JMHawkins

And of course there's generally a negative correlation between da age of the Eagle Scout and the number of man-hours as well. Beavah, do you really mean a negative correlation? As in, older scouts tend to have smaller projects?

We have lots of SMASMs in their 30's and 40's. In fact, I think we only have one ASM over 50 (though a couple of us are getting within hailing distance...). Most of us are interested in hiking and camping and trying out (or making) new gear. We're kind of an outdoor club that formed within a Scout Troop. So far, it's worked out great. Of course, we're a new troop and our big challenge will come when it's time for some turnover in the adult leadership. We're acutely aware that we need to be ready for that. I'm signed up for PergoWoodBadge this fall. I'm curious if they cover a

Ironically I think you have it backwards. The program struggles from lack of adults with a youth scouting experience. If you don't know why scouting is fun for boys, you are more likely to point towards making it fun for adults. Yes. B-P's genius was creating a program based around what boys naturally did for fun, cleverly designed so that growth and maturity were by-products of the fun. The spiffy-uniform, sprint-to-Eagle troop probably miss out on most of that by just making themselves another outpost of the Adult world in boy-land. Of course, any adult who still has their sens

A casual day for the most part with friends and family. Made a three hour drive and saw at least a half dozen State Troopers with motorists pulled over on the side of the Interstate. Saw a "click it or ticket" (seatbelt enforcement law) billboard. Saw several notices posted reminding folks about fireworks laws and the fines for violating such. Was glad I turned east instead of west on the last highway and so avoided the toll bridge (newly re-tolled, old bridge toll ended decades ago when the bridge was paid off). Read a newspaper story about the Planning Dept. cracking down on some homeow

JMHawkins said, "So, if units are going to update their own records, then why is ScoutNet necessary for mandatory training? Just switch over to Mandatory Training and ask units to check a box next to each required traning that each member of the charter has taken. I mean, if units are going to need to manage their own training reports, then why not have them manage their own training reports? " Because the units never do that correctly. They mix up what needs to be taken all the time. You need a system that leads them by the hand. This isn't very sophisticated companies have had training

If we are going to use such terms in a national organization we need to define them. Well, please define "define" then. Because I'd be inclined to say the terms are already defined by common English language to an acceptable level. But if you have a different definition of "define" then maybe they're not in your book. So before we can authoratatively, written-down-to-be-quoted, argumentum ad verecundiam define what "mastery" means, we have to agree on defintions of definitions and write all sorts of rules about writing the rules. And when we make the inevitable mistakes, forget a

The hold up on mandatory training is ScoutNet. As soon as training can be tracked correctly and there is a way for units to update their records, I would expect mandatory training to happen nationwide. We are probably a couple of years out from that. So, if units are going to update their own records, then why is ScoutNet necessary for mandatory training? Just switch over to Mandatory Training and ask units to check a box next to each required traning that each member of the charter has taken. I mean, if units are going to need to manage their own training reports, then why not ha

We had a similar discussion in our Pack a couple of years ago. Not about archery, but about awards in general. One particular den was handing out awards at a prodigious rate. Almost every event they did generated multiple awards of some sort for the cubs. And by "mulitple" I don't mean they would do different things and get an award for each, but rather they would do one thing and the DL would find multiple awards to hang off it. For example, doing archery for this Den would definitely be an archery belt loop plus a pin plus a segment for achery plus a segment for visiting a council camp

A lot of the angst could be solved by banning camps from working on requirements. Just the fun, please... But, but, but... how do you measure fun on a JTE scorecard?

Since WB is really not about scoutcraft but more how to get a working vision of your unit... In which case, it's another one-and-done course. Just like there's no AOLS (Advanced Outdoor Leadership Skills) to go along with the Introduction course, there's no follow-up, no training continuum, to unit vision. Anyway, if your in IOLS, doesn't mean you are not a seasoned scouter.. Many finally come to IOLS after haveing been SM for years and in scouts for years before becoming SM that.. Not any more, since you need IOLS to recharter as SM (or even an ASM). If you aren't

I think it is a training issue, if you don't tell people what's important they grab something (like advancement guidelines or safety guidelines) and think those are the all important things. I really think it is a training issue. I agree, it is a training issue. One way towards a solution would be to almost ditch the G2A. Reduce it to something more along the lines of a Program Helps. As it stands now, too many people think it's a User's Manual or better yet, a cheat sheet. Er, maybe I should say Crib Sheet instead. Something that leads them through doing it without really knowing wh

There can be a certain virtue made out of the scout not getting the badge that same night. The recognition process can be drawn out and built upon. The night (or day, could be at a campout, right?) he earns it, he gets a hearty verbal congratulations, hand shake, and recognition during closing ceremonies. "Congratulations to Joe, he passed is Board of Review for 2nd Class tonight. Good job Joe, and to the rest of the Cobra patrol as well." Big round of applause for Joe. One or two weeks later, at closing ceremonies, the SM or SPL calls Joe up to recognize him again and hand him

So a Scout is Trustworthy unless he wants something right away, then he cheats and lies to get a badge for someone under false pretenses. The end result of stupid rules is a lack of respect for rules and the people who make them. And by "stupid" I mean a rule that creates more problems than it solves, or else pushes the burden of solving one person's problem onto another person simply because the "one person" is the rulemaker and they're disposed towards foisting their problems off onto folks under their authority because they can. So if National "catches" unregistered scouts by re

