Horizon

I once walked up to a group of Scouts. A boy from one patrol was asking to borrow some cooking gear from the other patrol. The response was pretty rude. I happened to be in ear shot, and all I asked was "So - how many of the Laws were just violated?" This triggered a great discussion, and I also tossed in that this would have never happened if the first patrol had Been Prepared. It seemed to work well as a conversation, and it ended in smiles. The boy in question who violated the Laws STILL brings this up with others - it was a triggering point for him to change it seems. Best

LA Times has an update to their article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-boy-scouts-20120927,0,3623954.story "Boy Scouts to review half-century of files on sexual predators Law enforcement will be informed of any previously undisclosed cases, the organization says. " "The Boy Scouts of America has announced it will review more than a half-century of its confidential files on alleged sexual predators and will inform law enforcement of any cases it had not previously disclosed. The unprecedented review will examine about 5,000 cases dating from the 1950s to the pres

This article is an in-depth perspective on the challenge that we all face. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/09/24/120924crat_atlarge_gladwell Just the first page highlights the challenges when accusations are made, but there is no evidence.

These guys are raising money through Kickstarter to pay for the creation and publication of a lesson plan for Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. Not a big deal IMHO, though I won't pay for it. I do think that WS can be a great badge, and that it needs a rewrite to reflect both LNT AND the goal - survival in the wild (not just the woods - the wild). It is still my most memorable badge, due to having a farmer drive up with live chickens for us to kill, clean and cook to pass the badge.

You can choose a range based on personal belief and the maturity of the Scout: "Thank you, have a nice day" "Thank you, I understand your perspective" "Thank you, please know that not all of us agree with the national policy" For the cubs - we stick to thank you. For the Scouts, each one picks their own response based on their belief. No matter what I expect them to be respectful. If someone states that they won't purchase due to our policies - that is not being intolerant. They are saying "no" AND saying why. Nothing wrong with that. I regularly say to to people

Now the LA Times is reporting on problems with the US Swim Team and one of its coaches: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-swimming-coach-20120918,0,5045141.story "The lawsuit charges that while Schubert was involved with a Fullerton swim club, he failed to report allegations of improper conduct between coaches and some of the club's young athletes. Instead, the suit contends, Schubert hired a private investigator to gather evidence against one of the coaches and used it as leverage to extract a $625,000 settlement from USA Swimming after he was dismissed in 2010. Schubert

Its not the crime, its the coverup.

skeptic: The LA Times has ALSO gone after the public schools as well. They don't cut any slack to sacred cows on the Left, for example: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/06/local/me-teachers6 Our reaction should NOT be to attack the messengers. We, as an organization, should have followed the lead of the Scouts in Canada and started our own investigation into our old files YEARS ago. We should have allowed for a 3rd party audit, instead of being caught by the slow release of files due to legal requirements. In business school, we teach how to deal with a crisis. The

To help out, everyone should register to be a marrow donor: http://marrow.org/Home.aspx I registered a year ago - no calls yet, but I know that I am on their list.

I went to high school in the mid-80s in a semi-rural, heavily fundamentalist area. When the biology class taught the theory of evolution, students were allowed to take study hall that week. In history, the Scopes trial was mentioned, and that was it. So I decided to go check a history book on my shelves. I sometimes pick up older tomes, just to see how the approach to subjects changes over time. This one was published in 1966. The Scopes trial is reviewed over half of a page of a 700+ page history book. The trial is summarized as a technical victory for fundamentalism (the d

We have a local troop that caps at 80 - that is all their meeting hall can handle. We regularly get spill over from them, and our Troop is has around 70 on the books plus a Crew. As for Patrol Sizes, we have kept it to 5 patrols. Some patrols get to 14+ members, but that just means that they get a sold 8 on a given campout.

Beavah - I am going to restate one thing that is the source of the problem - actual, concrete value to Eagle. With colleges giving points to Eagles (though at least one system looks for SPL to go with it), the military given automatic rank advancement to Enlisted - there is now money in Eagle. Once there is money in something, the fighting gets harder. Similar to the class ranking games in schools - that impacts college applications as well. I had an issue with a high school counselor who wanted to put in the assumed drop outs from my class when determining my class rank. She was doin

The funny thing is, the Scout needs the same time in their POR. Surely while serving in their 6 month POR they were also fitting the role of active? Aside from perhaps OA rep and Den Chief, I can't think of a POR that would not require a Scout to also be active in the unit as well. If not, you shouldn't be focusing on adding up weeks but instead be focusing on ensuring that you have real PORs. This is a PLC problem, not one for the Scouters IMHO.

