KoreaScouter

I live and work in a military culture in which hair, tattoos, and piercings are a near-constant source of official and unofficial discussion and attention. To establish my "creds", neither my son nor I have piercings or tattoos, and we both have short haircuts (I because the military says I have to, and him because his mom says he has to). The body's a temple, etc., etc. Having said that, I don't necessarily see tattoos or body piercings in the broad sense as negative character indicators, which is the argument we seem to be hanging our hats on. Silly looking? Perhaps. A impulsive ju

One thing that may be reinforcing rolling over Eagle required MBs beyond four from Star Reqt's to Life Reqt's columns is the big laminated wall chart many troops (ours included) uses to graphically depict advancement status. That graphic aid has column headings that "require" the entry of four Eagle required badges and two electives for Star...ditto for the Life column. KS

In my experience, the greatest drama for a Boy Scout leader comes from just-bridged Cub Scout parents. They're used to the den leaders running things, making decisions, and spoon-feeding the parents on everything they need to know. Many parents, especially if they don't have Scouting experience themselves, expect the same treatment once their sons join a Troop. For some, it's a very rude awakening when they find we don't operate like that. I had one mom in particular (Dad was in the home, but not really involved) who expected a personal call from me to repeat everything her son was tol

A well-designed pair of convertible trousers will not chafe when zipped off, because the zippers will not touch the skin. The issue for the military is not the durability of zippers -- two things would survive a nuclear war: cockroaches and military zippers. I had an opportunity to speak with uniform field test specialists about convertible trousers a couple years ago. They're a popular recurring suggestion, but the standardization problems and "uniformity" concerns outweigh the comfort advantages. Convertible trousers made of a quick-drying, wicking material (which they should b

I don't agree that a Scout with a high absence rate neccessarily equates to a substandard program. While that certainly may be the case, it could just as easily (and often is) a fact that the Scout may have registered under parental duress, had different expectations, doesn't really buy in to the aims, is under peer pressure, or in the case of older Scouts, is experiencing one or more of the 3 W's. Let's face it, we're going to lose Scouts, for all the above reasons and many I haven't thought of. Let's try not to take it personally, or blame ourselves if a Scout quits now and then. And

Here's a requirement for 2C: Attend five troop/patrol activities other than meetings, two of which involve camping overnight. Cut and dried. You can't have a troop policy of 7 activities, or 3 out of 5 involving camping. There's no disagreement here on that. Now, fast forward to the "Show Scout Spirit by living the Scout Oath and Law in your everyday life". Neither cut nor dried. If a given troop's Scouts, families, leaders, and committee members all have a common frame of reference and a crystal clear, identical definition of what living the Oath/Law means, that's fabulous. But for

We were on the verge of cancelling our "wilderness survival" campout this past weekend because a typhoon was supposed to come right over our heads on Saturday night. On Thursday, it broke south and west, and we decided to go. Saturday was the hottest day we've had this year so far; high 90's with humidity to match, and almost completely clear skies meant constant sun. Ditto on Sunday. We took 6 5-gallon water jugs up there and an 8-gallon jug filled with ice. Six hours after we got there, we filled them again, then again the next morning. 90 gallons of water for 14 persons in 28 hour

Hikingdad; I told you in my firt post to this thread to get ready; the opinions on this are divergent. I think we're all getting a little carried away on this. For example, Sctmom: I know from this forum you're a single parent, and when school's out, your son goes to Grandma's. If he were in the troop I serve, we wouldn't have a problem with that. The key, as with most things, is communication. As a courtesy if for no other reason, leaders should be informed of extended program absences or situation changes that may affect the Scout's participation...especially if he's in a lead

Sctmom; As they say, one summer camp packs a year's worth of Scouting into a single week. A good one, as it appears your son went to, has an even bigger effect. Seems he's internalizing the values, which is what we want all of them to do...good on him! Ed; I'm with you on the vacation. My kids get out middle of June and go back late August. They stay busy; daughter's in a day camp five days a week she loves, and my son's doing Red Cross volunteer work 3 days a week, helping out more around the house, lotsa Scout stuff, and a tremendous amount of cavorting at the pool with

