LeCastor

Some here have a different agenda than having a reasonable discussion on the different subjects. It seems popular lately to make up analogies or use rare examples for the purpose of categorizing whole groups in a negative light to make their own point look strong. If it were really that strong or valid, it would stand on it's own without having to demonize others.

 

I realize that many times we react to quickly our emotions instead of patiently thinking out a more plausible response that doesn't attack others. But if we can't live by the guidelines of the law here, how can we set the example in front of the scouts?

 

Barry

Ok, I agree that topics can get heated and sometimes it's easy to make attacks on others.  But I would argue that all Scouters on this forum are, in fact, "real world Scouters."  

You are correct, Barry.  We should all be examples to the youth.  But we should especially be good examples to each other.  

 

The naysayers here color this issue as a scary monster waiting to jump a scout and make him cry, but in reality it's one of the easiest subjects for adults because you aren't looking for any specific answer. We just are guides toward reflecting to their experience of the oath and law. However, don't ignore the subject completely because he would feel ambushed at the EBOR. 

 

It is strange to me that folks take this to the dark extreme, but I take comfort in that many of the forum participants here are not typical of the real world scouters. Still, from my experience demonstrating Scouting Spirit is the number one cause of families deferring to Council and National for their son's Eagle when the unit refuses to approve the scout. Scout Spirit is pretty important, but I found that usually the blame of these differences are caused by the SM because they neglected guiding the scout on the subject. That is why it is important for the SM to be thorough in reviewing a scout over the years along with the BOR. They are a check on each other and can save a lot of hassle from the scout who doesn't appear worthy and shows up at the SM's door with a lawyer. Scouts should get a review of all the points of the law and oath sometime in his scouting career.

 

Barry

Barry, I don't necessarily disagree with you that this might be blown out of proportion.  However, I'm curious about the bold quote above.  Could you clarify?

What kind of open ended questions do people ask boys to get them to talk about Reverent or Duty to God? Do you preface it with anything? For example: "I'm not here to tell you what to believe" or "different people have different ideas about this."

 

Just as in first aid we shouldn't go beyond our training, but I don't mind the intent of these "changes." The only change I see is national micromanaging things.

"How have you lived the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your daily life?" 

Slightly off topic: Last night at our council membership committee meeting, our field services director called out the changes to the newest version of the adult application.  Now any new adult volunteer will have to initial next to several sentences saying s/he understands that s/he'll have to undergo a background check, won't sue BSA, and has read the Declaration of Religious Principles and will adhere to all BSA policy.  

I really don't see BSA backing down on the Duty to God part of Scouting.  As many have said before, we don't have to change what we've already been doing in our SM conferences.  Helping other people at all times, doing a good turn daily, and being reverent are all part of doing your duty to God, in my opinion.  As for me, I personally don't intend to sit a Scout down and ask him how often he goes to church.  I'm going to continue to do my SM minutes about being a good person and helping out, and I'm going to ask a Scout how he has lived the Scout Oath and Scout Law in his daily life.  Boom.  Done.

I like the newest iteration of the Venturing pants.  They are bit expensive but they do zip-off, there is plenty of cargo space, and the thigh pocket has a built-in dry bag for your valuables.  Heck I wear them to work, too! 

If the project proposal has been written and the Scoutmaster, Committee Chair, and District Eagle Coordinator have signed the project proposal then it's a done deal. It's now time for the Eagle candidate to prepare himself for questions regarding what went according to plan and what didn't.  JC's Mom, is this really the proposal they are requiring him to redo or some post-project paperwork?  In this situation I would check with the district advancement chair because 4-5 weeks of rewriting is ludicrous, in my opinion.  

There's having standards and then there's Sisyphus trying to push this project proposal up the mountain....

Hi Scout Dad!

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your energy with us!  

What about the nylon switchbacks and nylon long-sleeve uniform shirt? 

I wore my Smokey/Campaign hat this past Saturday for an event that our JASM prepared for our youngest Patrol.  It was a combination orienteering/first aid event where the PL was given a map of the area and coordinates to the location of a "mass injury event."  The Scouts were instructed to do triage when they arrived and then get work with the necessary first aid for each "victim," which happened to by members of our Venturing Crew.  

Oh, about the hat, it was very helpful because it was sunny day and it kept the glare down and kept my face and neck protected.

