gtscouter

The parents committee meets tomorrow. Based on what I'm learning, I'll suggest we do the camping and canoeing at a lake in May and get everyone trained. Then perhaps we can put the float together for June as a summer activity. Maybe that would even allow us to float on a weekday when the rivers are less crowded and the rentals are cheaper. This is is so true. I took a group of boys on a bike rally and the older boys got way ahead and got off the course at some point. Luckily we had radios! The safety afloat training really stresses supervision. If we postpone the float until

We are a Missouri based troop/crew. If the event is open to the whole troop, we will have kids of ages 11 and up. If we restrict it to crew members, we'll have only high schoolers. The trip will be in early May. There are several beginner's level floating rivers in the region. But, the whole idea is starting to concern me, the more I learn. I am now seriously thinking that instead of a true "float" on a river, I should suggest we camp at a summer camp property that has a lake and practice skills that way. All these kids have qualified as swimmers at summer camp last year. So, at le

You are confirming what I was thinking. Perhaps going through the skills outlined in the MB and then creating some kind of test of knowledge. I don't know how successful it will be to demonstrate the skills on land, but I don't anticipate we'll have access to water before the trip. I discovered there is an online tutorial for Safety Afloat and Safe Swim. That will be helpful too.

I'll be visiting NH this summer with my two sons, one a Life Scout, one a Wolf Cub. We plan to stay in the White Mountains. We're aware of the typical tourist attractions. Any tips for moderately adventuresome visitors? We'll be close to Lincoln, Franconia, etc. We won't be camping this visit, but we are looking for a place to take a canoe or kayak trip too.

Can anyone tell me what is meant by a "basic handling test" in Section 6 of Safety Afloat? I don't think it's defined anywhere. How might our Crew carry out training in basic handling skills in anticipation of a float trip by canoe? The alternative is 3 hours of "training and supervised practice" which I don't think is achievable before this event occurs, unless each scout has already completed the canoing merit badge.

Here's an update. I agree that I am disappointed that the complaining parents don't/didn't approach the leader themselves. I don't want to create a mob scene, so I'm not going to have all parents get together. One parent is the Assistant Den Leader for this Den. So, I spoke to her and asked if she and her husband were open to contacting Den Leader and his wife for a "one on one". Suggested that she keep the conversation focused only on her son and his experiences with the Den. In this way it is not a "she said, he said" type of approach. Then the hope is that if the Leader gets feedback

I am a newly appointed Committee Chair and have immediately been hit with complaints about one of our Den Leaders. This leader happens to be a former cubmaster and a very active member of BSA in our area. He can be very abrasive. He recently confronted the boys (9-yr olds) directly about why they lacked the commitment to go on the upcoming pack camp out, for example. He didn't let the boys make S'mores at the spring camporee with the other den from our pack. These types of things upset both the boys and their parents. In addition, the parents tell me the den did not hold regular den meet