KoreaScouter

CA_Scouter; I've got a fillable Adobe pdf Eagle Application...PM me and I'll send it to you. KS

We have written rules; the Scout Oath and Law. They're written everywhere, and the great thing about our rules is that every Scout repeats the whole set of them, every week at the opening of our Troop meetings. So, I know they know them... I would submit that every situation can be addressed in one of the three parts of the Oath, or one of the 12 points of the Law. Like BW said, BSA policies and the GTSS do in fact tell us what we need to do if a lad is caught with alcohol. That's an easy one. There will probably be situations that are not specifically addressed in anything in wr

1. Surrender yourself to the staff. They know what they're doing, and everything has a purpose...even the things that seem out of joint or nonsensical. 2. Don't try to game it up front or crash the schedule by trying to psych out the course, writing your ticket before you get there, etc. The Law of the Harvest applies here. 3. You'll have classmates who will make you wonder why they volunteered to attend, or if they even volunteered at all. Be kindly and patient with them, as you would a feeble elderly relative; most will catch on, and when they do, they'll feel sheepish at bes

Personally, I'd recommend doing it at a Roundtable or some other "grownups" event. As others have mentioned, most in attendance at a Pack meeting will have no idea what WB is about, and a beading ceremony alone won't clear the fog for them. Plus, it is supposed to be about the boys -- when I was a Cubmaster, the farthest I'd stray from that is when a hard-working adult volunteer was graduating or moving on, we'd briefly recognize them at a crossover, B&G, or Pack meeting, but my rule of thumb was "no longer than you can hold your breath". Besides, the Scouts and their parents aren't the

I'd try a few different things, depending on his motives (and you and he knows that better than anyone else). Here's a few questions: - What's your role in the Troop? If I were a casual observer at a Troop meeting or activity, would I be able to tell (other than a family resemblance) that he was your son or you were his father? Do you ride him like Zorro, or are you detached, or somewhere in between? (If he thinks you're too heavy-handed, the best way to avoid that discomfort may be to quit Scouting, in his mind) - What's your Troop program like for older Scouts? Do you have

This is amazing; my job just got tremendously easier! I had no idea I could do "social engineering" on their Scouting experience. And to think all along that I bought into that hackneyed notion that there were many different paths on the trail to Eagle, and each boy chose his own. No longer do I have to stand idly by as a Scout carries a Basketry partial for two years. Nor do I have to burn the midnight oil with the Advancement chair finding a Coin Collecting counselor just because a Scout wants to earn the badge. From now on, I can determine which badges they earn, and when they earn the

Hey, Eamonn, Bob, and UncleGuinea: I'm left-handed -- do you guys mind scooting a little to the right on the log for me, so I don't smack you accidentally with my elbow? KS

I was okay with this "suzzie" thing up until the description of entire Troops being given the Hester Prynne treatment, and we make boys walk the plank. What almost certainly started out as a neat idea to encourage boys from other units to get to know each other gets turned inside out by a knucklehead with a mean streak. We've had this discussion before. In a nutshell, if we're supposed to be getting them ready for adulthood, why use techniques, such as forced singing for lost or misplaced items, that are not part of any organization I've belonged to in my adult life? Tell me, are the

He can wear his AOL patch below the left pocket, and his religious award above the left pocket if he earned it as a Cub Scout. Also, any service pins from his Cub years (with the yellow backing) are okay. The best guide that's probably handy to you and him all the time are the uniform item placement templates inside both covers of his Boy Scout Handbook. If there's something he wore on his Cub Scout uniform that isn't on the templates, I'd leave it off his Boy Scout uniform! KS

Official or not, they'd sure be a lot more useful... KS

A Scout can begin working on MBs as soon as he wants to. I'd advise a first year Scout to strike a proper balance between MBs and advancement requirements through First Class, though. As far as Eagle-required MBs are concerned, Camping is a great one to start with, for several reasons. One, many of the requirements are direct tie-ins with rank advancement requirements, so he's already working on it; he just doesn't know it. Two, he needs 20 nights for the MB, so he might as well get started. Three, the things he'll learn in the pamphlet will make him a better camper, faster. As f

Oren; I've PM'd you... KS

Poncho liners are awesome! Plus, they scrunch down to almost nothing when you pack them. Hey Pack: You ought to consider coming to Camp Pupukea for summer camp -- you'd be surprised how many out of council Troops we get. Nothing like earning Oceanography by snorkeling in Shark's Cove on Oahu's North Shore! (Aloha Council Oahu Service Center: 808-595-6366) KS

North Face makes a pretty good 20 degree bag, full size, mummy style, synthetic, that you can find on sale for under $50. I've got three of them, paid $39 each a few years ago, and they're performing very well. Just like with gas mileage claims, number of people who can sleep in a tent, and how many servings are in a single snickers bar, the temperature ratings of sleeping bags are also a very subjective undertaking. I'm with you, Snake, I'd go for a lower temp rating on the bag; you can always unzip it a little or lay on top of the thing. KS