I would agree that it would be pretty hard to go to a troop where they don't know you, so I give all those who have done that a tremendous amount of credit.  Obviously, you guys have a true love of scouting!

I did it and I don't think it was very hard at all.     As I said a few days ago, if you lead by example and show that you live by the Scout Oath and Scout Law, know your Scouting skills, and perhaps mention your Scouting history from time to time, you should haven't a problem.  I took the youth protection training, jumped into SM-specific, IOLS, and registered for Wood Badge all within a year.  The Scouts didn't care one lick that I had no kids, but they could tell right away that I had been as Scout because my actions showed it.  All the parents immediately put their full trust in me, including letting me drive a van-load of Scouts to a council-wide camporee after only knowing me for a month.  

It wasn't until several years later that the owner of that van--and the one who asked me to drive it, a committee member--admitted she looked at me sideways only once when I first showed up.  She said she could just tell that I was there for the Scouts.  

I don't think I brought any "new ideas" to the table.  After all, Scouting is deeply rooted in some ideas that don't change much.  Patrol Method?  Oath and Law? Reason for advancement?  I might have taken a few steps to give the Scouts a little more authority than they were used to prior to my becoming Scoutmaster.  But, by and large, I just stepped in and plopped my camp chair down, grabbed my coffee cup, and asked the SPL to go to work.  At first he had a lot of questions but he settled into it quite nicely.  

Interesting question...

I am married but have no children.  When I decided to give back to Scouting after a 15-year break, I registered as an ASM with a local Troop. Then, a few months later the out-going SM asked me to take over.  Sure, some folks wondered why some dude in his early 30s would want to be involved with a Boy Scout Troop, but I think it was pretty clear that my actions spoke loudly.  I've been with the Troop now for over four years as Scoutmaster and I've helped bolster the Patrol Method.  

Truly, it doesn't matter if you have children in a Troop, Pack, or Crew.  If you are a Scouter who believes in the movement of Scouting I say go for it!  Who gives a hoot (or tail slap in my case  ) if you don't have a kid in the unit?!  Actions and values are very visible.  Just lead by example.

Welcome aboard Teddy!  Perhaps I could even say "welkom by die forum."  

  

Now texting is a problem for me, as I still have just a simple phone without a keyboard, and it takes me forever to text stuff if it is needed.  So most of my responses are "thx" or "yes or no"; whatever will get the message with the least effort.  I also cannot bring myself to learn and use most of the shortcuts; at times I only get half what someone sends me by text, as I do not know the lingo.

I have one of them there "smart" phones and I can do the texting but I always use punctuation and complete sentences without any funky lingo.  Surely the younger generations laugh at me for it.     

As for communication via text, I find that with non-Scouts it turns into a conversation that we could just as easily have over the phone.  Scouts are very succinct in their texts and responses to texts.  "Yes", "No", "Sorry can't", etc.  If I ever text a Scout I always include another adult whether his parent or another volunteer who is relevant to the question at hand.

I guess I could add that I frown upon food that magically appears in a Patrol tote during the camping trip when someone happens to leave camp for "coffee" and comes back with [insert forgotten items here].     That started happening and I put a stop to it.  If the Scouts forget the ground beef for their tacos they'll just have to settle for veggie tacos with cheese.  This is a great time to learn that, in life, you won't always have the luxury of sending someone to town to get x,y, or z.

Maybe you have to record the call, and tell the Scout you are recording the call.  Hey, there's a real good way to foster open communications. 

 

I am not even sure if my phone can record a call.  It probably can.  But I never even thought of trying to find out, until now.

This made me think of the Lone Gunmen, of X-Files fame, and how they record all their phone calls on a big reel-to-reel tape recorder. There's a level of paranoia that we can get caught up in, but at the same time it doesn't take much for a one-on-one phone call to get intercepted by a parent and taken out of context.  

When I was younger I used to call my SM all the time when I was SPL.  That was 20 years ago.  Have things really changed that much?  With all the shows on TV like Criminal Minds, CSI: choose your city, Bones, etc it's not hard to imagine parents being hyper-aware of who their children talk to and how...

Mountain Man breakfast CAN be made without any meat in it as well, so some recipe modifications can be worked out as well.  For the most part, boys with allergies tend to want to bring their own food and eventually do very well with mess kit cooking techniques.  That of course is their call.  The PL and GM are responsible for not forcing a boy to feel "singled out" because of his dietary situation.

