IM_Kathy

well, my son's troop upcoming campout we actually ran into an interesting situation... the only adults who had signed up at first were women - I commented about this and got a male to sign up. But without any of the ladies this campout would need to be cancelled because we have to have at least 2 (though 3 for the number of boys going) I know with venture cres you must have a male adult and a female adult if there are both sexes in attendence... so I'm sure the same would be true with Boy Scouts.

the only time any of our adults (committee or whatever) mention dates and school activities is when the boys have scheduled a planning meeting where they sit down and plan the next X number of months meetings, events, and campouts. The boys never seem to pay attention to the fact that "hey that weekend is during Christmas break" another time we'll mention dates is when we as adults will comment among ourselves "there aren't a lot of boys signed up for this campout" "oh yeah, the high school band has a competition that weekend" and then the one time we will bring up a date is when a couple of boys are working on a merit badge and are needing to say tour the capitol - rather than having boys all do this on their own the MBC will make an announcement that we need to know who else is wanting to do this. With this specific type of event it usually does take adults to look at the different school schedules (we have boys from 2 school districts) to find out when we have an early out on the same day and then set it up with one of our local congressman. so those are the only few times I can ever think of any of our adults worrying about a date - the rest is all done by the boys. also, I will add that adults do need to have a little say on dates. If we don't have enough adults able to attend an activity the boys want to plan then the activity ends up cancelled which isn't fair either.

when my son was a cub he went through 3 different CM and committees... through all 3 they informed all families and DL that the pack does not have the money to buy all the belt loops that I would would earn especially for how easy they are to earn. They left the purchasing of belt loops up to the parent(s). And for all the years while my son was a Tiger through Webelos none of the scouts/families bothered with awarding the belt loops though they did do some of them. after my son crossed over a new CM came in and a new committee... they started to pay for the belt loops, and after a year had to raise dues to cover the cost which upset those parents that already had a son go through. sure belt loops look cool... but are they really worth the money?

wow - wish I had that issue with our troop or my girl scout unit. back when my son was in cubs we only charged a few for 4 of our monthly pack meetings... 1) our lock-in where dinner was served and also had to pay for renting room 2) blue and gold when we stopped having it potluck style and went with catered we had to pay for the meal, but we set the schedule to inform families when the meal was, when skits would start, and when awards would start so that those that didn't want to pay for the meal could just come after that. 3) our family campout where we had to pay for food and for campground 4) our pool party... which is actually the one event we usually lost money on, but it was covered by our funraising. all our other events were 100% free. paid for by the boys fundraising efforts. the only time we had a large surplus of money was when we were saving up for a new PWD track.

Thomas54 - I don't agree with how you see CM as being made up by parents who want to pave the way for thier son's. I'm sure this may be the case in some units, but I hope not all. The reason many of us join the committee or other position is because they know that if these roles aren't filled then the program they want for their son wouldn't exist. there wouldn't be any camping trips if none of the adults went, there wouldn't be any MB if none of the adults registered as MBC...

first off... artjrk - I'm glad to hear it's not just my child that has directional issues. Though my problem is with our daughter... we've had to send our son with her at times to help with directions (he's almost 15 and she's almost 17) She's been getting college booklets and such and my husband and I realized that there is only 1 college she can go to because she'd never find herself to and from any of the others - of course she doesn't want to go THERE. if this is a rule I sure have never heard of it... for me it depends on the vehicle I'm driving. if I'm in the truck then I only have the front seat and will put me and then 2 scouts. but if I'm in my jeep then I need 2 small scouts in the back seat, and while my son is older than some he's still littler than many and ends up in the back seat.

my son's current troop has never had a "closed" committee meeting... my son's previous troop did - and is was to discuss my son and a couple of others. The part that was upsetting is that it wasn't an actual "closed" meeting - it was just closed to me and another parent. It was a bit-- session on how we were ruining things, even though we were actually trying to help the troop and the boys to keep them from having to cancel so many trips etc... as to the reasons for the meeting... my son's troop doesn't limit the number of MB we can be MBC for, but they don't tell us that we can fill in more than one sheet for badges to council - and the sheet has room for 5 or 7 as I recall. My son HATES having me as a MBC because he says I'm harder on him than I am on other boys - I don't think I'm harder... but I like to have documentary proof that he did the work, either he has things written up, photographs of work, or does it during the free time of a troop meeting. This is the same for other scouts - though sometimes when it's a discuss with councilor I make him write and then discuss which is why he thinks I'm harder on him. I was his Family Life councilor, because he started that with his old troop and they had parents do it for their sons. The other one was swimming and I'm the only swimming MBC in our troop. For that one I made him take it at summer camp and then what he wasn't able to complete there he did with me. The only part he didn't upset me because the camp actually raised the requirements - the surface dives are in depth over scouts head and they were making them do it in 10ft depth which he couldn't do, but he could do 6.5ft and at just over 5ft qualified. wish your son luck with the 100 goal. I think it's cool to have a kid have a goal like that and it should be encouraged

