jmcquillan

We have never thought of uniform inspections as a part of any ceremony, thus we have never practiced that. What did do, though, was unannounced inspections at least one every two months, sometimes once a month, depending on how the SPL felt the troop looked. It was, after all, his job, and not that of any adult. The SPL would first perform the inspection of his own corps; the ASPL,s, QM, etc. If all was well, then the ASPL's (we had a number) would then do inspections of each and every patrol, reporting back to the SPL at the end. Consequences for poor uniform varied, but always matc

Having suffered from the same kind of thing at one time, we opted to work the removal of the old patch into the ceremony for change of command. Just before the new SPL was presented with his patch, and to the troop, the Junior Assistant Scoutmaster would, in full view of the audience, and very respectfully, oh, and very carefully, remove the patch from the old SPL's sleeve with a pair of scissors. The outgoing SPL would then be presented with his old patch, and the thanks of the troop for a job well done.

In our troop, years ago, pushups were used as a form of discipline, but they were neer meted out by Scouters, only by the SPL. And he never demanded that of any one Scout, it was always a group thing. If one Scout misbehaved and was judged deserving of punishment, depending on circumstances, either his entire patrol , or the entire troop, would have to perform the requisite pushups. The theory was that the "peer pressure" of such an event would be enough to straighten out the misbehavior. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. That theory was judged appropriate upon our first trek to t

During an adult training session last night, I got to talking with some folks I know about the issue, and one fellow who I have great respect for, told me that the Scouts in his troop have taken the issue as one of their own. At meetings or on camping trips, if they see adults smoking where they shouldn't be, they get a group of Scouts together and together ask the adult to either put the butt out, or move elsewhere. They do this with respect and courtesy. Most of the time, he says, the kids win the day, as the adults aren't up to telling the kids to mind their own business. Plus, he thinks it

The Council summer camp our troop attends allows for the first two, required, leaders for any troop to attend free of charge. Beyond that, they have a ratio, which age has not allowed me to remember, but basically it attends to the number of leaders to number of boys. Thus, a troop with 15 boys attending camp would be allowed two adult leaders free. A troop with 50 boys attending would be allowed a higher number of leaders free. That being said, our troop has always used the policy that adult leaders attending above and beyond the number allowed for free, do so at their own expense entire

Hurray for common sense!!! Tar & feather those that have it not!!! Interesting that so many issues today, such as smoking, are deemed such that "require" the written rule rather than common decency and common sense, and respect for others. This is supposed to be the land of the free, yet free with common decency and common sense. We shouldn't be teaching our kids to smoke, and we should be setting a better example. Time will come when things like smoking will disappear due to better education. But time will not come too soon enough for the example to be set for our kids that common se

eisely, I understand, from a news story that I only caught part of the other day, that there's a place here in this country where smoking on ones "deck", or anywhere in ones yard, is illegal now, if the neighbors can smell it, and complain about it. That wouldn't be California would it?

"Anyone should be able to not smoke for 1.5 hours a week (our troop meetings) and should be able to restrain themselves some on campouts." So speaketh the non-smoker. Look, I agree with your sympathies, but experience has shown me that those kind of sentiments work agressively against the person who is a truly addicted smoker. They smoke at home in front of the kids, so they'll not see any difference at Scouting events. I'm a former smoker, so I understand and can see points of view from both sides. The "either or" or "or else" stand will many times force the decision for the smoker

I'm going to take a chance here and hope that the author, from another website won't be unhappy with me.............. In a discussion at that website about a young man turned down for Eagle due to lack of time in position as a leader, the author posted the following, which I think has relevance to the discussion here: "With regard to the question of "is there a certain percent that a scout must attend in order to advance in rank?", the simple answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. BSA's position is that any Scout that is REGISTERED, is active, no matter how many meetings he atte

The requirement eisely refers to is on e that was written long ago when folks probably had a better handle on what "being active" meant, without having to have it defined with a number. Today, we've lost that ability, and everything we do in life has to defined by some sort of number or percentage or written target. This didn't happen overnight. It's happened over generations, and now we can't do anything without having specificity being the watch word. The rules and guidelines, when first written, were general in nature, allowing for adult leaders to judge each boy on his abilities and nature

Thanks, eisely. Thank you very much for sharing that.

