HICO_Eagle

Maybe I missed something since I didn't read this other thread but I broke it down just like Scoutfish. Bluejacket didn't go around the CM and doesn't appear to be trying to set the Pack's program. He invited some families he knows from school while at school to an event he's talking at. The CM's reaction sounded to me like classic control freak. From his (admittedly one-sided) description, the Pack didn't decide on the program, the CM did. SHE felt the event he was speaking at was too expensive and didn't give anyone a chance to participate on an individual basis. Having said that,

I would like to explain how it came to pass that I got fat. Ladies and gentlemen, I got fat as a public service. When I was a child, my mother said to me, "Clean the plate, because children are starving in Europe." And I might point out that that was years before the Marshall Plan was ever heard of. So I would clean the plate, four, five, six times a day. Because somehow I felt that that would keep the children from starving in Europe. But I was wrong. They kept starving. And I got fat. So I would like to say to every one of you who is either skinny or in some other way norma

I'm with bacchus on HOW to respond to them but I've got another question for them: Why don't these people put half the energy they use in defaming and harassing Scouting toward creating their own youth group that does what they claim they want?

Can you be removed? Yes, but not unilaterally by the SPL unless your troop committee has set specific rules that probably violate national guidelines. Personally, I would bring this up in a PLC attended by the SM but try to do it without seeming argumentative. For example, you could ask for advice on how to deal with the situations the SPL is using as a pretext as well as suggest the PLC codify rules that would explicitly state what was expected of the various PORs and when people would be replaced.

At risk of resurrecting a zombie thread, I have always had problems with our troops' "no electronics" policy -- and in fact, the troop has relaxed the policy in recent years. I would rather teach the boys about appropriate use of electronics or any other piece of equipment than just ban them but the biggest problem I had with the policy was that I felt like a hypocrite when enforcing it. When I grew up through Scouting, our troop/patrol frequently brought along small boomboxes and pounds worth of D-cell batteries. We packed that extra weight along because it made camp more pleasant (non

"2) I remember the days when units only gave awards only at COHs. I know things have changed, but if this is an older unit, traditions die hard. " When would this have been? My troop in '79 was handing out awards as soon as possible after they were earned, just retaining the pocket cards for recognition at the CoH.

My response is an unequivocal yes. Whether or not your council FOS uses the camp to further their propaganda, most Scouts benefit from having access to a real Scout camp. There are things you can do with a long term camp that the council knows it can make long range plans for. There are things you can't plan on doing at a state park and in fact in today's age you can't even count on getting taxpayer-funded facilities with the ACLU attacking BSA every chance they get.

I'm with SR540Beaver. I hear you (or Tico Perez) about 100% training requirements coming but frankly it's a stupid policy with a stupid approach to training. All IOLS has been for the SM/ASMs of our troop has been a ridiculous waste of time and administrative headache. I understand some people need it -- heck, I support the class being offered and highly encouraged, I just think it's ludicrous to make it mandatory when you have recently graduated Eagles or adults who have spent the better part of a quarter century or more living, breathing, teaching Scout skills. All the computerized r

Thanks Seattle. I agree, council and the units themselves may know they're weak but not necessarily HOW weak or specifically which areas could use improvement. I am probably one of the worst offenders on this board for complaining about National and new requirements or new paperwork but it just seemed to me that some of these posts were a little off-base. When we discussed JTE at my district's Roundtable last year we specifically noted that this was intended both to motivate units and identify specific areas of improvement that National thought was important.

Sorry, I'm with Beavah on this. I don't think YPT or YP standards discourage or prevent pedophiles; if they did, we should have had ZERO cases since YPT was instituted. These people are sick, pure and simple. Sandusky got away with what he did for as long as he did because people were willing to turn a blind eye, not because some rule or other does or doesn't exist. YP standards mean I have to meet with Scouts to work on merit badges at the public library instead of my house and I no longer get asked to drop them off at their homes after the meeting or campout but I have yet to see any pro

Eamonn, there's hope for all of us. Christmas season always started for me with my father's reel-to-reel tapes first thing in the morning every morning and the first song up was Andy Williams singing "Happy Holidays" so it never felt like Christmas until I heard him singing. Maybe that's why Christmas seemed so lackluster this year -- no music in the house! I liked John Denver and the Muppets but that was just one Christmas special, Andy did new ones every year. I like the Nook Tablet and the Nook Simple Touch. Having them is SO much better than carrying the 2 or 3 paperback

Irsap -- I've been away from the forums for a while but I'm sorry you feel you have to defend yourself and other adult leaders who were never Scouts. As you say, NS leaders are in demand because we don't have enough involved leaders period. I think nearly all (if not all) of us recognize someone doesn't have to have gone through Scouting as a youth to be a good Scout leader. Both of my scoutmasters growing up were non-scout leaders assisted by a couple of recently graduated ASMs. Had the SMs not given what they could of their time and organizational skill, the ASMs could not have

