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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/23/23 in all areas

  1. Just remember, Barry... You are unique! (Just like everyone else ) There is a deep danger in focusing on "identities." The result is a descent into tribalism. (We could improve the merit badge by removing this term and "equity" from the line-up.) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/social-empathy/201903/when-tribalism-goes-bad Instead, we should craft questions in the discussion with Scouts along these lines: - Research an event or situation in US history where a person or group of people were discriminated against due to a trait which was innate. (skin color, heigh
    2 points
  2. Hi, I'm a parent who has a cub who had a less-than-stellar experience our wolf year. We're back at it now with a new den and having a great time, so fortunate we found this new troop. I'm still doing a good chunk of stuff at home as we homeschool and I have anxiety that leaving it up to another adult will leave my kid pack less again.
    1 point
  3. Next year, have your wife's company make the donation to your CO. Coordinate with your CO ahead of time to ask about this and ask for the funds to be passed on to the Troop. This is perfectly fine, but your council will be livid.
    1 point
  4. I think folks are more concerned about A. allowing Scout activities to be open to parents which is something BSA has promoted, and B. financial situation of families. I am so glad my oldest is out and Middle ages out this year. But if these prices were around when all 5 of us in my family were involved, it would be over $400 just to register.
    1 point
  5. If you are concerned about additional responsibilities, use the Unit Scouter Reserve position. They are not ASMs nor Committee members.
    1 point
  6. This is likely. Fair is fair though, if by this rule the # of paid leaders increases notably - the fees should decrease similarly. They won't.
    1 point
  7. This could have been done by restricting camping to only "registered leaders". The decision to make it "fee required" seems intentional and if so, purely financially motivated IMO. A MB Counselor, in my council at least, is required to take YPT and submit to a background check - but pays no fee. Previously, these persons could attend outings and support my unit as one of the 2-up. NOW, they would have to fork over almost $100 (fees for registered adults in my area are close to $100 annually now) AND be welcomed onto the committee or as an ASM (higher bar in my unit than MB counselor) so in
    1 point
  8. That's really the crux of what I was trying to say and apparently I did a lousy job of it.
    1 point
  9. And here you are, making an assumption about "people who only have experience with others like themselves..." That is exactly the kind of gross generalization and stereotyping that we are opposed to. Physician, heal thyself. Deal with people individually. It is the only way... I don't hear this... because no one treats everyone the same. We all act differently around different people. I do not treat everyone the same. But I do strive to treat everyone fairly. There is a huge difference. I do not treat a 17 year old like I treat an 11 year old. I do not speak to women
    1 point
  10. @DuctTape for National Commissioner! (It's been a while, so it needed saying again 😛 )
    1 point
  11. I think more importantly is "why not?". For the GTSS to have real buy in, all restrictions should have at their core articulable rationale for all restrictions. All restrictions, rules etc... must be written succinctly to not require a 19 page FAQ attempting to explain how to follow them. If any appear to be arbitrary (or worse) then those tasked with implementing the gtss will ignore parts they decide are arbitrary, "up for interpretation", or just plain ridiculous. This makes the gtss ultimately just a list of suggestions. This failure is owned by those who penned it without meaningfu
    1 point
  12. On a different note, any idea why Webelos are not allowed to camp at Camporees once again? I know for a fact that policy was rescinded in 2014 becuase it was no long listed in the GTSS for a number of years. The council I am in encouraged troop to have Webelos camp with them as a recruiting tool. And when the policy came back into effect int he past few years, the council had a camporee already planned, had promotional materials sent and publicized to both Webelos and Troops, and had activities planned for the Webelos to do. Pros allowed it to happen because it was already planned and no not
    1 point
  13. If "overnight" only means one night, then why is the definition of a Webelos Scout Overnight defined as "Webelos Scout overnighter A one- or two-night campout by Webelos Scouts and their parent or guardian." https://www.scouting.org/resources/los/
    1 point
  14. Interesting post. I agree with the first paragraph, but based from my experiences, have a different opinions on the rest. I guess different experiences lead to different biases. Barry
    1 point
  15. 1 point
  16. It's about time to have that conversation. Funny that the Declaration of Religious Principle states "Only persons willing to subscribe to this Declaration of Religious Principle and to the Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America shall be entitled to certificates of membership", but the BSA webpages and materials about joining Scouting have zero mention of this Declaration.
    1 point
  17. Unsatisfactory. Several observations: 1. In reviewing the 2019 posts and your responses, you never answer the question at hand. You simply post a definition of "overnight" which in no way enlightens the questioning audience. (And you have repeated that here.) 2. You post a link to an instructor syllabus which is now defunct, therefore invalid to answer the question. 3. There are 72 instances of the word "overnight" in the currently available BALOO manual (2017 printing, see link). I reviewed each of them, and there is no clarification that a single night experience is
    1 point
  18. Scouters across the nation were clearly doing an end-around and dropping their registrations as direct contact leaders to avoid exorbitant fees. But just because they are now MBCs, many of them are competent leaders who are very helpful to have around. They are just making the registration fees more expensive for the rest of us. Sooner or later BSA would shore up that loophole. That’s why my troop pays for leaders’ registration fees. (It amounts to maybe an extra hour of the scouts washing cars.) I think it’s kinda dumb and make up for it by providing a little extra here and there, but it
    1 point
  19. The TCC was clear that they did not approve of the 72 hour rule. BSA was never going to exit bankruptcy without this change. It was one of the changes that switched TCC from rejecting to supporting the bankruptcy plan. It was an odd rule. I'm not able to do nearly anything with the GSUSA without registering. I think BSA avoided it, like they avoided the YPT training checks for years, to avoid the complaints and moaning from scouters. As far as MBCs, they shouldn't be hanging out overnight with the Troop. ASMs and SMs ... Sure. I struggle to see why a MBC in that capacity sho
    1 point
  20. That's a great idea. The only thing I'd add is a chance for memories. Either a slide show of the scouts through their scouting career or even stories from anyone. It's the best part of our ecohs.
    1 point
  21. There are many good reasons for home schooling, but home schooling in order to avoid learning how to socialize with one's peers is not one of them.
    1 point
  22. Dr. BS, you are uneducated on this topic. Homeschooling allows much more interaction with the REAL WORLD that the public schools. NetScouter
    1 point
  23. I'm not saying there is maliciousness in peoples behaviors toward others by not recognizing differences (there can be, but that's a different topic). What I'm saying is that people who only have experience with others like themselves and don't see differences make assumptions based on their own experiences of similarity. You hear things like "I treat everyone the same", which is okay to an extent, but not everyone is the same. To get back on track, this merit badge is about learning to observe, recognize and think about those differences. Treating people the same is asking someone one on
    0 points
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