Your making an arguement for learning basic Scoutcraft skills which is what the First Class Emphasis program is suppose to be all about. People have gotted sidetracked into thinking it is to check a box off in a book. That isn't the purpose of the program. The purpose of the program is to educate the Scouts in the skills so they are prepared for adventures. Benelon, the mistake you're making is assuming we're arguing about the purpose. We're not. We're saying the results are bad. The results of the current G2A and an emphasis on following them to the letter and avoiding at all costs th

I've been known to tell my son to run down to the park and back on occasion when he's been sitting inside all day and starts getting obnoxious from pent up energy. After burning off some energy, he's much more civilized. Usually I only tell him to do that after he's declined a couple of invitations to "go outside and play" and continued down the spiral. He's starting to mature though and self-manage better. The point of course was never to punish him, but to get him to reset his attitude. With scouts? Never done that, but they usually are plenty active anyway.

Think about how most troops spend the majority of their month - in meetings indoors, in church halls and Legion posts, planning and preparing and talking about adventure rather than being adventurous. That's not a way to gin up excitement. It conveys a very plodding, staid image. And it's boring as all get-out! Y'know, if you follow the meeting template in the resource guide (ah! I'm suggesting using some material from National! I'm not a complete rebel after all...) the meetings shouldn't be boring at all. -A few minutes of opening ceremonies (which can be interesting if they're

having to actually learn something worthwhile (physical or otherwise non-scholastic) and be able to _do_ it (possibly for the rest of their lives)... That's a good point. I think a lot of youth programs sell to the parents by selling something the parents either had fun with themselves as a kid, or else wish they'd done more of. Parlor Scouting isn't going to be high on any parent's list of things they wished they'd done more of as kids.

having to actually learn something worthwhile (physical or otherwise non-scholastic) and be able to _do_ it (possibly for the rest of their lives)... That's a good point. I think a lot of youth programs sell to the parents by selling something the parents either had fun with themselves as a kid, or else wish they'd done more of. Parlor Scouting isn't going to be high on any parent's list of things they wished they'd done more of as kids.

Beavah Thinkin' about these two troops and others, yep, there's also a correlation with experience, but that one I'm less sure about. It might just be there because less experienced folks have had weaker materials in recent years to learn from, and some have been taught really odd ways of thinkin' about those materials. So it's not so much experience but poor guidance and support on our side, eh? That's what I'm worried about. There's the old hiring question about they guy with 20 years in a particular field. Does he have 20 years experience, or 1 year of experience, 20 times? Funn

So, the way I see it, Troop 2 produces far superior results, but it requires significantly more experienced and talented adults to pull off.

My point here was going along with dkurtenbach's statement: "I think that BSA suffers from putting out a product that is highly inconsistent from unit to unit. Of course, there is a fear that improving consistency from unit to unit would mean not only eliminating units that fall below a certain minimum standard, but reducing the quality of highly successful units to make the product more uniform." Actually, most likely it would just eliminate the high-performing units and drop everyone to the lowest demoninator. The reason for the substandard programs is mostly because those programs do

Now, the question arises, why would Little League be in decline? Did it go through a period akin to "urban scouting" or otherwise stray from its roots? Hardly--baseball is still baseball. Actually, baseball has changed, or at least what LL plays as it has. When I was a kid, LL was played in the summer, with 15 kids on multi-aged teams ages 9-12, with lots of practices that we (the kids) were genearlly responsible for getting ourselves to. Now, it's a late-winter/Spring sport with 11 man teams divided up into narrower age ranges, with a handful of practices before the season starts and

Personally I think the Tiger year is the best year in Cub Scouts. The problem with the Tiger Year is getting the program started since it generally involves EVERY family being new to Scouting. That is often tough for packs to do, can take months to do and not infrequently results in a failed den. Agreed, this is a major challenge. My pack tends to "affiliate" the new Tiger den with the old Tiger (now Wolf) den until there are enough new Tigers and an identified Tiger Den leader to make the den work on it's own. That's the best solution I know of, but it's still not easy. I'm torn

...adults will smell tobacco smoke on the leaders... Actually, so will the youth. Almost guaranteed at least one of them has smelled cigar smoke before and will recongize it. I don't smoke, but I'm not a fanatic about the whole "don't smoke around kids" notion. Frankly, the reason I'm not and have never been, never would be, a smoker is probably because my parents smoked around me when I was a kid. I hated the smell of it. It never held any mystical alure to me because I knew it stunk. Any, y'know who else will smell the tabacco smoke besides the adults and the youths? The bear

The best remedy for this is trustworthy scouts, abandoning FCFY, and not making Eagle so important that one feels the need to violate the Scout Law to obtain it! I tend to agree. Question though. What's the thinking on a little pre-emtive discussion with scouts about creampuff MBC? Should we talk to the scouts ahead of time and let them know they might, on occasion, run into a MBC who signs off on stuff they never really did, and give them some guidance on how to handle it? Can be kind of hard for some kids to understand an adult isn't always right, and especially if they've been