fboisseau

From what I understand they should be performed with the Den, but can be completed on their own if they can not attend the Den activity.

I understand where your problem is, you go to the District Camporee and see attendees that are not prepared for the current conditions. What you seem to forget is that the District Camporee is optional, and if the PLC votes to attend then it is up to the Troop to make sure they are prepared for the expected conditions. If there was not District Camporee, then most likely these same people would be out camping in the same weather, prepared in the same way and with less support. What I suggest is that you instead look at ways that you can provide more support and training to the Troops that attend the Camporee at the Camporee. Some suggestion.

1) Make sure the First Aid Station has the capability to warm up any attendee that is critically cold.

2) Include a training station at the Camporee that teaches/tests the Scouts about cold weather camping gear.

3) Make the focus at the First Aid teaching station on cold weather First Aid.

4) Lastly make sure that the Camporee staff is on the look out for cold weather health issues and will send an attendee to the First Aid Station if needed and the First Aid Station will send a attendee home if they are in real danger.

I know that you post this question for Ed, but I could not refuse to answer the question.

1) I would say yes if the law included two additional parts 1) no student was required to recite the prayer along with the teacher and 2) a student who (or their parents) had strong abjection to the prayer the teacher was going the recite could standout in the hall for a few minutes.

2) Yes as long as the two condition above were meet.

3) Yes as long as the two condition above were meet. I am assuming that the community is probable mostly Arab in nature (Allah though associated with Muslims is actually Arab for God and is used also by Christians of Arab descent).

4) Yes with the same two conditions. Again I am assuming that the community is probable mostly Christian in nature.

5) Yes with the same two conditions.

6) Since you did not ask the question, but it is implied. If I was a Christian in a predominately Wiccan (I think I got the spelling right) I would not have a problem with a Wiccan pray at the start of class.

The problem we have in todays society with religion is not with people being persecuted because of the religion for the most part. But with people of different religions being afraid of exposure to other religions, because they are weak in their own beliefs. If I am strong in my beliefs and am willing to learn about others in a basic manner then I have nothing to fear from other religions. And I should be able to bring my children up in my faith even if surrounded by other of another faith if they will respect my beliefs. It is when we are afraid of anothers belief because we are weak in our own that persecution of religion starts.

Eamon,

There are two points I think you are over looking.

The first is, I think that since you do not like cold weather camping you are biased against it. That is something as Scout leaders we should be on the lookout for, since it can stop good, fun ideas in their tracks.

Second I think the following statement is backwards I question the wisdom of taking young Lads camping when it is like this. It is one thing to get caught in it. But to plan for it? I just don't see it being much fun.. Personally I would much rather take a group of Scouts in those conditions where I have planned for it and had an escape route for any Scout that was in danger of getting harmed, then to be caught in it. My son this weekend went to a district Klondike derby where the temperature was in the teens at night. I thought he was prepared, but was un-aware that he had not tried on either his shoes or boots with his wool socks, and neither fit. So he spent the weekend Fri-Sun switching between cotton socks with shoes, wool socks and shoes, and just wool socks. The two statements he made about the trips when I picked him up were 1) he was the coldest he has ever been and 2) it was the most fun he has had on a trip.

Just keep in mind which condition would you rather be in with a Scout in cotton socks, sneakers and having never been cold weather camping. At a Scout camp with nearby buildings and/or vehicles and the emergency crew 15 minutes away or on a day hike in the mountains during a freak snowstorm.

fotoscout,

Please re-read item number one below.

1) That person can not sleep in the same tent as the Scout and the Scout should not sleep alone.

This means that if you were to take someoneelses Cub Scout with you and your son you would sleep in one tent and the two Cub Scouts would sleep in their own tent.

I have not done much studing on the Varsity program, but my understanding of them does not suggest that Varisty and Venturing are close enought to combine. Venturing is a geared towards older youth that specialize in an area of interest, that could include a sport, but most likely does not. Varsity Scouting from what I understand is basicaly a Boy Scout troop that also competes in a sport durring the season and works on Boy Scout items durring the off season.

