JMHawkins

When I hear/read stories of Eagle Scout candidates not being able to tie a bowline, I don't look on it as a failure of the Scout - I look on it as a failure of the unit (whether its the adult leaders, or the PLC, or a combination of both) in not providing opportunities to use the skills in other contexts. Tonight was our District Roundtable, and at the end of the meeting, a Boy Scout from one of the local troops made a brief presentation about a project that, well, details are unimportant. What is important is that it was a terrible presentation. The scout was disorganized, unimpressiv

We're looking at alternate fundraisers and I came across Pizza Cards. If you havent' seen them, there are a few websites that offer them - scouts sell "buy one pizza, get a second one free" punch cards for $10. The buyer can use the cards up to 20 times over the next year at a local pizza parlor. They seem to be decent values for the people who buy them and the unit keeps a fairly high percentage of the money. Is there a catch? Has anyone else done these, and what were your experiences? Would you recommend it for other units? Thanks,

Yah, I just don't get da notion that people think older boys won't work with younger fellows. They'll work with them, they just don't want to be doing the same thing as the younger boys. By "same thing" I don't mean going on the same backpacking trip, I mean doing the exact same things while on (and planning for) the trip. Looking back, the 6th graders were learning how to make camp, the 8th graders were teaching the 6th graders how to make camp, and the 10th graders were teaching the 8th graders how to teach the 6th graders. Everybody was learning new stuff and engaging their brai

I'm sorry if I"m stating the obvious, but I'm sure you realize that you don't need to achieve Gold in every standard to rate overall Gold. If you make Gold in most areas and Silver or Bronze on others, you'll make overall Gold. Oh sure, I just think there should be appropriate Silver and Gold levels for us to aspire to. Since Bronze is "at least 19 boys or one more than last year" maybe Silver could be "at least 29 boys or 5% more than last year" and Gold "39 or 10%". Or, maybe Gold could be "helped establish a new Pack in the community." We're not looking to split, though the in

I applaud the change away from self-set goals. Setting some clear guidelines for units to meet will make the award much more meaningful. Looking over the Pack criteria, it all seems reasonable and if we applied it to the last year our pack would've earned Gold. However, I'm not really happy with #3 Buidling Scouting. We're already a fairly large pack (over 40 boys) and we don't really want to grow any bigger. Full Pack events like PWD, our Overnight, and B&G are a little crowded right now as it is. Our goal is to maintain our pack size, but we are not being aggressive about gro

Regardless of requirement "toughness" - the best way to keep 16 & 17 yr olds in the program is to keep out 10 - 12 year olds. Boy Scouts has kept lowering the age level at the bottom end but not the top. I don't care what they are doing, but being 17 and in a program that contains 10, 11 and 12 year olds can be frustrating. Yeah, what I remember of the old troop is that the 6th and 7th graders were the patrol members (not many 5th graders, I don't remember if Webelos didn't cross over in 5th grade then or if the troop just picked them up later - I dropped out of Cubs before my A

Like Beavah said, done right Scouting gives boys lots of opportunities to develop the traits of a good man. The other things is, done right, maybe nobody notices! If a kid can play the trumpet without making listeners cringe, you know it's because of the practice and training. If he's a decent, honorable kid, where did that come from? Lots of places probably, but ultimately good character is something you develop while doing other stuff. A good scouting program tries to maximize the (relatively safe) opportunities for developing it. But I don't think you can take any decent man an

If the positions of responsibility are such that a 12-13 year old can do them, then they aren't going to be a challenge for a 15-17 year old. And in all likelihood, in order to stay age appropriate, things are goin' to be strongly "adult guided." Thanks Beavah, for putting your finger on something that's been bugging me. In the old troop that I belonged to, the idea of making First Class in a year would've been laughed at. First class was a two-year journey for most kids, and all our PLs were at least 14. We also tended to keep boys in their leadership positions for a year at least. T

Being in a band requires a significant time commitment because you need to practice to be proficient enough for anyone to want to listen to you play. This requires a certain dedication to the effort and helping kids develop the ability to dedicate themselves to mastering something is very valuable. What is it that scouting requires kids to master? It's not a specific skill like playing a tuba, or throwing a curveball. It's a whole set of social skills, an outlook on life, and a set of values that make for a good man. You can't sit and study those skills the way you can scales on a tub

Tough situation - it is the COR's job to either handle these sorts of issues or else deputize the CC (and the rest of the Committee) to handle them. Not wanting to get involved and not allowing anyone else to handle a bad situation isn't okay. Is there a committee member who has a good working relationship with the COR who could present this for you? The CC should be that person, but no guarantees. Is the COR just confrontation-averse? You said they don't want to look bad for giving somene the boot, they need to realize they can look bad for far worse reasons too. He didn't want to hear

