fred8033

You never have to lie or mis-represent, but neither do you need to explain things in detail. The best separations are short and gracious. AND, even more so if you are upset with each other. If you feel the need to share, do it face-to-face. Use it as a chance to heal and to re-build a connection with the other person. But if your intention is to not heal and re-connect, then just don't do it.

You are absolutely correct. That is a concern with many of the COs that we currently have. They are not involved though BSA pretends they have strong control and oversight. My comment is for this specific situation. The original poster has a hard situation. Though the original poster should be slightly concerned about the CO situation, it's really not really a direct cause. It's a complexity and a resource he won't have to leverage. But the original poster's CO situation is fairly common and I'd bet many units in his district / council are in a similar situation.

The CO issue is not really surprising or at fault. And, it's far from unique. Most COs operate at arms length. Some COs equate to nothing more than the parents in the troop. It's rare to have an active, involved CO. I say this as I don't think there is anything unique for scout parents to notice or for the district/council to be concerned about. Is it ideal? Absolutely not. Is it unusual or immediately concerning? No.

I'm not at all against ScoutBook. I used BSA online advancement for years, and ScoutBook is a good replacement. I'm glad adult leaders can use ScoutBook to directly enter into BSA's official records. I'm glad parents to can see reports from it. I use the Individual Advancement Report all the time. I am against my son using it as a regular tool for his advancement. I want his experience to be a face-to-face, social interaction. Learning how to interact and accomplish goals when dealing with people and their quirks. ScoutBook has turned out fine for adult leaders and parents.

I fear using the analogy of managers and subordinates in scouts. I fear trying to create the perfect troop or perfect scout hierarchy. Of course, help them work in small groups with their PL as their representative. Help their SPL representative the whole troop. We need to coach leaders to focus on the fun. Get the scouts outside. Encourage activities and camping and adventures. Within that context, scout leaders have plenty of opportunities to set examples and coach our scouts.

I tend to avoid commenting on political channels like this. But I have always taken sad view of arguments pitting class against class. I can't criticize the wealthy trying to become more wealthy. If it is a valid argument, then we should criticize everyone who quits a good job to take another job that pays more or has a title boost. We should criticize everyone who tries to develop a career or climb the corporate ladder. Anyone manager level or above must obviously be of dubious character. A man has a right to earn money. It doesn't matter if they are poor, middle class or wealthy

I recently chatted with a new scoutmaster. He talked about all his 2019 summer camp plans, how he'd coordinate everything, campfire songs to sing, skits to teach the scouts, etc. I felt he was planning to insert himself significantly into the scout's experience. My coaching to him was that his plans were nice and sounded fun, but may not be the right venue. I usurped Galadriel's quote from Lord Of The Rings and suggested he remember that our job is to diminish and let the scouts come into their own. It's their camp, their experiences, etc. We are to support, enable and protect, but

I often think that such scoutmasters behave as such to justify their own existence and show their own importance.

This was the old normal. In 2011, BSA created the new Eagle Service Project Workbook and updated the Guide To Advancement. The whole intention of that 2011 re-design was to reign in out-of-control expectations and create a clear consistent set of expectations for all scouts. Too often the emphasis was put on the paperwork and making the scout jump hoops to advance their project. The paperwork became more difficult than the execution. Bureaucracy was valued over service to others. After 2011, the proposal signatures are to reflect concepts, general plans and would such a project ful

I agree. IMHO, scouts should cross over directly from cubs to the lined up boy scout troop. And be provided resources and channels at all levels (Tiger --> Eagle) to easily find and switch units.

I fully agree. I hate troop shopping as a default hoop to jump through. But, if your current scouting unit is not a good match at any time, look for a better situation. There is no reason you can't change at any time.

It was after crossing over and their first meeting with the troop. At that time, there was no "earning" scout rank. Scout was a badge reflecting membership was setup correctly.

