kari_cardi

You could hold a short workshop for your pack families or another group with LNT activities as a service project. Another idea is to hand out LNT flyers at a park, but I suspect that would result in more litter, not less. But 'education' as a service project might work for your group in some form or another. Regarding invasive species, my reading of LNT information outside of BSA seems to indicate that the removal of invasive species is LNT in that you are undoing the harm caused by humans who introduced the alien species in the first place. For Canadian thistle, however, control seems to be best managed by spraying the intact plant immediately before blooming with a glyphosate herbicide to kill as much as the extensive root system as possible. This process isn't very cub or LNT friendly. I'll let you know if it is effective since I have an experimental patch I've been trying to kill by various methods for years.

If the scout and his parents have their eye on Eagle, holding him back in scouts could mean less time in Boy Scouts to advance to Eagle. The scout could also catch up again by skipping the second year of Webelos since presumably he would be old enough to join a troop by then. I would not consider this to be a concern, but rather a consideration to keep in mind. My primary point is that decisions now will have effects down the road. I think, as a parent and a leader, that I would ask the scout what he would like to do with a preference to continuing on in scouts.

Well, I must not have much of an imagination. Again, in the case of field trips, children are regularly labeled with contact information for the organization, not for the parents. If a child is left behind from a field trip, I feel confident that the museum (zoo, farm, whatever) will have contact information for the organizer and will contact that person as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made to pick the kid up. I am not saying that children should not be taught these things. I am addressing the judgement of parents who have not taught this basic information. It must be more common than not since the AnnLaurelB's whole den didn't know. A quick survey of some friends who are parents plus the extra kids in my home indicates the same - spotty, imperfect knowledge of home address and phone numbers. The reason? The information isn't important. It seems like it should be, I agree, but it isn't. I cannot come up with a scenario where the only thing keeping my child from being reunited with me is his ability to recite his parent's name and address. Well, short of a major disaster and even then it would be a matter of time. I can see that children who come from disadvantaged homes where no one might notice that they are missing might need their address as part of their survival skill set. But that is as far as my imagination takes me.

Actually, AnnLaurelB, I logged in this morning to tell you that I disagree with you about the need for elementary age children to know their home address. In the example you gave, where a child is separated at a festival, knowing an address isn't needed. He wouldn't even need to know the name of his parents or phone numbers as long as his parents realized he was missing and had alerted the security team. Why would a kid be returned home if his parents are at the festival where he was lost? If you are taking scouts on a field trip where you might be separated, I'd suggest making sure each scout has your information, like a cell phone number. That makes more sense to me than having a scout get lost, call his parents, etc. when you are the person in charge on the spot. And I would like to suggest that as scout leaders, we do not have the discretion to add any requirement we feel necessary. There are boundaries. If you had given my son that homework, I would have resented the implied criticism of my parenting. You see it as necessary, I do not. We are both scout leaders. Who is right? As far as I am concerned, I am, for my family. I'd have my kid do it because I would not see it as a hill to die on, there is no harm in knowing an address, but that isn't the same as agreement. And Beavah, I agree, men are getting a bad rap as 'unsafe' people and we are doing our children a disservice when we teach them that only women and police officers are safe. I know that men are more likely to be sexual predators, yadda yadda yadda. The person most likely to abuse a child is that child's mother. Maybe we should take kids from their parents just in case, because you never know. Right?

You know, Scoutfish, I understand your point. We recently had a boy injured during a meeting and none of us knew if any of the other leaders had first aid training or to what extent. There was definitely a bit of a scuffle as to who should take charge. But on the other hand, I agree that a patch isn't necessarily the answer. I think an announcement that the leadership plus several parents had completed first aid training would establish that credibility, with the certification card in a wallet as back-up. Plus, most importantly, your leaders know who took the class and whom to turn to in an emergency. Seeing who the leaders defer to will give confidence to the parents, more so than a patch IMO.

I think in an ideal world there would be plenty of competent volunteers stepping up for all four key positions. In the real world, you do what you can. Given a choice, I'd rather that the SM/CM be related than the advancement chair or the treasurer.

If you think you will be continuing with scouts and camping in the future, I'd go with a nice quality dome that sleeps 3-4 like those mentioned. Cheap tents mostly work but can be frustrating. And even if your son doesn't want to camp alone at 8, he will probably be ready in a few years and thankfully, tents don't have a short expiration date. Going with a 3-4 man tent means that he has room for a mate if he wants. As far as rules for tenting alone, we tell our sons that they are not allowed to eat/store food in their tent, no shoes, and no open knives. They are also responsible for pitching and breaking down the tent and keeping their gear tidy. There is usually a point while camping when we are trying to settle down for the night that everyone has to pick a spot to sleep and stick with it, but YMMV.

We had a similar experience and the DE did a boy talk too. Unless they want to send their sons to camp, I think parents see scouts as a better choice in the fall. I think for the most part, they are right.

I've never had luck with foil dinners in larger group settings, though I know they are always recommended. Mine come back to me charred or half-raw, never well cooked. I'm sure it is possible though, with the right equipment and system. What about doing a simple main dish like chili or beef stew that can be heated(or cooked straight up) in a dutch oven by the Webelos, and have the rest of the gang make biscuit cups on toasting forks (wrap the end in a strip of foil, works better than sticks)to go with the chili or stew? Or assign the different dens to different parts of the meal based on skill level, like Tigers do salad, Wolfs do corn on the cob, etc. I like the first one though because in my experience boys LOVE cooking anything over a fire on a stick.

