fred8033

Our council canceled all camp weeks before July 5th. Camps are still waiting state/fed guidance to host summer camp. So, I'm interpreting our council communication as NOT a plan to open July 5th. Rather, it's canceling the first several weeks that are too imminent. I'm still betting our later week is canceled too.

Original title was ... "What If - All High Adventure Camps Cancel" My real concern is where we are heading. Sort of on-plan. Lots of adjustments. Nothing solid. Lots of questions. Huge possibilities of things changing week to week. Having to daily / weekly re-confirm with parents / scouts / camps / travel / airlines, etc. Having to collect money from parents out-of-work, laid-off, at-risk, etc? Having to deal with families that are flip-flopping with good justification. I've coordinated several big cost high adventures. It's stressful. It's lots of money. It's having to

I was not viewing it as a scout camping event. Truly just family camping. And, I'd pay our council for the privilege of using the camp site. I'm sure they would accept the donation. It's a bridge until his troop gets back up and running. And a little selfish for myself. I've been driving to that summer camp at least two or three times a year since 2004. Probably a 1000 miles driving each year to that one camp. I'd really hate to miss it this year. ... So ... any excuse to get up to camp ... Ideally, my son with his scouts and his friends. But if that can't happen, maybe we can d

That's great. I'd contribute a lot of our summer camp funds to allow my son and I to camp in our traditional camp spot even if just for one or two nights overnight. Absolutely great idea. Heck, I'd make it a family camp for those in my house. What a great idea. We wouldn't even need to leave the camp site much because it's big enough.

"local area" ... I always love vague terms. What is local? I'm assuming a "state" is not "local". I'd agree a neighborhood is "local". Probably also a city. Maybe a county. Our council is large (many counties) and our troop camps are all outside our council area or even outside the state. I'd argue none of our summer camps can meet the expectation of "local". Question ... Am I the only one tripping and falling over the title "Scouts BSA"? It's easy to say Cub Scout camps. Or Venturing activities. Or Sea Scouts. But when I say "Scouts BSA" I feel I always need to include a refe

Social distance? Scouts can't keep their hands off each. Pushing. Shoving. Sharing a chair. Trading gear. Playing games. It is 100% unrealistic to think you can have 6 to 8 scouts who are 11 to 15 years old stay six part away from each other for multiple days. I doubt if you could succeed for 15 minutes. Each scout would have to be driven by their own parent Each scout would need his own space. Each scout would need his own tent, chair, table, rain tarp, stove, plan, cooking supplies, wash basin Each scout would need his own bathroom or shovel to dig ... so

Agreed. From what I see, this is a family camping / hiking summer.

For camping, I'd fully align with council direction. I'd fear beyond normal personal liability if my troop camped while our council cancels their own. I'd only support unit camping if the council explicitly says units can resume their own camping. It's not just personal liability. We are talking real risk. Plus, I'd be tormented forever if I was the leader that ends up with sick kids and sick adults after being told the council is canceling their own camps.

Tech related eagle projects can be difficult for Eagle candidates to keep control of planning, developing and leading. It really depends on the tech project, but many of these projects require special skill and do not lend cleanly out to leading by a non-tech expert. Scouts become too dependent on individual adults with special skills to plan and organize. Also, scouts often become too dependent on individual adults to invest many hours. I've seen too many scouts that loose control of their project because the nature of the work just doesn't lend to the scout leading the project. I

I keep flip-flopping. I celebrate finding a way to keep scouts involved in scouting. I celebrate finding a way to distract scouts during this stressful time. On the flip side, virtual camp outs are just not the same thing. I have a real hard time figuring where to position on this. Is it possible we will end up with Eagle scouts who only camped in their own back yard ? But then again, maybe that is an acceptable reflection of today.

I've seen this over and over again. Maybe it's okay if the scout likes chasing patches for the sake of patches. Most scouts roll their eyes at the tedious boredom and are frustrated with people wasting their time ... just like we hate our time wasted. The MB program was supposed to be face-to-face and scouts is about being "active" and "growing". I'm betting few scouts learn something new or interesting in such as session. IMHO, if the session is about getting the MB opportunity to as many as possible, then don't do it. Either find a local councilor or wait for something specia

Do the fundamentals need to change? What is a council? What is registration / membership? Rethink councils. From what I'm seeing, much of what happens in the council office is in support of national and could be eliminated / reduced or put only on-line. Scout shop. Registration. When I look further, councils could really be viewed as owning and administering properties to create scout opportunities. The idea of "councils" having membership and running their own program seems wrong. Rather, shield properties by running / owning them under the council. BUT, training

That is a root problem. Confusion is often willful too. Many don't really care about the goal as much as the certificate. At some point, I think Eagle would be better reflected by 125+ nights of troop camping and a variety of experiences.

