jtswestark

To add to Engs point LL is certainly not the only youth baseball game in town. Im not familiar with Pony, but I grew up playing in Hot Stove which has their own national tournies and is still very popular. My sons league was USSSA - which is becoming a national youth sports powerhouse along the lines of what AAU used to be (not sure if any AAU leagues exist anymore.) The non-LL leagues move the pitchers mound back a few feet at each age group so that you dont get a the equivalent of a 140mph fastball bearing down on you from an over aged kid. Much safer and better development for high s

Ha... and that says it all right there!

What would holding a BoR accomplish? Drag in a number of adults that may or may not even know the kid for the purpose of what? That would be no different outcome, maybe worse, than what was done to this young man. I have to 'mostly' agree with Papa and Twocub on both of their posts. The SM only added to the commotion by holding his closed door meeting and all the effects of it. Those waiting outside with nothing to do the angst of 5Ys son and many others. That just adds to the mishandling of all this. But if there was this much to do about it, I dont think you can ignore it. Yes

After "passing the test", give them NEED to use it. Absolutely! The regular program is what is going to make the Scouts proficient in their knowledge, not a one and done approach. A PL can sign off on a skill, but the T-2-1 needs to utilize that skill on many campouts and games/events the Troop/Patrol should be taking part in throughout the year, year after year. When we were first working to get the troop out to do some hiking, when one of my PIA parents recognized the distance met Camping MB req #9B2. Almost instantly there was a rumbling in her sons patrol that half werent going

Thanks for reminding me... with school starting back up soon, need to read up on that water-boarding trick.

Frankly, this inquisition, as described, borders on sexual harassment itself. I can't imagine what would make any leader that it is part of his job to inquire into the sexuality of a youth member. Fantastic comments, all, additional kudos on your son. I truly hope he gets no spin off effect for being a good friend. How dare these adults do this to a young man. Ill never understand why some adult leaders think they are trial judge and jury in areas they have no authority. Where was the accusation? What were they basing all this upon? Unless there was a solicitation/incident or

Last summer I was unable to attend camp and found it very interesting how many facebook posts that had nothing to do with Scouts from the guys in camp. They hadnt cut the strings loose and were still conversing with girlfriends, buddies, family, and people that had no idea they were even at camp. We gave the same rule to the boys that the adults had for a long period - we didnt want to see the phones, dont want to hear your conversations, and dont want your nose buried in it. The older guys seem to get it. Their batteries will die out if they go at it too much and we haven't seen the

Are we expecting more from that adults than we train? Should we expect more from the adults than we train? Many of us that were involved as kids in Scouting have taken a nice long break in between that time and before our own sons were ready to join. Many of those skills were long lost and had to be relearned. I wasnt out doing lashings or working a compass while I was busy building a family and profession. So even those of us that have come back still take some time to brush off the rust. And yes, there were things we werent proficient in that need to be learned better to teach and m

It should follow Camping MB I completely agree with that being a pre-req. I am surprised to read here of so many first year Scouts taking Wilderness Survival. I would not allow younger guys to take this before Camping MB and certainly not first year Scouts. Because of that, it ends up being at least 3rd or 4th year Scouts taking it on.

Eng is right. The two battles I see with a kids time that kills Scouts: sports and school. Sports: every program a kid gets involved in today has to give 110% of his time to that one program. The days of a three sport athlete are gone in the school districts Im familiar with since the coaches expect (and get if the kid wants to actually play) a year round commitment to their sport. Band is a close second, we would lose half our troop each fall during football season to marching band requirements. School: challenges and demands of more school work being done at home than

Sad to read. I visited a camp here in Western NY this summer, arriving about 6:30pm on a Tuesday. It was just plain awesome to see the waterfront PACKED with boys canoeing, kayaking, fishing, swimming at that hour! (granted, it was 90 degrees, which is pretty rugged to the locals up here). Why would you want to restrict open program time at a Scout camp!? Makes no sense.

