fotoscout

Hi Bob, Its not about having exhausted anything, although Im flattered that you think me capable of having accomplished so much with my boys. Its about challenge and interest. Look at the matrix http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?c=xds&terms=age+appropiate+guidelines&x=43&y=10 Now go back to those few items I mentioned earlier. We can go swimming, but we cant go rowing. We can play ice hockey or go go-carting but we cant go canoeing. We can go rollerblading or Skiing but we cant go rafting. Hello, we are an outdoors program and we cant take 7-8 year olds, wi

Id like to go back to this exercise for few minutes. Bob, The G2SS restrictions exist for a number of reasons. Wed all hope that they were all based entirely on safety, and some assessment about age appropriateness. However in todays world its probably shortsighted to exclude the potential for litigation from the list of reasons for the restrictions. Additionally, I would think that there is some attempt to here to prevent CS Leaders from going too far with CS, and removing the lure of BS by over exposing the CS to certain activities. Regardless why the restrictions exist, I still thi

Peer mediation is a technique that is being taught in the schools around here. The kids learn to diffuse their own problems. It falls into the category of learning how to avoid confrontation.

Peer Mediation

My son is almost 8 and he will be testing for his brown belt in Kempo tomorrow night. It should take him about another 2 years before hell be ready for his black belt. Actually its a junior black belt. That would make him 10-11 years old. Young, yes. But its a junior black belt and the children know that. They also realize that if they intend to go forward and want that real black belt, they have a lot of hard work ahead of them. And ultimately, they will be tested as an adult to retain there black belt status. In our school they cannot get a senior black belt until they are 18. After they get

To say that the martial arts are about kicking and punching is like saying that Boy Scouts is about Camping. Kicking and punching, like camping, is the method used to meet the objectives. Yes, the martial arts are about self defense, but aims of the martial arts are really discipline, self control, and wellness of body and spirit. Yes, it's probalbly time for a martial arts merit badge. Evmori, I think your wife could enlighten us further.

Bob, I don't think any revision would be needed to run this as a council activity. It is allowable as a Council activity. A change would need to occur for us to do some of these things as a den or pack activity. Yes I imagine they could do it as a stand alone activity. I'm not familuar with Camp Policies. Gotta go, I'm getting the evil eye. No rest for the weary, have to go to Boston. Meeting tonight with Paul Revere, something about a tea shippment.

Im not sure that there is any thing like a Watered Down Activity. The kids do their best all the time. The only difference is that as they get older there best gets better and the activity becomes more challenging. Just look at the bicycle analogy. tricycle, bike with training wheels, bicycle, bigger bicycle, mountain bike, motorcycle. The 3 year old got as much out of his tricycle experience as the adult does with his motorcycle experience.

Why do you think the G@SS has program based restrictions? Bob, I dont understand the question? Please rephrase. This Council has developed a pretty full camp scheduled including Cub Resident, Parent/Cub Weekends, Family Camp, and a very complete Day Camp Schedule. Thats all great within the Summer Camp environment. As Packs, we do overnighters at different locations, District/ Council does run these activities, nor do they need to. But again those are not the kinds of challenging outdoor or athletic activities that we should be able to bring to the boys. Dont get me wrong, an over

Perhaps! The standout fact here is that Little League gives the boys the uniform and expects that it will be worn. Maybe if the troop or pack gave the new leader his/her first uniform in a meaningful and educational ceremony it would be worn. Same for the kids, maybe? Dont ask about funding, this is a philosophical debate.

A comment on Bobs historical perspective. His comment is presented in the context of programmatic change, and I am sure that that is partially true. However, the other contributing factor was (and still is) the market. We want boys in scouting; we want organizations to charter BSA units. A great deal of what drove some of the changes mentioned was simply the competitive market for todays youth. As for merit badge updates, I put that into the survival category. Nothing could more quickly make BSA pass than outdated MB booklets. Adding MB booklets is a programmatic update, but maintenance on th

Since when does little leaugue set their rules by the Boy Scouts of America or vice-versa. (by the way the little league rules also state that the teams will provide the uniforms for the players and that the uniforms remain the property of the league, If your unit bought the uniforms for every scout perhaps they would wear them?) Did someone say that BSA had a rules shareing agreement with Little League?? Little League does provide the uniforms, and everyone is expected to wear them. Bob, your suggestion might not be such a bad idea.

