Leaderboard

This is the second in a planned series of three posts related to past and present crises in Boy Scouting. They reflect my observations as a long-time Scouter and Scouting historian. A few years ago, I received unexpected telephone calls from a New York Times reporter and a CNN producer asking me to comment, from the perspective of a long-time volunteer Scouter in the heartland, about the controversies which were shaking the organization and had now burst out into the public arena. In reality, the storm clouds had been building on the horizon for several years. Almost two decades ag

Dude, read the "Scouts in Action" pieces in Boy's Life. Those are just random samples from the numerous awards of merit because scouts retained their skills well enough to save someone's life. It's not about the scout forestalling his/her death (although that effect is possible), it's about him/her forestalling our death from a panoply of causes ... drownings, burns, infections from knife wounds, insect-borne parasites, venomous bites, food-borne illness, mishandled firearms. @yknot, there's an article in either Scouting or Boys Life sometime in the 60's that codified the change

That right there should have disqualified her from any position of responsibility if National wasn't so disconnected from reality. I know some excellent PhDs but no one I've met with a PhD in "education" has seemed to know a dang thing about teaching. Field experience should be the first and foremost thing they look for at National. When you look at who gets selected for the Board or President positions in the past 15 or 20 years, it's almost like the organization wanted to destroy itself.

Camps becoming public campuses...or campluses ( I'm trademarking that. )? Crossroads of America Council (CAC) started renovation which will include a 9,400-square-foot Skip & Alex Lange Innovation Center with STEM labs, makerspace, team-building areas, climbing and rappelling areas, BB gun and archery ranges and a conference space for events up to 150 people. Also Belzer Fieldhouse will be improved with added structures which include a 9,700-square-foot maintenance building , tool and tent storage, and a storage yard for vehicles. A press release from the CAC said the center wi

Fascinating. One adult Eagle's story from 1959, much later than 1948: ... "Gallagher started as a Tenderfoot at the age of 38." Perhaps this was regional? If this would encourage greater adult volunteer involvement,, support, and commitment, maybe it's not as crazy as it looks. It could have a special designation, such as Silver Eagle Scout. Again, I am just thinking in terms of what would help scouting survive, not what it means in a program sense. And here's where the contradiction comes into play for me: I don't agree at all with the way that the Eagle marquee has become monet

You're close. The elephant is also blind. Barry

No, it was during my early adulthood before I came back as an adult leader. And it might be that it was something local. But a scout had to be 14 to be eligible. Because they were selected by their peers, Arrowmen held higher respect than Eagles. Eagles was a personal thing. Barry

Thanks. You need to, however, reference oft-forgot starting points for each policy, just like you did when you referenced the improved scouting program. Hunt down the years for: The declaration of religious principle. The policy on homosexual adults (specifically, scoutmasters). The (different) policy on homosexual youth. The first SM who wanted to confer Eagle Scout to a female. The important thing to note here, is that these were not generated in a vacuum. Somebody in one part of the country didn't like how somebody in another part of the country was proceeding, a

Two differences from my youth Scouting experience that really stuck out when I joined as an adult leader in 1990 was the attitudes toward Patrol Leaders and OA. OA had lowered it's age requirements allowing very immature candidate to attend ordeal. The rules and methods and expectations of Ordeal were lowered so the more immature pre-pubescents scouts could progress through the weekend successfully. As a result, OA has lost the respect of being an organization of Top Quality Scouts. The other difference was the expectation of Patrol Leader ages and experience. The average age of pa

Yeah, it was late last night when I wrote that and I held off posting but yknot's post brought it back to mind and I neglected to QC. I do recall we had an issue once where we couldn't put a newly graduated 18-year-old in as ASM, I think we had to put him in as the Advancement Chair or something like that until he turned 21. Regardless, the point I was trying to get to is that we as a society (not necessarily Scouting as an organization) need to stop prolonging childhood. The youth often don't grow and mature until it's demanded of them. I just read a news story about staffers at Pengu

Just to try and circle this interesting discussion about scout membership age limits back to a historical context, I did find out that up until 1948 adults were able to earn Eagle Scout and up until 1972 Explorers could earn Eagle until they were 21. It is also interesting that in a handful of states the age of majority is not 18 but older. I wonder if anyone has any historical information on this. I can see the problems that YPT today has created with having older youth interacting with younger youth even if that took place within some kind of new structure. However, if scouting wants

David, Are you really comparing finger-painting to the skills, service, and leadership you must learn and demonstrate on your way to Eagle? Facetious. Bigger and better things? Isn't that what Scouting promises? We come up with bigger and better things for our Scouts all along their path. And the adults who accompany on the outings and activities we do with our older Scouts often find great challenge in what they are doing, and are satisfied with their accomplishments. Many of them have never done them before. Why not recognize their efforts and progress as well? Part of

Getting back on the OP would be welcome.

@ParkMan why would I start a 15 year old at Star who hasn’t mastered 1st Class? If a 12 year old masters 1st Class, why withhold work on Star? But this is the critical distinction — the switch, if you will — that distinguishes BSA’s ascending first 6 decades from the declining latter 6: For a scout, what is rank (or as GBB put it in his handbook, a progress award)? a set of skills that enables one to overcome the challenges of life and even forestall death, no matter when and at what station one masters those skills. a developmental track for teens and pre-teens to complement

The age could be extended, but we would need to redefine the program a bit. There's no great reason for a program to run from 11 to 21 - that's too large an age range for people to be in the same sets of activities. I would find it unusual to send my 11 year old child off with a bunch of 19 year olds for the weekend. I would support a young adult program if we learned the lessons of the UK and had better age separation. Something like: 5-8: Cub Scouts (Lions, Tigers, Wolves) 9-11: Webelos (Bears, Webelos/AOL) 11-14: Scouts aka "middle school scouting" (Scout throu

BSA is in this situation because of BSA. I agree BSA is not in a position to take the offensive but it could at least defend itself-- meaning the units and those still laboring in them. We have had months of silent and absent leadership at the top that has not even responded to the most egregious of claims. What's been leaked from the Churchill Project clearly shows there is no hope of an innovative restructuring, it's just business as usual. There's been no communication down to the unit level as we've proceeded through this mess. This is not normal for a viable organization. Even the most C