Horizon

You can have a 100% Baptist unit - just only accept Scouts from your congregation. Then in addition to the Oath and Law, you could focus on the Baptist flavor of Christianity.

I second Tahawk. I have talked to local gear outfitters about getting registered as counselors to increase their business. This is effectively what the BSA has done with its PADI relationship for SCUBA merit badge - opens up SCUBA to Scouts, but requires a Dive Instructor who doesn't work for free in most cases (unless you are fortunate to have one willing to work for the Scouts on the side). Thinking of badges that require professional certification or equivalency to be done right: Aviation Kayaking White Water SCUBA

What I have seen: Den bridges over to an assigned Patrol Leader for the first 6 months. Said Patrol Leader is often someone who is First Class and ready to take on a team. That provides the leadership. VERY dependent on the initial assigned PL. A good Troop Guide can be added to supplement, or instead of the assigned PL. Scoutmaster stepping in more than usually desired. I held a small Patrol meeting where the Patrol was not following their elected leader. I told them, "You elected him. It is your obligation to show the respect you initially gave him when you elected him." This

Reading is a form of learning. There is no difference between reading something\ in a book and looking it up on the phone. Example: I want to do a random knot. The diagram in the BSA handbook is poor. I find a video (which fosters a different type of learning - visual representation). I watch it, and tie the knot. How is that going to keep me from remembering again? In my career, I met with the team that purchases technology for our special forces. They bought smart phone devices for them, and wrote special software that would help adjust for windage and elevation in long dista

My unit still prohibits, but the discussion has started. Biggest concern I have is the homesickness issue already raised. I don't need kids calling home to get picked up. I already have challenges when kids have arranged for an early pickup, and I turn around and 3 others have loaded into the car to leave. The rest doesn't bother me as much. Some Scout wants music at night in their tent? I don't care. If they have it out during the day - I can ask / tell them to put it away. That is easy. I love the the star apps on my iPhone. Maybe that makes me lazy, but the full list of constellat

I have a Troop with similar characteristics. My most religious scouts are a few from a local Baptist / Evangelical congregation, a Hindu Scout, and a Jewish Scout (Reform I think). I grew up CBD (Christian By Default) - my parents did not attend church, but expressed a belief in a higher power in general. In high school I was prayed for due to my belief in evolution. In college I was baptized after joining my fiancee's church (PCUSA), where I now serve as a Deacon at times. So I love it when Scouts tell me that they believe in something, but they are not sure what. I ask them questions, a

Eagle counts for a point. Senior Patrol leader is known as the head of the club - at least at the local university (my wife was a faculty rep on the admissions requirements team). It is true a B is an F for top schools today as well. However - the stress, anxiety, etc. that is being push on kids is insane.

Since we all battle how to keep boys engaged, while going head-to-head with other, competing interests - I thought I would share this research from Stanford: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/march/too-much-homework-031014.html [h=1]Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework[/h] A Stanford researcher found that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance and even alienation from society. More than two hours of homework a night may be counterproductive, according to the study.

I just put together a board with a mounted pole on it. It is marked with all of the knots on the Trail to First class: Square, 2 Half Hitches, Taut Line Hitch, Bowline, Timber Hitch, Clove Hitch. I set up a cracker barrel on the campout out of my pocket, and anyone who wants the grub just has to tie all of the knots and they can come on in. It has increased use of the knots, and the board comes out at meetings too. Next step is a competition for time to tie all 6, with rankings and some sort of a reward. We run a couple of campouts without tents - we bring tarps, poles and ropes and

Adults as their own patrol. Help keep the helicopters grounded as well as they do dishes and cook!

Food is by the Patrol - so no concern. Only issue is seat belts and enough tents packed. I HATE to keep a boy from an outing if I can. That said, I am considering proposing to our Troop that Patrols be responsible for their own drivers, and that the Troop get out of the business of providing seat belts.

Want to say thanks for this old thread. Trying to figure out this little bit - dump the slices of break was my mistake (I KNEW that pie was good).