LisaSandoz007

My suggestion to you would be to contact your SE (your DE's boss) and ask for a sit-down meeting between him/her, you and the DE to discuss the problems you are perceiving (I am suggesting this word as away to defused the DE) with the DE. If the DE is doing the things you are stating the SE is seeing this in his/her's numbers and what you are observing should be of interest to the SE. Since the DE and SE performance are both judged on both the number of units and number of boys in the program the SE has an interest to stop any abuse by the DE that could cause the lost of both units and boys.

The rule is that a Cub/Webelos Scout must have a parent or guardian present when camping. What I have told leaders during training is if a Cub/Webelos Scout's parent or legal guardian can not go on the trip with the scout, and there is no other solution, that the parents can send the Scout with another person that they have arranged with out side of scouting to watch/take care of their child with the following conditions.

1) That person can not sleep in the same tent as the Scout and the Scout should not sleep alone.

2) You as the leader of the Den can not enter into this type of aggreement since you already are responibile for not only your child, but also the whole Den.

As I stated this is a last resort to solve a problem, and in my opinion should only be used if a Scout needs the trip to advance. Do not mentions this to the members of the Den unless asked and make sure that both parties involved are aware that this is an agreement between THEM and that BSA is not involved in the agreement in anyway.

Here is some good national press.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107090,00.html

I was listening to a radio show last night on the way home and a lady called in to talk about her two boys that were about to make Eagle. One of her sons is deaf and she mentioned that he was going to be the first deaf Eagle. Not to take anything away from her son accomplishment, because I can see how much harder it would be to make Eagle with such a handicap, but also knowing how hard BSA tries to make make rank advancement possible for those with disablites, I was curious. Has there never been another deaf Eagle?

DSteele,

You may have already checked this, but I overheard two of my district leaders talking about their membership shortage and one thing they did to find missing youth was to check Popcorn order forms against each unit charters. They found 40 scouts that way.

acco40,

Unless otherwise stated in G2SS all the rules apply to both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts the same. For an example of this look at the rules covering camping. In that section it states certain restriction apply only to Cub Scouts and not Boy Scouts. Now having said that from the Topic that I started on how many leaders were required at a meeting, the general agreement was that 1 leader was must likely in complacence with YP, but a leader and another adult was the best way to go.

KoreaScouter

I disagree for the idea that once a Scout has passed the swim test they should never have to test again. If I am the leader responsible for Safe Swim/Saftey A Float, I am going to be satisfied that Scout has passed the test in the last year. There are too many things that can change/progress during a year that could keep a person from completing the swim test, and am not going to rely on a 3 year old test to guaranties that Scout and others safety. I realize that things could also change in less then a year, but I feel that a year is a good compromise.

The problem with our health care system today is one that SagerScout points out in the following statement

"The irony is clear - the consumers that can least afford it pay the highest rates. The insurers spend a double-digit percentage of our premium dollars providing benefits to their own employees (including salaries, of course), which adds no value to the medical care at all.

Now if we could have a total free-market system, the average cost of a doctor visit would most likely go DOWN for most of us - and UP for the big insurers. This would put a total squeeze on them as their costs would rise but demand for their services would drop, as more people would be able to self-insure, at least for the small stuff. So I'm not seeing it happen."

The problem is employer paid medical insurance. When you remove the link between the person getting the service and the person paying for the service you get the problems you see in todays system. Why do the uninsured are paying higher fees for doctor visits, because those of us who have insurances (especially HMOs) have big insurance companies twisting the doctors arms to accept less and less for their customers. Even those of us in the plans are affected when the doctors say enough is enough get hurt (I had to change doctors this year because my doctors decide they could not except the reduced amount that my insurance company was offering). My solution to this problem is not to socialize the medical industry but to try to get it back to its roots with the following changes. First make in illegal for companies to pay for their employees insurances. This will force insurances companies to sell directly to the insured. This will have negative impact on some like me (overweight, family history of heart disease, wife with a chronic, but treatable neuromuscular disease) and benefit those who are heather. Second I would like to see hospitals return to the non-profit status they were in the past. This is the only solution I see, to force the system back to the state it was in before the wide spread availability of heath insurance that paid for every doctor visit and prescription drug; and when big corporations were making money off of our hospitals stays.

Pre built cars are not an issue in my district, since all cars are required to use the wheels and axles provided in the kit from the Scout Shop.