In a convoluted sort of way Wallace makes an interesting point. Children today are maturing more quickly. What used to be exciting and challenging for a 16 year old is now appropriate for a 14 year old, and so on down the age brackets. Todays children tend to be more independent than yesterdays children. Todays kids are without question more street wise than yesterdays. The point is that in order to keep the boys interested we need to bring them activities that are exciting and challenging at all ages. Perhaps what BSA needs to do is rethink the age appropriate guidelines for all a

Little League is voluntary, Little League is private, local Little League is chartered by the National Organization, and Little League has mandatory uniforms. Just a simple observation.

We have recently gone through a great national debate (and maybe we still are), about uniforms in schools. I believe that the public is well informed as to the character issues relative to uniforms. In fact as Ive had this discussion with the parents of my kids, the school uniform issue always comes up. We do have a responsibility to bring that message, in BSA terms, to the parents. But without a policy, it will never happen. (This message has been edited by fotoscout)

< The problem is sufficient motivation brought about by an acceptance of the purpose of a full uniform. If more leaders understood the methods of scouting more scouts and leaders would wwear a complete uniform. > Bob, That might be so, but its only the tip of the iceberg, and I think a very small part of the reason why uniforming is inconsistent. First and foremost, without a national policy that mandates that the uniform be worn, we will never have everyone in uniform. Then there is the do you or dont you mentality. Personally I think that this is the main reason why many

opps(This message has been edited by fotoscout)

ThermaRest sells a no skid band to wrap around the pad. It is about 18 inches wide and works pretty well. Also, you can go to any carpet store and buy a few feet of non-skid material. This is the stuff that carpet installers put underneath an area rug. All you have to do is lay it on top of the pad, before you roll out your sleeping bag. This works very well.

Oops... TwoCub, this is a great quote!! .......If a Scout's idea of "Class A" never rises above what he wears to dinner on the fifth day of summer camp, he's missing an important lesson........

Oops... TwoCub, this is a great quote!! .......If a Scout's idea of "Class A" never rises above what he wears to dinner on the fifth day of summer camp, he's missing an important lesson........

TwoCub, this is a great quote!!

Bob, With respect to the campsite location, we have a list of campsite locations pre approved for use with Cub Scouts. This is a location approval; it does not imply tour permit approval. Our council camp does not have the parking space for the number of vehicles involved with a CS overnighter in addition to its regular schedule of BS activities. So they have a limited list of County/State Park campsites that can be used for CS. I carefully removed the word All from the G2SS line, for the very reason that you pointed out. Much of what is in the G2SS is simply prudent by todays stand

There is a piece of the discussion that is missing. The point here really is the importance of CS camping. CS and CS parents expect to go camping. They expect the program to be outdoors. I dont have the survey, Bob you probably have it, but National did survey that, amongst other things came to the conclusions I just mentioned. I understand that its this survey that spawned the current CS camping push by National. The point should not be one of liability fears. The point should be one of giving the boys a safe and positive outdoor experience.

Good morning everybody, Lets make sure we dont get confused here. This year Pack Overnighter Council Approved Cub Scout Camp Site .Yes All the G2SS rules followed.Yes Tour Permit Yes Baloo trained.Yes Last years Family Overnighter Council Approved Cub Scout Camp Site .Yes The G2SS rules followed.Yes Tour Permit No Baloo Trained.No As TwoCub very nicely points out, there are number of ambiguities in the G2SS rules for Cub Scout camping. We camped in the same way last year as we camped this year. Baloo stresses structure and if youre going out in the woods

One Hour, That's effectively what we setup. Campsite setup, food and rank appropriate activities by den. We setup our food as a den activity. It encouraged the parents to interact more, and it let the Webelos be more involved with their meal preparations. It worked well. Flag ceremonies, free time and campfire for everyone. Everyone had a great time, its unfortunate that weather kept so many away. And Thank You. Den Family Camping, Friends of Den X Camping, Friends of Pack XXX Camping or whatever wed like to call it, ought to be the backbone of Cub Scout Camping. Small groups of