothing courteous or kind about a red down-arrow on one's post. How many of our fellow Scouters are turned-off from contributing their opinions because they'd feel a downvote is unfriendly? Isn't that a legitimate consideration?

Program. Exciting and interesting stuff. ... #1 recruitment tool is the existing scouts.

Just an FYI, we've been removing media that does not pertain to the topic. I'm tired of being the school marm with the ruler smacking knuckles. Consider your knuckles spared

Have you called your unit commissioner and DE?

Have you gone to the scouting.org website? The program you seek is Scouts BSA.

Sorry I couldn't resist.

This EXACTLY makes the point. Sisyphus had more success rolling his rock than we should expect to have attempting to justify 'master' because the audience is not our leadership trainees but rather all the others we wish to attract. Among ourselves questioning "Scoutmaster" sounds silly, I completely agree. But to expect showing others "how the term 'master' has been used as titles" is preposterous. I'm on board with scoutldr's suggestion to appropriate "Advisor".

Perhaps the mothers would like to give us the title Unich. Short for Unit Chief.

I vote to borrow the term "Advisor" from the old Exploring and now Venturing program.. With new emphasis that the adult Scouters are there to "advise" the "Leaders" who are the SPL and PLC. The do not decide, they do not dictate, they facilitate. The advise the program that the YOUTH decide on, and ensure safety and adherence to the GTA and GTSS. In the decades that I have been associated with the program, I have seen the gradual "helicopterism" taking over such that the youth merely sit there and wait for instructions from the adults. You don't sign me up for a MB University, I don't earn

The 3rd pot, sanitizing rinse method was first rolled out in B.S.A. literature in Boys' Life. It then appeared in the early "printings" (what is normally an "edition") of the 12th Edition Boy Scout Handbook at p. 327. later "printings" of that "edition" went back to the unsafe two-pot method, then back to three pots. The 13th Edition incorrectly puts the chlorine in the first rinse, where food particles reduce effectiveness, followed by a hot, third tub. (p. 308) This incorrect method is covered in the Scouting blog. Bryan on Scouting :https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/03/30/how-to-wa

How I learned to wash dishes as a kid was camping with the Girl Scouts: the three dishpan method, third pot containing a bit of bleach. GS reinforced this when I took their leader training earlier this decade. Then I joined BSA, and bought the latest fieldbook being sold at the scout shop, and saw that it had (5th edition, p92) the bleach (or other sanitizer) in the second pot, not the third pot. It seemed a little odd, but I thought that I had better do things the BSA way now . . . So my troop did this on their first outing. Then I saw that the BSA handbook (14th edition p308

The SE was a decent guy. He had "taken one for the team" by closing a camp in a smaller council in Ohio - a camp that BSA wanted closed and probably needed closing due to lack of a waterfront and adequate space. His reward was to, largely, retire in place in our council with a higher salary. (To his credit, he did emphatically put a stop to registering mythical units , and membership, a constant problem in BSA councils and in ours in particular - we had 30% fictional membership when he took over, and he took the hit on the year-over-year "decline" to correct the books. But that seems to h

Does anyone have any ideas or materials targeting new female BSA Scouts?

I agree 100% that Scouts are the best recruiters. However, these girls need a little help getting started. I also agree there needs to be separate stuff for youth and adults. I just can’t help but feel in the 100+ years of scouting this hasn’t already been done.

I have gone to the people in the know and all I get referred to is nice photos of girls having fun as Scouts. That is great, but I’m looking for the why. By that I mean why should a girl or boy for that matter join Scouts BSA. There are so many activities for kids these days and for so many Scouts seems old fashion what will put Scouts ahead of other activities. I believe there are reasons, but I don’t want to have to reinvent the wheel if I don’t have to.

Other than photos of girls doing fun stuff I can’t find anything