fred johnson

I'm part of the six percent. I have not seen this asserted 94% survey. "QUANTITATIVE" to earn a palm ... same old and new Active ... 3 months ... effectively registered. Unless troop has their own long-standing active standards for all ranks. Merit badges ... five ... usually earned years in the past ... We can hold a scout accountable to fulfill this explicit requirement. SMC ... one Spirit ... not measurable Leadership ... not measurable ... "satisfactory" ... hard to say they did not meet this "EFFORT" to earn a palm ... same old and new 5% effort is the SMC 10% to 20% effort

Yep. BSA for young adults would very much be an overlap with Outward Bound and other adventure trips. Almost a camping club.

You are right. When I was college age through mid 20s, I would have loved a Boy Scout program where I could canoe, hike and build skills. IMHO, the BSA youth program would have worked great for this age ... especially as those new adults would want to really learn the skills and build the experiences and explore the MB topics.

Yep. I just don't think BSA will ever remove the age boundary. The program is for youth. Maybe 18-21. But not all ages.

The "strenuous life" program is co-ed. Just same standards.

IMHO, the best advice is to let the scout figure out what is best for himself. Encourage him to think through options and the impact. Then, choose. IMHO, it really doesn't matter project or MB or ... It more matters that the scout has grown enough to own his advancement.

Can you point me to that survey ?

Scouts do learn from their role models. But they have way more time and more role models outside scouting than in scouting. We can emphasize and teach in our own troop, but our scouts interact with other scouts and other troops. Plus, sometimes we get lucky and have great kids who make our lives easy. Sometimes we are challenged by scouts who want to push limits and use scouting as their own "freedom" zone to get away with what they can. I disagree. Boundaries and separation promote bad behavior as those on the other side of the boundary are bad or less. Clubs that had membe

Sadly. I can see this happening. Multiple times I've overheard scout "private" conversations with inappropriate statements. Boys trying to be men. A "boys only" environment does enable it. Young men are learning how to communicate new interests in a "boys only" environment. I'm not against a "boys only" program, but I do not think "boys only" has anywhere near as much value as people assert. IMHO, the troop program has value by getting scouts outside in new situations that expand their comfort zones. Learning new skills. Dealing with sleeping with spiders and thunderstorms.

I find this interesting and very similar to our boy scout troop. Some troops are more structured, regimented and advancement focused. Our troop is more activity focused and more relaxed. Our troop program is about finding things the scouts want to do. We've had huge luck retaining scouts. I almost see us similar to a venturing crew in may ways. If scouts want to pursue advancement, we'll help them. But we treat advancement (merit badges) as an individual scout choice. Rank advancement is almost automatic by getting the scouts out and doing things. The troop program is structured aroun

I think it's great. IMHO, BSA should focus less on guarding wrongly purchased patches and focus more on timely recognition. Heck, if anything, it would increase BSA sales of patches.

Yeah, I agree. I think it's the right way of doing things. I wish the scout store let troops build up a stash of patches without having to work the system to circumvent limits. IMHO, I think it's important for scouts to be able to wear their patches ASAP.

Just for those with large scarlet letters.

Great answers so far ... Just a few details to re-peat. Critical date is the BOR and/or MB signed date - The COH date means nothing. The COH is about receiving the decoration. So receiving the next rank and/or other progress is measured by the BOR date. Hopefully, the BOR date matches the date signed in the scout's handbook for the rank. I say this because many parents just don't realize the COH means nothing for advancement. It's just ceremony. It's tricky to use dues to hold back awards at a COH - Yep, things are expensive. If someone is not paying up, I can see holding them

I've had the same exact thought many times. Heck, we already skirt the rules. Other troops do too. We've had daughters on canoe trips, moderate-adventures and other things because they want to go on these adventures. It's just not an issue and doesn't impact the scout's program.

I recently watched this video. I was extremely impressed with the quality of the analysis and the presentation. https://www.glaacbsa.org/Scouting_Accessible I was impressed, but disappointed in a few ways. Impressed Proposed cub scout choice of boy only pack, girl only pack and family pack with gender based dens. Taking on a hard topic that made BSA an anachronism. Concerned (aka disappointed) "Family" is really being used to obscure "co-ed". It's a stepping stone term. I'd like to see the proposed Troop structure parallel to the proposed pack structure. I could see

I always enjoy seeing what other units do. We are similar, but try to target 10 weekend trips (2 nights), one summer camp (7 nights) and one adventure program a year. We try to have one activity available per month, but that's 100% up to the scouts. So it's pretty easy to get 25 nights camping a year and possible to get 33 or more nights a year.

Personal view ... not BSA interpretation ... ... At some point, it's a utilitarian issue. If you have a roof over your head, you don't need to wear a hat. I also take my jacket off when I go into a heated building.

AFTER Eagle ... little difference. MBs earned before Eagle ... I guess it's what you want to emphasize. I really don't like the gaming of the system that happens now. Scouts, parents and leaders near (before or after) almost always calculate how many palms the scout can earn ... WITHOUT doing any new MBs. Whether you like it or not, Eagle palms are mostly about MBs. I like the change as it clears the slate. Future awards are based on future work. Your troop solves it by treating the Eagle palm leadership requirement effectively the same as the Star, Life and Eagle leadership requirem

I am not sure where the double dipping discussion came from, but I agree with the double dipping should not happen. Didn't before. Should not in the future. Scout has 26 MBs, that's 21 for Eagle and 5 for a palm. Pretty straight forward. "3 months of POR" ... There is no three months of POR with palm. Never has been. It's 3 months active. You could have one day of leadership and fulfill the palm requirements. ... I do sympathize though. Palms awarded with Eagle avoid the extra "active" time. I'm just not that concerned with that part as most scouts are active far longer than the

Old requirement never stated a POR duration or even the requirement to hold a leadership "position". The requirement was "Make a satisfactory effort to develop and demonstrate leadership ability". Pretty much anything positive fulfills this requirement. The new requirements are similar "Continue to set a satisfactory example of accepting responsibility or demonstrating leadership ability" Your troop may be requiring more, but the wording is different that you stated. One day of helping a younger scout pretty much fulfills what BSA states as a requirement.

I did similar when my son sent. It effectively was $200 to $250 for the trip. My general rule ... Most scouts spend what scouts have. Give him $10 and he'll spend $10. Give him $200 and he'll spend $200. He won't starve, meals are covered. Same with lodging and travel. Of course this is my "general" rule. I have a few kids who if they have $200 on them, they will go home with $200. I have some kids if you send them with $200, they will go home owing people money.

Yeah, I really don't care what you call it. The old system was bad in that Eagle scouts would regularly get awards for doing essentially squat. I'm not saying the new approach is perfect, but at least the post-eagle awards are tied to something current and not just work done before they earned Eagle. I had grown to dislike palms as they seemed more about scouts manipulating than doing work. "Oh, I complete my ECOH on this date and I have a chance to get three palms." but the catch is what does the scout have to do after the ECOH to get those palms ... close to nothing. At least the new a

I can understand the frustration. I had to think on this one. Here are the reasons I like the change. Life scout with at least the needed 21 merit badges ... With old approach, why keep doing merit badges? They can make Eagle. They got their job done. ... With new approach, two more and you get a palm at the Eagle COH. Eagle scout with 45 merit badges and one year left in the program. With old approach, why keep doing merit badges? You can't earn more palms. ... With new approach, you can do more work and get more awards right up to 18. IMHO, the new approach provides and incentive

That was the right decision.