fred8033

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. https://www.scouting.org/programs/scouts-bsa/adults/publications/ These should be fully online too as very few adult leaders know the material. Troop leader guidebook (vol 1 & 2) Troop committee guidebook ... I'd bet 1 in 200 committee members have read this. It needs to be easily available. Program Features ... to be "scout run", scouts need this when they need it. It can't sit in a troop closet or with the previous youth leader. The Conservation Handbook ... Yeah, who's bought this? It should be online and easily available. Let BSA make money selling the Boy Scout Handbook, shirts, patches, etc. But why would we block easy access to key materials needed to run a good program.

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. Expanding awareness. ... Builds character Working hard. Going further than you have before. ... Builds physical fitness Working outside the family unit. Cutting the parental umbilical cord. Realizing you can find solutions on your own ... Builds independence and responsibility The new requirements stab at the heart of the program and are just wrong.

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 "fire". I would NOT accept a kitchen stove as I've only seen one troop bring a kitchen stove on a camp out. AND YES, I did take pictures.

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 cracker barrel ... SLEEP IN THE TENT ... OUTSIDE ..., cook breakfast ... execute the activities plan ... pack up the tent ... practice leave no trace ... Perhaps BSA should say it's a real camp-out with online coordination? Scout to regularly check-in during the "sleep out" with their PL. PL with their SPL. SPL with their SM. BSA should clarify if every parent needs to complete G2SS. Who's the adult leader watching the kid outside start the fire, light the stove, sleep outside by-themselves? Or is G2SS not an issue as the scout is under the parent's observation? Does the parent know fire / stove / weather safety? Is the neighborhood safe or will teenage neighbors mess with the kid? Does the parent need to pitch their own tent? Or is it not a real camp out? Does "virtual" mean "pretend" or "make believe?" People will see "VIRTUAL" as easy and quick. BSA needs to emphasize that similar effort / commitment / requirements / preparation / work / GROWTH needs to happen. I also see no reason BSA had to modify the requirements. SM's always had flexibility to interpret if the scout fulfilled the requirements. It's part of the game of scouting. Over the phone? Pictures as evidence? Similar enough to be the same? All scout leaders have been doing that for years. For example, Tenderfoot 7a flag etiquette. The scout could always video conference and perform it with another in his house while showing someone who could sign off on it. PROBLEM is "virtual camp outs" are not camp outs. But perhaps real camp-outs coordinated via SMS and video conferencing could be effectively the same. PROBLEM is 2nd class 5B / 5C. BSA is not waiving passing the beginner's swimming test, but adding words about 5C being able to be done on dry land? How does that help? It just adds confusion. The scout is still blocked by 5B (swimming test) ... AND 5C never said it had to be done in water. There are whole summer camps that passed 5C on dry land. Preference water, but it had been done repeatedly. PROBLEM is PARENTS will see virtual and push their kids to first class with a very very watered down result. It already happens all the time. By publishing as BSA has done, it will create a HUGE headache for SMs. Are these requirement changes? Guidance? What are these words? What is virtual? I'm just really confused. More context should be given. BSA should have published open-to-all guidance for scoutmaster how the existing requirements could be worked or fulfilled. I fear we now have a real MUSH. Now, we need a daily clean-up / change-list to track as this is cleaned up.

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 to work together in uncomfortable situations.

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 at the COH, but I was thinking immediate memory was nice.

Wow. That's great. My wife and I chatted about summer camp for our youngest son. We just see no way it's going to happen this year. We're hoping next year will happen. I'm glad our local scouting professionals can get financial help as all revenue will disappear.

My apologies. Conversation threads tend to drift. I did not mean to infer anything wrong specifically with your question. I was addressing a more general discussion topic. Please accept my apologies. We as volunteered are always committed to doing right by our scouts and tend to be very invested. So when a scout asks such a question, we want to help. Your question actually reflects well on you as a leader. It's a general comment about BSA advancement that became the discussion point.

