Eagledad

Wow, these are all really great answers. I can't add to any of them, but my ego demands that I get my name in here somewhere. (LOL) I think the suggestion that you and your son need to decide what kind of advancement you want will help a lot because each units adults have different motivations for success. If I could ask one question to learn the SM's to get an idea of their motivation, I would ask where they see your son in four years. If they say "a man with better habits of character", then you are likely looking at a more rounded program where advancement is more balanced with th

>>So I'd say first step is to take a real good look at how you're doin' youth leadership, and whether yeh have too many adults in the way. Things like what gwd describes, eh? Do your patrols hike and camp alone, without adults? Are the "Awesome" boys treated like that, and do they really run the outing for the younger fellows

>>I find it strange that the BOR of a scout is the means by which the performance of the SM is judged

>>Yes, he took part in a SMC and the PL signed off on it.

>>SM Conferences will now be signed off by the SM and not the PL

>>he expects the unemployment situation to get worse before it gets better,

Never heard it put like this before. From USAToday: The economy is recovering, he said, but jobs are a lagging indicator and he expects the unemployment situation to get worse before it gets better, Obama said at a meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

There is an "Outstanding" article in the Nov/Dec Scouting Magazine called "Build A Better Boy". The article is an interview with family therapist, Michael Gurian, who has written several books about how to raise boys. I'm usually cautious with suggesting such articles, but I think this is right on target and can help leaders understand better how to work with boys. The article is written well in that Gurian gives lots of approaches with boys and a list of mentors responsibilities. I hope you all enjoy the article as much as I did. I love this scouting stuff. Barry

>>So, at what point should the leadership begin considering dividing a troop?

This is a really great question and some really good responses. I'm not sure there is a bad response really, but I know my answer changed with experience. I think toward the end of my SM carrier I looked at job as the guardian of Scouting's Ideals. The SM is the primary judge for interpreting the Scout Law, Oath, promise, and motto for that troop for everyone in the troop. Every ASM, SPL, PL and even TG run their part of the program differently from their counterparts because their personality is different. So there has to be some kind of consistency or judge to maintain constant di

>>This may not be a technical violation of the YPT, but I for one wouldn't want to put myself in that position.

This is an exciting question for me. I started using a scouter Forum back in the early 90s and I can honestly say that probably 40% of the program that I left when I retired as a SM was based from those Forums. Not so much this forum because I came here late, but from ScoutsL. My job requires me to constantly evaluate performance, so I naturally did that in my scouting experiences and I was always seeking advice to improve our program. I found that while each troop may look different locally, they are very much the same when you look at it from a national scale because of district guidance and

>>I have had some of the best scouts, adults and youth from a variety of different program try their best and it doesn't work.

>>I hadn't thought of it in terms of working as a team, but that's basically what we do (and in the future I'm going to emphasize the team aspect

>>but it still isn't going to do much to get the car started if it's out of gas.

>>Boys will be boys, but we are not responsible for perpetuating boys, we are to assist them into mature manhood and appropriate choices in their lives.

>>I gather that some councils are now imposing a minimum hour requirement with National's consent.

Day 2 from Foxnews A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in upstate New York has been barred from stepping foot on school grounds for 20 days for keeping a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,565520,00.html Matthew Whalen, a senior at Lansingburgh Senior High School, says he follows the Boy Scout motto and is always prepared, stocking his car with a sleeping bag, water, a ready-to-eat meal and the knife, which was given to him by his grandfather, a police chief in a nearby town. But Lansingburgh High has a zero-tolerance and

Hi Buffalo Skipper I try and teach that discipline of behavior is everyones responsibility. In other words, we work as a team. In this case, I ask that the group leader first ask the disrupter to stop with a clear warning they will need to leave the room if they dont stop. No second chances, just get the interference out of the room if they act up again so the activity isnt interrupted. Typically these guys are just seeking some kind attention. If the disruption does continue, the group leader ask the scout to leave and find the SM to explain what happen, resulting in a SM conferenc

>>I wonder what the tone of this thread would be if little Annie had taken the knife to school to cut the cake that Grandma had baked and Nasty little Lad had taken it and killed another student with it? Would we all be asking why she was allowed to take a knife to school? Eamonn

>>I have seen some kids grudgingly do more work when their parents push them, but I don't think I've yet seen one where the parent had a talk with them and they came to the next meeting a changed teenager.

>>I don't think so. To do that would be a travesty. If you want to jade this young man forever, then by all means continue on that path.

>>Our scouts put the annual calendar together from suggestions made by scouts and adults during the course of the year. We also encourage scouts, particulalry older ones to add events to the calendar that they plan and run entirely on thier own to develop planning and leadership (Skiing, skating, caving, biking hikes and other one day activities). To date no one has followed through, but I have one scout now who with a lot of prodding is setting up an additional activity.

>>We never had a no pop rule, we were a backpacking troop, with pack it in, pack it out put a little damper on that.

Thanks