I "prefer" to emphasize differently. It's NOT about completing homework or bringing their homework to the MB session. That's a counselor driven "this is what I need to see" aka teacher/student style. The MB program is more mentorship or on-the-job training.

Many scouts roll their eyes at the MB program. Scouts see it as an overlapping and a shallow dive into topics already deeply covered at school and covered better. Scouting should NOT be about sitting in meetings. MBs should not be class room based. Scouting should NOT be about adults holding the hands of the scouts. . It hurts when troop leaders or parents arrange MB events and makes it so that scouts need to just show up. If adults make the arrangements, the MB event should be special and memorable. For example, scouts scheduling a canoe trip. I think it's okay for adults

How about ... no staff that has recently traveled out of state ... or staff must quarantine at home for three weeks after traveling out of state before arriving at camp

I wish you the best. I'm trying to make just a simple decision for summer camp ... if summer camp is offered. My last son has a medical condition that makes him vulnerable and there is no chance of a vaccine by July. So do I wait until I have to put money out? Or do I cancel now? Our local camp is asking for deposits, but they have been fairly good at waiting for full payment. My gut says there is no way I'll send my kid even if the camp is open. But, I'm leaving options open for now. I just can't see how any summer camp will happen right now. This will take a year and a v

Yes. I even bought one or two to see if they were useful and how they worked. They were okay. The biggest problem was it was a profit center and we had to pay. http://ocscouting.com/blog/20-interactive-digital-merit-badge-pamphlets-including-every-eagle-required-badge-now-available/ Now, I see merit badges are PDFs at least for cover, requirements and a referenced materials page. Looking through Scouting.Org, I was pleasantly surprised that many DOCS are now PDFs. That's really nice to see. BSA has made huge progress. It's great to see. REALLY NICE TO SEE.

I've never been that caught up in any one "requirement" as I view the scouts need to do many things to earn each rank. And it's that journey that is important. Each individual requirement I could take or leave. Maybe swimming. I think that's very important. I've always thought the scouts would benefit in one or more ways. IMHO, the requirements were never the benefit of scouting. It was always Fellow ship of other scouts. Learning to work together. Experience new things together. Helping each other. ... Build citizenship New experiences. Stretching the comfort zone. Ex

You don't need to resign. I'd hold fast with the same investment, planning, effort, growth, etc that need to happen. BSA says in the same statement ... "Even when using video conferencing, all virtual campouts and activities should consist of as many elements found on a normal outdoor campout or activity as possible. The most significant difference is that patrol or troop members are not all in the same location. All existing youth protection policies and digital safety guidelines must be followed." So ... where it says "stove" ... I'd strongly interpret that as a "camp stove" or a "fir

There are many MBs and individual requirements that can be completed in an online setting without compromising requirements or significant loss. The absolute easiest ones are chess merit badge and finger printing. Plant identification. Many others. ... It's more about being creative.

I hugely agree. Example: 2nd class 3B five mile hike ... The new statement drops the word "TAKE". Take the hike. I can plan any hike in two minutes. Actually taking the hike takes real time, sweat and energy. How can you drop the word "TAKE" ? ... One of my son's said can't they at least use a treadmill ? So BSA is an outdoor program emphasizing physical fitness and doing things the scout has never done ... but you never need to leave your chair ?

BSA does not cleanly define "virtual" and what BSA is implying. There is a brief statement: "Even when using video conferencing, all virtual campouts and activities should consist of as many elements found on a normal outdoor campout or activity as possible." Example: Tenderfoot 1B ... patrol camp out. ... BSA says virtual campouts are acceptable. BSA fails to emphasize ... choose a spot to camp ... pitch a tent ... sleep outside in the tent you pitch ... schedule camp out activities ... create a menu ... acquire food ... pack your gear and pack the food ... light a fire ... have crac

It doesn't work. Scouts will absolutely miss learning the details during the requirements. Once missed, it's too late. Also what do you do later? Hold them back on something not related? That's not fair. Demand they participate in the coming 5 mile hike? If they don't attend, you have no recourse. My view is the requirements are a tool to drive the real benefit of scouting: the fellowship, working together and solving issues while trying to do something real. While the requirements are the requirements, they have never been the value statement of scouting. The value is learning

It's been hard for me to recognize as it doesn't match my personality, but scouts like bling and recognition. The Forestburg Herritage Trail medal is cool. When our troop was small ... if we camped at a state or national park or somewhere that had a site patch ... I'd buy the scouts the patch for that park and give it to them when we leave. It was a cool and reasonably cheap memory. ... I wanted to get our troop to do something similar for all camp outs. Having something to point our achievements is important. Perhaps it would have been better to hand out those patches