John-in-KC

First, the SM being the gatekeeper of the MB system in your unit: From BSA Requirements 2009 #33215/#33216 (glue or spiral bound): Pick a Subject. Talk to your Scoutmaster about your interests. Read the requirements of the merit badges you think might interest you. Pick one to earn. Your Scoutmaster will give you the name of a person from a list of counselors. These counselors have special knowledge in their merit badge subjects and are interested in helping you. Emphasis added. It is wholly the SM's duty to assign MB Counselors. Period. Not an ASM, not the Advancement Coordinator on the Committee, the Scoutmaster. Period. As far as going outside, this young man is a good starting point. Push the kids outward. Their experiences will be useful for them soon enough. They're going to confront complete strangers when they hire out at the grocery store, McDonalds, Scout Camp, or the auto parts store. Why not let them learn that part of the experience now? Merit Badges are not just about the skill. They're about ADULT ASSOCIATION as well.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

One final recommendation: Invite your Unit Commissioner and the District Advancement Chairman to a Committee/SM/ASM all hands meeting. Ask them to walk you through the complete advancement process, soup to nuts. Ask your COR and IH to attend as well. If there's a problem here, I would not bet against there being other advancement deviations in your Troop.

NOW YOU ARE GETTING DICIER. A merit badge, once awarded, cannot be withdrawn. ACP&P #33088. What Mr SM needs to do is have a Scoutmaster Conference with the boy. Mr SM needs to apologize to the boy, explain what happened, and ask him to re-do the testing phase with another Counselor. This time, do it right, take it out-of-Troop. The Scout might give pushback. Given where your MB system is, if he has indeed done the work to standard, you may have to suck it up, put him on the Advancement Report, and award him the badge. It's all going to depend on how Mr SM approaches his part of humble pie.

Here are the things I would do: 1) Have your IH/COR write a business letter to the SE and the Council President. The tone of the letter should remind them that their side of the Charter Agreement is to deliver program, including LT camping opportunities. Cite specific issues, including the re-use of disposable medical supplies, the lack of staff at Aquatics, and the lack of meals for guests. 2) Bring this to your PLC. Ask them if they want to return to Camp Runamuck in 2010. If not, while summer is still going, have them research the neighboring Council Camps. BTW, here are the specific words for the Council, from the BSA Charter Agreement: - Provide year-round training, service, and program resources to the organization and its unit(s). - Provide camping facilities, a service center, and a full-time professional staff to assist the organization in every way possible.

One of the basic duties of the Scoutmaster is to know his youth and the adults working with him. It is the Scoutmaster's DUTY to assign a Boy Scout to a Merit Badge Counselor. Whatever form the MB app takes, the SM approves the start of the MB and specifically assigns the boy to a MB Counselor. There is a simple way to deal with this case: The CC and SM thank Mr Counselor for his past services and ask him not to counsel within the Troop again. The CC should also notify the COR of this decision. On a longer term basis, the Adult Association method (which is a part of the MB process) means youth should get away from Mr Smith and Mrs Jones, who they know already. In just a few years, these young folk will be applying to complete strangers for jobs. Give them the confidence that only comes from practice. Use other Counselors within your District. Of course, that means the adult leadership of a Troop needs to attend District Roundtable, and other functions. Then, Mr SM will get to the know the other Scouters in the area, so that he has an idea of fitting boys to Counselors. (This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

I'd have him ask his Patrol Leader, SPL, and Scoutmaster Personally, I'd leave it on my Cubbing brag vest. He'll have plenty of Boy Scout patches soon enough, especially if you take him to an International event in Europe, vice staying purely in the TransAtlantic Council.

I gather your Chartered Partner is a relatively conservative non-denominational mega-church. Got it. Really, the best approach for this is to form a common Crews Committee. Get two Advisors instead of one. In fact, form your own mini-VOA. Let the youth, under supervision, plan and coordinate activities. If needed by the CP, then don't do common activities. Another option for the Crew (not the entire Scouting operation) is to find a more amenable CP. Keep us informed. Right now EagleSon is with most of his Crew, staffing Scout Camp Venturing works.

Cell phone video coverage is pretty damning evidence. Of course, since maybe one or two of us are in the potential jury pool, it's a moot point. The Court will convict or acquit based on the evidence and the law, not on anything we say here.