 

There really are some nice lessons to learn from having boys with dietary concerns.  It increases the diversity of menu options, it gets the boys thinking seriously about the food being purchased, and different techniques of meal prep are implemented.  I for one have never seen food allergies or dietary concerns as a negative thing.

You know you're a Scoutmaster when you make Mountain Man in the Dutch over for your family's Easter brunch.    I am a vegetarian and I made a great Mountain Man w/o meet.  Loads of veggies, eggs, potatoes, and sharp cheddar cheese!

The only time something like this has been an issue for our Troop is a young Scout who will only eat bread from a local sub sandwich shop. So if the Patrol decides on sandwiches for a meal this Scout brings sub rolls for the gang.  

Our Troop Committee created a communication structure for youth and adults that strongly encourages youth and adults to copy another adult in emails and texts.  The Scouts usually forget to do this but when I respond I always copy the parent and the CC.  Every now and then I get a phone call from a Scout and I just conduct business as I would in person.  There's really no way to do it otherwise.  It's not like you can say, "I'm hanging up now PL Johnny!  I can't be one-on-one with you over the phone!"  

I've been very impressed with the menus our Patrols come up with. However, I notice that some meals get repeated: Mountain Man DO breakfast, ground beef tacos, French toast. I don't mind this but I do encourage the Scouts to build on what they've done and tweak the recipes. This is kind of like Mozart's award system but without a specific award...just bragging rights for whose French toast was better, etc.

Stosh, I'm glad to say I've never seen Pop Tarts on an outing. I can remember my Scoutmaster telling my Patrol that Sunny D was NOT orange juice, though.

Stosh, I think this is the start of the "Guide to Good Eating" 

Just to be clear, did your PL ban these awful foods or was it the SM?  

As far as I know, my Troop does not have any banned substances list for camp meals.  There are things I won't eat, though...And your items are on that list.

I don't think people in general take pride in their work as they once did.  "Git 'er done!" seems to be the standard today.  I don't think the BSA program is any different in their approach. 

 

Mystery

Magic

Adventure

 

all seem to have disappeared into a world of skepticism and cynicism. 

 

Early scouting used to talk about knights in shinning armor, heroics, and adventure.  Now we have Pop Tarts and KoolAid.for breakfast while discussing cyber-bullying amongst the scouts.

 

I guess I am willing to settle for lame, over what we have.  

Yes, this is true in many aspects of life.  

As for Pop Tarts and Kool-Aid for breakfast, I almost spit my coffee out all over the screen!     Some of my Scouts have been known to say something along the lines of, "it's a Troop tradition that we have cereal for breakfast on Sunday so we can get leave ASAP."  So what's the dog-gone hurry?  

Planning, pride, forward-thinking?  Those are rare things today.  Not a lot of magic and mystery to an Ordeal ceremony performed 100 yards form a country highway with cars whizzing past at 4:00pm on an Saturday...The kitchen staff wants to clean up before dark so they can get back home and play World of Warcraft!

Doesn't it guide you through the process of carrying out a safe event, though?  

Why does BSA insist on vague language when it deals with important issues?

Could you provide a quote?  

I just want to make sure I'm "referencing" so Qwazse doesn't call me out again.  

I, too, regard the G2SS as rules for how to conduct a Scouting event.  Similarly, there is the Chicago Manual of Style for scholarly writing and it's also an "Essential Guide." Safety with the youth and turning in a paper written willy-nilly aren't the same thing, but both have guides to show us how to do it properly.

NOTE: Renax, it looks like you might be typing in the quote box rather than below it.  It appears that your text is being confused with Qwase's.

1.  Yes, it not uncommon to see our Scouts interested in using the Dutch oven.

2.  Charcoal unless we are running low and then I've seen Scouts pile wood coals on top.

3.  Patrol cook.  (Of course!  )

4.  #12

5.  Egg bake ('Mountain Man'), breads, cobblers

6.  Only cast iron here

7.  We once packed in some DOs to Rock Island State Park in off the coast of Door County, WI.  

8.  Clean as you go.

9.  Oil

10.  I once brought my cast iron skillet to make pancakes for the Duct Tape Patrol (old guys and gals).