Great comments so far ... ... I was going to add a comment about pack camp outs and the gentleman not being able to share a tent with his girlfriend's Tiger scout son. So I re-read the G2SS. BSA documents have been getting more precise over the last 15 years. Words that are flexible are intentionally flexible and words that are more specific are more specific for a reason. The G2SS sometimes says "legal guardian" and other times just says "guardian". In the sections referring to sharing a tent, it just says "guardian". So if the mom says XXX is responsible for my son this weekend, d

I had some trouble. One problem was that it said I could use my email or username. When I used my email, I could not sign on. I had to use the my.scouting.org username. Then it worked with my password. It was confusing for a bit.

I always get sad when I hear about a MB class that is an eight hour lecture. The only time I've seen class based do well is when there is something that makes it personal and connects with the scout. An eight hour lecture is not scouts and not how we do things. Filling in blanks on a worksheet is not scouting and does NOT replace the requirement to interact and fulfill the expectations. What I mean is a class is okay if it's wood working and the scouts go to a wood shop to do projects with the guidance of the MBC. Or it's photography and the scouts run around with cameras, etc. Or

Thanks. I'll try again. Hmmm..... Just tried .... Errors out. Different than it error an hour ago. But still errors out. BSA must be working on security and other upgrades. Here is what I did. https://my.scouting.org/dashboard-legacy ---> My Training ---> ---> Training Center ---> ---> Cub Scouting (click the ">") I am re-directed to BSA LMS Logon https://my.scouting.org/vim2/unifiedlogon/userservice/proxy.aspx? Method=UserLogon&PageCode=MobileTaleoSSO&ReturnCompleteURI=.... I enter my username and

I tried to use the my.scouting.org online training recently (last night again) and it just crashes. I can't get any training courses to run.

I saw a BSA troop invest new scouts. It was a very meaningful. The lights were dimmed. The new scouts stood in a crescent facing the SPL. A candles were held by the new scouts and it was their first time saying oath and promise with the troop. It was kept very short. I'd be glad to see it done again.

I mostly agree with BSA's direction, but I do cringe when I hear there will be a scoutbook for girls and another for boys. Even if it's the same except pronouns, I know many scouters will be spending time to see if they are really the same. There is just too much temptation to drift with different content.

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I understand. I will share one sadness that I do have. Even though I do cringe at times and I believe OA (and other groups) will continue to move away from using native american lore (IMHO it's inevitable), I believe something will be lost. I think camps named after tribes (like antiquated art and other lore) can be offensive, but I hate seeing change as it cleanses the past. I'd rather have the lore and art as it can be a tool to teach us about the past. (good or bad)

I would be careful. It can be seen as a personal attack. Take this out of email. Do it face to face. Try to connect with the SM and build a common understanding. I find "most" people are reasonable when you show respect and truly value who they are and what they do. Work with the SM so that you understand the reasoning for his concern. See if there is flexibility or some common middle ground that would be helpful. For example ... The scouts should definitely run their projects independently. recruit and record volunteers, separately.

I create a custom scoutbook report that shows rank, age, eagle required badges, etc. Scoutbook would be a bit more useful if we could sort and invert the columns into rows. But it's still a pretty good report.

The key is that each project is owned by the scout. Planned, developed and led. I've had projects where we coordinated with other projects. But my project is still my project that I'm the driving force on. As for the scoutmaster, "it should be" outside his control. His chance would have been during scoutmaster review of the proposal. Perhaps the scoutmaster could have refused to sign proposals because he did not see it as three separate projects. But he did sign. Now it's the scout's project and it's up to the scout to plan, develop and lead. I'd imagine the Eagle board would

Qwazse ... and HashTagScouts ... I value and recognize your points. There is a long tradition in OA using indian lore for ceremonies and to communicate OA lessons and values. I can see it being really cool to younger people and very meaningful. It's just that society has changed and we are very sensitive to the past errors and abuses. I quoted "local nations" as it's really a hard thing to define local in a 50 state organization. Plus, tribes are made up of many many individuals. I could see some agreeing and some having major issues with it. I could also see this changing easily