Ed, Since September, I've remained on the committee roster, and attended all the meetings. And, since September, folks on the committee have continued to ask my opinion and advice. Then, they pretty much go their own way, ignoring anything I might add. They're a pretty head-strong group. They've set their direction, and their muddling through. When I left, the troop was about 74 Scouts. It's now 35. Most of the older kids left when it became apparent that discipline would be military style. The current leadership is unbending and unyielding, without concern for the "message" that is being

"The second thing is the lack of adequate male volunteers." This was probably the main driving force in the decision, and remains, to this day, the same. Seems "the guys", who wanted Scouting for their sons, could not always find the time in their schedules to give of themselves in that same direction. Funny how many of those same fellows always found the time to be a coach or assistant coach for their sons teams. Funny how those same fellows always found time in the busy schedules for the golf game. Funny.... Perhaps that's a little cynical or even jaded, but it's been a pet peeve o

Hear ye, hear ye.... know all ye men and women of the Scouting community...an event of note and that of which songs may be sung by generations yet untold.... Rooster has achieved the high level of the single post. Halleluya.... Welcome, sir, to the Ancient and Honorable Society of the Single Posters (AHSSP)....

Off topic here, but I think this is of note: Hey Rooster....no double posts here!!!!! Ya got it fixed?

On camping trips, try forming an "adult" patrol, with all the same responsibilities as the Scouts. Set up their own tents, cook their own food, clean up after themselves, make schedules and duty rosters for themselves. In short, keep them busy and out of the way. It can be a lot of fun for them, as well as show them what the boys are up against, and how it's suppose to be done, not how they "want" to do it. But as "andrews" said, you'll have to start by sitting them all down, and letting them in on the value of "sitting on their hands", and letting go. As long as they know that the kids a

bigbeard, It sounds to me like you're right on track. You've admitted what you see as your part, or failure, in the incident, (and that of other adult leaders who were there, don't take the full blame alone), and you've set good goals to resolve and settle the issue. I applaud your efforts so far. As you seem to have observed, the adults who have taken you to task have a "my son is never, ever, wrong...he's a perfect boy" mentality. That's fine, most parents do sometimes. But most parents would also realize that kids are kids, and they'll do the damnedest things if they can. Even whe

Short of a special order, the only thing I can suggest is to look for the "blank" patrol patch that the BSA used to sell. It was a simple white, or biege, background upon which the Scouts could "draw" their own design. I never used one, but I know it used to exist. Permanent markers would have to be used so as to not come out in the wash.

We still have the ceremony here ni Massachusetts, at least in our Council. Like others, it's not called a "tap out" ceremony anymore, it's called a "call out" ceremony. When I was inducted into the OA, the ceremony was still a "tap out". But at that time, things were getting just a little out of hand. The "Indians" doing the actual "tap out" would strike the candidate with open palm, in the center of the chest, usually with enough force to cause the candidate to fall backwards some. Thus, the "catcher" was always behind the candidate, stepping in just after the "Indian" recognized the ope

You can find the regulations in the Guide to Safe Scouting. Go to this link for an on-line version. http://www.bsa.scouting.org/pubs/gss/gss12.html#a Here's the first part of the section dealing with automobiles and drivers... General guidelines are as follows: 1. Seat belts are required for all occupants. 2. All drivers must have a valid driver's license that has not been suspended or revoked for any reason. If the vehicle to be used is designed to carry more than 15 persons, including the driver (more than 10 persons, including the driver, in California), the driver must

How terrible for you, and the boys in your troop. I extend my condolences to all. Death has never visited me in the troop, although I have lost friends in the Scouting community. But I am aware of friends in Scouting who have faced the situation you find yourself in. In those cases, discussion of death was never something they chose to tackle, but they did work with the Scouts in the troops to find a way to remember those who had passed. Perhaps you might address the subject with your Scouts from that point of view. Remembering is what you have before you. And it is the simplest way to ap

I can't disagree with anything posted here. But I would add the following. Mike indicated that he doesn't have kids. I imagine that others do. I do. They're grown and married now, but I still remember going through the various stages of growing up with them. Kids will be kids. You have to expect a little bit of the "I'm important, so listen to me" attitude, especially when giving a child some responsibility. That, however, does not in any way forgive the attitudes and abuse that might be present. That, however, is, indeed, the very place for the Scoutmaster to use his skills in "coun

Well, valid or not, there are still many troops in the eastern Massachusetts area that wear them as part of the uniform.

"Anyway, when I can't produce a quality argument, I can always impress you with volume." Gotta love it, Rooster. :-) ...and we are impressed by volume. How do they say it...it's not how you feel...it's how you look...and you look maaahhhhvelous...we love dee voluuuuummmme, dahlink... By the way, who says you can't produce a quality argument? I've seen plenty. Keep up the good work.

I have a new theory on Roosters double posts. I'm betting that eisely reached his significant status of "senior member" by way of number of posts, not his age, or even perhaps his superior knowledge of the subject matter at hand. :-)? I'm guessing that Rooster has figured out that he can reach that elevated status sooner than the rest of us here by way of doubling his bet....? :-) Now, just you wait a minute here...let me don my flame-proof suit before y'all pour on the gasoline and light the match.....remember...I DID put the little "smiley" thing at the end there. That counts, does