EagleScout316

Hey, I've got a great idea for a Lightning Patrol theme song: It's Raining Men!

ROFL, hahahahaha...Ok, I know I'm a day late, now, but April Fool's! Of course, I have seen a scout break out into song and dance, singing that very song at the top of his lungs. And this was just for the heck of it, while it was raining.

That whole thing? Don't get me wrong; it's good that you came up with it all, but don't you think that's a lot for kids to memorize. It seems more relevant to what college fraternities sing on my campus, though the zips and zaps are usually filled with obscenities. :lol:

"Dennis Chookaszian, a member of the Chicago council, said the 14-12 vote to approve the $19.4 million sale will better serve Chicago youth than retaining property that is a five-hour drive from the metro area.

"The council's objective is to create a quality scouting experience, not land ownership or land conservancy," Chookaszian said."

So basically, Chicago youth no longer have the opportunity to go to Owassippe, and the Chicago council pretty much places their objective of a better scouting experience on their newly acquired $19.4 million, and yet, they still don't have any territory close enough to Chicago to actually invest in. Man, in that little wedge of a place that's the difference between something like Jubilee State Park, and a High Adventure Camp like Philmont, Owassippe was godlike.

Camp Blackhawk, Go!

-ES 3:16

Well, according to the study, I'm an aggressive person, and hey, I am.

This is weird; 12 years experience, strong in UTF Tae Kwon Do, Shorin Ryu Okinawan Karate, Muay Thai Kick Boxing, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (Under Brad Peplow, beneath Jack McVicker). Other various arts include Chin Na, folkstyle wrestling, Ba Gua, Tai Chi, Capoeira, and most recently, I've been doing XMA, but that last one's not really a martial art.

Even spiders can hurt men. My friend Jimmy, a.k.a. Spider, won the N.A.G.A. championships in 2003. I have an interesting story about such a perspective. My grandfather was picked on as a little kid; one day, one of his older brothers ccaught a bully beating him up. His older brother let the bully finish with my grandfather, and then he hurt that bully so bad, well, I don't know; my grandfather always trails off into the moral lesson he learned about how to not put himself into any position where he might have to fight ever again. Of course, he grew up in the Great Depression, so of course, it was a whole different ball game. Now, I really don't have a say, since I have yeat to bear children, but I will tell you this. About three years ago, I had the privelege of watching over three young boys for a whole summer (9, 11, and 13). The oldest, Bobby, was at one point picked on by some other kid; he didn't even look at me for help, just stood his ground. He later admitted to me that he wanted to hit the kid (who said some pretty messed up stuff), but was taught only to defend himself, and not attack others no matter what. I think that's the closest I've come to legitametly feeling for a kid like I would a son, or a brother. Now, I'll admit, I wanted to help, but how's it look if you have an 18 year old take on someone who's got to face these guys everyday. If I had helped him out, it would have belittled his image. My opinion is, let your kid take care of the problem; it really is the most rewarding thing. And if he gets knocked around, help him learn how to take control in the future. Of course, this is a different view - doesn't make it correct, but it doesn't make it wrong, neither.

-ES 3:16

When speaking on establishing the best behavior for the child, are you referring to the bully, or the victim?

And bullies might have been created, but as a victim of bullies, I know I never did anything to instigate them. In the words of Chris Rock, whatever happened to just plain crazy?

On a completely off-the-topic sort of thing, Warriors might be trained, but according to recent studies, aggressive males (not exactly warriors) can be tracked down based on the difference in length between their forefinger and ring finger. Just thought this bit of news was pretty interesting.

That video I was talking about doesn't deal with physical retribution; it teaches kids how to get out of situations and how to contact the proper authorities on their own.

I've tried professional counseling; martial arts definitely works better for the brain (mine, atleast).

And yes, a warrior can choose pacifism; however, everyone else is condemned to it.

Well, to get off of a harsh post, this is for Lynda J, specifically, for Kevin. I was reading this month's issue of Black Belt magazine, and I saw this ad for how a kid has been teaching other kids how to be bully-proof. This 12 year old, Patrick McCoy, is a 2nd degree black belt who takes the most common attacks by bullies, and devises nonaggressive responses. The premise is that if the kids fight each other, they'll both get in trouble; in this case, the b ully gets in trouble, and the other person is just getting away. The video, The Bully Factor, is intended for defending yourself, not attacking the bully. It's about $19.95, and sounds really good for someone like Kevin to learn from, sensing its passive aggressive techniques; for more information, go to http://kidsbestdefense.com

