John-in-KC

Again, welcome to the Forums. Here is the website for the San Francisco Bay Area Council, Here is the page for local areas of the Council, called Districts: http://www.sfbac.org/districts I've gone and looked, sadly I cannot find a list of Counselors on the council website. I would suggest contacting your sons' Scoutmaster in person, and sharing your concerns. Alternately, I'd suggest contacting your Committee Chair at a Troop Commitee meeting. Perhaps most importantly (and one way to start working from the inside, for the benefit of all the youth in your Troop), perhaps you have a skill you can share. If so, you can become a Merit Badge Counselor of the Boy Scouts of America. Then, you can get access to information from the inside. Have I answered your question? Did I read your question correctly in writing this?

Welcome to the Forums. Right now, I've not seen any literature on the specific position. That said, BSA and local councils have internet guidelines. Ask your son to contact his Patrol Leader/SPL and (finally) Scoutmaster to seek out Council-specific guidance. Your son almost certainly can google Scouting internet guidelines and get a host of webpages. As far as responsibility, if I were currently a SM, I would expect the Scout to develop and maintain the website, to include a calendar of events, and to include content delivered him by the SM, SPL, and Committee Chair. Have I answered your question for the moment?

Again, common sense applies. If I'm a Counselor taking a Scout who has a partial from camp, I'm going to spot check the requirements completed. I know what I think now about Tent Schools. Then, we'll figure out the road to completion together.

E732: You do have a say. It's called: Ladies and gentlemen, here is the program the youth have developed for the next x weeks. Their support needs are: 1) 2) 3) 4) ... nnn) The time for the Committee to give you guidance is before the youth are planning. If they're planning October, the Committee should be giving you guidance for November.

Why are you setting standards and not mentoring your PLC so that the youth members buy in? This should be a youth decision, not a SM fiat.

emb, That explains why the youth I saw in 2003 (who were doing final staff development in PTC before heading out to camp as staff for it) were so fantastic, and the youth I saw in 2008 ... well, I've shared that story before

EagleSon was exactly where you are now. The first Crew meeting after his 15th birthday, he was there, and asked for an app. Use the time to look for Crews that fit the person you're wanting to be

As is often the case, Lisa is thinking exactly what I want to say I would go ahead, go to a meeting (by yourself), and ask for a copy of his records, and a return of any funds not obligated. I'd also contact the District Executive, and ask for a current printout of his ScoutNet record. It'll help the gaining unit and Council when/if you relocate/

The Scoutmaster is a member ex officio of the committee. His job is to report out on the program (since he is THE program officer), to request resources, and to integrate thoughts of other adults into his mentoring of the youth. A well run committee, as stated elsewhere, should be able to operate on consensus.

When I was a Cub, my sainted Mom was my Den Mother. She'd contact the other parents in the Den, and each had a share of the burden of support. I agree in general with Eammonn, but I think Step 1 is to ask your parents for a private meeting with a friendly adult beverage. Explain to them the bottom line: Cub Scouts is a collaboration between youth, parents, and Den Leader. They have a part of this, and you will call them asking to take on a share of the burden. If they don't want to help, at some point this Den will fold, because you'll hand in your DL patch to Mr Cubmaster. I've seen it enough times to get it!

Any MB Counselor worth his/her salt is going to ask a Scout for his MB app at the first meeting. He/she should want to see that the Scoutmaster has signed off, authorized Billy to begin the MB. As others said, no card, no SM signature ... you've got a clean slate with me. With card and signature, I'm going to spot check ... especially skills which are safety related. Once I'm through with the catch-up, then I'll give the Scout expectations for getting the rest of his badge done. It's my signature on the card. It's my integrity at stake. While I'll neither add to nor take from, the content will be done RIGHT.

Coins (actually medallions) have been a useful and fairly inexpensive motivational tool in recent years. Commands in the Armed Forces started using them about 20 years ago. They were an "attaboy" that a commander could give without having to push a mound of paper through a bureaucracy. Through the defense contracting community, they migrated to industry, where the idea of inexpensive recognition caught on like gangbusters. Who needs to give a $300 or $500 bonus when a $3.00 medallion will give the employee a smile and a tangible reminder for several days? OBTW, that the boss often bought you a beer wasn't bad either. As for me, I'd rather spend another night in the back country.

