Eagledad

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

I'm respectful and nice. But, you want me to be agreeable or quiet and that is not nice. Barry

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

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

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

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

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

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

No, I won't. I'm confident that I didn't say anything where one gender is lesser than the other because that is not in my heart. You will find that I'm very much a proponent of growing by practicing the Oath and Law. That being said, each gender is born with different instinctive behaviors specific to their gender that aid them in maturing mentally and physically to adulthood. It's not just humans, All animals have these instincts. Once we understand these instinctive desires, we learn how to use them to their best advantage. I know from life experiences and education that mixing g

Well done! You certainly have the right to brag. However, your program is rare. Typically only one or two packs and troops in a district are that successful. Most Scout Leaders enjoy volunteering. But only 5% are passionate enough to build a top tier program. Most of who you see here on this Forum are in the 5%. Oh, some of them will even announce they are done with scouting are leaving the forum. But they still hang around bringing experience to our campfire. We couldn't get rid of Fred even if we wanted to. Which we don't. Man he's good. Barry

All well said DuctTape. From our experience of letting scouts do sign-off. I think you can do all the ranks up to first class. Honestly, it's not a hard process for the scouts. But, we limited it to first-class scouts to ensure they, theoretically, knew the skills and had the maturity to take it seriously. The Scoutmaster will be the quality controller because they look at the Scout's book during the SM Conference. We held a class every six months after the elections to train the new First-Class scouts on the proper procedure for testing (verifying the skill) and signing off. Th

Our Scouts signed off everything up through first class except for the adult required signatures. The only issue that ever popped up was the scouts for some reason didn't put dates. That caused some issues at first until we retrained them. And we did invite senior scouts in the BORs. I do miss the old days. Barry

This has nothing to do with the intrinsic value of either gender. It's about providing a program that gives each the best opportunity for growth. We could just call the genders A & B, so the biases don't cloud the discussion. Barry

I learned over the years with Cub Scouts, that the scouts usually do what the parents guide them to do. Now that can mean the scout wants out and the parent agrees. But, I did pretty extensive research with the Webelos and I'm convinced that adult burnout contributes to at least 70% of the Webelos non-crossovers. That is conservative. I even started a district program called Longbow that encouraged troops to help the Webelos den leaders provide a fun program. I killed the program because the target group of burned-out leaders wouldn't attend any of the activities to communicate with the

I have 40 years of working with youth, some training, and a couple of mentors who are professors in child psychology and life in general as a father and husband. I've experienced enough to know. Well that's a nice generality. I don't even know how to respond to such a generalization, but it is a bit condescending honestly. Just what do each gender offer that the other will learn that isn't in the Scout Oath or Law? Before you go on with your observations, the actions and reactions of youth are generally instinctive. Someone said boys like to hang around boys. Well yes, and if you

Yes. Each gender grows and matures differently and mixing the genders dilutes the strengths of the program for developing character and integrity. Barry

Boys and girls are different. That includes developing behavior maturity, or character in the specific case of scouting. Girls and boys have different instinctive behaviors that add to developing maturity in moral and ethical decision-making. So, mixing genders can, and does, interfere with the best potential of developing mature decision makers of integrity. For the best development of character and integrity, some folks would rather use the environment of single gender units, at least up to puberty. Barry

Just curious, is there room in your program for units that want to be single-gender? Is it optional? Barry

Here is a timely article. Seem a few Native Americans like their heritage. https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/pro-native-american-activists-fight-save-indigenous-traditions-nationwide-war-wokeness Barry

Sadly, true. It's political in it's nature. So it's emotional. Not logical. Barry

The Tiger age Daisies scouts in the GSA are a separate program from the older Brownies. That makes managing the groups much easier with age appropriate activities and materials. The BSA doesn't have to quit recruiting First Graders, just develop a separate program. The could even add pre-school age youth. Trying to plan a Pack Meeting that is fun for both toddlers and near preteen scouts is very challenging. Barry

I here what you are saying, I also always had balanced growth of both youth and adult membership. My nature is problem solving areas where performance is lacking. Whether in my job, home, even scouts, I like to evaluate and search to improve performance. And I have done a lot, A LOT, performance evaluation over the years of why the BSA is loosing membership. And it comes down to National changing policies for the purpose of increasing membership. The changes made in the 70's basically shifted adventure part of the program to more focus on advancement. When you look at the policy changes

Yep, we grew from 15 scouts to 100 in five years and I'm convinced it was because of our adventure program. Barry

My experience is older scouts are stubborn about change. Much easier to kind of let them keep their old habits while starting change with the new scouts. It takes a little creativity, but can be done. Barry

When women were brought in as Troop leaders, I remember the sudden fear of axes in wood tool’s training. Many commented that saws would be their troops go to tool. I reminded them that the saw caused more trips to the emergency room than any other wood tool in scouting. One of the things I loved about scouting was the teaching of using tools properly and safely. I remember well how to use the hammer and saw properly at my first Cub Scout Den meeting at the age of six. From the simple poncho to mighty axe, a few simple instructions and some practice turns 12 year old middle schoolers into