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The problem is that ,many adults are stuck on the imaginary age 14 restriction. Our only restriction was physical fitness maturity to make sure the scouts could physically do the adventure task safely. Except for Philmont. Could not get past that restriction. But, we usually did at least two or our own high adventure pack packing treks anyways. So, everyone that wanted to go backpacking could go. That doesn't include our backpacking weekend campout. Barry

A few reasons for Venture crew/patrols demise. 1. Not really popular outside of LDS units, and then it was those units that did not focus on sports. When the old Leadership Corps was turned into Venture Crews in 1989 (although some units like mine continued using Leadership Corps until we ran out of patches circa 1995), it did not have a huge following. I was hired in 1996 to create a high adventure program based upon the activity pins that were associated with the program, we had 0 interest, and I ended up doing COPE instead of because NO ONE signed up for it. 2. Varsity Teams and

I may be wrong, but I think that the majority of the 83% have been more concerned with the financial aspect of the reorganization and BSA did not enter bankruptcy to get input into Youth Protection. Any youth protection improvements are just a byproduct (though needed) to the BSA program. I am quite sure that the total expenditure out of the over $100 million only a couple percentage went towards crafting new policies.

The leaders are only running the program National is pushing Its one thing when a Scout advances quickly using thier own ambition, but pushing for 1st class in a year, and Eagle by 16 waters down the brand. The fact that there's are competing interests, and not enough "bandwidth", just means a Scout has to make tough decisions about what they think is important. Hence, why some Scoutd will earn Eagle and other won't. If all Scouts earned Eagle, then its just another particpation trophy.

Great question! In reality, they weren't. That is, you can organize your Troop any way you wish, and if you want to have an older group called the Venture Patrol, then go for it. Here's a website with some more details... http://www.seniorscoutinghistory.org/seniorscoutsite/venture.html Programmatically, who knows why the BSA moved away from this? The old heads here (like me) remember the Leadership Corps, which was essentially the same thing. http://www.seniorscoutinghistory.org/seniorscoutsite/leadershipcorps.html The REALLY old heads will remember Rovers, Emergency Servic

Fixed that for you. Let's face it, National is the one setting the tone on this. National is producing training material that promotes advancement above all things, and positions of responsibility is part of that.

BSA Seeking $16+ Million from GSUSA regarding dismissed Trademark Suit Below is introductory text of a BSA Motion to recover $16+ Million of attorneys fees and costs incurred by the BSA during the recently-dismissed trademark suit filed by the GSUSA against the BSA. The link to the full motion document, which provides granular information of what organizational moves GSUA was making proximate to the Scouts BSA announcement, is pasted below. It is worth the read. “Preliminary Statement By any measure, this trademark case is “exceptional” under the fee award provision of the Lan

@Cburkhardt the one striking omission: older youth -- especially 18-20 year olds -- do not need a pair 21+ year old adults of the appropriate sex to meet and plan adventures. They would rather risk (or perhaps are ignorant of the risks of) the potential abuse inherent in meeting on their own in the absence of adults (or in the presence of just one adult of the opposite sex), and bring in, as needed, the occasional adult based on his/her qualifications to supervise their activities of interest. IMHO, this, above all other things, undercuts BSA's ability to fashion venturing into the umbrel

I think "expensive" may be relative. The troop paying $120 for 3 vehicles to park 2 nights plus over $300 for gas for a weekend backpacking trip on the AT is expensive. But I know compared to Philmont, it is dirt cheap.

I would push it further and say it is mostly mental/psychological (rather than "as much") We have some 12 year olds that do just fine. We have some 14 year olds that still have significant challenges with anxiety and homesickness. I have already excluded two 14 year olds from our upcoming trek that have not demonstrated the level of maturity I want. (Yes, I said "I want", because I will be responsible for them in the wilderness. )

Determining mental and physical Maturity can be tough. My older son weighed 105 lbs at age 16. Yet, he had more backpacking experience than most of our troop. In fact, he once carried his backpack and the backpack of a member of their exhausted crewmate a couple miles on a Philmont trek. On the other hand, I had some tough athletes who fell apart mentally. And that usually happens at the beginning of the trek, so we're stuck with them the whole trek. They are a challenge because everyone, including themselves, assumes they can do the trek based from their physical ability. I was lucky on one s