I took a few boys backpacking awhile ago - 7 days of some real backcountry stuff. One I did not know, my son knew him from school. My son's statement, "don't worry dad, he's an Eagle." The boy's father dropped him off at my house as we were heading up the road (4 hour drive to the trailhead). Dad said, "you need to check his gear?" I said, "nope - he's an Eagle. He either has it or knows how to do without it." So to me an Eagle is someone I don't need to check on, micromanage, etc. I can give them a task and walk away - they will ask if they have a question or will take care of

I use luck in my phrasing to avoid thinking that I am better than I am. As taught to me, recent immigrant Asian families are looking for a way to help their sons be part of America (which we represent) plus get an edge on college (yep - the Eagle). Many of the families around me have fathers still running the factories back in Asia, while their sons and wives get a US education. If you get one from the local school, get them to come to a meeting and bring friends. Look for the woman that the others are deferring to - there is a pecking order like in any other group. Get that one o

SeattlePioneer: I have been very lucky with Asian communities (Korean and Chinese), plus Indian. The trick with the Asian communities is the moms I have found. I don't have Latinos in my immediate area - though there are some successful Troops in the next town over. Again - my interest in the numbers is seeing what is going with us, and other youth organizations.

Infoscouter - many thanks. I will check the numbers from Merlyn against those. (The first number for 1996 was exactly what Merlyn's cite showed FYI). Anybody have anything going back to before the 70s? I have heard that we lost 1/3 of units with the "no camping" change, but again want to see numbers to evaluate on my own.

SeattlePioneer - Merlyn's source obviously has a slant, but I just want the numbers over time. This is something that should be easy to get, but I could not find it anywhere else. Our numerical drop is not going to be because of any one issue - rather it is a combination of factors. - Competition from other youth activities - Loss of recruiting access at schools - Mobile workforce (people losing connection to their communities) - Single parents (time to commit to youth activities) - Our loss of presence in the marketplace (we are no longer omnipresent) - The ongoing "coo

We see this in Little League as well, where a protest gets filed over something and a game gets a restart. Soccer, however, doesn't seem to have the same problem because they have declared that what the ref calls is what officially happens. A ref might be removed from the list, but that is it. Rules lawyers for Scouts occur because of the value that Eagle has gained over time (rank advancement in the enlisted ranks, "points" towards college applications). That puts more value on the Eagle, and with value comes fighting over receipt.

When I am backpacking my Frisbee gets wiped down by my damp neckerchief and tossed back in my backpack. Water is a scarce resource on our local trails, so having enough water to rinse soap off is tough.

Basement - it is all part of what we now call in software Gamification - making every type of activity into an achievement award driving game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification

For some other Scouting changes: --------------- Skill Awards. I actually liked them - they put the whole skills training into buckets, instead of the T-2-1 separation we have today. --------------- Boards of Review: 1 - Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class applicants had a review with the PLC - NOT adult leaders. Our Troop used the Leadership Corps, which was Eagles only in our Troop and they did the review. I remember being both scared, and then elated when I passed THEIR review. 2 - Star and Life were reviews by ASMs I think - I know that they were in uniform. They wer

Fire. The mark of a Scout was rubbing two cliches together to start your cooking fire. Now everything is stoves. Where I camp in Southern California, fires are flat out illegal most of the time. Competition with other youth activities. We had coaches running shuttles to the campout after Friday Night Lights. Nothing like two guys still in their pads showing up for a campout. Now we have coaches telling boys that they won't make Varsity if they waste time on that Scouting stuff. Youth sports has gotten so competitive that we have lost a lot of the athletes from our Units. Acade

While I am not sure how you would ensure that the weekends always work for candidates (just thinking logistics here) - some sort of a wilderness survival final exam for Eagles could be really good. When I was Scoutmaster, when a Scout requested and Advancement SMC I would hand them my walking staff and tell them to come back with all appropriate knots tied on it and we would start their conference. I got concerned about adding to requirements, and instead started giving out prizes for camp gadgets that used every knot instead. I also implemented our annual "oops we forgot the tents" c

Thanks Merlyn.