hacimsaalk12

welcome aboard!! i hope you like it here. pull up a chair, kick off your shoes, and stay awhile.

WELCOME!!!! i hope you enjoy the forums, and find them useful for your many purposes.

i dont think we should ban pop and coffee. pop maybe because of all the sugar and other junk. coffee isnt as bad, as long as you dont load it with sugar and coffee creamer.

if you would ban pop, it wouldnt be that bad. you ban coffee, and you'd have half the older scouts out to skin you. coffee to some is like water to others. i know scouts that unless they get their coffee, they get major headaches, and cant function because they haven't had their coffee.

it all started in the staf versus us polo match. the aqua. director was in the pool playing on the staff team. right off the start he was rough on our team, picking on kids half or a quarter of his size. then, about 7 minutes into the game, he decided to put our SPL in a choke hold, for no apparent reason. our SPL then threw him over the rope into the next section of the pool. the aqua director threw him out, but then a bunch of adults started yelling at him because he choked him first, ect. so he said our SPL could come back in, but our SPL didnt want to get into another fight, or lose his temper, so he just left.

when we asked in the pool why he put a choke hold on him, he said "because i was under water and didnt know i was holding on to anything" the he said he threw him out of the pool, because he "had a bad temper and looked like he was going to hit me". when our SPL's dad and brother came back down to ask about it, he said" he kicked me in the crotch, and i didnt know i had a hold of him."

we ended it there, not wanting to beat a dead horse any farther, but one lady, who was watching reported it to the camp director, and to the council. the camp director confronted him about this (and many other things that happened during the week). he blew up, and got mad and started yelling. so, the camp director fired him.

i know at our camp it wasn't. i personally drank 3 or 4 cups over the course of the week. i also saw other scouts picking up a cup as they walked in the mess hall. i agree with you-dump the pop into the dumpster, and bring out a few more pots of coffee. i drink pop, but not all that much, and at summer camp, after running around all day, how good can it be for you?

i took nature, mammal study, reptile and amphibian study, art, hiking, backpacking, Emergency prep, and pioneering.

we just got back from summer camp yesterday. it was prety good. i pulled out 8 meritbadges, 2 of which were required for eagle. we won the water polo tournament, out of the scout teams, but we lost against the staff team (partly because our SPL was wrongly disqualified). the only major injusry was a bruised wrist. we also got the aquatics director fired (we helped in part, it wasnt all our fault).

hope everyone else has a great time at summer camp.

eamon- as a hunter i have to disagree. the PGC keeps the dates relatively the same. as far as camp goes, you are only allowed hunting turkey and deer there, and you have to matain a minimum 200 yds away from all buildings/activites grounds. we, as a state have one of the lowest hunter injury numbers around. on the game lands, most injuries are self-inflicted, and don't include anyone shooting another. i wear camo on many accasions. one being hunting, the other being scouting. any hunter that would pull a trigger on moving "bushes", shouldn't be hunting.

the coyotes, skunks, opossums, ect. dont have much to do with the equation. not many predator hunters hunt them after march. most all of them wear camo too, like we do, and make extra sure that it is actually a coyote, ect, rather than the neighbors dog.

i guess you have to hunt for all your life to feel like i do about camo.

our troop by-laws say that once a boy turns eagle he has to give up the SPL. i think it is so that others get a chance at it

eaamon- what exactly is the lesson to be learned from the turkey hunting incident. are you implying that we shouldn't wear camo because of hunters?

I plan to make eagle next year when im 15. at that point, i have to give up my position as SPL. i would like to become a JASM. is there any age requirements, or any requirements period?

enjoy your stay. im headed off to camp as well. i dont leave till sunday though.

"this scout fixation on BDU's and camo has got to be a rural thing. 15 years of scouting ive never seen a kid bring them on e trip."

mostly. most of the kids out here in rural areas use them for everday and work clothes, so they just get thrown in. most city kids have no need for them, there for they dont bring them.

in our troop, we have a high adventure patrol that plans activites to do for scouts that are first class or above. we do short trips, usually a weekend long, just about evey month. we accassionally do a week long trip too. in the troop every 3 years (2 years of scout camp, then one year big trip) we do a "big trip". this is when we go out of state. usually we have 2 groups, the base camp group, and the high adventure group that goes and does something above and beyond that is designed for older scouts.

