Leaderboard

How about going back to an earlier version?

I have been told that Scouting has been my surrogate family, with the adults in my life being surrogate fathers, the Scouts in my youth as surrogate brothers, and depending upon what age as an adult I was, me serving in a older brother or father role. I have served in various roles for over 30 years, and until recently also had a passion for Scouting. Read some of my posts over the past 5 years so see issues. I have rebuilt so much over the years, and the current state of Scouting is deeply depressing: declining membership, inability to get council support, ad nauseum. My troop is dying

It's OK for us to be a little different. For all our troubles, the US is still exceptional in many respects. We've gifted the world airplanes, the telephone, the internet, Post-It notes, and sliced bread. Clearly, we're getting a few things right over here. 🙂 I respect that your experience may have been different from mine and believe yours to be valuable too, but most kids in the US already get 8 hours of mixed-gender interaction in school. Many extra-curriculars, aside from athletics, are also integrated. Boys and girls already have ample opportunities to interact. The si

18 Eagle required MBs can be done fully/nearly fully indoor while 4 (cooking, camping, hiking and cycling) have substantial outdoor requirements. BSA lost me on "scouting is outdoors" when they added Citizenship in Society merit badge. Most of my Eagle Scouts have said Wilderness Survival should be Eagle Required but yet BSA went with another discuss/research/report type badge. In addition, my Troop was the only one to camp outdoors during our recent district's Klondike. In the past the Patrols camping outdoors would be awarded more points...not this year. In fact, the Patrols who did

I wish it was that simple. Prioritizing my obligations was simple on Monday. 1. Work related that I couldn't blow off or my boss would find out? 2. Scouts. 3. Everything else. Kids had a sports game the same day as a Cub Scout event? No brainer, we'll be camping. I have a hard time being loyal back when an organization is disloyal. I'm just Scottish and German enough to take it personally and say "Screw it" even if I really want to be there.

FINALLY ! Our time with Pinewood Derby shows results : : :

I've been thinking about it for a couple of days. I've come to the conclusion that the BSA was pretty much my home. It may sound silly, but I can remember the first day I walked into the BSA office in my current council. I had never set foot in that place before, but I felt like I had just walked into my home once again. I did a little reading on rebranding this morning and found out that it's not unusual for brands to lose 20% of their loyal customers following rebranding. I was extremely passionate about the BSA and worked hard to revive a unit, expand the program, and be involved as mu

Just a guess.... GSUSA may well be ok with seeing us rebrand as Scouting America but would consider it a bridge too far if all we do is drop the word girl from their name.

I would say my troop is pretty outdoorsy. We camp 10/12 months, with a lock in IF possible in December and 2 weekends of Scouting For Food in February, being the 2 months we do not camp. Even during COVID, we continued to meet, virtually and outside, had monthly day trips in the outdoors, and even did our own summer camp. Yes we car camp, but we also backpack, cycle, and do canoeing and whitewater activities. And the Scouts pick Summer Camps with the program they want, with the only caveat being it has to be within an 8 hour drive. The last 2 batches of Webelos that visited, the activitie

You must be doing it wrong. 75% of scouting is outing.

I remember boys hiking the 3+ miles from the Boy Scout summer camp to the nearby Girl Scout summer camp in the evenings in the late 1970s. As was said earlier, "where there's a will, there's a way" -- but we don't have to make it easier for them. I personally felt there was a place for -- nay, a need for -- single-sex instruction in some things. The vast majority of teenage boys I knew -- from the time when I was a teenager myself until present -- don't focus well when there's a teenage girl nearby. Or rather, they focus well but not necessarily on what I need them to focus on. Having

Because GSUSA was not meeting their desire for an adventurous program. And their leadership does not want to change. While society does indeed teach there are no differences in roles, psychology and other sciences do show otherwise. Give me until the weekend to get the research collected. Because research from way back, and event to this day, shows that both boys and girls need their own spaces without the opposite gender present to develop. Again, GSUSA has not listened to their base, and have lost many over the years.