So what would happen if this leader and her husband were asked to leave? Why did you accept their application in the first place, what need did they fill for the pack? Would your COR and the pack committee support you in asking these parents to step down as asst. leaders? The yelling and irrational/rude behavior with den parents bother me far more than zipping through belt loops. It sounds like the mom feels she can get away with it, that she will be at the top of pack leadership soon enough. Obviously that would be disastrous for the pack.

Well, I think this begs the question, what counts as uniform? In general, it seems that to be official, uniforms must be sold by BSA. Yet I've seen suggestions to have uniform pieces custom-made, which would not be sold by BSA. I don't see how custom uniform pieces are different than similar non-BSA pieces sold at retail. And I've seen suggestions to buy off the rack and alter the uniform as desired, changing pockets and sleeves and such. When does a uniform piece stop being official? As long as the tag is in place, or so it seems.

Baloo's Bugle is a monthly online publication that always has a ton of ideas for the monthly theme, including activity pages like word search. I also like to give the scouts an open-ended craft project by spreading a variety of materials (feathers, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, beads and buttons) on the table, some glue and something as a starting point. Spoons for spoon puppets, empty water bottles for crazy animals, rocks for rock pets are all good ideas. The like for Baloo's Bugle: http://usscouts.org/bbugle.asp

I do think it is important that the troop not ask younger scouts to 'break the rules' by communication primarily on FB or other age-restricted social media. Primary troop communications should be accessible by all. And FWIW, my ISP provider has no age restrictions on email accounts and Yahoo has a family account for the under-13 crowd.

Infoscouter, I try to do all those things. But really? I shouldn't have to. My council and my district has email, snail mail, Facebook, blogs...in addition to the pony and roundtable. It would be infinitely more efficient to use those communication channels to advertise training than to have someone from each unit 'nag' the district trainer chair as you advise. I worked with my Webelos leaders to sign up for Outdoor Leaders Skills training this weekend. Plans were shifted, physicals/medical forms completed, registration completed. It was canceled for lack of participation. I can't help but feel that if the training was better advertised, there would be more attendees. What a waste of everyone's time. We had a similar situation last spring where we had a group signed up for several different courses at a training session. Babysitters, carpools, dinner plans were made. Cancelled at the last minute due to lack of participation. It is getting harder to convince my leaders that they need training when it seems like we have to beg for it.

Well, if you are a seasoned dyer! Normally I avoid Rit as it is a poor and expensive choice for cotton, where fiber-reactive dyes work best. But it is great for hook and loop tape.(This message has been edited by sasha)

Scoutbox, you can dye white hook and loop tape with Rit fabric dye. Dark Green should work for you. It is pretty easy, especially if you use the liquid dye. Find a disposable container like a plastic salad box or peanut butter jar. Add a couple of tablespoons of dye and some hot water. Drop in the hook and loop tape, separated of course. Let sit completely immersed until the tape is a bit darker than the color you want. Rinse and let dry. Throw away your dye container so no one uses it for food. Alternately, you can buy a brand of hook and loop tape called Touch Tape in a darker green from online retailers. I prefer Touch Tape to Velcro, it doesn't lose its grip as quickly.

I have leaders willing to do the training (mostly because it is the right thing to do) but the districts and council put out the information so late, it results in schedule conflicts. And to find out about training in any district other than our own, I have to scroll through the council calendar and hope someone put it there. The system isn't very efficient. momof2cubs, are you sure that swimming certification isn't being offered in multiple sessions over Memorial weekend? That would make more sense given the topic.

The Victorinox Swiss Army tinker is the first knife we bought for our own family scouts and what we recommend to parents. It is inexpensive, between $10 and $15 depending on where you purchase the knife. It is readily available at Target in red and in a wide variety of colors on Amazon. My Girl Scout loves her purple knife. I can attest firsthand that it survives the washer and is plenty of knife to carve wood furniture.

Our local fire department has a mentoring program that pairs up firefighters with youth who are known or suspected firebugs. Might be a good option in addition to other, more immediate consequences.

I've been reading through this thread in the last few days. What it has left me with is a strong feeling that I was not a responsible parent when I sent my young son off to his ordeal a few weeks ago. I can report that there was no question of his parents attending the ceremony since we were not told there would be a ceremony. We were told little more than where, when and what to pack for his ordeal. I trusted the organization, and I feel that trust was misplaced.

It sounds like you are being heard now, which is progress! And the response you receive from the committee will make your next decision clear, I think.

Something to keep in mind is that the spouse, if there is one, can be the unseen part of the equation, and winning that person over might be the key to recruiting the person you want. It is part of the process of identifying and eliminating roadblocks if possible to help someone step up to a leadership position.

BadenP, we were just talking last night at our leader's meeting about turning Webelos outdoor leadership training into a Wii game! Imagine trying to start a fire onscreen with a wiimote! I think it could be a lot of fun (better than the current training videos on other topics) but of course, it would be no substitute for the real thing. I've been in a situation where members of a group met outside the parameters of that group, something happened, and the group leaders inserted their opinions into the matter because we were all members. It wasn't pretty. I really would be happy to never go through that again, and it didn't even get legal, the social politics were enough. But I refuse to edit my life based on the possibility that someone, somewhere, might judge me wanting based on rules I don't even see as relevant.

I am so using that tonight at our pack leadership meeting. :-)

In my pack, we would discuss the scout (discreetly) at a leadership meeting and brainstorm solutions. Someone might have an old uniform shirt, someone else might sew on patches. A third person might know someone for a ride to meetings or be willing to give a ride themselves. I don't think one person has to take complete responsibility for him, assuming of course that he isn't a Tiger. But we would do our best to keep him in the pack by working together. I like also the idea of bringing in the COR, if you have one that is involved.