Eagledad

Establish a vision within the confines of the BSA and direct the program toward that vision. Barry

>>It seems Americans are pretty much regarded as the filthy beasts thorughout the world, ill mannered uncultured and pretty much not nice.

>>There should be an agenda published ahead of time and adhered to. This minimizes disruption and dominance of the meeting by any one person. Start on time and end on time. Any items to be discussed need to be forwarded to the CC in advance for inclusion on the agenda, at his discretion. Anyone not a registered committee member does not get a "vote". And, I agree, most business was conducted by consensus, not formal voting.

>>EagleDad, Are you by chance with T 386 in Edmond?

That is a good question. I know that we advertised and welcomed everyone to all our monthly Committee meetings. It was rare for a non member to attend, however if we needed to have a discussion on a subject that we didnt want discussed in general public, we called a special committee meeting and invited only those required for the subject. One such meeting was the physical abuse of a scout by an adult leader. The UC was always invited to every meeting, especially for those special outside meetings. Barry

My son just got back from Spain and was excitedly explaining to us how little it cost to visit different counties in Europe, once you are in Europe. It seems a person can travel to most European counties for around $100. That is a lot cheaper than Philmont. I like the idea of International Scouting, however, my sons and I have never been to the Jamboree here in the US because the minimum cost even back then was $3000. I cant imagine the cost of a World Jamboree. Maybe we kind of contribute to International Scouting because we have been to the Boundary Waters of Canada several times. I think we met a Canadian while we were there, but it was hard to tell because she sounded like the locals of Minnesota. I understand the troop went Scuba Diving in Mexico last year. They saved up for a few years for that international trip. Does Alaska count as international? I can understand the idea of international scouting I guess, but the US is so big that International Scouting for an Oklahoman is meeting a Troop from California. I can say that our scouts always come back from summer camp enlightened that each troop is a little different than our own. I think that is what International Scouting is really about. We met some very nice scouts from the East Coast while at Philmont, they have an interesting accent and seem to talk a little louder. I guess what Im saying is I don't know if all that many American Scouts can afford to really understand the concept of International Scouting. I do intend to take a trip east one day and visit my English friend Eammon. Does that count? Barry

My short answer is action and adventure. If my scouts were sitting, we were doing it wrong. Use the activity pins as themes for the activities, not goals for advancement. I did two activities under two different themes per meeting so if one activity was a little boring. And let the scouts finish each meeting with a game that keeps them moving. A basket ball goal or football are always popular with Webelos age boys. My dens did two weekend campouts and a summer camp each year and that was plenty for getting them ready for troop campouts. But we also did a lot of our den meetings at the local parks and school track for many of our activities. Think like a boy and you will do fine. Barry

>>10% of kids will grow up gay.

As a SM and soccer coach, I witnessed many boys go through the struggles of divorce. Except for purposeful physical and mental abuse, I've not witnessed anything that pulled a boy down more than the stress of a family tearing itself a part. It still hurts to look back on it. I am a firm believer that the bible is a moral instruction manual for how adults should behave around our youth. When they don't, the youth suffer forever. We live in a time where adults, even religious ones, seem to pick and choose a morality that is convenient to their lifestyles and choices. I know there are some who believe that our present culture is more self-serving than ever before. Others disagree, but presently we have the highest divorce rate ever before and that doesn't include families where the parents never got married in the first place. Sin in of itself is a self serving action and the statistics of divorce seem to support the theory that we are becoming a more me me culture. This article gives us just a hint of our country's future. I must confess that I'm loosing hope for the children of our future and wonder how we can change direction. I believe Scouting is one of those programs that does teach youth to serve others, but the organization takes a lot of hits for it's values approach. It is interesting article to me because the research group used a measurable element of math to help follow trends. http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20110602/hl_hsn/divorcecanhurtkidsmathscoresfriendships Here is the first prargraph: >>THURSDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- Young children of divorce are not only more likely to suffer from anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem and sadness, they experience long-lasting setbacks in interpersonal skills and math test scores, new research suggests.

>>Yes, it's 16

>>I think the term in psychology that fits better than Alpha dog is Type-A personality.

>>- "6 month terms" reference when discussing elections. Not necessarily - it's a unit decision and varies quite often. Maybe a better way of posing it is to qualify it with 'many units use a 6 month election cycle, others may go longer depending on their preferences'.

Bible is pretty clear Scoutfish, but you have to read it to know who is right and wrong. Otherwise you are just making it as you go. Might as well be an atheist. Barry

Scoutfish, it's clearly no. Oh, the bible is God's word and was inspired by God. If it were not, it would be useless. What, the resurrection happened, but not the rest? Barry

>>BDPT, the problem with that is that they HAVE earned the right to "just be a Scout".

>>So do YOU as leaders, add to the planning, such as a new camp site or activity.......I have found the scouts I serve generally have very limited experiences, or imagination to broaden possible activity choices.

While I was Cub Master, I had to deal with the "not enough leaders" scenario every year. Its a fairly common problem with most packs, expecially at the end of the Bear year. If you become the CM, you will have to deal with the "not enough leaders" problem again. If you stay as the Den Leader, than its someone elses problem to solve and your life is easier. You probably can understand why I personally believe a good CM should also be a good recruiter. I think you are being tested. Barry

>>When I was a Scoutmaster thirty years ago, I generally found that boys who had been through Cub Scouts had benefitted fr5om it a good deal. Better able to work together, be focussed about learning and better behaved.

Its hard for me to imagine. Baden Powell created Boy Scouts to serve boys who were walking the streets while their parents worked 12 hours a day at factories. Boys in our culture dont need scouting in the same way they did, so Im not sure where cubs would fit for BP. The BSA is running a business that requires getting families hooked as early as possible. I imagine that we would have far fewer boy scouts without a Cub program, but for us traditional style leaders, quality over quantity is usually a good thing. Barry

Hard to beat a $50 dollar Walmart tent for Cubbing. A Walmart tent today is 10 times better than the $200 tents we used 25 years ago. They are fine for Cub Scouting and will handle most Oklahoma rains fairly well. Maybe some leaks in the corners on the heavy down pours. Walmart domes will hand wind better than Temberlines. I personally think the Walmart two pole domes are a little easier to set up than my Timberline for young scouts. The advantage of the Timberline over the Walmart is that it will last a lot longer. But, the scout is likely ready to move on from his Walmart tent when he gets into the higher adventure of troop camping anyway. Barry

Being the person of knowledge can wear one down, but if you are consistant, you will build a trust amoung your group. Learn your sources and display them as you all the other to show their ignorance. This forum is a good place to learn the sources to many questions, you can pick through the replies to get what you need. I am not sure what you mean by old and new program, but I do understand the frustrations of changes in the program since I was a scout in the 60s and 70s. Sadly, times have changed, but that is no excuse to water down the program more than it has to. The troop I was the adult leader of had far more adventure than the troop I grew up in. Your scouts and their parents will respect you more and more as you combine a bit of the old and new. I wish you the best of luck and please stay in touch so we all can enjoy your experience. I love this scoutuing stuff. Barry

I guess its only human, we complain about the uniforms and wish National would be more responsive, then we get irritated when they respond and we have to pay. Ford ran into this same problem when they only produced black cars. Barry

>>Also, the Troop not encouraging it *does* discourage it. How many troops have you seen that don't encourage camping or earning Eagle? Yes, a Troop is "youth run", but youth take a lot of cues from their adult leadership.

>>As a note to everybody, I am not a Scoutmaster, I am a JASM with my troop.

>>IMO there is absolutely no excuse to car camp in boy scouts, this is one of the primary reasons boy scouts continue to diminish in alarming numbers.