After talking to a professional recently, the writing in the wall that the "trial" period of 8/24-7/25 will be successful and full integration will occur. Also from the discussion, if you do not go coed, the council may not be able to help you recruit. I know my troop's volunteers will be meeting about folding the troop at the end of the year. Between existing challenges, and hint that we need to go coed or we will not be supported hit hard. But as @Scoutldr said, That is the sentiment of a lot of the boys I have worked with over the years. Sadly there are fewer and f

Once BSA moved to admit girls, it should have changed the name to reflect its dual membership. Once BSA decided to accept girls' membership dollars, and charge girls the same fees that it charges to boys, it had a duty to make sure the general program experiences and opportunities were similar. That's what a well managed, functional organization would do. If it didn't want girls, and it didn't want their membership numbers and their membership dollars, then it would have made sense to retain the old name and the old perspectives and live with that. But that's not what the organization did, and

And here again we see reality in the U.S. Somehow, not sure we can pinpoint the change, our cultural viewpoints relating to interactions of youth at "those critical years" got skewed to paranoia, rather than growth and learning to deal. Maybe like the concept of the glass half full or half empty? Something less than positive happens somewhere and it is hyped by media and people with skewed reasoning and becomes an issue where it really is not the norm, nor usually a problem. Then the fear mongers grab it and make it worse. Then somebody does a "study", one preordained in most cases, and

@Armymutt, I empathize, brother... And I want to encourage you. As a veteran, I know you grok what servant leadership is and means... and I know it is frustrating to see, hear, and have others around you who do not. (and to have to live through the consequences of their questionable decisions.) The ideals and values we espouse are best transmitted (and maybe ONLY transmitted) through your example and presence. Without the likes of you, we are lost. Thanks for putting on the uniform... both of them 🦾 Continue to stand in the gap.

I was thinking that, but Scouting America is no less of a trademark threat.

My take is that it needs a tagline: (Except for Canada, Mexico, Central and South America) No clue why we can’t be Scouts USA.

Ben Shapiro’s take …

One of our most popular weekend events is an annual wilderness survival weekend. This despite the fact that most of our scouts have already earned the MB.

Another random thought, it does explain why Jim Kirk was never a Boy Scout. https://y.yarn.co/193eb197-66ad-4b5c-843a-0519c7779c8b.mp4

Also unveiled was new Distinguished Conservation Service Award. Procurement order for National Supply is already in. Guess no one told that committee about the brand change... Or will they play this rebranding like Scouting/USA? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouting/USA

No, it was a summer model without a wood stove, but all the combined body heat also did help on chilly spring, summer, and fall nights. We did lie right next to each other (resulting in quite a bit of trying not to step on your patrolmates when you needed to pee in the middle of the night), helping hold on to our warmth. But backpacking with a cast iron wood stove and fuel for it would have been a bit much 😄

Well, I’m not sure about programs, but I am pretty sure my daughter (and other Scouts) in our troop wouldn’t have stepped up and spoken up with boys in their troop.

You had 1 male and 1 female in a tent together and never had any contact of a sexual nature occur?

Scouting is local. While scouting is marketed as outdoor, there is room for local leaders to push the gray area that fits more to their level of comfort. A lot of adults are living their scouting dream through their youths’ program and don’t even realize it. Even Woodbadge can suffer from different interpretations of the syllabus. Barry

All I can say is keep up the good work. What do you and your scouts want to get out of the program? Awards? Ranks? Badges? Or is it about learning life skills? Encourage them to pursue Wilderness Survival in addition to Eagle requirements (7 MBs are elective). If your scouts don't like your district Klondike stop going. Find another one. Keep building skills, ranks and awards will come.

