Eagledad

>>That'll be about 40 boys, most of whom are 11 or 12 years of age. I have only four boys older than that.

>>Why not just take that one boy that IS interested and make him TG/Instructor and quit contriving scenerios that the boys are totally not interested in.

>>I find the NSP boys progress in requirement learning faster than the mixed patrols because they are all focused on the same interests.

It is the next best thing to just putting them in regular patrols as soon as they join like SMT224 does. The only reason I used NSPs was when we had a lot more new scouts then the regular patrols could handle. I found that more than two new scouts per patrol messed up the patrol dynamics unless there was a lot of older scouts in the patrol. We tried a lot variations with NSPs and merging them into other patrols after summer camp worked best. If you wait longer, their growth slows down a lot because they don't have good role models in the patrol for them to learn from. Barry

>>In a slightly-related note, I was a little PO'd that my (then) Tenderfoot son didn't take the opportunity to clear 2C and 1C swimming requirements when he was at camp last summer. In fact, he didn't even try the swimtest, and was labeled a non-swimmer.

>>Back to the tiger in full run -- 30 emails, lost track of # text messages -- in need of snorkle for a breath -- STOSH if the light comes on HOLD ON. It is wonderful and scary to see boys I have know since cubs evolve. Just doing the have you? type list they said yep, yep, yep, here are minutes and other info. My mouth is still open. Now they are talking about a back trip to Cloud Peak as a big trip. Cloud Peak! So glad they picked one of the hardest treks - maybe they can just bury me there. I have moved to the hall of irrevelency ahhh to the hall of just enjoy.

>>He removed the government from the abortion decision. That's what his constituents want. Government out of the reproductive decision making process.,, That is like saying that Obaman didn't flood the fields by opening the dams, the water did. Barry

Interesting, since I have not heard Rush's exact words and you have, what exactly did he say, and how do you think he should have said them? Barry

So how did the meeting go? Barry

Well based from that information, I would just find a place in the agenda and start down your list all the way to the part where the SM replaced you and ask them to justify why you should stay. Doesnt sound like your adults are a team anymore. What does your Charter say about all this? Will the rep be at the meeting? Is your DE any good and can you get them at the meeting? You need some outside witnesses that arent emotionally intimidated for balance. I hate these things. Scouting is great until the adults get involved. Barry

I asked the Venture question because I dont understand why you brought it up. I assume that when the scouts went to Venture, they left the troop? What I meant with the committee agenda was trying to learn the purpose of the meeting. It sounds like it is just a monthly meeting, not a special meeting to deal with the problems. Im still trying to see the problem that you see. You dont like the way the Scoutmaster is leading the program, but what are the concerns? Are a lot of scouts leaving the troop and is recruiting a problem? Are they very many other adults who see these p

Lets fill in some blanks: What is your part in this? How many scouts in the Troop? How many of the scouts want the Venture and why? Why do you think the venture is an issue? What are the agenda items of the committe meeting? Who is the alpha leader, by that I mean who is the one person that will get their way with the the adults? Finally, I understand the goals you listed, but is there any one vision or mission that all the adults could quote? Barry

>>Jblake47, I acknowledge your point about the pioneers, but I look at it from the view of recycling.

When I was a young scout, we were taught not to eat the yellow snow, not to face into the wind when taking care of certain bodily functions, and dig our latrines 50 ft away. Back then we never camped anywhere that had built latrines or bathrooms and so each patrol dug its own latrine. We once asked out Patrol Leader why 50feet. He said because 50 feet is too close in the summer and too far in the winter. It seemed a good compromised distance. We had really good Patrol Leaders back then. I dont remember talking about which direction to face the door. Im not sure it mattered, our tents did

>>Also, the main reason the enjoy us around (be still my heart) is because we don't hover, we listen to their (all scouts)ideas and leave them alone and do our own thing.

I'm really not sure my sons would have worn their soccer or baseball uniforms to school either. My son hated the khaki pants he wore while on the school golf team. He put those on in the car from the school to the golf tournaments. So I'm not sure why we are making it a big deal with just scouts. As for the backbone thingy, they come to us to develop it. Barry

HI Scoutdad Im kind of anal about this, but all I see here is a great opportunity. Actually your sons situation is quite common for youth his age. UP until now, your son and most American boys his age have been sheltered from such experiences because we parents generally handle dealing with adults for our kids. I think this is your opportunity to introduce your son to the real world of differing opinions and communicating with people he is uncomfortable with. You only have to look at the Issues and Politics section of this forum to see that even adults who say they are in scouting

Well Im not sure Im viewed as one for change, but I will say that our troop during my time as a leader was considered very forward thinking at the time. Enough so that a lot of folks were scared of us. I hope you are right about the new team, but I still wonder what that means if they are. I can say that typically the changes we made in our units usually simplified the program and made it easier for both the adults and the scouts to continue toward the goal. A lot of that was in our Cub Scout Pack and much of what we did was simplify our Tiger and Webelos program. As a result, 90% of b

>>Don't think for a New York minute that Rush really has a deep caring for conservative causes.

>>Eagledad, If I sounded angry or what not, I want to apologize as that was not my intent

>>I have not yet heard Obama do the same to his opponents. Instead, he talks about why he disagrees with their ideas - not why they're bad Americans. In fact, heck, I believe he hosted a dinner in McCain's honor earlier this week.

>>Hoping he fails isn't a good start to working together for a solution.

Pretty Good Beavh. Three of my SPLs while I was SM were very active in band at the time they were SPLs. It almost killed them, but they were very good SPLs. All our good SPLs were active in other activities. Another bragging story is the local high school where most of our scouts belonged has a yearly student body election where they vote for the top eight leaders of the school. One year six of those voted were also scouts in our troop. The other two voted were girls. Im convinced that if we allowed girls in the troop, all eight would have been scouts in our troop. Ah I love t

>>It was George W. Bush who led us whole hog down the path of Socialism, with socializing the banking industry, the mortgage industry, the auto industry, and on and on. Where was Rush?

>>Based upon my experiences of going through Brownsea 22 and staffing JLT, these top level scout trainging courses ARE suppose to mimic WB.