glad to hear he retracted his statement. thankfully the troops my son has been in have not had the issue of women - if they did they wouldn't have a parent from our family attending because my husband HATES to camp! I still can't believe my kids got him to go camping just us one summer. And he was sooooo happy to be home LOL. the only thing I don't like about going camping is not having a tent mate - and in the colder months having another person in the tent is important!!! but now I have 1-2 other females that will go - though I don't think they will winter camp after our March campout with the very late snowfall. One of them has done a great job of breaking out of "mom role"... the other I've had to remind a few times to just sit and watch - and after a couple of minutes those new boys will go up to our SPL and ask for help and it gets done without MOM doing or saying a thing. when my son first crossed over he could never open up those darn gatorade bottles - he would come over to me and ask me to open it, and I would say no that he needs to ask another scout. He hated it back then, but now he understands why I made him do that... and any time he hears a scout ask a parent or another adult to help he's like johny on the spot showing them how to do something or opening something.

this summer I'm actually going to be going to summer camp with my son's troop, but normally I don't go. But every year I have still had my physical done and turned in my form. why? all our forms get filed and put properly in our trailer and we have it on all our trips. sure my kid knows most things about my health, but I doubt he'd remember the exact names of the medications I take... and definetely not while he's stress worried about me. So my file needs to be available just in case! now with my medications they do often change either med or dose within the year... so I always keep a list in my wallet as well as my doctors names and numbers. All the leaders know this and so do all my friends and family. you never know who will need this info, and that you will be able to speak to tell them! as to the original question... I would say that you stick to your word on counting them or not - UNLESS you have accepted miles done with a family before.

thankfully in the few years I've been involved with the troop we have not had any major issues that required committee discussions on discipline and the like that is often talked about on here - when it can't be dealt with solely by the SPL it's all been handled by the SM and ASM. so I would assume that if we had to deal with such a situation we would ask our SPL to report at the next meeting, or we would hold a special meeting just to deal with that issue.

yeah sadly he has been the victim of circumstance with the monthly meetings as he is not old enough to drive, his father and I each have something weekly that night, his sister drives but is a LIT with Girl Scouts that night, and we don't live in the same town (or even on the way too) as our troop. We are hoping that by this fall we will have one other person who goes that can lend a hand with driving him. But sadly from what he's heard from the OA members in his troop only a handful from the district attend. They do attend the campouts and camporees though. thanks again for your answers - I will let him know he can quit worrying and trying to decide between the two.

my son is trying to figure out if he has to attend an OA campout between his ordeal weekend and the next fall when he would be eligible for brotherhood. From what he said he read in his book he does not have to, but this surprises me. I'm an outsider so I don't know. He has a conflict with the spring trip that as SPL feels he should be with the troop. so, does he need to attend to be eligible for brotherhood? or will it look bad if he submits for brotherhood without attending? he's wanting to stay equal with his friend (yes he can be competitive LOL) so he's torn, but feels he should be with the troop. thanks in advance you all have always been great with answers and opinions

ok as a parent of an SPL and a committee member... if an SPL came to a meeting and said "this is what the CC is telling me to do and it's not fair because of X" it would be seen by many to be disrespectful - though it really isn't in the view of the SPL because he's questioning a "rule" that he doesn't believe is a rule or should be a rule. So this isn't something that he should bring up to the committee but rather directly with the CC or SM. my son does attend committee meetings while he's SPL - just as all previous SPL's have. He was told by SM and CC that he does not have to be in uniform if he does not want to and that when he is asked to give a report that they want to know about campouts that are being planned between this meeting and the next, how the campouts went since the last committee meeting, and about other activities going on... and that if he is needing help with anything to let them know. And this they did right after he was elected - even before I was able to let him know. It is what they do with every election... and at their first committee meeting (I've been through 4 SPL's now) the CC starts by welcoming the new SPL and explaining to them again what is done at the committee meeting, who does what for the committee, and to not worry if he's nervous because all the SPL's are their first time. They then ask him if he has something to talk about right away or wants to wait and be the last to report (and all SPL's have waited til the end on their first meeting LOL) now as a committee member - the only time we submit a report prior to a meeting is when we have a lot to report and have it all typed up and email it to the secretary so they won't have to type/write as we are talking.