I found this doc: https://www.bsacac.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Fiscal-Policies-and-Procedures-for-BSA-Units_CAC_FINAL.pdf I think it answers this question:

On the trips I lead, I put in the remarks, "Must be 14 by the start date, or with adult leader approval." I have made a few errors in judgment over the years in opening trips to all ages, only to wind up dealing with problems caused by immaturity or lack of physical ability to do the trip. (not my own immaturity or inability...for those of you who want to swing at that softball... 😜 )

Few lawyers would “bank on” winning a fee petition. That said, I like the BSA’s chances in this case. I read the Complaint when it was first filed, the Dismissal Order and Fee Petition and a few things stick out. There was an overall lack of evidence of consumer confusion. Only a few copies of mixed-up local church bulletins or unit-produced fliers and some conclusory allegations that misuse of the GSUSA trademark had been encouraged. In the dismissal order the judge found that after many GSUSA witnesses, no single instance of confusion or brand tarnishment was proven. Not good. Th

Looking down the menu of the many potential issues she's wrangling, I don't see this one listed as so much as a footnote. I went back and scoured the fine print between the warnings about "undercooked fish," nut allergies, GF and VE items, and wine during pregnancy. Nary a word. Not on her radar. What is your proposal (or hope) for "clarity and empowerment," as to survivor members of the YPC? I don't want to presume.

Yep. Adventure does not have to be expensive. It can be, but does not have to be.

First I hard of this. Didn't National try this in the 1950s, and it flopped? I've heard stories that folks were automatically enrolled as Explorers, but still remained with the troop. That is a great question. I know it is more expensive to do HA activities, but it is possible. But we are an "old school" troop not focused on advancement, but instead on fun and adventure. If it takes 4.5 year to get First Class, so be it.

The only description and directives are as noted below. BSA CSA survivor members are apparently TBD. Per the SWG member's testimony, one of their members is a woman. 2) On or as soon as practicable following the Effective Date, form a Youth Protection Committee (“YPC”): The BSA shall form a committee including members from the BSA, Local Councils, Chartered Organizations, and nominees of the Tort Claimants’ Committee, and nominees of the Survivors Working Group. Assuming there are a sufficient numbers willing to serve on the YPC, members nominated by the Tort Claimants’ Committee and

The rumor, never found anyone to admit it's truth, was that National was going to change the program to aged base and the Venture Patrols was the shoehorn for it. But, I think it wasn't a popular as National expected. Nationals self interest for aged based patrols is holding on to membership. When the scouts get bored with Troop scouting, they can jump into Venture Patrols or Venturing for high adventure. The problem with that theory is if the adult leaders can't run and interesting program for 10 to 13 year olds, what make's them think they can for 14 and older scouts. Venturing crews i

This was true for my older daughter and now my middle daughter. She is just at one year and is just about a month from 2nd class. She isn’t motivated beyond working on it during meetings and campouts. Which is fine. I am pretty sure 1st class itself will take the next year for her. She likes Scouts, but as she would say “it isn’t her life”.

My guess - it would have to be weeks. Lock all groups in a room and work through language ... understanding that the alt path is likely CH 7. I haven't seen any update from the court. The BSA finalized voting ~March 11 and it has been over a month since the hearing ended. Purdue Pharma (which was a big bankruptcy) took from Aug 2 (voting end) to Sept 13 to get a judge's official ruling but the judge indicated he would approve Aug 27th. (So they knew approval would occur <1 month after the vote). We are over 2 months since the final vote and a month since hearing closed and

The leadership Corp is where the senior scouts who have done it all go to be a source for the younger leadership. But, that shouldn't take away from the patrols. In fact, if a Patrol Needed a new patrol leader for some reason, they would likely come from the leadership Corp. One of the flaws of todays leaders is they push leadership on scouts too fast and too early. True leadership requires a lot of skills to coordinate a team toward success. Developing those skills takes time and duty roster is one of the best tools for teaching coordinated team work. I found that patrols without duty ro

Our fire position is responsible for stove set up and getting an adult to check, charcoal prep if we are Dutch oven cooking, and firewood gathering/prep/lighting. There must always be enough tinder/kindling/fuel on hand for the next fire. At the end of the trip, we leave it for the next group.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/hospitals-health-care-workers-face-inordinate-violence-they-need-our-ncna1286705 My friend's sister is an epidemiologist who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for Doctors Without Borders. More than 75% of their workforce is female. Infection is not their prime risk concern when working in regions of conflict.