Hope this helps,

-ES 3:16

In the sense of business management, just look at some systems that have either failed or succeeded. In the sense of a failed video game business, Sega is a great example. To make a profit, a company needs to break even; for over 5 years, Sega never broke even. Near the end of its business days, the company chair decided not to bring its mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, along for the ride to the newest system they had made; big mistake. They also dropped all the ads from television, simply sticking with magazine ads. An example of a company that has succeeded is obviously one that is still around today. My pick is the playstation, offered up by SONY; it all really took off with Final Fantasy VII, probably the greatest game around today even still. It did for the industry what games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III did for the Super Nintendo a few years back. You see, if you want to make money in the video game world, RPG (that's 'role-playing game' for those of you who don't know) is king. SONY carried on the history of that game onto its newest console, the PS2. Other great games that have made their way through the crowd up onto the stage of RPG are X-Men games, Mortal Kombat, Dark Cloud, Kingdom Hearts, Xenosaga, and more. Of course, you don't exactly have to come up with how SONY has succeeded; you can also take its own little route of failure. If you look at a game called The Bouncer, it is probably the coolest looking game in the world that was known as the first action RPG, something that had never been done before, and probably for a very good reason. The things is, the movie was overloaded with FMVs (Full Motion Videos), and the interactive abilities were extremely poor, making the game now defunct in production. Or you could take the route of explaining video game to movie ideas that have succeeded or failed (Mortal Kombat or Tomb Raider come to mind). All in all, you can learn a lot about the video game world. The Japanese play way more games than any of us do, considering they make most of them. And hey, if Americans played video games alot, and playing video games burns on average 30 calories an hour. Based on this, and how you believe Americans in general play way too much, explain how 60% of Americans suffer from obesity. On that note, there was a woman who lost 95 lbs. playing Dance Dance Revolution; thus, scouts could talk about the physical aspects of a game, not just all the pretty pictures. Well, I think I've done enough for talking about video games today.

-ES 3:16

P.S. Also, just how would any of us go about adding a merit badge to scouting?

(This message has been edited by EagleScout316)

Not that I've ever heard of. In my old troop, there was never an ASM along the lines of youth/adult; it wqas always one of the parents of the scouts. And in the case of what the scouts would call me, Sean (the SM) introduced me as Dave, tried to pronounce my last name, and said just to call me Dave. Either way, I don't seem to mind what they call me (within reason); it's pretty much the ASM reporting about the SM to the scouts that will get me confused on what is etiquette. Guess I'll just have to ask the SM what he thinks. Thanks, fellas.

-ES 3:16

hops_scout,

WHat's wrong with a video game merit badge? If you think about it, this badge would play right into economics, specifically, business management.

-ES 3:16

Well, how about all of my initials together, DVR, without the title of Mr., as I'm somewhat inbetween a child and a full adult?

-ES 3:16

What about when lightning hits a tree, and there's a loud crack?

Ohhh darn...

Whose it being sold to and such? (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

Well, it's easy to say that it's hazing; however, is there a situation where no one will end up with Suzzie? For instance, is it a chance that everyone will know everyone, and not have to face a consequence?

Ya know, even at Philmont Scout Camp, there were things that could be considered hazing. If we had stepped on a certain patch of grass at Cimaroncito Camp while playing ultimate frisbee, we would have to sing a song (of our choice) at the top of our lungs on the porch of the staff cabin. Back down at base camp, if you wanted seconds, you'd have to sing a song picked by the cooks. I did the worst rendition of "Oh I wish I was an oscar meyer weiner" in the world for seconds, thirds, and fourths, but I didn't care, even when my own troop let me know that I had a terrible singing voice; I was hungry.

-ES 3:16

Hey guys,

I heard from my family that Owassippe was on the news again, and in danger of being sold? That camp ruled, and is practically the best place for the Chicago area scouts.

I'd definitely say we implement martial arts in general, and that a scout can choose any martial art to cover. Specifically, they should have to go over forms, history, application, and ideals of the specific martil art. Even things like boxing and folkstyle wrestling are martial arts. And perhaps just a personal paper on why you enjoy that particular martial art.

And I could definitely see a video game merit badge as a possibility. You'd pick a system and game title, cover the history of them both and how to use them, what the different types of video game genres are, why video games exist in the world today, and again, a personal paper on why you enjoy that particular video game.

I easily could see myself as the MBC for both of these badges.

Technically, lightning doesn't make a noise, unless it's in your immediate area and hits something. But even then, it's the object being hit that makes the noise, not the lighting.

Well, you can never go wrong with "Wooooooooooo!".

Well, I'm pretty good with either David or Dave. Mr. Van Roeyen makes me seem like I'm 10 years older than I actually am. The other problem I had with names was that when one of the scouts asked me a question, I didn't know the answer, and said, "Why don't you ask Mr. Rip or Sean?" They are both adults, yet Sean is the SM. Now, all the scouts call him by his last name, Mr. Bontkowski, or Mr. B, so of course, I immediately felt in the wrong by calling him Sean infront of the scouts. This is where I'm at an impass, and need some more direction.