Many years ago, while working in the kitchen at a "major pizza delivery company" franchise store near college, I made pizza crust breadsticks before they were even a remote dream of the marketing guys at any of the majors. We would occasionally drop dough on the floor while "slapping it out". We couldn't make a pizza with it after we'd dropped it, but I knew the oven temp wuold kill anything on it, and I couldn't bear to throw it out. So, I began flattening it, cutting it into strips with a pizza cutter, and baking the strips on a pizza screen. Sometimes with cheese, sometimes without, and

I'd like to clarify just one thing that Kwality stated in her post; that: "Girl Scouts, unlike Boy Scouts, does not pre-emptively ask leaders (or scouts) about their sexual orientation." Unless some councils are doing this on their own, BSA does not "pre-emptively" ask prospective leaders' sexual preference, either. It's nowhere on the adult application form, which, along with a check, is all we turn in. The only times this has become an issue is when the individuals make it one by making their sexuality a public issue. KS

Proud Eagle, I think that's what meamemg is referring to -- the standard BSA curriculum from the SM Junior Leader's Training Kit. The options are only minor variations, such as changing the activities between sessions. Other than that, it's the same JLT we've been doing for 15 years at least. I, too, have developed my own. It's based on the SPL and PL handbooks, gets the Green Bars into the books during training, and we use different activities, too. I had the same problem many others have had: after a Scout has a few years' experience, he's been through TJLT several times and

I had the good fortune to get to know many Scouts and Scouters in the Korean Scouting movement when I lived there. They, too, are co-ed, from the youngest to the oldest. Their units are mainly organized in their school classrooms, and their teachers are also their Scout leaders, as an additional duty. When they camp, it's also co-ed, and also includes the youngest to the oldest. The one thing our lads were most surprised about is that at no time when we camped with Korean Scouts, did they do their own cooking...they brought moms who were detailed to do all the cooking. Needless to say, th

ScoutMomAng; It would appear that your SM is doing exactly what he was trained to do; he's keeping just-graduated WEBELOS Scouts together, with their friends, in a New Scout Patrol (NSP). It's been found that doing so helps with the transition, and with retention. The Scouts in the NSP will rotate the Patrol Leader & Assistant Patrol Leader duties, normally on a monthly basis, so that they'll all get a taste of what it's like to be a PL. What he should have told you, and maybe he did, is that he's going to assign a Troop Guide to the NSP. The Troop Guide is an older, more experien

Even if you wanted to (and I don't know why you would), you can't prevent mothers from attending anything they want to attend. It says so in the "Information for Parents" right on the youth application form. I tell all our parents at our "new family" conference that they're welcome at anything, any time -- no secrets and no exclusions. Trying to rewire any adult's personality, from a cranky old SM to a loving single mom, is a fool's errand that I'll have no part of. Any moms and/or dads who want to come camping or hiking with us are more than welcome. Some occasionally bring a bad habit o

John's original question was whether or not our Troops have written policies about parents counseling MBs. We stumbled upon a great policy, which we use to administer the MB program. It works like this (I'll discuss the parent question a little further down): - A Scout gets a signed blue card from his SM (me). I assign a counselor from the approved MB counselor list. The Scout, with someone else, meets with the counselor, then begins work. When he finishes the work, the MB counselor signs the blue card, the Scout brings it to me, I sign it, and give it to our Troop Advancement

Like other forum members, I don't think this is a reason for hand-wringing. From what we know right now, the guy was drummed out as soon as he was discovered. Unless we administer lifestyle polygraphs to everybody, that's the best you can hope for. I hope there isn't follow-on reporting that he did anything inappropriate with any kids...but, my experience tells me otherwise. If there's anything positive in this, it may be that it's an opportunity to remind ourselves that pedophiles don't hang out at nursing homes -- they try to go where the kids are. Look around you: that's our

Eammon; I don't know, you tell me how much damage is too much. If one Scout is driven away from the program because of his PL's incompetence/attitude/performance, to me, that's too much damage. Moreover, the boy who left is going to tell his friends what happened, and now there's a recruiting spillover. What's the tipping point? Every situation's different -- there's no cookie cutter template, and those judgment calls are what I get paid to make. They should be the very rare exception rather than the rule, but I don't think we should be afraid to do it when it's necessary. W

I too have encountered my share of new PLs (and even SPLs) who are, to put it mildly, not reincarnations of Audie Murphy. Before we throw in the towel, we need to provide them with an introduction to the tools they need to use (train them), encourage them and help build their confidence (trust them), and let them use the tools they've been given (let them lead). Importantly, they need to be able to do this in an environment in which well-intentioned mistakes are not punished, but seen and celebrated as evidence that the lad is doing something, even if it's wrong. Troop-level JLT is ab

Three things: I think unit-level read-only access to ScoutNet is important, and can coexist with unit-level Troop management software. If nothing else, it'll give unit leaders a quick & easy way to reconcile ScoutNet records with unit-level records on particular Scouts -- very important for Life Scouts knocking on the door to Eagle, and for any transfer Scouts regardless of rank. Of course, you can do that now, through District registrars, but they have a lot of demands on their time, and giving read-only access to unit leaders will relieve them of a lot of that "Can you check for