Bringing you an update from Richmond, VA.

We are still digging out from the storm. Most people are still with out power and the Power Company is not expecting power to be restored to about 75% of the people in the area by Thursday. My family made it through fine with no major property damage, but I am still without power, water (on a well) and phone. Ironically I have sent my wife and kids to the Southern shores of NC where they will have power, water and phone.

LauraT7

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe APL is a POR.

Each unit must have its own committee. This is because each units program and events are different and the responsibility at each level is different. For example at the Pack level the committee is responsible for the whole program. They schedule the events, they gather the resources, they make all necessary contacts and they make sure all safety rules are followed. At the Troop level they take the schedule provided by the Scouts in the troop and help them gather the resources, make the necessary contacts and advise the Scouts on all policies and rules to make sure they are followed. At the Venturing level the involvement is even less and they should only get involved when asked by the Crew leadership and to advise the Crew on all policies and rules to make sure they are followed. Even if you are talking about two units at the same level such as two Packs the committee needs to be different to reflect the individual program and emphasize of each Pack/Troop/Crew.

CubsRgr8

I sort of agree with you. The activities and events that will be going on a that camp are for the boys in the troop or boys who are visiting that are thinking about joining the troop. The mother of the 6 year needs to be told that if she comes and brings him, she is responsible for keeping the 6 year old entertained and out of the way of the Scouts and other leaders. In todays society I do not believe you can say no to younger siblings, you just have to make sure that the parent understands that they are responsible for the siblings and that the Troop cannot modified the trips to suit their needs.

I found out today that the Governor of our State had approved an official remembrance flag for September 11. Here is the link to the site about the flag.

http://www.freedomflagfoundation.us/pages/1/index.htm

Yes the main thing is to make the meetings FUN for the potential Den Chiefs. They also will most likely learn more by doing then listening.

First if you know who is responsible for your district/council training I would get with them to see if they have the syllabus for Den Chief training and will loan it to you or do the training for you. If this does not workout my suggestion is to get a copy of the Den Chief handbook for your self (along with a copy for each den chief). The main emphasize on the training should be the following. First cover the responsibility of a Den Chief. Then cover the different parts of a meeting. Then using the different parts of the meeting explore ideas that can be used in each part. My base outline would be as follows.

*Premeeting____First break the Scouts down into equal Dens of 4-8 boys, give them their books and explain the different parts of a Den Meeting

*Gathering_____Learn and Play several games and tell the Scouts where they can find rules for others

*Opening_______Demonstrate serval different flag/opening ceremonies and have each Den come up with their own and Demonstrate it.

*Activity______Teach the Scouts a few different craft projects and have them do them.

*Pack Planning_Have each Den learn at least one song and one skit and perform them for the group

*Closing_______Show the Scouts different types of closings and have each Den perform one of their choosing

*After Meeting_Explain the Den Chief award and open the floor for questions and answers.

I have just completed the Wilderness First Aid course. It gives a refresher on basic first aid which you should know before taking the course and then adds to that such things as advance first aid, taking vitals and logging them on a incident report, examining a patients for other injures, what to do if help is delayed and basic wilderness survival. I would recommend the class to Scouters and older Scouts especially if you do a lot of backpacking or other forms of camping where you will be in remote locations and help will take awhile to get to you.

I also have one question about this alliance. Does it mean that the eventual goal is for a Scout who has completed the First Aid Merit badge to also be Red Cross First Aid certified?

evmori,

Yes that is what it tells the Scouts in the Troop. The thing is that the responsibility for making sure the Troop is on time is not really yours, but the SPLs. What you need to do is to get with the SPL and explain to him that when he does not enforce the schedule what the ramification are. Such as that the Scouts will not respect his time tables in the future when they really mean something, like the boat leaves at 1:00PM no matter who is aboard or not aboard.

Based on a post in another topic and some other things that I have read recently a question came to mind. The question is the following, are we as a nation becoming more barbaric or more civilized in recent years. When you think about this question keep in mind that I am asking about the heart of the nation, not judging us on the trappings of civilization. Also please give examples of why you think we are going one way or another and if you believe we are getting more barbaric some suggestion on how we can correct the problem.