fred johnson

DigitalScout ... and your point is? BSA also doesn't want overweight leaders and it probably stigmatizes their kids too ===================== I should mention I think BSA should not reject leaders based on orientation. Let charter organizations choose leaders that reflect their beliefs and values. Get BSA out of this political war. More importantly get kids out of this political war and TO HECK with the people who want to fight this societal battle on a kids playground.

Another related issue.... parents receive their 1st joining invite in K or 1st grade. So then they really don't even think about it in 2nd grade or after.

Ya know ... The above quote ... compete with soccer and baseball. I fully 100% disagree with that. What we have now are many programs competing for the same kids starting in kindergarten and 1st grade. Then, families discover it's too much. So they need to drop something. Scouts is often the first to be dropped because it looks the least structured. I say, let them try baseball and soccer in K & 1st grade. Let those be the small kid activities with heavy parent involvement. Stop associating scouts with the smallest kids. Stop having such a young program that it becomes parent

Jay K ... It's not about being too good for Wood Badge. And I did take it because it was part of the curriculm. Essentially to complete the checklist and to follow the program. I also agree that it's about the betterment of scouting. BUT ... My Wood Badge was way way too much class room. Just like my IOLS which was also way way too much class room. Where Wood Badge was very useful to me was ... In learning how a troop functions. Marching. Singing songs. Gathering in the morning. Assigning jobs. Learning how to stack the pans in the cook kit. Somewhat how to run a PLC. Seeing how the

Basementdweller ... I can't speak directly to this Jamboree, but every jamoboree I've read about and the one my son went on had it clearly documented from the start that scouts will have extra uniforming expenses. My son had to bring four full uniforms. We received our official tshirts. You either had to be in the uniform or the official tshirts. It was a big expense, but it was KNOWN before hand and it was part of the agreement. I bet it was in the agreement you and your scout made when he signed up for the Jamboree. Don't make life difficult for your son's Jamboree SM. He's applying the rule

BOOMERSCOUT... credit versus money ... you're playing a word game that is very Clinton'esque. I doubt the IRS would play along. Just because you really really really want it that way, does not mean it's true. Unless you completely remove money from the equation, credits are equivalent to money. As long as little Johnny can pay cash for camp, then the credits are the same as cash. Also you never know if Little Johnny has another side job and needs to file a tax return. Plus, Little Johnny might be saving up for a high adventure. Please note also ... Leader shirts are deductible

An alternative title: Does Cub Scouts start too early?

At 5.5 years long in our council (Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos), youth usually spend way more time in Cub Scouts than Boy Scouts. Plus, Cub Scouting is being viewed as a Kindergarten maturity level. Pack activities often need to be lowered to the least challenging level, now kindergarten. IMHO, let soccer be the Kindergarten and 1st grade activities. Move Cub Scouts to 2nd grade and get it viewed again as a more mature and more challenging activity.

dedkad ... You provided a great definition. I think that's what I meant. "Someone who is "prissy" would prefer to stay indoors instead of getting outside and getting their hands dirty with hard work and active play." I'd apply that to scouting where merit badge counselors want filled out workbooks instead of just getting down to doing it. Face-to-face. Getting your hands dirty. Youth camp planning that is excessively paperwork based instead of face-to-face working with people.

Easy ... I'd get rid of the advancement when the scout ages out. Dealing with years and years of that now. Careful ... Finances, we go with seven years, but we are mostly electronic. Realy difficult ... The rest is just sentimental. Organizational memory. How much do you keep? Personally, I like to keep some rosters with contacts. Some history of what the troop did and where we went. But beyond that, we THROW IT AWAY. Otherwise, it just becomes a paperwork headache for the next guy to throw away.

Boomerscout ... "credits instead of in money" ... but then if someone doesn't have the credits, can they pay cash instead? It ends up being the same thing. A credit has a specific monetary value. Great point on charity versus non-profit. Way about the level of most troops to manage though. I think key is the "AS LONG AS ALL THE "EYES" ARE CROSSED AND ALL THE TEES ARE DOTTED" is the real statement. Troops / units don't do that. Unit leadership is continually taking administrative shortcuts through ignorance or volunteer time constraints. We all know that. The "good enough

Yes. Government marriage has changed. Churches made the mistake of getting stuck in advocating their beliefs thru a legal system. That's the same thing we ridicule many islamic countries for doing. That's the churches big mistake. But, it still doesn't make it right and that's what I teach my kids. One of the big theological tenets of the Catholic church that I do believe fully is the principle of Free Will. Not every choice is easy. Not every choice is conscious. We as people are driven by obsessions and compulsions. But that's the human condition and we each have our battles

Yeah. It was discussed last year. It will keep coming up as the topic is riddled with contradctions. We want scout accounts and those same accounts and our troops are subject to IRS rules. We want scouts to earn money and pay their own way but we don't want to call it EARNINGS. We want fundraising results to benefit those who did the fundraising but still keep our nonprofit status and avoid paying sales tax or deal with W2 or 1099 statements. We want scouts to pay their own way, but then we want to control how and what they can use the money for. If they mow lawn

King Ding Dong ... "someone" = US government statues clarified, documented and enforced by the IRS. IRS doesn't care to handle a blanket or small amounts. So if your ethics are affected by if you can fly by under the radar, go for it. Heck, scouts privately benefiting by raising funds for a non-profit isn't really that bad is it. Our scouts do it too. .... But it doesn't make it ethically right or fair. It's just what we need to do to make the unit finances work right.

