Kudu

Six-Year-Old Boy Suspended From School After Pointing Finger Like Gun, Saying Pow' http://www.mediaite.com/tv/six-year-old-boy-suspended-from-school-after-pointing-finger-like-gun-saying-pow/ Or: http://tinyurl.com/aedal87

The purpose of "Game of Life" is to distract participants with game theory so they leave Wood Badge with no understanding of Baden-Powell's Game, that real "leadership" in the Patrol System is related to Physical Distance: At least a monthly Patrol Hike without adult (Staff) supervision, and (when camped as a Troop) 100 yards between Patrols. http://inquiry.net/patrol/index.htm

Apparently some children can handle loaded guns: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=preq8JSu0I4

Beavah writes: "I'm not like Kudu, I think Patrol Method is just a method, but one of da most important ones. It's perfectly possible, though, to have a fine troop without a full-throated patrol method, just as yeh can have a fine troop without any high adventure programming on da Outdoor Method." It was Bill Hillcourt who first proposed that Scouting could be explained in terms of the "Methods" that we would recognize today. See "Handbook for Scoutmasters, 4th Edition (1947)": http://inquiry.net/adult/methods/index.htm Green Bar Bill did not realize that he had handed John Larson (the father of modern Wood Badge) the tool Larson needed to destroy Hillcourt's life-work (the "Real" Patrol Method), and replace it with "leadership" theory. See "1966": http://www.whitestag.org/history/history.html To take the outing out of Scouting, Larson's Wood Badge did three things exactly right: 1) Added business theory as a "Method of Scouting." By itself, "Leadership Development" would have been as harmless as their other fake method, "Personal Growth," except for what I consider to be the most curious development in the history of Scouting: 2) Position of Responsibility requirements for advancement. Thanks to Tim Jeal, no objective historian will ever be allowed to examine the BSA's archives to see if Bill Hillcourt realized that PoR requirements would transform Patrol Leader from a position of what B-P called "real responsibility" (comparable to BSA Lifeguard), to the joke it is today: a six month backyard internship that hovering Wood Badgers like to call "controlled failure." 3) Took Green Bar Bill's Patrol Leader Training away from Patrol Leaders Those who learn about "The Patrol Method" from official BSA publications and training will not know that "Intensive Training in the Green Bar Patrol" taught Patrol Leaders how to plan and lead Patrol Hikes and Overnights. That's what the Patrol Method is: Physical Distance. Presumably by "full-throated," Beavah means Physical Distance, Baden-Powell's minimum standards for the Patrol System: Monthly Patrol Hikes without adult supervision (Hillcourt's "Real" Patrols). And, when camping as a Troop, Barry's 100 yards between Patrols. Wood Badge replaced Physical Distance (how to lead your Patrol into the backwoods) with office theory (how TROOP Librarians, and TROOP Historians, and TROOP Guides, can be "great leaders," just like their office cubical dads). Aims & Methods theory can only work where the government forbids a free market, where the government picks and chooses corporate winners and loosers. Absent a free market in baseball, a good socialist Beavah would tell red-blooded American boys: "It's perfectly possible to have a fine baseball team without bases" because the "Base Method" is "just a method." So using Aims & Methods theory, why should there be any Physical Distance between bases in baseball? Simply do to baseball what Wood Badge did to the Patrol Method: define "base" to mean leadership position. How does a leader get to first base? First he Forms, then he Storms, then he Norms, and finally he Performs! So take position-specific training away from Little League and we bring baseball into the 21st century, where the batter, pitcher, and catcher get the same useful "leadership" training as the Team Librarian, Team Historian, and Team Waterboy. What baseball needs most is the "Aims" of Aims & Methods theory: Bases in baseball are useful only so far as they teach boys "Citizenship" (the three branches of government), or how to make "ethical choices" (taking the outing out of Scouting). After all, bases in baseball are "just a method" and we still have seven other "Methods of Baseball" to achieve our "Aims," including the Uniform, Adult Association, Ideals, Personal Growth, Outdoor T-Ball, Team Captain, and baseball's equivalent to Eagle: Advancement to the World Series Without Ever Walking onto a Baseball Field with a Bat & Glove. Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