Just a couple questions, I guess rhetorical: - why did they need a wagon (and I presume you mean one of those "radio flyer" type wagons we used to pull our kids around in) to haul the stuff in for cooking requirements? All the 2C and 1C cooking requirements can be met with foods easily cooked over a fire or with a small backpacking stove... - if the menu plan required dutch ovens, griddles, lots of bottled gas, whatever, why didn't they plan it for an overnighter that wasn't a backpacker? Anyway, water over the dam...without complete information, I think it would be a noble thi

FScouter; You bet, and another little known (perhaps) fact: businesses aren't supposed to use the flag in an ad for a commerical product. How many July 4th newspaper ads for car dealers, furniture stores, restaurants, you name it, have you seen with flags in them? Too many to count, right? A humorous aside...comedian Drew Carey was just over here for a USO show, and he said that right now, poor driving manners in the U.S. are excused if you're flying a U.S. flag from your car -- the more flags, the worse driving behavior you can get away with... KS

Hikingdad: Welcome to the forum; hope you get as much enjoyment, advice, and information from it as I do. With regard to your question, there is no published national BSA standard regarding attendance credit. In fact, that's one of those areas that is largely subjective. The very literal among us (and you'll learn very soon who they are) will tell you that "active" means registered, and nothing more. My personal recommendation, if you want a standard based on your troop customs and expectations, is to have your PLC determine what's "reasonable" for active-participation consid

Can anyone give me advice on whether or not to form a Venture patrol within the Troop? We've got 27 registered total, 7 of them Scouts of Venture age, with a couple more on their way in this summer. As you might expect, the older Scouts accept the mantle of troop leadership and mentoring the younger Scouts, and for the most part do an excellent job at it. They are, however, interested in higher-level activities the younger Scouts can't do...what Venturing was designed for, right? Well, the literature I can get my hands on here is rather vague on the subject...talks about register

My hunch is that Scouts salute in the first place so that there's a standardized place for their hands during these ceremonies...lacking that, they might be in their pockets, noses, ears, mouths, etc. If any of us are pretending we're not preparing our boys to serve their country, many of them in military uniform, we're deluding ourselves. You've all seen the statistics that show Scouts are over-represented at military service academies, in the FBI, and the astronaut corps, among others...that's no accident. While we're at it, I don't think any Scouter anywhere has to prove his patrio

Interesting thread; I had completely forgotten about that Star Trek episode until you reminded me of it. One man's vote: I don't think we need an Etiquette MB; what's the standard to use in order to devise the requirements?, and I think there's enough character-content in the program that if it's presented, it will either sink in or it won't...and if it won't from the program content, it won't from a MB either. Moreover, if there is to be an Etiquette MB, and it's not Eagle-required, how many takers will you get? Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about poor manners at age 11...a

I don't know you, your dad, or your troop, and I have no idea what part of the story, if any, you may be leaving out, so I'm not really in a position to advise you on how to handle your problem specifically. However, as a Scoutmaster and a father of a Scout in the troop, and someone who's coached youth sports in the past too, I think I can talk to the situation in general terms. Others have said on this thread that your dad may be re-living his childhood through you. Whether that's true in your case or not, it's a very common thing, and not unhealthy as long as we don't get carried away

I urge any leader or parent with a "reluctant" swimmer to discuss private swimming lessons with the Scout's parents/guardian. Here's why. In my experience, Scouts who refuse to attempt the swim requirements do not do so because they don't want to pass the tests or advance -- it's because they're petrified of failing in front of their friends. Let's face it, we usually do these things in group settings with lots of witnesses. Couple that with the fact that most Scouts who are at this point in Scouting are 10 or 11 years old and already feel inferior to older more experienced Scouts, a