Yeah, partials are a different story. The only final item is when the counselor signs the WHOLE card. Individual requirements are never approved. The back of the card with initials is just a helpful reminder of where the scout is on the progress toward completing. The counselor can revisit anything until it's signed off. As for JBlake47's comment, I very much different. MBs are done when signed off. You can't override an authorized MB counselor. MBs are a council program and not a troop program. If you think it's important the scout has the skill, work with the scout. Provid

NJCubScouter - Point well made. I mainly used labels for the John Wayne and Peter Fonda as people can picture the Cowboy and the Easy Rider. I just wish I could find more of them in scouting. That's all. It's one reason my sons are in scouting. To heck with all the MBA driven paperwork. My sons get that enough in school. I want them to get dirt, scratches and a little bit of muscle built up. Oh, and to make friends along the way. Eagledad - You're dead on. I used to disappear for most of the day starting when I was 10 or 11 years old. Bike across town to the YMCA. Bike five miles to my

ThomasJefferson ... You've got too much agenda. Don't hijack this into some atheist rank. Scouting's always had a strong faith element, right from the start. Plus every man's man that I've know has had a strong faith. They might not shove it down your throat, but it's there. You don't need to deny God to be a man's man. And you don't need to hijack this thread with some atheist junk.

I'm not referring to any "orientation". That's not significant to this discussion Definitions. Merriam-Webster - overly prim and precise Google - Fussily and excessively respectable; (of clothes) Overadorned with details such as ruffles and bows. The Free Dictionary - Excessively or affectedly prim and proper; fussy and prim, esp in a prudish way; affectedly correct I ask because I think back to my sons, especially the oldest. I can predict which adult scouters he would look up to and which would drive him away. John Wayne Scouters ... Locally, I know three scoute

I took Woodbadge years ago mainly to get over the hump of people perceiving that I was new to scouting. i.e. Peer Pressure. I must admit I often hide out in the back of the room at round table so that when the Wood Badge promos begin, I can sneak out of the room and network with the others that are smart enough to hide near the back of the room. Benefits - Networking - elimination of peer pressure. Negative - Tickets - I was already doing too much in scouting. Now you want to ask me to do more? Fine, but you better refer me to a divorce attorney. I honestly saw no benefit to th

Hold a troop fundraiser and reduce the camping cost for all scouts in your troop ... equally. Raise enough to send all your troop scouts to summer camp. Today's scouting is not cheap. I'd imagine 60 years ago you could easily find a field, bring wool blankets and camp. VERY CHEAP. Times have changed.

The 20% is probably to keep under the IRS "INSUBSTANTIAL" criteria. Though 20% seems substantial. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Transferring money to another troop. Surprised to see that. Ya know ... Our troop recently decided to NOT send money with the scout if he transfers. What if the scout with $1200 transfers to another troop and quits in three months? Will the other troop send the money back to us? We might pay for the camping in the other troop on a camp out by camp out basis. We've yet to decide that. The issue is the sc

It is a game of NUANCES to give sales profits to scouts and be a non-profit. It's moral if the boy says "buy my popcorn to send me to camp". It's not moral if the boy says "buy my popcorn to support my troop" or if he refers to it as a "TROOP" fundraiser. If you use what is legal as your moral compass and have read IRS case history, you can't allocate non-profit funds to specific people because of how much they raised for the non-profit. Personally, our troop gives 90% of the profit from each scout goes to that scout. 10% to the troop as sort of a charge to support the sc

Koolaidman - "Participation (... in fundraising ...) can be a factor when allocating funds." - Strictly per IRS, NO. - For our small groups, we're probably under the radar. - Sometimes people do things because it's been done that way for years. And that's the only reason why you CAN do it. sailingpj - "I have never met anyone who thought it was unethical." - Glad to meet you. - We still do it, but there are ethical issues. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ethics is all about claiming NON-P

Well said. That's my experience too. I must admit though, we had a patrol of four for years that ran great and the scouts helped the younger scouts. Sometimes only two of them appeared. For them, it worked.

Formal ... never ... except as prayer before and Sunday church service. But ... Scouts talk to each other all the time. And many many many parents that choose scouting choose it because it does have a faith component, even if it is not strongly pushed. In fact, that is an attractive thing as they can do the outdoors, character building, leadership, share faith without a strict tie to a church. But still with a faith component. Many kids experiment with atheism. I think the fear is having other families that strongly represent support atheism and the affect that has on their