Here are some "how to" articles (note the additional links at the top of the first page): http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/summer/camp/troop/index.htm Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

How far does your Scouts' Patrol camp from the adults? How far do they hike at least once a month (if only on Troop campouts) without adult supervision? Those minimum "team building/trust activity" requirements for the "Real" Patrol Method should keep them busy enough. To that end is Green Bar Bill's "Intensive Patrol Leaders Training in the Green Bar Patrol" course: http://inquiry.net/patrol/green_bar/index.htm Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

You can register more than 1/3 of an audience with this presentation: http://inquiry.net/adult/recruiting.htm

'Ender's Game' Harrison Ford stares down Asa Butterfield in first photo: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/12/05/enders-game-exclusive-first-look/#disqus_thread Rumor is that the "Ender's Game" DVD will replace the current "Grab All You Can" game in 2014 Wood Badge! Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

"what I got from wood badge was..." Note how far the Wood Badge Staffers were camped from the participants' Patrols, and then separate your Troop's one Patrol (the participants) at least Baden-Powell's minimum 300 feet from the adults' (your Troop's "Staffers"). See: http://inquiry.net/patrol/index.htm Those ever important "leadership skills" needed to succeed in their lives will occur spontaneously through the Spirit of Scouting, without even a single EDGE PowerPoint presentation Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

That should have been "nature lore" in the last line The method that follows the sentence above is particularly useful in countries in which the Patrol System is handicapped by a government that picks and chooses a corporate Scouting monopoly that forbids Patrol overnights. "Frequently it will be desirable to have the Patrols start out on separate hike and to meet as a Troop at an agreed place later in the day. This method is particularly useful in Troops in which the all-day Saturday hikes are handicapped by the Scoutmaster's having to work in the morning" (Green Bar Bill, Handbook for Scoutmasters, 3rd Ed., page 215). Examples of our Troop doing that: Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

fred8033 writes: "I'm still fairly new," Then you are not aware that BSA trainers often defended the BSA's "21st century" Patrol Method and Outdoor Method with rhetorical devices such as personal attacks and disinformation. fred8033 writes: "When I see it written as "B-P's Patrol System", that seems to reference the 1970's created B-P scout association and not Baden Powell, the person." My use of the term "B-P's Patrol System" clearly refers to Baden-Powell's Patrol System (as opposed to Hillcourt's Patrol Method, or our 21st century Troop Method). In the United States, an actual reference to a BPSA should distinguish between our country's two competing organizations: The Baden-Powell Service Association [bPSA-US] (based on Baden-Powell's 1938 PO&R), and The Baden-Powell Scout Association [bPSA-USA] (based on the 1965 PO&R of Baden-Powell's own Boy Scout Association). The 1938 PO&R was the last set of rules edited by B-P himself: http://inquiry.net/traditional/por/proficiency_badges.htm The 1965 PO&R includes a "Senior Scout Section" proposed by B-P in 1917, but reportedly vetoed by his committee until after his death. fred8033 writes: "I've seen nothing from the past that talked about patrol leaders scheduling regular testing / retesting for rank requirements 'on patrol hikes'." In the rest of the world, the Patrol Leaders of "Real" Patrols handled Tenderfoot through First Class testing. John Thurman's account, "The Court of Honor in Session" (CoH = PLC) is typical: The TL (Troop Leader = SPL) then calls on each PL in turn: TL: Tom, what have you got to say about the Owls? PL Owls: We're pretty good. Since the last meeting two of my Patrol have gained their Second Class... TL: The Woodpeckers, Jim? PL Woodpeckers: The two recruits we had from the Pack aren't bad; they have both done fire-lighting and cooking. I always try to get this testing through in the winter so that they can get real experience. TL: Well, that's nothing to boast about; its Troop tradition anyway, but I am glad you are carrying it out for a change. PL Woodpeckers: We haven't had a proper Patrol Meeting, except that we went on a hike a fortnight ago; all present except three. We went about eight miles and explored the old mill. PL Owls: It's about time you found another hike route; you've been reporting about the old mill for the last eight months. TL: Well, perhaps you can offer him one of your more imaginative hikes. PL Woodpeckers: Thanks very much, but we're doing all right. The Owls can carry on with their own route marches. http://inquiry.net/patrol/court_honor/coh_session.htm (Thurman also uses Hillcourt's term "Real Patrol" for Patrols that hike without adults). Even in the BSA's adult-dominated version of the Patrol Method, Hillcourt's Real Patrol Leaders were responsible for leading adult-free Patrol Hikes to teach Tenderfoot through First Class skills: "The program of these Patrol outings should include the activities of camping and Scoutcraft such as fire lighting, cooking, tracking, signaling, using the knife and hatchet, exploring, mapping, judging, nature love, pioneering, games" (Handbook for Scoutmasters, 3rd Ed., page 215). Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