hopewell-what activites do you have planned for your week in Ohiopyle?

in our troop, since i have been in, there has only been one instance of epulsion/suspension. one of the boys always had his hands and himself where they didn't belong. stealing stuff, destroying stuff, and being rough on other scouts. he also had a foul mouth, and it showed rather often . all he wanted to do was play poker, and eat. he was warned many times. finally on one of the camputs down at the scout camp, he decided he wanted a drink. the spigot he went to wasn't yet turned on(it was still late winter/early spring). he then proceeded to shake it until it broke. water started gushing everywhere. we tried to shut it off, but it busted off behind the shutoff valve, so we couldn't stop it. he ended up draining the water tower of all 5,000 gallons. to make it worse, he wasn't even sorry, and justified all his actions by saying he was thirsty. the next meeting his parents, the SM, and the committe chair sat down and told them the way it was. they weren't gonna put up with it anymore, and he was out. that put an end to him for good.

to clear up a few things: i wasn't reffering to me in my last post. i was saying that i know kids who appear to be good, but they do hanky-panky. i personally do not engage in such things. i believe it is better to wait. i try to treat every young girl/ woman with the most respect i can. i think it is both disrespectful to both yourself and the girl if you engage in activity that you shouldn't. it shows that you have no repect for yourself.

as far as venturing is concerned: MOST* involved are older, and have more control. (*notice i stressed most) if you could get into a 13 or 14yr olds mind, you would be amazed at what they think about. i dont know if it is just around here, but most kids that age seem to want to talk about hanky-panky all the time. they have not developed much control yet. in my post i was not saying that all guys want to do hanky-panky. most im sure are good people to be around. you do get a few corrupt ones though, and they are the problems.

sorry i wasnt more clear in my last post

"I thought it was just good judgment. In my experience, trusting that the adult supervision will absoultely protect kids from hanky-panky is hopeful, but not realistic. Kids outwit adults all the time (I did). Further, I don't think we can rely on "good" kids to not engage in hanky-panky. If we make something available to get into trouble with, even good kids make mistakes. "

i agree. being a scout, and knowing many "good" kids, i can speak from experience. many of my friends at school are "good" kids. parents are supervising them all the time. they outwitted the adults and did the hanky-panky. its not that hard to do. be realistic. if a boy and a girl wanted to engage in hanky-panky, all they have to do is wait until the SM is asleep. after that time pretty much all the scouts and girls would be free to engage as they wanted.

Welcome to the forums!!! I hope you enjoy your stay

i dont know much of the medical world. i would, if i were you take into consideration how far you are from the nearest abulance service. if you are way back in the boonies, i would take lots of supplies, to treat everything from a paper cut to someone who is having a asthma attack, to someone who broke a leg. i know down at our summer camp we had a new medic, who didnt know anything, and didnt bring much either. we had the ambulance there 3 times that week, once, because we didnt have the equipment to fo it. just be prepared for anything and you should be all right

in our troop, we start advertising it about 2 monthes in advance. then about 1 1/2 monthes before camp the committee chair and the SM sit down and have a parents meeting, to imform them. about 1 month (or whenever the money is due by) we sit down and talk about MB's. the next week we select which ones we want to take.

The only things our troop bans (besides BSA bans) is electronics, most games, anything that causes a ditraction, soda (except on special occassions, like with pizza),and coffee (except for the adults ). we wear pretty much whtever we want. we also eat whatever we want , if we have enough money to do it. we also carry sheath knives on fishing activites,but only then. after the fishing is done, back in the bag they go. as far as meds go, the adults carry prescriptions, and the older scouts are allowed to carry pver the counter drugs, such as tylenol, advil, ect. they have a lot of trust in us.

we also wear camo, but not in excess. usually only when playing capture the flag, or other games like that. occassionally a boy will wear camo pants, or a camo shirt, but that is ok with us.

Lighters?- they are a way to start a fire. as long as a boy has a fireman chip (or chit' which ever it is) why not let him carry one?

knives?- also BSA approved. they come in really useful. even look in the BSA handbook, they are reccommended. we dont let boys use them if they dont have their totin' chit' on them.

matches?- same thing as lighters.