The key confusion is always talking about a "unit shoot". That's for convenience. Structurally, it's a district / council shoot. (training, staff, etc). ... It's only advertised to that unit and thus we call it a unit shoot.

Most of these clips/posts are by male authors with self validating biases. The Psychology Today piece says women are not in high risk professions but fails to delineate comparable risks associated with professions that are identified as female dominated. Health care for example is one of the highest risk professions. In other cases, women are invisible in certain dangerous sectors that have traditionally been considered male, like farming/agriculture where about 50% of operators are female. It also neglects to mention barriers preventing women from entering heavily male dominated fields like,

There goes one week of cookie profit. And into the pot for survivors I would think.

Depending upon who is taking care of them, I can see that. We had an former US Army armorer taking care of our day camp BB guns. He turned a bunch of abused and poorly taken care of BB guns, and turned them into competition quality bb guns. Sadly council found out about him, and recruited him for summer camp staff where he was the shooting sports director. Unless policy has changed since I went to camp school, or a council has figured out a way to get around the rules, National has prohibited packs from running their own shooting sports events. Cub Scout shooting sports are restrict

A few years back we were running BB range training for our Daycamp staffers. Two police officers were taking the training. They said they got some good natured ribbing when the other officers heard they were going to be 'certified' in BB's. Then, when we went to the range and they got the rifles one said to the other, "hey, these have better sights than our guns." At any rate, if the council has a policy that a unit with properly trained volunteers and a safe range can do a unit shoot, go for it... Our council has a policy where the camp bb and archery range and equipment can be used. Re

Yeah, I wish people weren't so messed up in the head, and would stop building cars for their kids. When you go to some district/council events, it is OBVIOUS that many were not the product of a Cub Scout. My son's car never won those events. He built one two years in a row, and competed. Where we lived at the time, it was blatant that parents were building and tweaking cars. Honed axles, graphite, teflon, or other lubes, etc, etc, I wouldn't do it for him. He got a little upset with me, but think he learned a valuable lesson...life isn't fair, and many people cheat and cut corne

Troop Guides are better than nothing, but nothing beats watching and experiencing the dynamics of mixed age group. Troop Guides still do a lot of teaching the skills, where the young scouts in a mixed age patrol learn simply by watching and participating with the experienced patrol mates. The other problem I have observed with same age patrols is they become cliquish and don't mix well at the older ages. The scouts in troops with same age patrols tend to merge into troop leadership with their patrol mates instead of scouts from all the patrols. Almost can't prevent it since the patrol ag

Okay, I HAVE to share this story now. One of the new parents that came on the last camping trip brought two suitcases, two full-size pillows, and a massage table. I am not even kidding, swear on my life. She set it up in the middle of camp and lay there while everyone else was fixing lunch.

Every troop I know has a trailer. Every one. Even if they are the backpacking light-weight camping troop. Some might use the trailer rarely, but each and every does have a trailer. Example: Used during week long summer camp, but not on each and every monthly camping trip.

Glad my council got out of the popcorn business , costly bad product with poor quality control We now sell Moon pies for us a local American made product.

Wow... Those were a couple examples for illustrative purposes. As far as Covid, I didn't think you'd dismiss the thousands of health care workers, from physicians to nurses to aides, who have died in the past few years from Covid, far eclipsing fatalities in any other profession. Infection doesn't count in your book? That doesn't qualify as bravery or a high risk profession? Wow. Those were not people who got infected and just got sick... Those are people who died. Google yourself how many. You won't believe what I post anyway.

Depends on how you define "risk" I suppose....for infection? Sure. For fatalities? No way... https://www.facilities.udel.edu/safety/4689/