Qwazse ... I generally agree with your post. ... BUT ... it's more than questioning scout's motives. I regularly see the same thing stated in the original post. Worse, I often see leaders doing the same thing. BAJ said in the original post: "We have a few scouts who were looking for service opportunities to get service hours for rank before COVID hit. ..." I agree, but would keep something about service as we value service. Perhaps similar to requirements about scout spirit. A statement that scouts value service and asking the scout to explain how the scout fulfills that value. I often wonder if we should simplify the requirements as it's just too many words for scouts. Seriously. In my work, the "quality" processes were defined using policies, standards, processes, procedures and a level overview. I wonder if requirements should be re-formatted / re-structured to reflect that. Scout facing Level Overview ... One or two sentences for every rank. What do we generally expect of a 2nd class scout? First class scout? These would be in the scout handbook at the start of the rank. Policy ... These are the requirements the scout sees in his handbook. Leader facing Standard ... This would be in the leaders handbook to help clarify what we should expect of the scout. Similar to a process auditor that has guidelines on what to expect and what to look. Hours Not a math measurement. Not an accounting spreadsheet. Should scale to roughly ## hours for tenderfoot, ## hours for 2nd class, ## hours for first class. But don't keep a spreadsheet. Focus on valuing the service Focus on encouraging service and not using it as a gate. Procedure for evaluating ... required or expecting Process for evaluating ... required or expecting

I'm very uncomfortable about this. We are leaders represent an organization. Our organization STRONGLY ADVISES no activities. That doesn't mean leaders suggest a parent/child go out own their own to do it. The leader should say we don't advise it. Stay at home. https://www.scouting.org/scoutingathome/ Until things change, the best service scouts can do is staying home and helping at home. Period. If a parent/child want to get groceries and deliver them to a neighbor-in-need, that's their choice. And we should applaud it. BUT, we should not organize or advocate for it. We should not even suggest it. In the above example, the buck thorn will still be there six months or a year from now. Do that type of service then. If a family wants to do it own their own, that's their choice. But, we as leaders should not organize, suggest or advocate for it. Our message should be clear, consistent and follow BSA's guidance. Stay home. Stay safe.

For me and mine ... I'd replace "demand" with "desire". I want to go camping. I want my son to camp with his friends. Our troop has at least one scouting camp out queued up each month until December right now and more planning in the fall. March and April are canceled. May probably too. All summer probably too. Until my son has immunity through a vaccine or already having had the virus, I won't sign up my son for any camp. Period. My scouting fear is my last son is done camping as a scout. He has two years before he turns 18, and a vaccine is at least 18 months out. ScoutBook shows him with 120+ nights of camping and I'm betting that's about all he'll have. I was hoping he'd have 150 by now, but that's another story. His troop has planned 26 nights through November. We were hoping 25 to 30 more next year. At least, he's safe and healthy, as of now. On the positive side, he probably won't catch Lyme disease unless it's from yard work and chores.

Find ways to engage the scout. It might not be with rank advancement. But there are others. STEM awards? MBs that can be done without physical outings. Scout having fellowship with his other scouts. "Virtual" patrol meetings. Maybe "virtual" patrol game nights? Online patrol D&D tournaments? For example ... in a national crisis like today ... I'd question whether a virtual tour would be acceptable ... if the scout can show his investment and growth from doing the badge. Scouting can help the scouts during this national crisis. We just have to think outside the box.

That's a great question. I'm going to give my "opinion". I can't say I've got the right answer. I only have my opinion. We can't ask scouts to camp (individually, together or separated by reasonable distances). We must put the health and well being of our scouts above rank requirements. Also, our council ... and I think BSA ... has suspended all meetings, activities, etc. Maybe, their own backyard with their parent, but I'm not sure that helps or if I could ask that as a leader. I applaud on-line meetings, on-line merit badges and on-line activities. Hopefully, it will keep scouts connected with each other, with scouting and help them through this national crisis. My view is that camping, outdoors and the fellowship of camping are the heart of scouting. ... Tenderfoot, 2nd class and first class ... Those first camp-outs imprint the heart of scouting. I'd hate to see those key requirements compromised. So, my "general" view is the scouts needing camping requirements need to wait. My opinion might change if ... the crisis goes on a year or more the scout is turning 18 soon and has like 19 of 20 nights for the camping merit badge At some point, we need to be flexible and favor the scout. But, if the scout is new, I'd avoid finding flexibility to advance the scout's rank if they can't fulfill the camping requirement. Those early ranks and rank requirements are core to setting the tone of scouting. Instead, work on the chess MB and do on-line tournaments. Or, do an online trivia for US history as part of some MB. ... or ...