"You have obviously never been the object of a bully."

Ya know, as an Eagle Scout I try not to use rash decisions, but then there's the rest of the world, cloaked in blindness, that just won't quit picking on my habits. So here it is, in the flesh. I was about 13 and a half in the 8th grade, and kids had been picking on me since the 7th. I'd get comments ranging from how one kid said he'd had sex with my mother, another saying that there might be a connection between my large forearms and masturbation, and then just a whole bunch of 'let's push Dave into the lockers.' There was one point where I'd just had enough; I threatened each and every one of those punks, and glory and shame came afterword. For awhile, I was revered; then Columbine happened, and the sky began to fall. Everyone said that I was so terrible, that I deserved to be sent to military school. And they had completely forgot about all the things they had done to me. And surprisingly, I was able to talk with one of the guys that had picked on me, and we became really good friends, working out our differences afterall; he had thought I'd done something to him, which I hadn't. So there's your sign.

And what I'd personally do at that point would probably be to suggest a wrestling/boxing match between the two kids...

This is really toned down as to what I'd actually do. I'd really go awol on the parent, letting them know that if the kid didn't shape up, I'd be back for the parent. But that's me being overprotective and full of rage, so the first statement was my sense of poise and etiquette, my attempt to be polite and stern at the same time. You say that kids want to be alone after being victimized. I did for awhile; I didn't want to be around any of them. But then my grandpa talked to me about taking a stand for what was an unalienable right; he taught me to fight back, physically or mentally (though he did seem to emphasize the physical aspect). The wretched filth that I now realized was beneath me in the matters of mental strength, for fear I would be contaminated by such a weakness, by the genuine thing that defines humanity: fear. Now I'm on a plane where only a few drift today, and many had hundreds of years ago; I am not attached to my life, but I don't reject life itself by seeking solitude. If you look into basic psychology, it's not healthy to want to be alone. You say that a kid doesn't want to confront his tormentors, to duke it out with them. I say this, on the basis of how I've grown up, that there is nothing I would like more than to go 15 rounds with many of the people in my life that have hazed me and gotten away with it (Deuteronomy 32:41). You have the nerve to say that I've never been the object of a bully, solely based on my interpretation of the most civilized and most rewarding way is to handle something. I can only guess that you yourself have been victimized; how recent it was for you, I'm unable to summise. I can only say that we all grow up differently, and we all feel different things; and of course, we all deal with our problems in different ways. The only good thing I can offer you is my condolences, that you were victimized, too.

-ES 3:16

Well, I'd immediately suggest enrolling Kevin in some sort of martial arts; don't forget, even folkstyle (high school) wrestling is a martial art. Of course, I was listening to some songs recently, and had an idea for you. Suggest to Kevin about playing on a drumline; back in the day, we carried 30-50 lb. drums while marching on a field for an extended length of time. It takes a lot of muscle to lift up those drums, and walk with them attached to you; we drummers are wiry. I only thought this would be a good idea because Texas is renkowned for its drumlines - there's kids in the 8th grade that are as good if not better than seniors in highschools out here.

On a personal note, I'd try to talk to the parents of the bullies, and see if the kids can't work out their differences. Of course, with a kid like that 12 year old that's in jail, I can't expect too much from his parents. And what I'd personally do at that point would probably be to suggest a wrestling/boxing match between the two kids, then go home and teach my kid every trick I knew to put the other kid in his place. But hey, that really isn't the way to handle a situation, and a tad bit off of ethical. Why not invite the kid to a camping trip; brats don't survive long in the wilderness .

-ES 3:16

As an ASM, I'm unsure about the mannerisms of how to speak inbetween Scouts and adults. You see, I'm 20 years of age, which places me as an adult in scouts, but as a young adult compared to these older guys in charge. I've usually been calling them by their first names, as we all work together. As for scouts, they've been calling me by my first name. Any tips on etiquette?

-ES 3:16

On a serious note, I have been robbed. At the end of my trek on OATC at Philmont, someone stole my video camera. I had so much great footage of the terrain and the work we did; it would have made a great video for camping promotions, and possibly would have revitalized my troop. But alas, there's too many evil-hearted people in the world to do one big piece of good early on. Thank you Lord for teaching me patience...but I'm still bummed that it was stolen at a scout high adventure camp.