The semantics of Fake B-P quotes? Scouting is a trick that indoor adults play on boys looking for outdoor adventure. ntrog8r writes: "I'd rather gauge proficiency through repetitive performance and observation. Rather than scheduled testing/retesting I prefer to see Scouts _use_ the skill more than once, or twice, or thrice..." In B-P's Patrol System, that observation is done by semi-permanent Patrol Leaders, the equivalent of our Assistant Scoutmasters. Patrol Leaders schedule regular testing/retesting for Tenderfoot through First Class on Patrol Hikes. Solo Journeys and Expeditions are the "final" proficiency tests for Second Class through the highest awards in Scouting, including those of the adult Rover program. ntrog8r writes: "the Patrol Method...addresses so many of these concerns." Yes. With its government-imposed corporate monopoly secure, the BSA began to back out of its program obligations. The First Class Journey disappeared about the same time that West hired Hillcourt to bring the Patrol Method to the United States. Hillcourt filled that unsupervised outdoor adventure vacuum by teaching American Patrol Leaders how to lead Patrol Hikes and Overnights without adult supervision. Hillcourt's Patrol Leader Training actually emphasized Patrol Camping apart from the Troop more than Baden-Patrol's 300 foot Patrol System. As Hillcourt retired in 1965, Bla Bnthy's army of BSA millionaires began their highly successful assault on outdoor Patrol leadership skills. So, my vote for the perfect bookend to Basementdweller's favorite None & Done requirement is Camping Merit Badge requirement 9b, which guarantees that in addition to never having to light a campfire, an Eagle Scout need never have walked into the woods with a pack on his back. In a perfect world, the BSA would add that "requirement 9b" to ALL required Merit Badges, so that an outdoor boy who hates schoolwork requirements as much as an Eagle CSE hates camping, could optionally rappel 30 feet at the mall, ride his bike around the parking lot for four hours, or float downstream on an inner tube whilst eating cupcakes Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

ntrog8r writes: "Didn't someone once say, 'Rank should be like a tan, something earned effortlessly while out of doors' or something like that..." No. Nothing like that. Terms like "rank" and "advancement" are One & Done concepts, like "Once an Eagle, always an Eagle." Maybe you are thinking of Baden-Powell's retesting quote, which is less popular with the indoor "leadership skills" crowd: "He must be repassed in all his qualifying badges once between twelve and eighteen months from the date of his being awarded the badge...He must cease to wear the [Eagle] Scout badge should he fail in any of them" Baden-Powell, Rules on How to Play the Game of Scouting for Boys. See Rule 432: http://inquiry.net/traditional/por/proficiency_badges.htm ntrog8r writes: "Back to the question of "One and done or Mastery"... I think successful accomplishment and proficiency are the same thing. How do we know if a Scout is proficient? Um, retesting. In Baden-Powell's Scouting, "ranks" are called "Proficiency Badges." They indicate a Scout's Current Proficiency, rather than past accomplishments. B-P's alternative to "Required" Merit Badges are "Qualifying" Proficiency Badges, ALL of which are either Public Service (e.g. First Aid), or Scoutcraft (i.e. outdoor skills). In One & Done Scouting, outdoor skills are something you get out of the way in your first week of summer camp so that you can move on to the meat & potatoes of post-Hillcourt Scouting: "Character & Leadership," which is learned by "sitting side by side with adults of good character." As opposed to hiking side by side with your Patrol Leader Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

