johnsned

Thank you SagerScout and Eamonn, I really appreciate your comments. I think you have looked at this issue fairly, I understand you don't agree with me but you understand my intentions. Like I said in my (many) comments, I know that people disagree with this policy; I can understand their point of view. I would never ask anybody to modify their activity to suit my particular needs. This is only practiced in one of the three council Wood Badge courses, and this course was created for those that want separate sleeping areas. I appreciate the contributions of women in scoutin

Hello Mr. White, I wrote you a private message to trying to explain my point of view, but I got no response so I felt that I should post this message. I can tell by your message that you were offended by what I have written on this topic, although I dont think that you read all of my postings on this. I am sorry I made you feel that so angry, I think you just misunderstand my point of view on this. There are many religious groups that have express charge that married persons cannot attend an overnight trips/training course with persons of the opposite sex without their spouse. BSA

Hello 4 the Boys, My District went through the same thing; I just started on the District committee, in the meetings the topic of Roundtable attendance came up. I thought this might be a good angle to approach my concerns about Roundtable. If the Roundtable is a waste of time usually attendance is low, consisting of a few core unit leaders who feel obligated to attend, some of what I call the good old boys, those who have been in scouting for a long time and come to Roundtable for more social reasons then to learn how to implement the scouting program. People vote with their fe

The is no longer any minum time required to finish your ticket

The Powder Horn course is designed to introduce and expose Venturing and Boy Scouting adult unit leaders to the activities and resources necessary to operate a successful outdoor/high adventure unit-level program. It is based on the eight core and eighteen electives found in the Venturing Ranger program. It is intended to help adult leaders get out of the box in finding and using resources and in the way they lead their unit-level high adventure programs. No high adventure skills are taught in this course. It is designed to have some disciplines introduced with a hands-on segment. Example: For

THE FOLLOWING WAS SENT TO ME VIA MY COUNCIL From the National Council: Criminal background checks to be part of new BSA leader registration process Since Scouting's inception, we have made every effort to have the highest quality of volunteers as role models and mentors for youth. Our main priority is the safety of our youth members and participants, and we continually seek new ways to improve our youth protection procedures. New information technologies have greatly improved the ability of nonprofit organizations to accurately and reliably conduct criminal history record chec

Packsaddle, yes there was a generic release for the BSA to do a background check, but now the Adult Volunteer Application has the following written in bold red letters in on the front cover. "By submitting this application you are authorizing a criminal background check of yourself. This check will be made from public record sources. You will have an opportunity to review and challenge any adverse information disclosed by the check." I guess the emphases is that before the check could be performed and now it will be.

From what I am told by our Council Exec, starting April all new registered adult volunteers with have to consent to allow the BSA to get a background check.

Ed, Thank you for the update, I'd like to help out anyway I can. Any word on his condition? - John

Ed, Thank you for the update, I'd like to help out anyway I can. Any word on his condition? - John

ASM, I had a question, you said as a CEO you interviewed both ChoicePoint and VolunteerSelect, both organizations had the same right wing leanings? Both companies made you feel as they would invade the privacy of your employees or overstep the boundries of a routine background check? and do something with political leanings. If so I can understand your concern since you had personal dealings with both groups and I have not.

Rooster7, couldn't have said it better myself.

le Voyageur, I also believe that on many fronts we are involuntarily losing many personal freedoms such as privacy. But in this case the BSA won't run a "Criminal" background check unless you give them express permission to do so, hence no rights violated. I was told that the only response the BSA will receive from ChoicePoint is a positive query response to the criminal database (a conviction), and I think that is appropriate, they should not be getting another information such as; credit history, political affiliations, nothing of this sort. I am not sure I understand why you

OldGrayEagle, I agree if they use the cloths because of the functionality and durablity great, we just don't want to look like a paramilitary group. You can get BDU cheap and they are the most durable around.

I am not sure why you think ChoicePoint is a right wing organization; they are a leading company for background checks. They are used to screen potential employees, renters, and volunteers. They are contracted to do a criminal background search, yes they can access public records and find out what political party you belong to. But I don't very much that you are going to be kicked out of the BSA because you are not a "Right Wing Christian Republican". Anybody with the information you put on your Adult Volunteer Application could get that same information. The reason the BSA is contrac

Evmori, Thanks for keeping us informed on the condition of our friend. I see scouters as a big family, I mentioned our friend at my roundtable, asking for their prayers. Many Scouters here in Los Angeles would like to send a card and best wishes. Either way let him know that Scouters all across the country are praying for him and his family.(This message has been edited by johnsned)

I use the camelback too I think they are great. Very convenient, my water filter screws right onto the mouth of the balder for easy filtering. I enjoy having the hose fasten to the sternum strap on my pack for easy access, this way it is easy to drink when I want. I think the camelbacks have the best bite values, they also have a manual switch to eliminate leaks, also as I mentioned the mouth fits my filter. -John

I think EagleDad makes a good point, that this appears to be a good boy lead troop. I also agree that if you are going to have restrictions the exclude certain boys you need to have a seperate program for them. If this is isolated then I wouldn't think it is a big deal, but if the boys feel left out to often. like Dan said boys may lose interest. I don't think winter camping is too hard for younger scouts, I take my 6 year old son, he has been twice and loves it. Just my two cents! John

I was in our Council's Commissioners Conference when they covered this. Our council has indicated that no new leaders will be accepted without a background check and they have the goal to complete the checks on current members by the end of the year. There are different categories for background check results, Category one is a automatic rejection to be a volunteer in the BSA, this includes such convictions for Rape, Murder, Manslaughter, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, other crimes of a sexual nature, Misc types of assault and domestic violence. I am told if a person fails the backg

Evmori, it is a local application, for a council course. OldGrayEagle this is a local policy, supported by National.

It is a very difficulty transition to move from an Adult run and lead to a boy lead and conducted. It takes a long time for the boys to trust that what they want really matters, and that they will be taken seriously. Often times they'll test the authority we say we give them, to see if we are sincere in giving up a portion of control. This could be a great opportunity to get closer to the boys to coach and mentor them. When they arent performing dont revert to adult lead, or threaten to take the authority away from the boys, remember they are expecting that sooner or later theyll lose

Hello Packsaddle; I am a Scoutmaster for an inner city Hispanic troop. We have several boys whose families can't afford many of the scouting activities. I have to be very creative in planning our program; most of the activities are between $5 and $10 per boy. I have worked a lot with the boys teaching them about money. How to save, earn and budget. I have work to motivate them to come up with their own money to buy equipment and pay for summer camp. I first encouraged them to wash the leaders cars, organize their own garage sales and pick up odd jobs. I also frequently go equipment

Our prayers are with your friend and his family. Please do keep us posted. We are all brothers in scouting.

As I mentioned in a previous post our council offers three Wood Badge Courses per year. The one I attended then worked on staff for observes separate sleeping facilities for men and women. We interpret facilities as campsites. Yes this is due to our religious beliefs. The vast majority of participants to the particular course require this accommodation to attend Wood Badge. This course was started to serve those groups with this specific needs and also not to camp on Sundays. This is clearly stated in the application/brochure. In fact the following statement is printed on the applicatio

I agree with you that if I were the only participant that needed special arrangements, I would certainly go and excuse myself to sleep and not impose on the group. In the course I was on staff for 3/4 or more of the participants required those special arrangements. So if everyone requiring separate sleeping area left the patrol site it is likely that the patrol site would be empty, or if there was a female participant that wanted to sleep and the patrol site, she may very well find herself alone. This course was created for those people specifically for those scouters requiring this. So ma