It might be worth looking for the deeper dynamic here. Is this young man being dumped on you as a "BabySitters of America" plan? What is his outlook away from the Troop? Is he quiet, retiring, not willing to do work there either? Does he have supportive parents and sibs? OTOH, is the family dynamic one of damnation to the youth? Is he just hugely homesick? If you find what makes him tick, you might find what gets him to go. ETA: Ed was posting just ahead of me. His advice is valuable too Good hunting, exploring him. I wish you well, and keep us in the loop.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Whether it was just priority or true shortage of funds, I don't know. If we could get a survey of the 307 US councils, I suspect we'd find all manner of moneymakers were short this year. I was at the 2008 close-out FOS meeting. Few Districts were short. This year, Family and Community campaigns both were at 85% or so, and ... we had stabilized the campaign number at the 2008 level. Returning to topic, there are still plenty of young people wanting to do COPE in-season, and we have folks wanting to rent Scout Camp (and pay for staff time) for COPE out-of-season. It does help that one of our Scout Camps, rural 50 years ago, is becoming an urban wilderness in the 'burbs.

Those were good answers, thanks. You've got a young man who has been there and done that as SPL. He's worked hard. What is there to motivate him, to train him, to mentor him? - Have folks talked with him about a slot on a Council Philmont Contingent? - Have folks talked with him about CIT or camp staff status? - Is he motivated and challenged by things in your OA chapter and Lodge? - Are his particular interests such that it's time you consult with the Venturing Crew leaders in your District and see if there is a fit there? Our role as adults is to ensure we have a challenging, motivating, excitement packed outdoor program for our young charges. If this young man has lost his way, look for opportunities for him to find it back. It's not all about making Eagle and punching out. It's about raising up fantastic young men, one at a time. Right now, my particular thoughts are: - Take him to breakfast somewhere. Listen to him, actively listen as he talks. Find out what's making him tick, inside Scouting and out. It's possible he's not attending much because he's bored, he's bored because he's not challenged. - Talk to his parents. Make sure they are not pushing Scouting in the "BabySitters of America" mode. - I personally believe in BORs whenever 3 members of the Committee are at a meeting. Get him inside a non-advancement BOR. That's an inherent Committee responsibility, both in the Troop Committee Handbook, the SM Handbook, and ACP&P. Non-advancement BORs, as well as SM conferences, are feedback ... and feedback is a gift. When he and you have sorted out the why, the "how do I deal with this?" almost takes care of itself... he'll have shown both of you the roadmap. Have fun with this. This young man sounds challenging, and worth being challenged, from afar.

diogenes, Glad for the update, glad the youth got to camp. That is the thing that matters the most... they got a chance to camp Hope the move is personally, professionally, and Scoutingly rewarding for you

Please share with us your last Scoutmaster Conference with him... Please share with us the Committee's last non-advancing BOR with him... Please share with us something about your Troops program? How is your SPL? PLC? How much mentoring do you get to do, vice how much decisionmaking you do for the youth? I guess what I'm asking is how is a personal and critical look at how the Adult Association Method implemented in your Troop? Otherwise, I'm with Beavah and Lisabob and nolesrule and eisely... PS: Remind your CC, over a friendly cup of coffee, that the program is your major task, and ask for a clear lane to do your task

The Heart of America Council operates: In each of its Districts, a week-long Cub Scout Day Camp (Tigers to Webelos). At the Theodore Naish Scout Reservation, a 2-Day, 1-Night, Parent/Child (1/1 ratio) Bear Overnight Resident Camp. This is a staffed camp, under NCS visitation standards and has 13 sessions of 130 youth/adults this year. At the Theodore Naish Scout reservation, a 3-Day, 2-Night Webelos Resident Camp. This is a staffed camp, under NCS visitation standards and has 10 sessions of ~400 youth/150 adults this year. Camping opportunities are part of the obligated program the local Council is to provide a Chartered Partner under the Charter Agreement!(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Another option is to ask for sufficient two-deep leadership from the Catholic parents to cover their very reasonable request that their kids attend Mass. Within the context of the program, one of our duties as Scouters is to support the family in its choice of faith. It's a DRP thing. I'm actually very happy for your Troop, this is a wonderful problem to have

The Blancmange, I think Rick has made a great call. If the DE wants the Old Boy network broken, then he needs to have a talk with his fellow-staffer who is the Advancement Adviser to the CAC. If the DAC doesn't have management of his process, then he's just a figurehead. BTW, I think the bloody fool who threatened suit from Council is blowing smoke. If I were the Chartered Partner, my next call would be to the SE, asking for a business meeting to discuss continuation of my charter. SE do not like losing chartered partners, especially ones who can make trouble for them in print or on TV. As to Ms Summer's son, even if National denies him, I trust he's learned several life lessons from fighting the good fight these past weeks.