"Our goal is not to teach someone to rub two sticks together and make a fire. But when you rub two sticks together and make a fire side by side with an adult of good character, you're going to learn about who you are and go on to lead men...You can teach a kid about character and leadership using aerospace and computers. The secret is to get them side by side with adults of character." http://inquiry.net/leadership/sitting_side_by_side_with_adults.htm

With the release of "Ender's Game" just under a year away, Summit Entertainment updated its website today with the first synopsis from the movie: In the near future, a hostile alien race (called the Formics) have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite. Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the militarys next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, hes trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race. http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/23509/synopsis-emerges-for-enders-game Unprecedented winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in the same year. Described by one librarian as the "most replaced middle-school library book ever." National Public Radio censored Ender's Game from this year's "100 Best-Ever Teen Novels" young readers' poll, because it was too violent. The jury had no such problem with The Hunger Games series, which came in second. Liberal bias much? Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

Although rare, boys like Alec are an exception to the general rule of thumb that eleven and twelve year-olds do not make good Patrol Leaders. It is a natural instinct for them to be leading hikes or overnights almost every weekend, living off the land as much as possible. Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

America's Bear Grylls!

Twocubdad writes: "So climbing, caving, canoeing, shooting, etc., aren't Scout skills? ... I don't believe there is any magic in backpacking you can't find on one of these other activities..." The "magic" that once made Scouting popular is simple: a traditional outdoor boy's most memorable events happen without adult witness. In some countries, a Scout could not advance beyond Tenderfoot without undertaking a day-long eight (8) mile map & compass "Journey" through the backwoods without benefit of older boys or adults. Our Second Class "five mile hike" is the only pale ghostly remnant that remains in the BSA. See Journey Requirements: http://www.inquiry.net/advancement/traditional/journey_requirements.htm The world-wide universal test of a First Class Scout is Baden-Powell's First Class Journey, an unsupervised fifteen mile overnight into the wild. See the Adult Guide to First Class Journeys: http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/hikes/1st_class_hike.htm Likewise, William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt's test of a "Real" Patrol, was regular Patrol Outings without adult supervision: "You want your Patrol to be a real one, and only a hiking Patrol is a Real Patrol" http://www.inquiry.net/patrol/real.htm Wood Badge killed Green Bar Bill's life work by redefining "Patrol Method" along the lines that JoeBob describes: indoor student council meetings where six month POR candidates vote on regular whole-Troop activities that require adult supervision, plus "High Adventure" Disney that requires expensive adult infrastructure. Don't get me wrong: Disney BSA is a lot of fun: local zip-lines, 60-foot climbing towers, SCUBA, plus Seabase, Northern Tier, etc., and it should be a part of every modern unit's program. But it is not the unsupervised "Real" Patrol Method that boys can pull off without "two deep" adult helicopters. Unsupervised Patrol day treks are one of the few remaining approved activities that can deliver the magic of "Real" Scouting Adventure as defined by Baden-Powell or Green Bar Bill. Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net (This message has been edited by Kudu)