If you want to change a rule, it usually helps to find out why the rule exists in the first place. In your first post you mention the Kabar knife. I carried one of those. In the Marine Corps. They are a tactical knife designed for fighting, with the addition of a place to cut barbed wire. Those are exactly the knives I am talking about triggering these rules - boys walking around with a kabar on their waist in a sheath. Your later post talked about a switchblade - those are illegal in most places, and have been for quite some time. You can add in gravity knives, double sided blades,

This is how I use the position as well. JASM are over 16 Eagles who want to give back, and are ready to take on more responsibility as well. They often have served as PL and SPL, but don't want that position again.

Now that I have posted BSA policy... The solution that many Troops and camps adopted probably were developed when young boys decided they wanted Rambo's knife (an issue from when I was a Scout), or Crocodile Dundee's (from later in my Scouting life). The flip side is the Bowie knife, which doubles as a hatchet and is well known as a perfectly usable tool in the backcountry. Even better, it comes from our nation's history. Some jurisdictions have issues with knives over a certain blade length - California, for example, seems to have an issue once a knife has a blade of 4 inches

Start with the BSA rule: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/healthandsafety/gen_faq.aspx [h=3]Sheath Knives[/h] Q. What is the official BSA regulation on carrying sheath knives? A. Sheath knives are not prohibited by the BSA, but they may be regulated by state or local ordinances and/or by camp “rules.†We recommend that the right tool for the job be used (cutting branches or ropes). We do not encourage wearing them at the waist as injury could occur during falls. and http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2012/08/06/make-your-point-whats-your-units-knife-policy/

YPT wouldn't allow the older girls with all boys I think (someone can correct me on that). I do think that some sort of a YPT adjustment might need to be made in regards to gender desire vs. biological gender. That said, my son has gone on ski trips with the gay youth minister every year since he was 13. The other adults along were a couple of moms staying in the girl's rooms. Never a concern on my part.

It wasn't on purpose, but we realized that we had some pretty cool campout themes (shooting, rock climbing, skiing, beach). Some of my middle schoolers used it to recruit friends come along. For some trips, guests were allowed. For others, like shooting, I insisted on registration. Worked out pretty well. First time I did it, picked up 4 new youth. 2 stuck it out, and one Eagled. Those two are still active in the Crew as well.

Bingo. My biggest recruiting campout for middle schoolers is coming up - we go shooting. A day of shotgun, a day of rifle (with big bore for Venture aged youth). Gotta join to come along. We follow it up with some skiing (in the past - California skiing is terrible this year). Then we show them summer camp on Catalina Island. Amazing how many kids I get from that. The entire gay issue has been a distraction. For parents scared of gays, I talk to them about how we handle YPT and risk. For parents on the other side, I talk to them about how we really don't care and it just isn't an issue. Onc

Starbash - please excuse my flippancy - I realize that you were looking for some serious insights for your son's ECOH. Congrats to your son, and may he see this is just the first few steps on the trail.

How about Tom Lehrer's Be Prepared? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSwjuz_-yao&feature=kp

Read the article - we have been dropping for years. We hit 6% this year, higher than the 4% drop last year. Trying to pin this on the gay issue ignores all of the other factors we deal with already. Allowing some gay scouts adds to some of that drop, but we were already dropping.

The way to fight something like this is to start looking into other organizations that discriminate. During the 80s, many campuses passed hate speech rules, then they saw those rules applied towards the various minority groups (e.g. Mecha) instead of towards the evil white boys. If this is the California rule, then I would check to see if MECHA still has in their rules that they are for their own race. Then have every judge who is a member resign. Hunt down every single group, and then see how long it takes to change the rules to allow for free association. Of course, it could be int

I want to fix a broken system. We already have a database of youth registration, with unique BSA identifiers We already have a database of advancement, with unique BSA identifiers. We already have a database of education, with unique BSA identifiers. We already have a database of registered leaders, with unique BSA identifiers. We already have a database of donations as well from FOS. Background checks are done with a computer, based on information that comes FROM the paper form. That information is then entered INTO a computer for the check. We simply need to improve this

You guys are cracking me up, and are reflective of why the BSA is so far behind. Scouter99 seems to think that 700 records is a big deal. I had 700 individual records added to a database at work this morning, holding more information on each person than the BSA has on me. Scout99 - our pants were down partially because we did NOT have a single, unified database. It was in paper files in HQ, and it was not easily cross-checked. The BSA's own system has out of data information on me - I know this because when we got the Crew going I had to correct information in the training database that