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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/20/21 in Posts

  1. Yes, we as a society have made a decision that child-soldiers should be prohibited. Not only in the United States (where the minimum age to enlist is 17) as well as globally, where the use of child soldiers under the age of of 15 is considered a war crime. So yes: we do prohibit it. And I say: thank goodness. That does not detract from the bravery of Gillies. But it recognizes that we are not the nation (or the world) of 1781 in terms of how we treat young people.
    2 points
  2. So few parents ever camp with us, that I am thrilled when they come along. I gently ease the parent into our culture. I have far too many fish to fry to worry about a parent and child who want to camp together. It's a phase that I've never seen last long enough to be disruptive. If I can get my patrols to camp 300' from each other and me, the parent thing will never be a problem. My coffee is just that good. Regarding @karunamom3's council recommendation, I am very skeptical about how this might curb airborne pathogen transmission. Cars and cabins have the manifest risk. By virtu
    2 points
  3. The frequency with which this problem crops up across a system as widespread as the BSA is in the US makes me think it must be rooted in a systemic failure somewhere. Either because the established processing requirements are inexplicably complicated or because the BSA has failed to grasp the fundamental truth that basic competence in recordkeeping is an important reflection on an organization.
    1 point
  4. I don't know. I think the average suburban kid in a stable home is well protected from physical harm, but psychologically I think society dangles them over cliffs. In many ways, kids are not allowed to be kids any more. Mentally they are pushed into adult situations and adult stress loads. The attraction for this kind of literature and media may be that it presents kids with characters who are able to survive in chaotic, dangerous worlds where adults are no longer in control or can't be trusted. Whatever it is, there is definitely something going on though and it's disturbing.
    1 point
  5. I was aghast when Hunger Games made it onto our district's 4th grade summer reading list. We're a long way from Lassie.
    1 point
  6. Whatever you do in Scouting, KEEP COPIES OF YOUR RECORDS!!!!!!!!!!! Before you turn in anything, please make a copy. I've been in multiple councils over the years,, and BSA's records keeping and IT systems are not the best. My wife turned in about 5 applications, one I hand delivered, and was never registered until I emailed a copy and asked if they could finally register her. While officially "Unregistered" she served as a assistant Den leader, Webelos den leader, and day camp staff. Lots of complaints about SCOUTBOOK losing records recently. A few years back 95% of the volunteers in my
    1 point
  7. It's not just about child soldiers. We exemplify the behaviors we prohibit. We put kids, both real and imagined, up on a pedestal for acts of courage. Then we tell our kids not to do it themselves. Strange. I saw a movie the other day on Netflix about kids treasure hunting in Hawaii. Basically a remake of The Goonies. The movie characters (teenagers) put themselves in ridiculously perilous situations. The movies POV is clearly that the kids are praiseworthy for doing so. Think about it. Have you ever seen a film in which the teenage characters wisely refrain from placing
    1 point
  8. IMHO, If it is the scouts calling, I think it is a good thing. The Webelos scouts especially in this current disconnected time, might think it is pretty cool that an older scout is calling them and interested in them joining their troop. Whenever possible, I encourage commination to new or prospective youth for our Ship to be contacted by one of our scouts.
    1 point
  9. I gave you an upvote for using an appropriate expression on the first Friday of Lent.
    1 point
  10. A council can prohibit an activity. It cannot require one. Maybe someone should ask the council what they mean by "family camp." I suspect it means, due to covid, families are eating and tenting on their own. So if you're going to camp then eat and tent by families. It makes sense to me. It is also not requiring an activity.
    1 point
  11. Seems kind of stupid to me to not allow a parent to tent with a scout if you want scouting to survive in the pandemic era. Then you are requiring a scouting family to buy two tents and possibly twice the gear just to accommodate a bizarre requirement. On the other hand, being completely liability driven, I do not advocate flaunting BSA policy. I do think BSA needs to issue some interim temporary policy modifications to make outings easier for scouts during the pandemic. It is also not safe to have scouts tenting alone in some situations. Far better to have a tent buddy, especially in bear terr
    1 point
  12. No medical professional or researcher would claim that ANY drug or vaccine is "100% SAFE". All risk is relative. We have risk factors and comorbidities. We have personally seen at least 5 friends and/or loved ones die from COVID. My wife is a cancer survivor. We have 2 close family members who are currently fighting stage 4 cancer. My son and his wife are "COVID deniers" and have been banned from several stores for refusing to wear masks. Our grandson was moved to a private school that did not enforce precautions, then had to close for 2 weeks when ALL of the teachers had positive tests.
    1 point
  13. Large overlap. With one son, I did Munson Island. Another son did Sea Exploring. I'm glad my son and I got to do the 5 mile (??) canoe to / from the island. That was cool. The big difference I see is with Munson you are anchored to the island for five days with all activities based around the island. The sixth day is the canoe back to the base, sleeping in domitories, A SHOWER, and a luau. Keys Adventure you get to shower each night, sleep in air conditioning and more diverse activities. When we were there in August, it chilled down at night to just below 90 with an 85 degr
    1 point
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