Merlyn, I cannot help with that question. Sorry, I just do not know.

I'm a member of a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod parish. The debate you are seeing is a faith matter of orthodoxy/heterodoxy. The question is the purity of the message. I will get ahold of the President of the National Lutheran Association of Scouters, and ask him how we're going to approach this. BTW, the Executive Officer of a Chartered Partner is a no-fee member if he/she does not actively serve Scouting (be a dues-paying volunteer).

Just a note: First Class Requirement Five (old HB) 5. Visit and discuss with a selected individual approved by your leader (elected official, judge, attorney, civil servant, principal, teacher) your constitutional rights and obligations as a U.S. citizen. This is an adult exclusive sign-off, that being the adult who does the discussion.

shortridge, I've heard that as well. I think it's an extension of once the MB is started the Scout (working with the same Counselor) may continue to work it until he ages out of youth membership. That said, if a kid started MB X at 11, it was withdrawn when he was 12, and he didn't finish it out until he was 17 1/2: The SM would have a tough time finding a patch for him (short of ebay).

If the district in question has only 130 youth members spread out through 10 troops over a 70x90 mile area... It sounds to me like this District needs some work to bring units and people to Boy Scouting. Would you care to share the demographics of the area? How many boys in 4-8 grades? How many 9-12? Are you reaching the target population for recruitment? Sounds to me like the District Key 3 need to be thinking about membership in the District.

Even if a MB is "obsolete" it is never "eliminated" , according to one source. Please, what do... Your Council Advancement Chairman Your District Advancement Chairman ACP&P #33088 BSA Requirements #33215 say about that assertion? I have never heard that one claimed before...

Not a patch. My Ordeal sash, from 1970. The ethic of the Arrow has come to be a huge part of who I am.

Gunny, Why does it not surprise me that you and I are in agreement yet again?

To me, it depends on the circumstances. EagleSon, as part of his Forensics 1 class in HS, had to staff a debate tournament we were host of. The requirement was for 4 hours of service to the class. If the youth wanted credit for their A+ (Missouri tuition at undergrad/vo tech level) program service hours, they could serve up to 8 more. He did the 12, and got all done. When EagleSon was a Star, he was starting 8th grade confirmation at church. There, he had a 30 service hour requirement over the course of his confirmation year. He volunteered to be J-Staff at District Cub Day Camp. Over that week, he put in 40 hours of service. He allocated 6 to Star--->Life requirement (yes, his SM approved), and he allocated the other 34 to his church requirement. One project, but hours went to two different places, and no real double-dipping. He's just completed his fourth season as a Camp Staffer. He sings in the church contemporary worship praise team, and he's one of the first to volunteer for activities around his university marching band. Is the ethic of service inculcated? I think so. Point of all this? Each Scout, each opportunity for service has to be looked at on its own merits. The object of the exercise is the CITIZENSHIP aim and the IDEALS and PERSONAL GROWTH methods. If we're trying to do "one size fits all," it's us Scouters who are being lazy.

Thanks to the OP for the Craigslist ad. My read is there just is no rational debate going on. I do not see what the "bum's rush" is to get this done. All of us concede there is need to reform. We have multiple systems in place, none of which is necessarily rational to the others. We don't have a nationwide actualial pool (even though it's obvious the Commerce Department has the data). We don't have tort reform that washes away all the "my lip job didn't come out the way you told me it... wahh... malpractice lawsuits of convenience. We don't have tort reform that makes a true malpractice a really bad thing for a doc. What we've got is the historic distrust of a large Federal Government finally expressing itself in full flower. We are one of the two most civil yet serious conversations I see about this. Maybe we ought to start Congressional debates, town halls, radio shows, ad infinitum with the Scout Oath and Law.

All MBC's are District positions. The differentiation comes when the Scouter signing up decides if he wants to counsel solely within or outside the Troop. What you can do is say, "Sure, sign up. Please understand that I will not be assigning you any youth from our Troop at this time. Even so, others in the District can use your skills in this field. Please sign up that you will take on youth from throughout the District."

OK, I have Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 on a Windows box. The NESA pdf is not only downloadable and fillable, but savable.

In other words, there appears to be no standard whatsoever.