JoeBob, The Troop you describe sounds like a Chief Scout Executive's vision of paradise! "Okay, the boys are learning management skills planning menus and assigning KP as they rotate through PORs." The Patrol Method is Leadership Development's **** . So forget what Wood Badge calls the "Patrol Method." Don't fret about Scout Skills and Woodcraft. Alllow electronics in the backwoods. Don't try to change the whole Troop. By all means, circumvent your six month POR student council PLC! The quickest route to where you want to go is to get your backpacking adults and your Philmont crew together to plan backwoods "Patrol" adventures (a "backwoods fishing trip," for instance) that will appeal only to your outdoor boys. The adults pick the two most competent Scouts to lead the outdoor boys during the day (to meet up with the adults in the afternoon). Don't define their actual "leadership" roles. These trusted natural leaders pick who is in their ad hoc Patrol: The Scouts they like, and (most important) can control when the adults are not around. Natural leaders tend to reject trouble-makers and the immature. A Patrol of "rejects" should be welcome to hike in the general vicinity of the adults. When you camp, your mature Scouts can camp no closer than B-P's minimum of 300 feet from the adult Patrol. The immature Patrol should camp on the other side of the adult Patrol, at the distance you judge wisest. Useful outdoor skills and the "Real" Patrol Method will quickly emerge within these two ad hoc Patrols without the adults doing much at all. For more details use the Scouter.Com search box to find "Backwoods Fishing Trip" (with the quotes). Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

If interested I will post a couple of construction sites." Of course we are interested!

If interested I will post a couple of construction sites." Of course we are interested!

See if you can borrow an igloo making kit. Paths, Peaks, & Paddles might still rent them out by mail: http://inquiry.net/outdoor/winter/shelter/igloo_kit.htm

http://inquiry.net/outdoor/winter/index.htm

Brewmeister writes: "Is the BPSA what you recommend?" I recommend Baden-Powell's Scouting program. Just moving the Patrols of a BSA Troop to his minimum of 300 feet apart can electrify both Scouts and adult leaders, and make good on The Promise of Scouting. Only two American "alternative Scouting associations" offer Baden-Powell's program: BPSA-US, which uses Baden-Powell's 1938 program: http://bpsa-us.org/ BPSA-USA: which uses Baden-Powell's program as it existed in 1965: http://www.badenpowellscouts.org/ As SR540Beaver notes, this is a strictly do-it-yourself endeavor, which was true for all US Scouting in 1909. The difference between now and then (and the difference between Baden-Powell's program and all other alternative Scouting associations) is that hundreds of books have been published on precisely how to run B-P's program, dozens of which feature forwards written by Baden-Powell himself. Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net

BSA24 writes: "These are not programs which focus on the outdoors." That would be exactly wrong in the case of the above cited Baden-Powell Service Association. BSA Scouting is designed to get indoor boys to Eagle without ever walking into the woods with a pack on their backs. Baden-Powell's Scouting requires a series a series of unsupervised backwoods adventures of increasing difficulty, starting with a solo (or buddy) 14 mile overnight for First Class. BSA units usually squeeze an entire Troop into a campsite about the size of an end zone so that adults can manage the "controlled failure" of leadership theory. Baden-Powell's Patrol System spreads Patrols a football field apart, meaning that none (0%) of the "20 nights of camping" that most BSA counselors accept for Camping Merit Badge would count above the Cub level in B-P's program. BSA "One & Done" Scouting is designed to knock off all the Tenderfoot through First Class outdoor skills at a Scout's first week of summer camp. Baden-Powell's First Class badge indicates a Scout's current proficiency in outdoor skills through constant retesting, similar to the proficiency we expect from a BSA Lifeguard. BSA Merit Badges are based on the YMCA's night school Scouting program with the goal of introducing Scouts to potential careers and/or hobbies. Baden-Powell's Proficiency Badges are all based on advanced outdoor (and public service) skills for boys who love the outdoors. This is similar to sports teams: A boy joins a hockey team to play hockey, not to do personal management homework. Yours at 300 feet, Kudu http://kudu.net