Leaderboard

I understand exactly where you are coming from, and I am glad that it works for you. As a child living in England when my father was in the Air Force, he had a black coworker/friend come knocking on our door. My 5-year-old cousin answered the door and shouted out to my father "there is a golliwog here to see you Uncle John". Luckily my father's friend took no offense but my cousin Tommy was told that what he said was offensive so he would not to repeat what he had said.

With our Council's new service fee of $80/year, our Council will no longer do FOS at the unit level. Prior to this, I had my 2 units (a Troop and a Ship) make an annual unit contribution to the Council to offset our not participating in Council-organized fundraising. We will discontinue this annual unit contribution practice as a result of the new fee. It would be difficult for conduct a unit FOS and charge a service fee, because the FOS solicitation was always presented as a way to pay for the things the service fee now handles.

If you are blind to what is offensive, you will continue to offend. I have a few years behind me and have watched society change over the course of my seven decades. What was said or attitudes towards people have changed because those who were offended spoke out. It started small and grew. I point out attitudes to those who offend CSA survivors hoping to expand their knowledge and hopefully change their perceptions.

If you are on a continuous search to be offended, you will always find what you are looking for, even when it isn't there.

It's a balance, and a coping skill. As a survivor, I find nothing offensive in @Ojoman's post. I find the perspective very different than mine, and much more sympathetic to BSA as an organization. I am not blind to what is offensive, because, for me at least, I look for intent. I see no intent to offend in those remarks. Hence, "...even when it isn't there." Being kind works both ways.

Some troops get known as 'merit badge or eagle mills' driven by the SM or a small group of adults... Not that earning EAgle is bad but the direction and purpose of the program is overall character, citizenship and personal fitness. Some Troops shut down for the summer with the possible exception of summer camp because 'that's how we have always done it. Some troops shun district or council involvement because of a leaders attitude, some troops sit on their duff and expect a crop of AOL's each year without lifting a finger to assist the Pack. Some leaders never get 'updated' at a u of sctg and

A good District Committee provides a solid interface between Scouting and the local community. Members can be critical in the placement of units with new COs and the successful formation of sustainable units. A good District Committee assures there is a competent commissioner staff to maintain good unit practices and intervene when there are difficulties. A good District Committee helps raise funds from the local business community for the Council. Finally, a good District Committee organizes and operates supportive services like camporees and training conferences. Beginning with a

Well the ivory tower did very little to protect us victims/survivers but done everything to protect the pedophiles and The Boy Scouts name.How are they gonna tell me the scouts will make you an outstanding member of society. Telling us scouts wil turn you into a fine man. How you gonna preach on what it takes to be productive member of society while protecting pedophiles?! Brother im really nit interested in anything you got to say.I guess your scout experience was wonderful but mine has been pure hell for 37 years of drinking,drugs,failedmarriage,nightmares. So you chew on them facts. Im not

And there a families that do not do sports for just that reason as well. As for putting it on plastic, again you have families that if it is a choice between $150 worth of food, or paying for a program your child may not be interested in after 1-2 months, food wins. One reason I liked prorated fees, it gave families time to get money together. And sometimes packs could help out, but that was when the fees were sub $35. $150 is a lot for some units. But not every one. Some councils are not breaking even, and others barely. As for savings plans, that helps long term, but not the imm

My grandson's sports programs get paid up front... I do agree that some families may find the up front fees to be a hardship but they can put it on plastic the first time around and then budget for the next year or participate in the unit product sale. Also, a unit can give a family a month to get their paperwork together and register. Some councils have programs to assist lower income families and troops could/should have unit savings plans much like a lay away for summer camp and rechartering so families can put a bit down each meeting/week/month. That's what I did as a kid. I recall taking

Troops are probably more apt to 'create' their own culture and depart from BSA practices. Some troop leaders (like some sports coaches) are controlling or mired in out of date practices. Sadly, in many cases no one will challenge them and their programs tend to be weak and not hold membership. Of course there is the other end where a leader does a great job with his/her junior leaders and oversees a solid, well functioning program with great retention and advancement.

COST ISN'T THE MAIN FACTOR IN LOSS OF MEMBERSHIP, POOR RECRUITMENT, POOR COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS AND POOR RETENTION DUE TO WEAK PROGRAM ALONG WITH A LACK OF LEADERS ARE THE MAIN DRIVERS OF MEMBERSHIP DECLINES. My son pays for my 12 year old grandson, several hundred $ per 'soccer season' and there are several 'seasons' per year. Then there are the 'away games' which can include overnight stays and it is easy for him to drop $2,000 or more in a year. We complain about the new fees and other expenses in Scouting but the program is still cost effective when compared to many other youth acti

My abuse was also perpetrated by a BSA EMPLOYEE. It doesn't lessen anything suffered by a scout abused by another boy. But it DOES directly implicate BSA, with no way to mitigate responsibility. Because of what I personally experienced, I hoped BSA would cease to function. I stopped the cycle with my generation, as I refused to allow my children to participate. The outcome that allows BSA to continue following BK is a big win for supporters of the organization. And any talk of this token settlement for victims being a bad outcome for BSA is extremely insensitive and very uninformed.

I found the materials on line that listed the individual cases and included the documents and I did read a fair number to get an idea of how serious the suit was and yes, it was serious but none of the cases I saw included any professionals as abusers (I certainly expect there were some, just not the ones I read) but mainly volunteer adults and in some cases adults that were not even registered but affiliated through the chartered partner or as a relative of a youth member. I would change my mind if you can direct me to the documentation that shows that BSA employees were the abusers in signif

You have and you continue. If you do not have the will to research and continue to make erroneous statements than you are disrespecting all survivors. Yes, more of the claims are for incidents more than 30 years old. It has been established that men are likely to acknowledge sexual abuse that happened to them in their mid 30's. Because of that there is most likely a major number of cases in the past 23 years that occurred, but no claim has been made. A tremendous of knowledge is available on how to prevent abuse and how to treat survivors is available. Unfortunately, not of all of th