John-in-KC

Gunny wrote: "Prison is about Punishment and Correction, Probation is supposed to be about Correction and Re-integration. " AND SCOUTING IS ABOUT EDUCATION OF OUR NEXT GENERATION. (Call it emphasis, call it shouting. The thought matters). Removing a youth member from activities (vice a single event) should be the next to final level of progressive discipline. The final level is the Chartered Partner removing a youth member: Informing the family and the Council the youth is no longer a member of Pack/Troop/Team/Crew NNN, and no longer welcome at their meetings/events. To me, given unit leaders (youth and adult) have determined the facts of an incident, the options for layers of action should look like: - Peer leadership works with the Scout (PL/TG/SPL) - Scoutmaster has Scoutmaster conference with Scout. This is the breakpoint between discussion and action, imo. - Scoutmaster has Scoutmaster conference, followed by the Troop Committee has a non-advancement Board of Review with the Scout. This allows the "program feedback" function of the Committee to work, and allows a "bought-in" decision. If the SM involves the Troop Committee, then there should be consequences for the Scout. BTW, to me, if we're at the point where the SM is having a conference with the Scout about behavior, there bloody well better be leader/parental contact. If Mom and Dad are not buying in that the Scout is not honoring his Oath and Law, then I can promise that bigger problems are but a matter of time away. My thoughts.

Moosetracker, BadenP does not speak for all of us by any means. Go for it, and have fun doing it!

All, The National Council has released the requirements for GEOCACHING MB. It's a simple 2-pager pdf for now. "They" promise us a complete MB pamphlet at some point downstream. Here's the blog post at Scouting Magazine: http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2010/04/official-geocaching-merit-badge-requirements-released.html Here is a direct link to the requirements: http://scoutingmag.typepad.com/files/geocaching_mb.pdf I've got a call into my professionals to see what ScoutNet has for an earn start date. At this writing, these requirements are not in the scouting.org MB list.

Three words: Deploy. Den. Chiefs. A good Den Chief, deployed beginning NLT Bear year, and staying with (either singly or as several DCs across several years) will give a Troop a competitive advantage. Nine words: Deploy a "Cub Scout Support" ASM to the Pack. Listen for the Packs needs. Provide program support to assist. If you care about the Packs, you're money ahead of the "feeder" relationships. SFAIK, there is nothing in BSA literature about "feeder" relationships.

Actually, this particular BOR should have been most useful to the SM: CC Jack: SM Bill, let's have a cup of coffee... SM Bill: Sure... They get coffee and go out of earshot of other youth and adults. CC Jack: Hey, are the Scribe and the Advancement Coordinator supporting you? We just had to defer Johnny on his Star BOR, because he lacked an Eagle required MB... SM Bill: Really? Who signed off on the conference? Johnny didn't do it with me... CC Jack: Hmmm. OK, I can work on that. Who do you delegate to do SM conferences? SM Bill: Only Dave. I'll have a talk with my ASMs. CC Jack: Fair enough. I'll have a talk with the Advancement Coordinator. The problem is a youth got to an advancement BOR without being ready. Stops along the way should include PL, Scribe, Advancement Coordinator on the Committee, and the SM (or ASM) who held the SM conference. The solution is quiet encouragement up and down the line

I'm gonna shout: UNIT EVENT PLANNING IS A PROCESS. The request for a tour permit is the culmination of that process. It walks unit leaders down a trail of checkpoints: Are my drivers all licensed? Is their insurance current? Are we travelling an appropriate distance? Do we have two-deep leadership on the event? Have we looked at/complied with Safe Swim Defense/Safety Afloat if we're doing aquatics? That list goes on and on. Why do we do it? Planning aids event safety and fun! Talk to your own Council about the filing rules. Each Council is a little bit different. Do the process for every event, until is is completely and routinely part of your planning. It's not a burden then.

