Leaderboard

From my 2 years of Scoutmaster, some of the best things was a new Scout who I helped get over her fear of lighting a match to fuse a rope or the Scout who was very very afraid of shooting a 22. She wanted to, but didn't think she could. It really was the little things.

-The smile and look of absolute, pure joy from the Scout (with a single mom) with cerebral palsy who caught his first fish! - The grin from the small-statured Scout who learned to handle a canoe solo and completed Canoeing Merit Badge... - Running into an Eagle Scout at Philmont, now a Scoutmaster, who I hadn't seen in 20 years, and he tells his Scouts there, "This is Mr. X!", and the look of wonder from them that I really do exist...I can only imagine the stories he told...like how he felt when he finished his first 50-miler in our old Troop, or really learning to navigate and orien

Sounds a lot like someone who got kicked out of the dance and found himself complaining about the music from the parking lot.

This reminds me of a campout the PLC planned where the patrols would went on a course with a 3 mile hike, 5 mile bike ride and canoeing navigation course. The patrols had 15 stops where the had to do a skills competition. Very complexe and we thought it would take the whole Saturday. All the patrols carried lunch with them, but in the end, all 6 patrols completed the course by noon and eat lunch in the camp site. But, the story in the story is I got a call from a pack leader a week before asking if their 3 dens of 23 Webelos could camp with us to check out the troop. I wasn’t sure how we

Some sad things: * The adult who tells you "I wish I had finished Eagle" "* The kid who tells you "I wish my (old man/ mom/ granddad) would quit bugging me about ""Eagle"". *** The Scout that tells you about how his Troop goes camping once a month, and his (old man/mom/granddad) never goes or takes them. **** The Scout who hears about the previous Scout and says "Our Troop goes to summer camp. That's it." ***** The adult "leader" who insists that every Scout event (defined as any group of Scouts doing Anything together) MUST have two adult registered leaders....

Ideological view of what Scouting is. You lost me on that. Whose Ideological views? The general public; volunteers; professionals; parents; or most importantly, the kids? It's a simple concept that kids want to have fun and be entertained. They aren't too interested is being in school and learning lessons on their free time. I'll not bore yall justifying this opinion, but please accept it as my own. If I do what I am supposed to do as a Scouter, I am the facilitator and give the kids what they want and need to have fun. Then I slip in some leadership opportunities and even some tips on

Outside of an Eagle board of review I have never heard a kid say they joined Scouts to " become a fine leader"; "learn to be self reliant"; "learn important lessons that will help me through my life's journey" or any of the other grand ideas that many Scout leaders focus on. Nooooooo, instead I hear things like " to camp out"; "so I can have a knife"; "to go swimming"; "to go to summer camp"; "to mess with fire"; or simply " to have FUN." I just can't help to wonder how many young people are very disappointed and just walk away because they didn't get what they thought they would get.

So, to work back the history a little-bit (as some of you are about to roll your eyes): In the sixties, National instituted the ageist policy of restricting advancement to those under 18 because Eagle Scout "is a boy's award." The removal of "observe-and-report" badges like Bird Study and the rise of book-work badges ensued. In 1973, the steady decline in BSA membership began and continues until this day. In 1982, cue Stevie Wonder, I wish. Yep.

Maybe, rather than "teaching" leadership there should be focus on giving scouts "opportunities to learn" leadership or even just "an appreciation" of leadership. Encouraging an internal motivation rather than forcing an external motivation is the difference between fun and school. My son had a soccer coach whose goal was for the kids to learn a "love for the game". He figured if the kids had that then they'd figure out the skills on their own. All of the check boxes and "leadership skills" are external motivation. While some of that is needed to prime the pump, the real goal is beyond tha

With all due respect, don't believe the work. 1) Greg Hallett really does not have any research credentials. 2. There are no references, citations or works cited in the chapter you cite. Where is he getting this information? IF as his bio states, he got these from interviews with KGB operatives, there would still be citations for these interviews, and even copies of the KGB records. After the fall of the Soviet Union, I have been told by well respected historians and researchers that for the right amount of cash you could get any KGB record you wanted. 3) FNZ Publishing appears to be a defun

I know this is a pretty old topic, but I feel I should contribute to your knowledge about this organization. The principles BPSA-US is founded on are pretty sound. They draw material directly from the original orginization and writings of Robert Baden-Powell. I love their current handbooks; they are practical and straight to the point. Even if you didn't join BPSA-US, there's a lot to get out of the handbooks. I joined them April last year, excited to do Rover scouting because I never had an opportunity to scout growing up. However, a few months after joining, BPSA-US decided Baden-P