Gold Winger

All I know is that I've known far too many kids who want to do nothing else other than play video games. How often do you hear a parent say, "I have to ration my son's baseball time. He just wants to play baseball and do nothing else"? Or "I told my son that if he didn't get his grades up that I was going to take his chess set away"?

"scouts will not care what a Boy Scout Publication will be and unless it causes an issue of safety or grave concern adults should not force these things upon scouts." Why not? We force it on them in sports and few seem to care. "Tuck your shirt in or sit on the bench." "All players must wear white baseball pants and socks that match the shirt's color." What does it matter if a basketball player's undershirt doesn't match his uniform shirt's color? Not much but it must. Part of growing up is learing that some things are appropriate and others are not. Too many parents skip this part of parenting which is why I saw a young fellow wearing a ball cap at a funeral recently and his girlfriend had an exposed belly button.

" It is the Insignia Guide, under the Special Regulations section - Two Badges with the Same Meaning. In our Council, that clause is interpreted to include Den Chief Cords and Den Chief Badges, which mean the same thing - that one is a Den Chief." However, they don't mean the same thing. The patch is a badge of office, the cord indicates which office (Cub or Webelos).

In my experience, only one Boys Life subscription is needed per household to reach 100% BL status.

" What I said and meant was that the Den Chief Cord shouldn't be worn when the Den Chief is also wearing the Den Chief badge of office." Do you have a citation for this?

Boots give extra ankle support which is nice when descending the nice rocky trails coming down from either Baldy or Tooth of Time. My son's SM also recommded boots because with shoes it is easier to to get small rocks into your shoe and then have to stop and remove them. Of course you could avoid that problem by wearing puttees.

What do you mean by "patrols" when the den gets too big? Having two virtual dens with one den leader? I'd call those fire teams and not patrols. :-) BTW, those Dragons are still a den, not a patrol.

" As I read it myself I got the impression I was reading a verbal version of Reefer Madness." So you're saying that marijuana is an acceptable form of recreation if used in moderation?

I might agree with you about parenting if it wasn't for my son. If denied his video games, all my son wants to do is sit and mope. Send him outside and he'll just sit outside and mope. He didn't even grow up with video games, he didn't have one until he was past 13.

Although it would make sense that you don't wear the cord and patch at the same time, that isn't supported by the literature. I never gave it any thought before but they should have one or the other, patch or cord. I'd prefer the cord for historic reasons.

In my council they recommened that you don't identify Scouts by name in photos on the website and that nothing go against Scouting principles. For example, you wouldn't want banner ads for "HotTeens.com" no matter how easy that would make fund raising. :-)

"GW: the Musician office doesn't count toward POR, maybe that's why the patch has its own position on the right sleeve." That could be true but what about the Assistant Patrol Leader patch? I think that it is more likely because someone could be a PL, Librarian, or anything else and still be a Musician.

Never saw a dog at a camp. Cats are footballs with legs.

He didn't have a dog. Are they supposed to?

Does an adult belong to a patrol? Nope, they might be advisors but they aren't members of that patrol just like Troop Guides aren't members of the patrol that they advise. Wearing a patrol patch often gives the adult the idea that they are "in charge" of the patrol and consequently they treat is like a den of 3rd year Webelos. If you look at the Insignia Guide and the inspection sheets, you'll see that there is no place for a patrol medallion on an adult Boy Scout Leader uniform. If we look at the inspection forms, we'll notice that women in Cub Scouting may wear the Den Number or medallion on their right sleeve but that is missing from the mens' inspection form. Of course, many adults in Boys Scouts do wear a patch for the "Rocking Chair Patrol" or the "Old Goat Patrol" but that is completely unofficial. In the end, do what the COR tells you to do. He's the proxy for the owner of your unit.

"By the way, the Musician patch isn't really a position patch" If we're going to pick nits, they aren't "position patches." BSA calls them "Badges of Office" and the Musician patch is considered a Badge of Office.

I'm with you E. District activities should be an adjunct to the unit activities. As an aside. My son's troop oftent leaves for Summer Camp on father's day and no one complains. Buuuuut, schedule something for Mother's Day and it is the end of the world. Who says that women aren't in charge of the universe?

"I think he would marvel at how easy it is now in the States, given the availability of light-weight equipment and the enormous amount of suitable space in any BSA Boy Scout camp in which I have ever camped." The couple times that we used a Scout camp for other than summer camp, the Range said, "Camp here" and we camped there. Another troop had the next site and so on down the road. No creativity allowed.

Margartet, You got your simple answer. The may only wear one position patch. The Insignia Guide says one position patch. Do some wear two? Yes. Is that proper. No. You could also buy him a second shirt for Den Chief wear. you'll find incredibly long threads about proper uniforming and how much of a fuss we should make over creative patch placement. I don't care who asks the question. Most of the Scouts in my son's troop are barely aware that they need patches on their uniforms and it is ususally a parent that brings the subject up with me. Now I'll go on about how I'm confused as to why my original comments disappeared and then reappeared later. Could it be interference from the government or possibly the Asgard.(This message has been edited by Gold Winger)

Hmmmm . . . my pithy comments have vanished. I sense action by . . . argh! The black helicopters are hovering overhead and a big van has pulled up outside! Oh no! It's the thought police! Ayyyyiiiiiiieeee!

"You would think he would be able to consult the combined expertise of the PLC," ROFLMAO! "So between the PLC and the PL nobody can consult an Insignia Guide? " Most adults don't know that the Insignia Guide exists so why would the boys?

Starting new units isn't as easy as it sounds. You don't just say, "Hey, let's start a troop!" like it was a Judy Garland movie. First a charter org has to be found. Then a committee needs to be formed and then prospective Scouts must be recruited before a charter can be grantes. A big problem can be getting the Scouts to join a new unit instead of an established one that is already having fun.

Pretty common or so I've observed.

Since I'm no longer involved with Cub Scouts, my opinion doesn't matter. However, BSA rules on many things are vague and poorly written, some say that is intentional. IMNSHO, this is one of those cases. In the end, we all do what we have to do.

"ont ask me to give you a sorce for this statment. call it my opinion if you want," I've heard that before from official sources but I still think that it is hogwash.