with the original question... I think there is a difference in admistering and reminding. with the description given about a scout with memory issues all that is needed is a leader knowing that Johnny needs to take his med at morning/night and the leader walks up and says hey Johnny it's time to take your med. The leader doesn't need to keep it and doesn't need to hand it out... just be there to see that the scout takes it. other than at summer camp where the camp has different rules of keeping meds locked up our boys do keep them and take them when they need them... if a parent has concerns and wants a leader to be in charge of them then they get with an adult going and work it out for that adult to manage the meds. on weekend trips unless I'm going in water I keep my meds on me because I do have 1 that can be taken and abused... this is something that one would hope wouldn't have to be thought about with scouts, but sometimes we do... for our troop this has not been an issue, but if it were then I'd be one adult that would be then pushing for having to go to all meds locked up on all trips. for me that's the only reason to go with that route. Now with Girl Scouts all meds are supposed to be locked up - I'll never forget going to "mom and me" summer camp when my daughter was little and having to go to the nurses cabin at bedtime for my meds, and then trying to explain why I needed to keep 1 clonazapam with me at all times in case of a panic attack - they just didn't understand that one.

for our "normal" camping trips there is event cost and food cost... when they sign up they pay both - if they happen to cancel before their shopper does the shopping then the food budget is adjusted and they get the food cost part back. for our "HA" trips we have yet to have a problem with it. we go every other year unless the troop has put in for philmont and doesn't get selected and they don't get another option picked... but we normally have at least 1 extra adult that is "back up" and the boys have never backed out of a HA trip, but then they spend over a year fundraising, training, and paying that it would have to be something major for them to miss out. we also are lucky to have some dedicated adults... we had 1 campout where 1 dad went while his son couldn't come because of illness and my own son had to leave the first morning because of illness and I had his dad come get him. I even went on a trip right after returning from a Girl Scout trip where my back went out because I was the only available adult that was CPR certified. We've had other things like this that come about, and the adults involved in our troop are always stepping up when needed - never cancelled a thing due to lack of adults.

locking or not I've never seen it in any rule books I've read. I personally prefer the boys to have a locking one so that it can't close up on them and cut them. BUT, to teach them how to close a knife properly and without risking injurying themselves I prefer that they have the knives that have the unlock on the backside rather than on the inside near the blade. Though I personally prefer the one that has the lock by the blade becasue I can do it easy with one hand and my leg (though not proper technique to teach)

OldGreyEagle the cussing was every cuss word, but the one who had his parent leave was repeatedly using the F word... just constantly saying "oh F, I forgot my Fing _____" and then just saying "F, F, F, F, I like to say F" oh and that was at an indoor event with just 2 rooms (1 for boys and 1 for adults) and the weather was awful so there was no real go out and get away from it. the stealing was after returning from a trip - only personal gear still in trailer was to 1 parent, only 1 boy went into trailer while that parent was helping with another situation, when that parent returned to trailer to get his gear his cot had been taken. Everyone knows the boy who took it, everyone knows that boy is the one who on that very campout told the adult to "F off" when told that he needed to quiet down when it was well past quiet time... and nothing was ever done to the boy in any form of punishment and no contacting adult to replace or return the item. To me (and some other families that left the troop) the fact the SM did nothing to stop this behavior was allowing it to continue to happen and teaching the boys they could get away with these things - not something we want our boys to learn.

even as a female, unless this a co-ed Venture Crew that wants to make sure things are equal between male and female, this is the stupidest thing. Make sure the things needed covered are covered, and who cares about the rest.

we sort of do both. our boys cross-over around January. Usually by now (I'm running late this year) we do a swim test and then the boys learn the rescues for 2nd and 1st class and then perform them. It is basically held for all the new scouts or any boys who have not yet passed the swim test so that if we do a swim or canoe event before summer camp we know who can and can't do what etc... this allows the boys who don't pass the test to know either what to work on before summer camp so they can hopefully pass it there, or know that they need to take the learning to swim class rather than the swimming merit badge. Also if there is a boy who cannot pass I will work with him while the other boys enjoy the open-swim time at the pool if he wants to. but by the BSA standards I don't qualify anymore to sign off on swim tests, and it's hard to get allllll of our boys to attend same place/time/date for testing... so everyone attending summer camp does retake the swim test there. Our camp does rotate through very well so it's not that big of a deal to do that there.