Someone in your Council Camping or Activities Committee is the "go-to" guy for shooting sports. He's an expert marksman, hunter with high-power, .22, black powder, longbow and crossbow. He's got all manner of NRA schooling, and he's generally pretty generous with his time. Ask your Council Camp Director for his contact info. Ditto your canoeing guy. I took American Red Cross basic canoeing 40 years ago, as our Explorer Post prepared for a trip on the lower Colorado River (Needles, CA put in, Lake Havasu (CA side), come out. That course was about 40 hours of water and land time over 5 Saturdays. That was to get us to baseline user proficiency. An expert, let alone an instructor, has hundreds of hours/miles of training and experience. Beavah as I recall is a right fair canoeist. He can discuss the hierarchy of training. Point is this: District and Council level events do not happen randomly anymore, and certainly do not happen at random places. There's a lot of evaluation before a site is OK'd for a major event. Why? (Yes, B, I'm going to say it): Liability. Our insurance program protects volunteers, but professionals and events require the Council to do its homework. The G2SS is for units operating in the program. When District and Council start doing things, there's a different set of standards, and the bar is just a tad higher ... like an order of magnitude. Each year at District day camp I walk the property. I'm looking for only one thing: Things that would entice a kid to wander away from the program area and go exploring ... at some small risk to himself. I believe the lingo term is "attractive nuisances." Some we fence, some we tape, some we lock up. You can go to your Council properties and rent them for the weekend, to include staff support. That's one way to do shooting sports and canoeing in the off-season. You'll be opening the Pack checkbook, but I promise you you'll pay less than you did if you went to a commercial range.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

The Troop Committee can hold a Board of Review at any time, for any reason. It's part of their duty to the Troop to evaluate and give feedback to the Scoutmaster about the program. In this case, the Committee should have deferred the boy for not having requirements complete, and continued the Board until the last was done. THEN, the CC and SM should have had a friendly cup of coffee.

We. Do. Not. Punish. Well, should not. Corrective discipline is supposed to be of a positive and constructive nature. You really need to read the Guide to Safe Scouting, scoutfish, and you may need to re-take youth protection. From the G2SS, as POLICY: Constructive discipline. Discipline used in Scouting should be constructive and reflect Scouting's values. Corporal punishment is never permitted. Youth Member Behavior Guidelines The Boy Scouts of America is a values-based youth development organization that helps young people learn positive attributes of character, citizenship, and personal fitness. The BSA has the expectation that all participants in the Scouting program will relate to each other in accord with the principles embodied in the Scout Oath and Law. One of the developmental tasks of childhood is to learn appropriate behavior. Children are not born with an innate sense of propriety and they need guidance and direction. The example set by positive adult role models is a powerful tool for shaping behavior and a tool that is stressed in Scouting. Misbehavior by a single youth member in a Scouting unit may constitute a threat to the safety of the individual who misbehaves as well as to the safety of other unit members. Such misbehavior constitutes an unreasonable burden on a Scout unit and cannot be ignored. Member Responsibilities All members of the Boy Scouts of America are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the principles set forth in the Scout Oath and Law. Physical violence, hazing, bullying, theft, verbal insults, and drugs and alcohol have no place in the Scouting program and may result in the revocation of a Scout's membership in the unit. If confronted by threats of violence or other forms of bullying from other youth members, Scouts should seek help from their unit leaders or parents. Unit Responsibilities Adult leaders of Scouting units are responsible for monitoring the behavior of youth members and interceding when necessary. Parents of youth members who misbehave should be informed and asked for assistance in dealing with it. The BSA does not permit the use of corporal punishment by unit leaders when disciplining youth members. The unit committee should review repetitive or serious incidents of misbehavior in consultation with the parents of the child to determine a course of corrective action including possible revocation of the youth's membership in the unit. If problem behavior persists, units may revoke a Scout's membership in that unit. When a unit revokes a Scout's membership, it should promptly notify the council of the action.

Baden, Acco and ScoutNut are right. If the IH/COR of a chartered partner want to be arbitrary and capricious ... if they want to remove a Scouter from participation under their charter ... they can ... for any justification or for no justification at all. That does not mean what they do is right, it simply means they can do it. You've been around these forums long enough now to see some of the antics pulled by people. We're human, after all ... and from the way I read the Good Book, that makes all of us fallible and capable of silly/ridiculous things.

I checked with my District Director tonight. He says ScoutNet autopromotes Cubs T--->W, W--->B, B--->W on June 1 each year. After that, well, it's how good a friend you are with your Registrar.

Dutch oven cobblers, hot dogs, I've even done twist ... Oh... 'smores. As long as your fire is hot enough, and you have enough grate space, all is well.

RememberSchiff, ??? I remember Warrant Offices, vice the buzzword POR, being part of advancement to S-L-E... and my youth tenure was 68-73.