""Hmmm, I don't accept that. I will not accept that from my boss. I will not allow my job to run my life." Must be nice to be independently wealthy. Most of us can't afford to be fired for insubordination" I can certainly sympathize. But I think there are a couple of different levels of accepting petty tyrant behavior from you boss. On the one hand, there's "Well, the boss is a jerk and he's wrong, but he signs the paychecks and I need mine. So I'll grit my teeth and do what he says until I can find another job." That's a pretty grown up response. On the other hand, there

'But the first thing I thought of is "Why is the Den Chief wearing a Webelos hat, Webelos neckerchief and Blue tabs,..' Ha, actually my first thought was "why is the Cubmaster wearing a Webelos hat..."

I second Twocubdad's advice, get involved and help out the committee for a while - a few months or even a whole year - and give them the benefit of the doubt that they're being responsible and reasonable with their finances. After you've established your own credibility with the committee as someone interested in helping the pack and familiar with how it works, asking in a non-confrontational manner about the reserve shouldn't cause any trouble. Unless of course there's something wrong, but I think you can be patient in this case and observe for a while before reaching a conclusion. You'll

Well, I certainly haven't been trying to insult Engineer, but I guess we just don't see eye to eye on this subject. But, the thread, like quite a few things in scouting, has given me more insight into my releationship with my own son, so I still count it as time well spent.

"I think it is a little bit lame, just as I think the "good manners" belt loop is lame. Not that I am opposed to good manners, but that I am sad to see we apparently need a belt loop in order to promote manners." Yeah, it is a little odd, but then again, looking both ways before crossing the street and not playing with matches are part of the Wolf Badge requirement. I think the advantage of these "well, duh" awards is that it manufactures an opportunity to talk about important things with the kids. And maybe works as a reminder for parents. Going through the Wolf Badge with my son, I r

"So you're saying that it's perfecting fine to raise the next village idiot, as long as he went Scouting?!?!? " I could respond that you're saying it's okay to raise the next Bernie Madoff, as long as he got his homework turned in on time. Of course that's not what either of us are saying, but we're just not on the same wavelength with this conversation. You're probably a bit surprised there's any disagreement with your homework-first position. I hope you will take the time to understand the disagreement rather than caricature it. It's ultimately your decision, you are the one res

"Huh? Really? So you're saying that it's perfecting fine to raise the next village idiot, as long as he went Scouting?!?!? " Engineer, I don't think you're seeing past the "School is priority one" bit. Would it be acceptible for your son to get an A by cheating? Of course not. Not the same thing, you say. Okay, different question: If his classmate was struggling with the class and your son had agreed to help, then the Friday assignment landed, would you want your son to still take the time to help, or say "sorry, you're on your own bub. I gotta focus on my own grade first"?

Perhaps were split on this issue, but I dont think school work should overwhelm a kids life to the extent it precludes extra-curricular activities, and if it does, parents should be proactive about it. Since Engineer didnt mention any other activities (band, baseball, etc.) I assume the campout was the only activity outside of the classroom that contributed to the assignment being late. Keeping an eye on what lessons our kids are learning and how Scouting fits, what went on here? I see two possibilities. First, maybe the teacher made a perfectly reasonable assignment and the student

"The attitude that you can break your commitments and obligations to others whenever it's necessary to advance yourself is not what we want to teach. Even in small things. Gettin' good grades is advancing yourself. There's nothing wrong with it, eh? It should be encouraged. Just not as a "highest priority." " I'm with Beavah here. Now, there may be more to this particular story, but frankly Beavah's right about the general idea. Putting your academic advancement above all other obligations is selfish. Middle school kids maybe need a little coaching on the difference between a rea

Thanks for all the replies. About private schools, I doubt that the Headmaster at our school would have refused a stack of flyers (especially after the generous popcorn purchase he made when he saw my son manning the table outside the grocery store), but from the replies it sounds like he may be an exception. Perhaps the local district/pack just stopped trying after too many rejections. But I'd encourage folks to keep trying - a polite phone call each year, even if they said no last year, you never know, you might get a yes. Getting their kids (and families) interacting with other fami

Hi folks. Im a former cub and boy scout, now a parent starting to ease back into scouting. My son is 7 and just joined a Cub pack. Now that weve got a couple of pack meetings under our belt, I thought Id write down some thoughts that might be useful and help with other recruiting efforst. Consider these the observations of a new parent (I was a Cub Scout myself, but that was a long, long, long where do the years go?... time ago). All offered in the spirit of constructive criticism most of you probably already know all this already, but I bet a few packs could profit from the experience