Eagledad

OK? NJ, the lawyers are already involved. Barry

You don't think so! Hmm, I'm pretty sure a small mention of the male dominating program pushing the GSUSA around on the issue will bring out heavy artillery. Activism is looking for a fight. Barry

That is an interesting perspective. Still, the outdoors part of the GSUSA has always been more marketing than substance. Barry

I agree with everything you said. But, the GSUSA has competition now. I'm waiting for those few scouter.com members (they know who they are) to accuse the GSUSA of promoting a sexist, bigoted, good-ol-girls program. After all, girls and boys are wired the same. What's the deal? Barry

The GSUSA is a brand name, that mountain will not be moved. The BSA will cower down to the GSUSA because they have neither the funds nor the will to hold their ground. This may be the motivation for the GSUSA to push a more outdoor program. Both programs are getting away from the original design of building future ethical and moral leaders. It may turn into a race to attract the best outdoor after school program. Ironically, family scouting might have an advantage. Barry

Policy change over the last few years tend to pull the Cubs away from the outdoor program. I believe much of the trend is to prevent litigation. So, it will be interesting. Barry

The GSUSA in the past had a lot more political clout than the BSA. I would be surprised if that has changed. The girls have the heavy horses if they need them. Barry

Ironically, with the influx of girls this year, Boy Scouts of America has some cash to fight the Girl Scout's lawsuit. Barry

I guess they haven't heard, things have changed, and that's that.

True, but this is really more of a mother pushing her agenda over the den leader. That is a harder problem. Over the years I learned that some drama isn't worth it. It's sad for her son, but I would abide by her wishes and not stress over it. Keep on providing a fun program for the rest of the scouts so that they wish they could stay one more year. I've told the story here before of the Eagle scout who said some of his best memories as of scouting were from my Webelos den. He wouldn't have said that if had joined my troop. Barry

When I was given responsibility for organizing new district Troop leadership courses with the new syllabuses in 2000, we only recruited experienced scouters who were professional educators. Humbly, I was the only non professional educator. Our troop had a simple train-the-trainer course for scouts who earned First Class. Barry

Yes, it is all in the approach. I wish there was a course for teaching approaches. Barry

I like SSScout's post. I believe our troop was pretty good at being a community of families working together for a common goal. We had the odd adult bad behavior once in a while that cause some trouble, but for all the bad behavior stories, I have dozens of heartfelt stories. Parents are going to have off days, but we scouters will too. It's not a matter of if, but when. The adult troop leaders can be the example for everyone in these situations. Barry

Dang! Great minds think a like. I was thinking, if there isn't enough traffic, combine it with the Religious forum.......oh, wait..... Barry

Look at the tickets as opportunities to learn and grow. Too many scouters create tickets that are intentionally easy so the can get them done. I teach developing tickets that give experience and insight into your responsibilities. You might just find out you don’t like your responsibility. The tickets don’t have to be hard or take a lot of time. Just have a purpose and defined completion. Let’s say you want to be the New Scout ASM some day. Do a ticket that observes New Scout ASMs in other troops. The goal is to learn skills and techniques for New Scout ASMs. Completion is 4 Troops. Another is develope and teach a course of MB counselor guidelines for New Counselors. Our CC did this for our troop. Someone in district was so impressed that they requested she teach a district course. Can you see where I’m heading? Barry

I feel the same with the Cub program, but not the Troop program. My feel is the success of going coed depends on the success of bringing girls through the cub program, just like the BSA has done with boys in the cub program. I think enough moms will step up to camping because they have been doing it for a long time. I just don' believe moms, or even inexperienced dads, will adapt and reinforce patrol method to it's full advantage because that is what I have observed from them so far. Barry

Hmm, ok. Barry

Funny how we look at these things, I see a boys only program as quality time learning how to make valued decisions. It never occurred to me that a boys only program as safe space. But I can see why some here would feels good saying it that way. And, maybe it's the area we live in, but our boys and girls of this age spend almost their whole day of every day at school and church together along with many after school activities . Just how much more time do they need together to call it "quality time"? Barry

We required the same of these parents. Without getting into the long story, their lawyer persuaded us to find other alternatives. I know, I know, we could have done a lot of things. Some parents have more money than sense. On the positive side, the scout earned Eagle. Barry

We had this very situation with a challenging extremely hyperactive learning disabled scout. From bringing porn magazines to threatening other scouts with his knife, his behavior was challenging. The parents confided in us that they simply needed a break and we were the solution. As frustrating as he was, we felt a lot of sadness for the young man. Barry

I have been very impressed with the courteous and respectful manner in how you've handled the situation from the beginning. If nothing else, they are loosing the role model of an Eagle Scout. Barry

My kids would mutiny if their parents went to Disney without them. Barry

Maybe Boy Scouts is the new Girls Scouts. (thinking emoji) I'm not sure why liberal areas would sign up girls faster, scouting is a values program. Whatever the source of the families values, I believe most parents think of values as positive. But, that is just a guess. Barry

The Girl Scouts organization was taken over in the 70's by the women's rights movement and they lost their identity of purpose. Their uniform change ironically symbolized that loss. Our town has a huge 4th of July parade every year and the Boy Scouts lead it holding a 100 foot long American Flag. I don't really know the numbers, but probably between 750 to 1000 Cubs, Troops, and Venturing scouts leading the 4 hour parade. It's very cool. Right behind the Boy Scouts are roughly 75 (if that many) Girl Scouts in shorts and t-shirts. The only thing uniform about them is their sash, if they wore it. If it weren't for the signs on their float, nobody would know who they are. Interestingly some of the media today still portrays the Girl Scouts in their old traditional green skirts. Girl Scouts doesn't even have to be mentioned, the uniform is a give-away. I still rollover laughing when I watch the Girl Scouts in the movie Dodge Ball. But the uniform is much more than identity for the Boy Scouts, the uniform is symbol of goodness, character and integrity. It is a symbol of traditional ideals and values. Anyone ever heard of a Girl Scout walking a little ol lady across the street? Ideals and values require discipline. Discipline is neat and tidy, or uniform. Some Eagle here on this forum believes the uniform is changing because units aren't wearing them correctly anymore. For me, that is symbolic of the BSA loosing it's image of values and discipline. As our culture becomes more self-serving, the uniform will be indicative of those cultural changes by becoming less uniform. Still, I would be surprised if National changes the uniform too much in the future because it is a big supplement of their funding. Barry

I took the scouts home with me so I would meet the parent. The hard part about being the adult leader of any youth group is the disappointment of seeing other parents behavior. Church youth groups, sports, after school activities, and scouts; given enough time, parents show their worst. Of course there is the upside of meeting wonderful people as well. Barry