"If I were in charge of a Boy Scout camp, I would gladly allow radios, CD players, MP3 players, walkmans, cell phones, and other electronic devices. I see nothing wrong with listening to music or talking on the phone while hiking, fishing, canoeing, or doing other activities. IMO I think that scoutmasters that ban electronic devices are doing so just to be cruel and mean. "

if you let boys carry cell phones, mp3 players, and cd players while they were hiking, or in the outdoors, what do you think they would get out of it? the Sm's ban it so it doesn't cause a distrction to the boy, or to the other scout around him. if he doesn't bring it, there also isn't any chandce that any one can be accussed of stealing it.

just my 2 cents

"If we're spending a week together, nobody's smelling like a barnyard animal "

i personally cant go a week without a shower, you just get to smelling way to bad (believe me ive hiked in NH all wek without a bath or any sort). at camp though, as long as the person in my tent takes a shower every day, im happy. dont really care bout others.

im totally against it. it just adds a lot more room for someone to accuse another perosn of things. if it went that way, instead of two deep, you have to go 3 or 4 deep. you also have many problems like sleeping aragements, and changing areas. at a scouts age, do you really think they need the temptation of a girl around, or knowing that "just beyond that door is a room of naked girls." you would also have to have a supervisor for everything. you can't exactly let boys who have raging hormones, go play games with girls down in the woods. it opens too many opportunites for sexual opportunites of all sorts. i know personally as a scout i would have trould concentrating on eagle or anyhting else for that matter. i would concentrate more on the girls. young and old scouts alike, dont need that at all.

"It has been my experience that many camps have communal showers for the boys."

man, i sure am glad my camp is different, we actually have personal shower stalls, with nice warm water ( if you get in there during the staff time)

"First of all I would just like to say that the posts made to all of the "first time moms" are down right rude!!! I can't believe that scouts would have the judgemental and disrespectful attitude that I have seen in some of the previous post! "

BSMom- i have been looking through this thread pretty often. could you please show me what is judgemental and rude? im not saying they're not there, i just dont see them. please take no offense at this, im just making sure i know whatnot to put in my replies.

"I'm going to side with BSmom on this... come one guys we've got new parents here, let's help some"

how? i thought we doing a good job. what else do they need to know?

i would sit all the boys down. tell them that there is a problem that needs fixed. tell them waht you have been seeing, and what needs to change. let them know that you will help them out, SOME, but not all the time. then tell them that if they dont start taking more time to do things, to make it a boy run troop, that you will just stop planning it for them. after one or two dropped campouts, because the boys are too busy, they will start finding time.

in our troop, the whole troop is boy run, except for the "adult" aspects of it (money, reservations, ect.) it took a long time to work up to this. i can remember the adults doing lost of stuff for us. the boys finally got tired of not having some thing the way they wanted (like the food, campout location, etc.). so we started taking over. now, if someone steps out of line, the SPL takes care of it, the scout doesnt just get shown to the SM's tent. until last year the positions like troop guide, historian, quartermaster,and all those didnt exsist.

i have noticed within the past 6 monthes how much kids are losing touch w/nature. it used to be that whenever we could, we were outside, playing capture the flag, or just taking a walk through the woods. now all the kids (young scouts) want to do is sit inside. we just got a new group of young scouts. (they mostly, in their spare time, play video games. i cant believe someone can devote 2-3 hours a day to play video games, or sportsbut sports is better than nothing.) all us older scouts were made to be outdoors, whether we liked it or not.(most of us being hunters and hikers wanted to be in the woods as much as possible.) we didnt have to play a game or anything, but we at least had to go for a walk 2 or 3 times a day. the older scouts (there are about 5 or 6 out of a troop of 15) just sit around until boredom gets the best and we go for a hike. the last campout we went on,all the younger scouts wanted to do was play cards. our SPL, talked to our SM, and we made those kids go on a hike. that was like pulling teeth.

i no longer look forward to weekends set aside for capture the flag, football, and other outdoor activitys. it just isnt that fun when you have 5 people playing. this is one of the reasons we formed an adventure patrol, and everyone joined OA. we can have fun with large groups, with minimal sitting around.

i evn have noticed this problem even here at home. i have an 11 yr old brother. he plays baseball, and when he isnt doing that all he does is sit in front of the TV. he wont do anything outside, unless he is threatened with grounding from TV. my parents cant even get him to mow grass once a week.

i know some of this stuff i posted might be alittle off topic, but i needed to vent, and this was the perfect place.