I was loud and long here about how much I despised the DLR uniform. The new uniform is better quality, fit, and finish. I'd work with the PLC to encourage them to move along towards full uniforming. It will take time, but it can be done. That said, A Scout is Thrifty. In these economic times, look at each Scout as a person. If Billy is out lawnmowing for an after-school job, and the money goes into the family grocery jar, help him. OTOH, if Bobby has a paper route and an X-box, encourage him to put money to Scouting and his uniform.

I'm going to do my very best to say this in one-syllable words, Mr Xpanel. You seem to need them that way: - Nudie books, sex tales, beer, wine, hard booze, drugs and smokes are out of law for young people to have/use. - You signed the same piece of paper I did: You agreed to uphold the Scout Oath and Law at all times and in all places. - Tough love now and then has to be part of a young man's trail to become a grown-up. To remove things a young man should not have at a Scout camp is part of tough love. To call his Mom and Dad and ask them to take their son home is part of tough love. It's known as "bad acts have results in your life." - If you do not agree with what I said, then you and I part company on the Scout Trail right away. You, Sir, are not the kind of Scouter I want my child and some day grandchildren within 100 miles of. To quote Anne Robinson, "You are The WEAKEST LINK! GOOD-bye!"

I'm beginning to see something here: Forget the Active=Registered debate for a moment. If a young man leaves the nest of the Troop, say at 16, and recharter comes aroung, then unit serving Scouters have a choice: The can choose to re-register him, and keep his official association with the Troop going. Otherwise, they can choose to drop the Scout from the Charter: While active may not equal registered, inactive can = removed from charter can = not a member of the Boy Scouts of America. At that point, the unit serving Scouters have some small degree of control over the young man... they don't necessarily have to accept his rejoining youth member app. Youth membership can be something of a two-way street.

What OGE, Beavah, and Hal said. Lisa's has merit too, especially regarding the following on boys: In our laboratory of adulthood, do you want to show yourself as a censor, or as someone who looks for the root cause and resolves it? If you interfere by simply being a communications block, the perception of you, Stosh, will be as a censor.

Ed, Your way is more elegant than mine. We are actually in close agreement.

Well, for the moment, it's John-in-Northern-Nevada. Those who are also on FB and in our group there know why. Here is my take: 1) Never, ever, parse a paragraph with an attorney, unless you are his adversary in court. You'll lose 2) Beavah's right: The object of the Boy Scouting program, as found in R&R, is to deliver the promise to the boy: Outdoors, patrols, advancement, adult association... 3) Beavah's right: The boy, to get value out of the program, has to be active and involved. 4) The words found on the website, from which some assess "Active=Registered", derive from policy document Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures #33088. 5) Our obligation as unit serving Scouters is to ensure the youth members design, develop, implement the Boy Scouting program as a working laboratory of adulthood in the outdoors. 6) To meet our obligation above, we have to make sure the kids are engaged. Does that mean we contact them ourselves? Not necessarily. It does mean we ensure our youth members in leadership are doing their job. 7) Finally, Scout Spirit is about what happens the other 167 hours each week. If our young men are living the oath and law in their lives away from us, then they're living it on the trail, in camp, or at the Troop meeting. My thoughts

I got this from the PTC Wannabe Band group on facebook. Many of us here know of Dave from our visits to PTC, East Tent City just isn't East City without the band: Hello all, I would like to ask you to keep Dave Anderson (the man behind the band) in your thoughts and prayers. Dave was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and is currently undergoing treatment. In addition to that, he was in a really bad car accident recently and is scheduled for back surgery in a couple of weeks. He is expected to make a full recovery, but a few extra prayers couldn't hurt. Thanks, Steve

I like what Beavah and Rick said, and I like my original advice: SM conference between the SM, the Scout, and the MBC in question. Let's see if the young man will show some integrity. This goes back to one of my hobby horses: The Scoutmaster is the gatekeeper. If a MB mill is off the tracks, why use it?

I guess I have a lot of questions. First, is the Dad in and around the boys' life as well? Do you two get along? Is he part of the Scouting life of your stepson? Second, what is the relationship of your stepsons' mother to the Troop, to its Scouters, and to the other parents? Are there perceptions not seen? My basic advice is to ask your Committee Chair for an adult leader app, get the right training (whether you help the Quartermaster or the Treasury or learn Advancement or are the committee secretary), and join us on the trail. BTW, I'm the bio-Dad of my EagleSon. My then bride decided I was not to be part of her life about a decade ago. I'm not exactly in your shoes, but I've been on the trail. I've been active and involved in Scouting for a decade now. Great people are out there.