Given The outrageous cost of a university education ... as a percentage of income, my sons' is far more expensive to me than mine was to my Dad ... (dollars converted to constant cost using the NASA calculators) The emphasis so many universities want on "the active, whole person." ... when we went college campus touring 3 years ago, you should see some of the apps/essays/resumes that Admissions Officers say "will make the cut"/"didn't make the cut" The earnest desire of many families that their children start their post-graduate lives debt-free ... PUBLIC university education right now is about $64K across Freshman-graduate... A financial aid world where the middle class gets loans, period. Do you know how bad I'd like my son to have work-study? A merit-based scholarship world where the GPA cut line is going higher each year, thanks to endowments going down, thanks to the ongoing Depression... Any activity out there is part of the mix the child/parent chooses, and scheduling a childs' life is almost as complex as scheduling a work cycle in our day jobs Then, as stated earlier, it does not help that our Districts and Councils schedule events on top of events To answer your question ... Beavah, every activity contributes to the overall calendar, imo, and every activity has an incremental part of the role.

Had a visit with a Scouter physician friend last night. Short version: Unit/family should ask Council surgeon to consult with family doc. In this physicians' professional judgment, this is the simplest path to getting over this hurdle for this Scout.

All advancement items are controlled, they are supposed to be sold only if an Advancement Report is given. As stated, this is so units do not have a stock of patches. Usually, though, the clerks understand: - Need shirts for Jamboree - Need shirts for OA position. - Am setting up a Venturing uniform, but am continuing to accrue Boy Scout rank They'll deal with the matter. It helps to have a relationship over time with the Scout Shop staff.

acco, From my understanding of the program materials, The SM does have a "report-out" function to the Committee. He's to keep them informed on the direction of the program, the needs of the unit,and the needs of the members. I think this can be taken as a responsibility to to Committee. A properly functioning Commitee is a check and balance. Through the use of Boards of Review (among other tools), they ensure the SM and his assistants are executing the program. Indeed, as you said, all leaders are approved by the Chartered Partner through the COR. That said, I do expect ASMs to follow and support the SM. It's his vision that matters. Equally, I expect committee member act collegially, and follow and support the CC. As Beavah said, it really does help when our adult egos stay out of the way BTW ... I'm going over to Columbia twice next week. Tuesday is the spring concert of the University Bands program. Saturday is the Black and Gold spring football game (and a performance by Marching Mizzou). I will most likely stay over and go to church with my son on Sunday

Just downloaded the Signalling manual. Presume you're talking the figure on p34. No problem here. Make sure you have adobe acrobat reader v9 or v10 on your PC.

Dilbert is a fave. Describes the office all too often. Agnus Day (a lutheran-specific lectionary based weekly comic) is another fave. Were that someone could put the words of Will Rogers into comics.

Sure you can, but why not empower your youth leaders and authorize his SPL, TG or an Instructor to sign off? I omit his PL only because I do not know the age/experience of the PL. If he's a peer of the new Scout, and doesn't know what he's looking for, I'd hold back. If you gave the new Scouts an experienced PL, then let him.

Gunny: You're right, of course: We can give insights to a glide path. The Council Surgeon and the family physician can sort it out. jemek: Good hunting on the consult for this Scout. Ed: This is one of those times we don't need to know.

Drafting ... Mr Schwing my drafting teacher was my Counselor Metalwork ... Mr Dunlap my homeroom teacher and metal shop instructor was my Counselor First Aid ... I remember it being a dentist; I think he was on Sherman Way in Reseda.

The National Direct Service Office are the folks who handle BSA units chartered around the world who are not members of TransAtlantic or Far East Councils. (In other words, Scout Packs and Troops affiliated with US ex-pats near embassies around the world, or US Armed Forces who have family accompanying them in places like Bahrain). I'll get with my professionals and get an answer...(This message has been edited by John-in-Kc)

I'll look at my youth member sash. I know what my sons' was: Citizenship in the Nation. It's the first one on his sash.

In my neck of the woods, child labor laws prohibit (still) more than about 15 hours/wk for folks under 18. If a kid really is working 30 hours a week, I think I might be asking "why?" In the current economic times, that level of effort might mean the young person is having to contribute to his family bottom line. If there's one thing I've learned in the past few years, every situation is different, and every situation needs to be looked at given the facts on the ground. Source, assuming you are the youth or the parent, I wish you well.