I agree, the SM conference is the SM's responsibility unless he can't do it for some reason. That being said, I don't necessarily agree with the BSA language that says "...this is truly the opportunity to get to know the Scout...". In my experience, you get to know the Scouts by participating in activities, campouts, hikes, outings, PLCs, and troop meetings -- it's at the SM conference that you show the Scout you HAVE gotten to know him over the last however-many months. This thread does point out a bit of a dilemma, though. I consider part of my responsibility to prepare ASMs to be SM

My troop didn't want to wear the "dorky" BSA hats, either. Too high on the head, snap back, no curved bill, etc. I couldn't let them wear sports/FUBU caps in uniform, so I told the PLC to design a hat they WOULD wear, and that will be the troop hat. They did, it's "cool", and as a measure of it's acceptability, I've seen Scouts in the troop wearing the hat when not in uniform and out in public. One of the best things we ever did! Any of you interested in a custom design, troop cap, for $10 each (if you order 50 or more), let me know and I can get them for you. We'll work out the part

Check the current BSA insignia guide for the particulars on name tags if you plan to wear them with the uniform. Perhaps I'm insensitive to the subject since abductions are virtually unheard of where I am, but if Scouts have completed YP training, they shouldn't fall for the "Hey Tom" ploy from someone who saw their name tag. At any rate, if they're in class A's, it's a Scout function, and there's 2-deep leadership to keep things "honest". I now, in retrospect, wish we had name tags for all our Scouts. I have several who are volunteering through the Red Cross this summer at various

Akwatek is indeed what the Army uses for it's latest PT uniform shirts. I did check out the wickers.com site, and the prices knocked me over! I can buy the Army Akwatek shirts for $6.90 short sleeve and $8.95 long sleeve -- a far cry from the 20-25 dollar range at the wickers site. I certainly wouldn't want my Scouts running around in a grey Army t-shirt as an activity uniform, but the point is that stuff shouldn't be that expensive! Anybody seen that stuff cheaper anywhere else? We're getting our cotton activity t-shirts for $6 each now, with the silk screening... KS

I've been wearing a military beret for 26 years now, and it's purely decorative/ceremonial -- no practical value in the field whatsoever. I'm with the many who would like to see two things in the BSA catalog: 1). A real inclement weather jacket, similar to the Columbia-type parkas with technical features, zip-out liners, etc. The jac-shirt and windbreaker just don't cut it. 2). An official pair of pants with real roomy cargo pockets (many), a ripstop blend material that will dry easily and wear well, gathers at the cuffs to keep critters out, reinforced seat/knees, and conv

Chippewa 29: As Denzel Washington's character said in "Remember The Titans", your troop committee is "overcooking your grits". They have no more business vetoing your Scouts' shirt design than the Scouts would if they tried to tell the CC what time his meeting should start. Here's an opposite example. Most Scouts in my troop wanted nothing to do with the official BSA hat -- in a word, too dorky. But, I couldn't let them wear sports/FUBU/etc. caps in uniform, so after conferring with the SPL, he put it out to the PLC: "If you don't like the BSA hat, design one you DO like, and th

OGE; Off topic, but I gotta challenge you on "best Boy Scout Camp ever". I'm sure yours is right up there, but nothing can compare with Camp Miakonda, owned and lovingly maintained by the Council in Toledo, Ohio. On land originally donated by a turn of the century industrialist, Camp Miakonda boasts what was the largest swimming pool in the U.S. -- may still be for all I know. A parade ground at least the size of a football field was the scene of endless flashlight tag games, rolling sylvan woodlands, a large natural lake, rustic cabins, a tradin' post area that looks like a fontier to

OK, I just got the package from District the other day. Our units are getting 34%, no prize option (fine with me). We need to turn in our commitment not later than August 3rd. Our choices are: -28 oz carmel corn -24 oz chocolate carmel corn -12 oz carmel corn -24 pack variety microwave -15 pack butter microwave -15pack butter light microwave All you old popcorn kernels out there; which of these are popular and which are not? When we turn in our commitment, we need to give our product mix, too, and I don't want us stuck with a dog, although I do want to offer some variet