-ES 3:16

Do a good turn daily/helpful:

1. Helped an old lady gas up her tires at a car station; she tried to pay me for it, but I respectfully denied her.

2. I regularly donate plasma.

3. One time, on the way to donating plasma, I saw a dog walking in the middle of the street, a big rusty chain wrapped around it's throat. Normally, I'd just grab the dog and wave a car down, but it was a bred pitbull, and I'm not an idiot. I spent about an hour jogging after it back the way I had come, waving people down to call an animal shelter, and coaxing it so I could get the chain off it's neck. It was a long time coming, and I finally got the dog to eat out of my hand and sit next to me. The authorities arrived, and took the dog away. It made me feel good all over, and gave me an idea for talking to my scouts (I'm an ASM out here in Central Illinois) about how our duties to society don't stop at just the people in it. Also, a few weeks back, we were ending a meeting, asking for God to take care of some poor folks in trouble, and this one kid said "And my grandfather's dog." Well, he was reprimanded by the SM, and when I had taken him aside to explain to him that people don't feel as strongly about dogs as they do for other people, he cried, apparently very sentimental about his grandpa's dog. Even though the dog I saved was a pitbull, and showed signs of abuse, I'm thinking of recommending it to the scout for his grandpa.

4. I'm a card-carrying member of BSA and OA, Habitat For Humanity, and attend Bradley University (a sign for other scouts that they can attend college).

Friendly:

1. I was on Spring Break last week, and instead of staying at a small dinner with my group, HFH, I left to join a Boy Scout meeting occurring in an adjacent room. I felt this benefitted those scouts to know that Scouting can be found anywhere in the world, and of what things you can expect when you've reached Eagle rank.

Scout Oath - Physically Strong:

I do about 1000 pushups one day, 1000 situps the next, 1000 back and shoulder workouts another, and 1000 leg workouts on the last day, then I savor the rest of the week with isometrics, cardio, swimming, and pilates. On this note of remaining fit, I'm also an aerobics instructor at my college. Also, I regularly practice martial arts (TKD, BJJ, Muay Thai), and actually plan on giving some of the scouts some seminars on some techinques.

Scout Oath - Mentally awake:

Besides attending college and keeping up my grades, I continually read books everyday (currently finishing up The Earth's Children series, something I recommend for all Scouts, but not until the 8th grade).

-ES 3:16(This message has been edited by EagleScout316)

Ok, just wanted to throw in that I think kids joke around a lot with each other, even with things that sound mean (I still do to this day, but only in trivial things like college games that have no great reward at the end except for the point that I've won). However, I don't know what was said, or the context, so that's as far as I'll take that. The fact that the scout (John, I think it was) gave ignorance as an excuse is intolerable. There's scout troops where kids will get promoted really quickly, and then be forced to struggle near the end, and all they have learned is that mistakes will come first. Then there's troops where you have to work for your respect from the beginning (MINE!), and learn early on that nothing good comes easily. I will personally sit with a scout for hours on end, if needs be, to get him to memorize and understand the Scout Oath and Law, and to respect them.

-Everything For Being Prepared

In response to Kevin, sorry to hear that this sort of thing happened to him, as I've had more than my share of getting picked on as a kid. Personally, you should teach Kevin to deal with these sort of things on his own, as problems of this sort don't just stop at school. I.e. I was once running throughout a public library just to get away from two bullies from my junior high. How you teach this to Kevin should be through your own ideals, but I'd personally choose martial arts, as there will be some time where he will be completely by himself, without anyone to help him out. Many scoutmasters that I've met have agreed on this point that the best way to get rid of a bully is with physical force. However, my mother didn't agree with this view, and said I should always walk around in a group of friends. This didn't work out too well for me, so I just made some comments that actually got me into a lot of trouble at my school, but then again, no one has tried pushing me around ever since. But hey, we all follow our own paths, so which ever one you choose to help Kevin down, just be sure to keep him on it.

In response to the two boys, I personally would have had a peer moderator talk to all three of them and try to discover the problems that existed between them, first. Then I might have a police officer come in and grill the boys on what battery is, and what can happen if you are prosecuted for it. I'd move on to have all three boys in some sort of class where they all are working together. I personally don't think that you should put kids in a special class, because it's pretty much the same as sending a child to jail: we don't want to deal with your problems right now, so you're going to a holding cell. I mean, obviously, there's a line you cross that will send you to jail, but if you can be helped, you should be helped. Like John Kerry said, war is an option, but it should never be our first option. In a similar stance, disciplining children should be taken lightly; not too hard and not immediately.

Yes, there are those alotted few boys in the scouts who have such a hard time with control that they often don't know how to handle any sort of situation. I should know, I can smell my own. When I was growing up, I terrorized my scout troop, trying to get a lot of attention. I still do it today, but the difference is that I don't break any code of ethics in doing it, and am completely polite about it. Back then, I believe at one time that I was suspened from the troop for improper use of fire. Now, I can look back on that time and realize that I was such a little punk, and thank the heavens that my leaders never lost their heads with me, otherwise I wouldn't be on this site today. I can see where suspeneding a kid from a troop can take the fuel away from the fire, so to say, but I don't think that completely removing someone from scouts and never allowing them to come back is ever the way to go. In the end, it all comes down to how far we are willing to go for our kids (not just our own).

-David