I'm not a fan of JTE -- as was said, I don't like "grading" units. However, I think a lot of you are taking this the wrong way. The point of JTE as I understood it was partly recognition of those units who have a superior program but also to help the District and Council identify which units may be having a tough time and target them for fixes or improvement before the units approach collapse. A unit which is performing on all cylinders is obviously not going to learn much (if anything) from this. Congratulations, you don't need help, you know it all. The 10-20% that get Bronze -- or

IMO, the lawyers and the professional "educators" are the ones taking the fun out of Scouting. Can't do this or that unless you have permission slips, tour permits, abide by G2SS and have everyone "trained". I detest a lot of the policies instituted by National in the past decade but I realize tort lawyers have driven most of them. In the end, I just convince myself that it's all for the boys and grin and bear it.

For simple active use, I like the canvas convertibles, especially since they're not made in the PRC. I took a pair with me to Argentina and Antarctica because I wanted the utility pockets. For ceremonial use, I prefer the ODLs or the olive-drabs of the 60s-70s. I liked the style and ease of storage of the flight caps. Yes, they don't give much sun protection but I grew up in a warm sunny climate where we generally didn't wear headgear anyway so didn't notice the lack of shade from the flight caps. Can't stand the Centennial uniform and won't be buying one unless I pork out and can

I know this situation is OBE at this point but I side with those who say don't sign. I have seen scouts literally decide to NOT finish out as Eagles because they'd seen guys like this get passed through the ranks to the point that the Eagle rank no longer meant anything to them. Letting someone like that through just cheapens the rank for the rest of us.

I just took the new ARC course Wed night and you DO care about AED training because it's a part of the new curriculum. It's not hard -- just be aware of what type of machine you have and listen to its instructions -- but it is now part of the four-step critical process.

Is your troop having to pay the $80 to the church to have them conduct the fingerprinting or is that the estimate cost just to have it done? When I was in FL (about 8-10 years ago), you could get the fingerprinting done at the local sheriff's office or police station for about $10.

I don't think EDGE is poppycock, I just don't think it's some magic formula or really anything new. Like so many fads before it, it does have some elements of truth and the mnemonic is a decent way to remember steps of instruction if you need the memory jogger. The concepts of giving someone the context of why they're learning something (Explain), showing them how to do it (Demonstrate), taking them through the process of doing it themselves (Guide) and then freeing them to do it themselves (Enable) is a pretty solid teaching method that goes beyond motor skills. The methodology worked

I don't mind the existence of a Guide to Safe Scouting -- in fact, I like it. Waht I don't like is that it has evolved to be so risk-averse as to be limiting. I am really torqued by the elimination of adult-less patrol outings. Some of the best campouts and hikes I took as a Scout were Just Scouts.

Honestly? It wouldn't even have occurred to me that an OA team would show up in less than complete uniform -- and our troop uses the "waist up" policy for most cases. We have a uniform bank and I have personally purchased two sets of pants for the bank when we needed FULL uniform for a very public flag ceremony. The lodge in question may have different standards and I'm certainly not going to argue if they have a cogent reasonable explanation of why they would send a team in less than complete uniform -- but they should have a cogent reasonable explanation. I have some Scouts in my tro

I've always seen them called hurricane lanterns. I thought smudge pots were small pots (almost like canned heat) that created a small flame and a lot of smoke.

Don't get me wrong -- I have nothing against professional scouters. We need them and we have a great bunch of them in my council. Having said that, being "professionals" doesn't necessarily make them more qualified on Scouting training. It's not like being a doctor or a pilot or a dentist and quite a lot of management "education" is faddism (anyone remember TQM/TQL? or Demings? or Seven Habits?).

The analogies aren't apt due to both depth (10 years of rigorous academic and practical work) of study and relevance of the material. If you want to do surgery then of course you need to study biology, physiology, technique, etc. After 20+ years of academic training and practical experience, I'm not convinced you can say the same of the kind of management education that is being pushed. "BSA has a training program developed by professional scouters" ... and your point is? What makes the training program developed by the professional scouters worth anything much less better than th

I think the most I would do at this stage is the suggestion to record the results (not the proceedings) of the Scout's BOR. I'm not even sure I would put in the bit about Council considering removing him for life -- the fact he failed a BOR should give the new troop pause for consideration without prejudicing his future in the troop. Remember that most other Scouters should (will?) be looking at the "new" boy with an eye toward the safety of the other boys in the troop as well. We need to balance the Scout's need for a fair shake and ability to change with the duty to the other Scouts to pr