Eagle007

moosetracker, I hear ya about getting lambasted by others for disciplining your child. I was in a situation many moons ago when giving my child some backside discipline in a supercenter and another shopper started to give me lip about it. The next words out of my mouth would have been, "Unless you want what I'm giving my child then I suggest you stay out of my business and mind your own!" Was I abusing my child - absolutely not. Would I have put a hand on the other shopper - absolutely not. But I did want to clearly convey my point that I was handling my business as a parent in the m

After reading the height/weight chart, if a scouter is beyond the maximum requirements are they not allowed to participate in activities which require medical forms?

dennis and clem, Correct me if I'm wrong, but it has been my experience that it is not who is right or wrong in either a criminal or civil trial but who presents the best and most dramatic case to the jury. The jury could be comprised of a bunch of (pardon the phrase) idiots who will believe anything. And as long as either side has them eating out of their hand then that side has won the case. Right, wrong or indifferent, that's the way it is. It's nothing but a game. There was a time, long, long ago, when life was a lot simpler. But we have done a good job at making things so comp

nldscout, What you say is true. We need to hold parents and their children accountable, not just one or the other. nolesrule, The saying is very fitting and appropriate. The culture changes of the present generation has far exceeded anything I have ever seen. The junk that these kids are allowed to do and get away with with just a slap on the wrist I would have had my end blistered and grounded for months. If I were to have done something as serious as DUI, I can assure you that I wouldn't be driving until I turned 21 (if that) because I would be sitting at home being made to think

Dennis, definitely no arguments here, just a healthy discussion. I was trying to provide some insight from my side of the tracks so to speak. And I am certainly open to learning from others experiences and training. I have heard these types of topics from people in our area who are scared to death of either doing something or not doing something for fear of being sued. And to be quite honest, it rattles their cages so bad that they would rather stand in the middle of the road and get run over by a semi than make a decision one way or the other. Being prepared and having multip

Maybe the boy should be given the option of: 1) Watching the A&E TV Series: Beyond Scared Straight 2) Have frieds of the family to encourage them to allow the boy to be a part of that series. Most, if not all of the teenaged female offenders on that program, admitted to drinking and smoking pot along with other crimes. This was supposed to be their wake up call. I believe it worked for 99.99%. The oldest girl of 17 went back into juvenile detention until 18 and then is probably headed to the adult side of the pen. It seems as if kids today are cut from a differen

Beavah, I for the life of me can't put my hands around all of this confusion of negligence and duty to act and failure to act and so on. With my extensive background and experience in law enforcement, fire & rescue and emergency medical sercices, I find it profoundly amuzing that people trip all over themselves with concern over these issues. No offense but people overthink what seems to be the obvious use of good, old fashioned, common sense. Because of my professional training, background and experience, I would definitely be subjected to liability and neglegence in a failure t

Good Grief. You guys are giving yourselves headaches over this. Why not avoid the problem altogether and stay home? *Note the sarcasm* In senario three, if the injury is that serious contact emergency medical services (the ambulance)! This mole hill is being turned into a mountain in quick fashion.

Let's be painfully blunt! If we (scouts & scouters) are going to talk the talk through the Scout Oath & Scout Law then we need to walk the walk! Enough said! Good points by Beavah and Nldscout.

I am quite aware that not everyone has 3G nor that they use phones as portable laptops. My wife is proof (she'd put a whippin' on me if she knew I said that). She uses her cell just to make calls and text. I'd like to take a look at what you are using. It sounds like a winner.

Can we say use some common sense? We can play the what if games all day long. The fact is that this boy WAS caught. And I whole-heartedly agree with Beav that this is probably not the first time the boy has done this. It was just his fist time at being caught. There is nothing saying that a boy has to be perfect but I remember something, somewhere about the scout oath and law and doing one's best to live up to those standards. To me that holds scouts to a higher standard just as law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard for example. Whether you are caught or not,

TroopMaster is a great system and it does have backups. It is being highly encouraged throughout our district by our troop and a den who are currently using it. You may not be in an area where you have internet access all of the time. But I can't think of too many places where my cell phone with 3G wouldn't be able to link up to TroopMaster if I absolutely had to have it. If push came to shove I think I could write down the necessary info and transcribe to TroopMaster at a later date. Every form that you could ever need is on this system, not to mention that it can be used for rep

I'll make this easy for you. If the scout in question were MY son, there would be a lot more things going on that he would need to concern himself with than earning eagle or even scouting for that matter. He wouldn't be doing either as he would probably be detoxing in a clinic and then be meeting with a drug & alcohol counselor in a child and adolescent unit of a behavioral institution. Again, let's make this very clear. In the above senario I'm talking about what would happen if it were my son. Do I sound like I rule with an iron fist - you are most certainly correct. Sinc

I'm all for getting the most bang for your buck, Eamonn. And if that means out of council camping then it is what it is. The particular troop I am thinking of has absolutely no involvement with their district nor council at all, as I have previously said. I'm not sure what the circumstances are nor do I care to speculate. I also know that my troop had been talking several years about not participating in our council's summer camp because it offered the same old things every year. My troop's scouters wanted something fresh, some new ideas, and I can't blame them. But in my personal

I think the idea of a three year term as you describe (learning, doing, teaching) sounds like a great idea. On the other side of this coin, has anyone experienced a district and/or council that has had little to no infrastructure? How frustrating can that be to see units not wanting to do any camping with their own council camps? I have heard of units that wanted absolutely nothing to do with their own district nor council - bad blood. You would think in a perfect world for the betterment of the boys that there would be cohesion among the units, districts and council.

Proud Eagle, I'm not sure how many years your council has been unable to make ends meet for your summer camp staff but it seems this economy has a lot to do with it. The BSA is just another organization that is struggling in the huge melting pot of society. When dollars are tight, it seems as if the non-profits suffer the most.

Barry, those are some excellent ideas. I believe a meet-n-greet is a super idea as I'm not familiar with other troops nor packs in our district. Plus, that would give den/pack/webelos leaders the opportunity to meet troop leaders as leadership tends to change some during the years. I actually saw my SM talking to one of the den leaders last night about our troop. The den leader has a son that is interested in boy scouts.

I wanted to give an update on our first RT last night. It was an excellent meeting to say the very least. I know the new DE on a personal level and he is very enthusiastic. I have read many of your ideas for a Cub based RT and would like more of your ideas for Scout based RTs as well if anyone would like to offer. Since this is only my second time to be at a RT, I want to do everything I can to offer suggestions for upcoming RTs. Thanks in advance. I'm definitely pitching the dutch oven idea to the DE. It has always been said that the way to a man's heart is through his

emb021, thanks for the info. That's what I was trying to get was a ballpark cost so I could begin a savings jar, if you will, for it.

I wonder how much it is going to cost to attend by the time it rolls around?

Agreed Qwazse.

Awesome doesn't even begin to describe this!

After seeing all of the domestic violence that I have seen in my career, I can tell you that the jaded beast of jealousy is alive and well in all age groups and backgrounds even in young couples who are dating, engaged or married. It happens.

Wow! How crazy was that! I bet the scouts and scouters in my troop would love to see that in person. I'll have to get with the other ASMs and SM and work on it. Too funny.

In my honest opinion if the young woman was 19 and engaged or already married then I would be willing to bet that her young man or husband would not want nor allow her to continue in the program around all of the other young men. And I feel safe in saying that if either of the two hypothetical senarios you presented were true then we wouldn't be having this conversation. It has been my observation of friends while growing up that the boyfriends, fiances and/or new husbands are extremely jealous. According to BSALegal.org: The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young