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Eagledad

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Everything posted by Eagledad

  1. My apologies for not understanding This is a challenging time for young people. Politics and cultural extremisms are driving everyone to pick a side with no gray area. Life was simple when I was a scout, it was a little more complicated when I was leader, but nothing like now. My high school teacher son is very frustrated. He had a student commit suicide a few months ago. One of three in the past few years. The problem from his perspective is social media. Kids today get all their identity from social media and that puts them in a very volatile place to find themselves. One day socia
  2. I'm curious, what is the latest traditional male gender role that is considered a threat? I'm one of those people who believe mixing females into the patrols puts the males at a disadvantage for personal growth, and possibly some harm by the adults. So, I struggle with the idea that girls are the ones at risk. I've seen way too much overhype on this forum to not be concerned for the boys. One poster was bragging just the other day about all the girl cubs on the podium after the derby races. What was the point of the statement? Were boys also on the podium? We don't know, but we can imagin
  3. How can a troop over ride the camp director? Barry
  4. I guess it depends on what side of the fence one stands on where the haters are. Just look at the title of this discussion, The BSA should get tough on scouts and scouters? One fairly new scouter even suggested I be censored on a discussion of mixed genders. Seems some folks are willing to push hostility to a new level to get what they want. So, explain to me why I should encourage my grandkids to join the BSA in this hostile environment. The game has lost the purpose. Barry
  5. I think the choice for single-gender troops and patrols is the right approach. Barry
  6. Here is a good start from an SPL. http://scoutmaster.org/boy led troop.pdf
  7. I guess. It’s a new term to me. And it’s sad that standing up for someone today is considered noble. In a time when being offended is considered a right and safe places are the norm, acting scout-like requires courage and is truly noble. Barry
  8. We would welcome the lad, but require a parent because while he is old enough, he may not have the maturity to suddenly camp with a bunch of strangers. The BSA looses more scouts at this age because the experience of the sudden change of culture can be overwhelming (scary) especially on an overnight camping experience. And I would suggest doing only one night for the same reason. Encourage a patrol to take him under their wing with the parent hanging out with the adults. It will likely go very well. Barry
  9. Strange post. Experience cannot by definition be a conspiracy. Yet several members here still push their ideal program as best or preferred despite experiences showing to the contrary. Doesn’t really matter, when left or right becomes part of the definition with one more so than the other, it’s just bias hype encouraging more bias hype. And, it show’s motivation for the post. Loyalty to each other doesn’t mean hyping misaligned program practices over good practices. Expressing, discussing and educating good and successful practices is what this forum is all about. Barry
  10. Ah, sounds like you have the right team for a great troop. I also had a great new CC while I was learning. We went from 15 scouts to 100 scouts in five years. It takes a good team willing to change from what doesn't work. Learning is part of the process for growing, and part of the fun. Barry
  11. Yep, delegate, delegate, delegate. If you are doing your job right, you really don't have time for that stuff. It's better to stand back the day of loading the cars for summer camp and let others deal with the chaos of final checks, signatures, and so on. You will get plenty of your own questions. There is also a real benefit for getting parents involved. They will have more pride and buy-in if they are involved. You really need to find a good CC. They make or break good troops. Barry
  12. Lots of good ideas here. Who is leading this charge? Should be DE, but you never know their experience. You could be that person, but if you do, delegate, delegate delegate. Running a pack is hard enough without trying to help another. It's OK to have the ideas and let others run with it. But, I would ask for a meeting with the pack adults and ask them how they feel about these ideas and learn their temperament of the situation. You are not there to take advantage of them, you only want to lend a hand. Let them know that. I have worked with some splits and mergers, so I will help anywhere
  13. Why do they want to merge? Barry
  14. Does there have to be a productive aim if the discussion is civil and managed within the Scout Law? Sometimes the best reaction to a discussion one doesn’t enjoy participating is to choose not to participate. Barry