I don't understand this sniping at jtswestark, and I find this lack of decorum embarrassing. A scout is courteous, for Pete's sake. Thank you Garrison. Sadly, it happens because people can hide anonymously behind handles and aren't held accountable for what they say. Small minded people only see their own way and any other way MUST be wrong. If we were sitting around a real campfire where we could look each other in the eye a fraction of the insults would be tossed that are. Anyone thats been in Scouting for any period of time will have their share of real disagreements. But ther

All great points, Scoutfish. But also note that back in the day, we got away with many more things than kids can today. Those days are over. Nobody wants to be that person that looked the other way and couldve stopped or corrected in some way an unacceptable behavior. It was posted earlier on this thread. We all have seen young people raked over the coals for mistakes that back in the day wouldve been written off as boys will be boys. Nobody is looking the other way anymore. In fact, they look very closely. They recall when reading a newspaper article about a new Eagle they

BP, this is the last time Im going to bother responding to your childish statements. The stat was 95% of Scouts that reach First Class make Eagle. That means, the bulk we lose are lost before they get to First class, the balance of the 5% have decided for whatever reasons that it wasnt for them. I dont really care how that filters down to you as an eagle mill. As usual, you love spouting out national stats with no documentation. Care to provide one now for your statements? Come spend a weekend camping with my unit. Come spend a month at meetings. Come sit throug

jts The fact you state that 95% of your 1st Class boys makes Eagle, IMO, is a serious indicator your troop is indeed an Eagle mill, that percentage is way too high above the National average. Or it means we have an incredible quality troop. As usual, you jump to conclusions you know nothing about.

Absolutely bring it up. Sooner the better. A SM conference would be preferable to me, but at a BOR would do as well. But they may not have the relationship the SM does and the effects of that could go either way. Depending upon the severity of it all, I'm not sure I would decline the BOR approval, or Scout spirit by the SM... maybe ask him to reflect upon his behavior being what he would think suits a Star/Life/Eagle Scout? That with much browbeating may be enough to make him reconsider advancing for a while. If he doesn't, then maybe I'd tell him to think about it for a few weeks and le

I've been down a very similar path... married parents wanting to be ASMs and committee members and on and on... Chalk it up to experience, it happens to everyone I think if they're around long enough, sadly. Addition by subraction is what you need to keep reminding yourself, don't beat yourself up over it and move on. What I'd do is tell the boys about them leaving your unit and if they want a new counselor you'd be glad to give them one. Considering the volume of MBs Junior has earned, I'd really question the quality of counselors they are. But you have to feel that one out.

There is a lot of talk about #of eagles, #advancements, MB earned I dont have a problem with talking about those numbers at all. I can say 95% of our First Class Scouts have made Eagle. Weve had 17 Eagles over the past 10 years, with about 5 more in stages of finishing projects / waiting on EBOR. I commonly would come back from summer camp to report the number of merit badges and advancements earned. Does that make us a mill? Of course not, it means Ive taken a few minutes to look at some numbers. Now, if I start using that as a metric to improve upon thats a different sto

What a great luxury to have Moose! My experiences is there aren't enough MB counselors on the roster to support many boys to be picky only using someone you know, much less the quality of EXPERT that some here demand.

Paycheck!

We're all suckers, aren't we!? That's what makes it all fun, but you have to learn/know when to say 'no'. I learned a little too late and had other spin off issues because of it - so don't let that happen to you! Enjoy the ride, this Scouting thing is great!

Thanks Venividi, you say it more succinctly than I could I was just passing on what I saw year after year many fantastic young men giving it their all in trying to put on a successful camp program. It just kills them to go through all that to have a SM come down on them for trying to do their job. Or getting called names like Eagle Mills. They have passion for what they do, because they certainly dont do it for the pay. Ive personally stepped in to stop a SM dressing down a young staffer, it was awful and happens all too often. Ask a veteran staffer what he really thinks about SMs o

Back in the day I was a competitive swimmer and the mile was a nice warm up and a neat patch. The camp had a 20 yard pool so it was nice using the walls for flip turns. Did it all five years I went to camp. Back in those days it was simply swimming a mile and wed do it Saturday mornings before lunch and going home. When I came back to Scouts we had a new camp with a wonderful lake and bulkhead area quartered off in 25 yard sections no walls to push off on. Have to go down on Monday to do mile, the next day mile at our leisure and in the bulkhead area, with a counter. Bulkheads st

Great discussion it looks to me that people are saying why not? to a lot of non-campish merit badges. The bottom line is if its done properly, just about any MB can be a summer camp MB. My camp offers 39 different MBs this current summer for 53 separate classes, in fact most of what you suggested Calico but a few like Horesemanship, SCUBA, WaterSports, Whitewater that we dont have the facilities or equipment for. Capital plans in the short term future will address some of those. They have a complete staff of around 70, Id guess. They offer 6 required for a whopping 10 classes

BadenP We can all agree to disagree without using the garbage you spew. I know its a stretch for you, but please at least TRY to act like a Scouter. Your personal attacks show you as much less than that.