I almost always have a hat on... in fact there are a lot of people that have never seen me without a hat. When I worked it was outdoors and it was good to help with sun, wind, rain, etc... and then after work I'd have that wonderful "hat hair" so I'd just switch to a different hat after work. for troop meetings I wear the new centenial baseball style hat... if I'm wearing a baseball cap while camping I have another one that is just a general BSA cap... if I'm at summer camp where we have to remove hats in the dining hall than sometimes I wear a bucket style hat with string so it can just push it off and not get it smashed, but it's not a BSA hat. and then of course if it's winter than it's my favorite stocking cap that is extra thick and warm.

Mr. Boyce - trust me there is a difference in going out and just yelling one cuss word, or even accidentally letting one slip... this was getting to be every-other-word type cussing. And there was the boy who didn't cuss until his dad left and the just kept yelling the F word repeatedly. I told my son that if you don't have the balls to cuss in front of your parent then you have no right cussing. I have learned to watch myself... I use to work with women that were just released from prison and got used to cuss words and cussed a bit myself... but when I'm around kids (scouting or coaching) I do my best not to - though I'm still not sure if one slipped out when I went down and sprained my ankle at a soccer practice LOL

I can tell you why we left the troop that is in our town... no discipline - boys allowed to cuss... no punishment for stealing. no parental/leader help - the boys would come up with ideas, but then not enough adults would be available and when we did it was always me and the same other family. so too often things got cancelled the SM did nothing to help with any of this... his favorite line was "boy led" but being boy led doesn't mean that if the boys want to cuss that they should and that if they want to steal from another person that they should.

we've always used sharpies, but from what you said and what I saw from the link - you can do the same thing at home with your computer and the special iron-on paper found at places like walmart/best-buy... just remember with wording and numbers you need to mirror your image/wording so it irons on correctly

obviously I wasn't in BSA so no answer from me... my son's first was leatherwork his favorite would vary depending on who is asking and what he wanted to base his opinion on... this past summer camp it was Enviromental Science because the MBC was cute before that it was Astronomy 1) because he liked being able to stay up late and 2) he really did enjoy learning about it all the one that was the most fun and has the funniest story would be golf... let's just say he's lucky driving a golf cart safely wasn't part of the MB considering he flipped it and ended up pinning his dad under it. Luckily he'd already had first aid and emergency perparedness and handled the situation well... unfortunately he hadn't had a weight-lifting MB of some sort and couldn't lift it enough to get his dad out. Thankfully the only injury my husband had was 2nd degree chemical burns from the gasoline that leaked on him, but he said our son did a great job of trying to help lift it and then getting help and taking care of him after he got out.

I've enjoyed reading this thread - thank you all for posting your thoughts and for the original poster for asking about it. my son's troop has had some very different SPL styles... we've had a boy that just bossed people around - didn't work too good. attendance dropped and so did the morale of the troop. we've had a boy that while he would yell out "hey guys quiet down now" or making them redo the police line because boys were goofing off, but he was always right there when a boy needed help with something, and in helping them didn't do it for them but rather taught them how to do it so they could do it next time. my son is currently the SPL... he's not a yeller - he's more of a put up the scout sign and wait patiently until boys settle back down. But he did learn from the one I just mentioned in that when he's asked to help he teaches rather than doing it for them. The waiting until boys settle has meant the boys do have less time for games and other things, but so far they don't seem to care. My son just isn't a yeller. And for some reason his troop it is also not always the NSP that acts out the most. Actually our NSP and the one a grade older are better behaved than the next grade. Part of that I think is that they want to be seen as "the big boys" when they are more of a middle child - they also tend to go back and forth each election keeping the same 2 basically as PL and one of them is really the troop clown I'm not sure what the answer really is... I think it's something that each boy should have the opportunity to do and learn things about themselves and the skills they poccess.