Let's just be friends.

My apologies. Apply GTA 10.2.2.1. There is a paragraph that says ... "Simple modifications very close to existing requirements need not be approved. A Scout in a wheelchair, for example, may meet the Second Class requirement for hiking by “wheeling” to a place of interest. Allowing more time and permitting special aids are also ways leaders can help Scouts with disabilities make progress. Modifications, however, must provide a very similar challenge and learning experience." MD is serious and permanent. MD affects muscles and we want to be considerate of it similar to considerate of a scout in a wheel chair. So ... I think you have latitude to apply common sense reasoning. Is there something your troop leaders can do that is appropriately challenging and providing a learning experience that is similar to the rank requirements but within the scout's ability. For rank requirements (non-MB), I'd focus on the scout and how you can give him the best experience and also challenge and provide a meaningful learning experience. Instead of swimming laps and treading water, could you introduce him to pool and making him comfortable in the water? Maybe teach him how flippers work. That could be useful to him in the long term future. Could you introduce him to safety and other similar topics? For a scout who does not have MD, swimming is challenging but not overly difficult. Find something related and similar that would be appropriate for this scout. Instead of hiking requirements, you could attend a state/national park training program. Maybe there is something online the scout could do now that is similar? Maybe something that helps promote a love of nature. Ideally, you can still get him on a trail to a simple vista look-out that is a short walk without overly taxing muscles. We had a scout with MD in our troop for seven years. Wonderful kid. Walked with his friends but avoided overly taxing his muscles that would do permanent damage. He earned Eagle. Great young man. For Eagle MBs ... you will eventually need to get special approval.

I had to re-read GTA 10.2.2.3. Read it. Your scout needs to be first class before submitting the form for alternative Eagle requirements. But after the national crisis, you should be able to get this signed off. A common replacement idea is something that overlaps in some way. Physical for physical. Or topic area for topic area. Similar learning and effort opportunity. For example ... Swimming has been replaced in the past with archery (by some scouts) and by other merit badges (depending on scout and situation) Maybe hiking requirements could be replaced with a forestry merit badge? I swear I read it somewhere, but the badge should be approved as a replacement before starting the badge. I'd have to find that requirement though.

Also reach out and get to know your district advancement committee and your council advancement committee. There are many ready and willing to help. They will be accountable to BSA Guide To Advancement. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf The applicable sections are 10.2.2.2 How to Apply for Alternative Requirements 10.2.2.3 Alternative Merit Badges for Eagle Scout Rank

"1/4 of all Cub Scout Packs will never meet again" ... Yeah. A huge number of units were already on the edge. This will absolutely kill a good number. Membership will crash for years. "#1 killer of units? Not meeting or no activities." ... Yep. Absolutely. I'd focus more on no activities, than no meetings. But absolutely. Focusing on "growing membership" ... This is always BSA's big mistake. We focus way too much on how do we fix the membership issues. The issue is really how do we fix the program. If you have a bad product, people won't buy your product. So if you want to grow membership, focus on the best camps, best activities, best reasons for being a scout. Only that will grow membership. Recruiting for the sake of recruiting will kill any organization. But selling a great product will only drive more sales.