Scouts Canada and Scouts UK, they are just called Scouts. Scouts BSA felt redundant to me anyway. I'm not concerned with a name change, nor any administrative hoopla fixes as to whether a girl unit is a troop or if it is just a patrol (or even if mixed patrols are allowed). I am concerned with long-term viability of program, and none of these changes to me are going to solve this. I'd love to share the optimism others are expressing here, but to be quite blunt, we heard all of that when girls were allowed to all programs, and what are the results? My council follows what national has dire

My thoughts are how are they going to spend money they don't have to rebrand everything. I expect dues to go up even higher next year. Will the ring that goes around the World Scouting Crest, which currently says "Boy Scouts of America Since 1910", now say "Boy Scouts of America, from 1910 to 2025"? Also, besides the obvious change to the Eagle rank patch, what about the Eagle medal that shows BSA across the Eagle? What will Scouts BSA members now be called? I hope and pray they don't use the SA abbreviation at all, as this has major ties to old Nazi party, who were often called brownshir

I never heard of them. I have, because I was trying to find just a regular scouting experience for my child with no semi-official Christian affiliation, no gender segregation, and applying the Scout Law and Oath to everyone all the time (no discrimination). They don't have the lineage, but I was willing to just fill my child in on BP and scouting myself, as a stopgap until US scouting got things sorted out. I tried contacting several listed chapters close to us but never got a response. I don't think they are as much of an option as it seems.

"Normalizing" is not always a good thing.

I was going to ask exactly what sort of recruiting support your council provides. Ours provides nothing. They might print up some flyers that are universal. That's not helpful. They don't send anyone to the schools. They don't show up at open houses to help out.

Not necessarily. I talked to one professional recently, and the implied message was that we need to create a coed pack, and have a girls troop, or no longer get recruiting support from council. Grant you We have had 0 support for over a decade now, so it will not make a difference. Where there is a will, there is a way. I cannot tell how many couples I saw when I was involved in Venturing.

Who stays up to make sure that line isn't crossed? We used to be able to leave our tents and engage in all sorts of mischief without the adults knowing. It's not like the campsite is surrounded by concertina wire.

I have already seen this effect in my area with linked boy/girl troops. My Cub Scout Pack was sending out girl AOLs 5 years ago. The last 2 years we had girls complete the full program and bridge up. The girls go to linked troops. The boys tend to pick linked troops too, to stay with their den mates even though they are in different troops/patrols. Especially if they have a sister in the program so they meet on the same night and go on the same weekend trips together. Families are busy; they don't want to split their kids up into different activities if they can help it. Single-gender troops a

Maybe the kids today lack the hormones we had in the 90s. I can tell you that back then if there was a girl around, a lot of the guys reverted to being inside the high school halls. Everyone was trying to impress the girl at the expense of the other boys if necessary. Going to be some sleepless nights for adults who have to maintain a vigil all night to keep the two groups separated. Going to be interesting when the first Scouts BSA girl in a troop gets pregnant. Going to make this name change thing look like a molehill.

I've not see that. The closest I've seen is a one year test pilot program assessing the viability of a third model for Troops, a second option for Scouts and families, of a co-ed Troop. Depending on resources, leadership, and choice, this maybe desirable for some. I'll be on the lookout for that.

Shouldn't that have already been the case under "Boy Scouts of America"?

Actually I think they were appeasing the simpletons by waiting 5 years to change the name. They could have done this when they opened the program up to girls but they knew that too many peoples' heads would explode if they did the name change at the same time.

"Scouting America" sounds more like the program we are delivering to today's youth, and it is consistent with other WOSM organizations.

I think that changing the name to appease simpletons isn't a good solution, but it seems to be the way the BSA wants to go anyway. Rather than expect people to be critical thinkers and rise up to the organization's level, it will come down to meet them. We saw this with the elimination of the Bobcat badge. Simpletons were confused so the solution was to destroy a legacy rather than insist that people take time to learn and understand. To me, the BSA has been the only constant in my life. My parents divorced when I was young, so neither was in my life 100% of the time. We moved around

Baby Steps of America.... I expect we were headed to coed all along.

As long as it's consensual, I don't care. My point was more that scouting isn't automatically going to turn into a meat market just because you have girls and boys scouting together. I see a lot of FUD about this and since it's so far all scared speculation as opposed to lived experience I figure sharing would be helpful.