  15. I tried using reason in a discussion a couple weeks ago; emotion and cultural loyalty is strong. I don’t think the boys have chance of a fair program in the BSA anymore. Honestly, I didn’t see it coming. Barry
  16. This is a humbling well-written article. Most, if not all, of the contents of this article have been discussed on this forum many times over the years. And we are just getting started. I love this scouting stuff. Barry R
  17. I wish that was the solution, but the problem is more of a lack of experience. And more importantly, a lack of a BSA youth Scouting experience. Even with all the training, inexperienced adults still struggle with the idea that youth managing their program activities actually develops character and integrity. Or, they believe it works, but just don't know how. So, these adults tend to fall on their training and start setting goals for scouts to advance. They build a First Class skills program where most of the activities have an objective of advancing in rank and stature. The adult nature
  18. I agree. And it will dumb down "Patrol Method" to the point of the method used mainly to manage large groups. The economics of the program is already intuitively pushing Adults to get more personally involved in the scouts' activities, which is more like the cub program. Scouts will have less control of the program management and make fewer decisions for the outcome of the activities. It will be fun without a purpose. This is what happened to the Canadian Scouts program about 30 years ago and the membership numbers have never recovered. They were the largest scouting program in the world
  19. I'm respectful and nice. But, you want me to be agreeable or quiet and that is not nice. Barry
  20. Ah, movements of shallow ideals. I miss Martin Luther King Jr. so much. The difference between us is that Scouting isn’t movement. Scouting is an organization that uses the simple ideal of real-life decisions to develop young people into ethical and moral decision-makers. Sadly, scouting is being hijacked by activision that uses the simplicity of intimidation to make decisions of equality rather than developing free minds to make personal decisions to treat people equally. But, moral and ethical decision-making (integrity and character) is the humanistic ideal of fairness and respe
  21. Several of us have been members of this forum for many years and have watched thousands of Scouters pass through. Most of us who have hung around for that many years just have a passion to make the lives of new scout leaders easier with perspectives based from our experiences of success, and often failures. We have wisdom that comes from the blood sweat and tears of experience. Once in a while, a scouter comes along with their own strong personal ideals of how things should be and wants to impress on those of us with experience their perspective of better way. Ideas and perspectives are w
  22. Hi George. I haven't read the thread thoroughly, so you will probably want to ask questions after my post. After looking back, it was the scouts who drove the program toward a backpacking troop. When we took over the broken program, we adults had dreams of being the best-looking troop in the district. Based on the three of us adults youth experience who took over the program, the best looking included a Camp[/Patrol Box and a propane tank with a tree where the stove and lantern. However, long story short, the scouts hated all that stuff. We are a boy run troop, so the boys changed us to a
  23. I always did a SM Minute, mostly because it was the only time I usually spoke in front of the group. Doing a SM Minute that would hold their attention took some time to develop. I learned that 2 minutes is the extreme limit most scouts can hold their attention. So, I would choose stories or subjects that I could make a point in two minutes. And I learned that boys will listen to anything that involves humor or some type of adventure. They like stories of real-life heroes. I used to wonder if a scout was affected to actually change some part of themself from a SM minute. Not too many years
  24. Well, yes and no. If I knew of a particular skill or behavior that really wasn't up to a minimally acceptable level, I would ask the scout if after our discussion they felt ready for the BOR. I didn't even wait for the answer, I signed their book and let them make the decision of how they would proceed. The book was signed, so they could do whatever they wanted. They knew I would accept whatever decision without a show of disappointment. But they also knew I wouldn't have said anything if there wasn't a reason. Integrity doesn't take root unless a person chooses to change. Barry
  25. There is a saying, "Experience trumps debate". The Bible says it is folly to rebuke (debate) a prideful person. I am not saying you are prideful, but the discussion appeared civil to me. Of course, units really have a choice of just how mixed-gendered they want to be. Or not at all. So, there are no risks in the discussion. Have a great scouting weekend. Barry
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