Ok. I'm bored. I'll take the bait. Agree "The Nationwide Shutdown will continue until September. No camporees, summer camp, high adventure bases or unit face-to-face events." ... Yep. The country won't be back to normal for years. Only a vaccine or herd immunity will end it. And only a vaccine will let parents send their kids to large groups with other kids. "Operating with a skeletal professional staff of only critical field and camp maintenance personnel." ... Yep. Staff won't have time to prepare for summer camp. When camps do re-open, I could see it very much with a volunteer rangers and only the barest minimum maintenance personnel. When camps re-open, units would have to provide their own food and provide their own program. If the camps have significant staff, it will only be because of historical unemployment. "Many current professionals will never return to the paid ranks because we will only bring back 25-30% of the pre-bankruptcy/corona level." ... Yeah. I hope it's not that bad, but it will definitely be bad. Period. "Cash flow has ceased." ... That is scary. I agree. Cash is king. Also after the crisis is over, debt will be killing many families. Many won't have the optional money for scouting for years to come. Disagree "When we re-open, we will be a different organization." ... No. We'll be smaller. (and for many reasons). We'll have lost a few years of scouts, but scouting has a structure, concept and an ideal. That will still be there. It will be a rebuilding time. We thought scouting was sinking as far as it could. Well, it will go a bit lower. "The national professional and volunteer organization will focus on maintaining our program and little else." ... Once the crisis is over, I believe BSA will quickly turn back to how can we give great experiences to scouts. One might call it maintenance. I'll call it re-building and re-energizing scouting. Maybe "finally negotiate the sale of underperforming council properties and consolidate investment and usage on the finest properties. Camps foolishly built on credit or heavily mortgaged will sell first." ... Cash will be king, but property values will be down drastically. But camps are the heart of scouting. If the camp has been struggling for a long time, probably it will sell. But if the camp was being used and anywhere near close to self-sustaining, then scouters will work their hearts out to keep the property. Tangential ... I don't see the connection. "Overwhelmingly led and operated by volunteers at all levels." "Council volunteers who cluster together in territories " I'm an optimist. Scouting will continue. It's a great program. But now is the time to focus on family, friends and the care of our fellow neighbors. I prey the crisis is over quick and we can rebuild scouting. But, for now, the health of scouting can take a backseat to the health of our fellow man.

So true! Our troop has done that many times in the past. A troop own summer camp week is better than any structured summer camp. But, very different. A council camp can offer a variety of experiences, intermix with other troops and is a more traditional summer camp. It's also a consistent structure, program and tradition. Scouts can like tradition. A troop's own summer camp week is different and whatever the troop wants. Our troop chooses a destination and a group camp site. Then, our troop did day trips / activities and several of the adults were available to do location-appropriate merit badges. One year it was water-oriented with water skiing, fishing, motor boating, canoeing and row boats. Another year it was mines and caves. Another year the bad lands and tours sites. Another year the Rockies. Another was a week of hiking. It also fits the calendar naturally. The summer has three months without school. Choose one month for scout-camp summer camp week. Choose another month for troop's own summer camp week. Choose the other month for a simple fun event. It also promotes troop culture and troop pride. Council camps are about "scouting". Troop camps are about the troop. If you want your scouts to take pride in their troop, do your own big camp and big events. A side benefit is it reduces the density of adults on a single camp out. Then, a single week is not swamped by all the adults at the single summer camp week and gives the scouts a chance to get used to summer camp without parents.

It's a failure because it's a core scouting experience. It's a good that the scout has a path forward, but we want scouts at summer camp and camping in a variety of places. It builds character and builds a positive experience.

I've averaged 1.5 units of rechartering for the last 16 years. About 24 recharters. The first several years were paper and very labor intensive. The first several were also relatively stressful because of learning the ins and outs. And they have all be time intensive casing a signatures and driving people in. The only way I've made it through these is I'm either very loyal or very stubborn. This process does burn out volunteers. This can damage scouting's relationship when handed to any adult not deeply vested in scouting and especially burns new parents. I doubt it hurts "troops", but it does clearly affect packs. This rechartering process also does little to renew the relationship between scouting and the chartering organizations. IMHO, scouting would be better served by a warm friendly conversation between a scouting contact and the charter org. The paperwork is of little significance. Maybe at the end of that warm friendly conversation, the scouting contact could sign the chartering agreement with the charter org contact. Beyond that, the rechartering paperwork is a waste. IMHO, this needs to become as simple as when I go into Amazon and repeat a previous order. Once I pay, it should be good.

I can understand that view. My thoughts are there are many troops that may become viable with a critical mass of scouts when run together for a time. My gut says a troop of 5 to 10 girls is on the cusp of being viable or failing. A troop of 5 to 10 boys is on the cusp of being viable or failing. But if you run them parallel you create a unit of 10 to 20 scouts that can create more positive experiences and more opportunity. Hopefully, that recruits more scouts. If there are enough scouts to begin with, I agree. Single gender gives scouts a chance to shine. But I think the real issue is would the troop exist for more than a year or so with 5 to 10 kids. IMHO, this is about making troops viable to become strong and grow.