LeCastor

I guess I'm just naive and unrealistic. Might as well go sing Kum-ba-yah by myself down by the fire.

Finger-pointing (read blaming) often leads to grid-lock. Identifying the "root cause" leads to solving the problem. And not a "quick fix" either. (Qwase, if wasn't you who sparked this post, btw.) I'll admit there are some things you can't fix but you can still makes things work out for the better. Stay positive. Stay focused. Are we as Scouters here to do Scouting or bully each other? As far as patience goes, I've got plenty of it. Sure, my opinions are soundly based in Christian teaching. Love one another. Turn the other cheek. Acceptance. Compassion. Thus, I have a hard time putting other people down and pointing fingers. In my opinion, it's better to include than exclude even if that means it's going to take extra effort on my part to make things work.

Our district chairman calls these people "toxic Scouters". I personally don't let those people get in the way of my having a positive Scouting experience. If you do then you let them beat you down and make you cynical. If t he toxic Scouters are taking over your roundtable, maybe you need to "raise the red flag" and call them out on it. The Scout Law applies to them, too, n'est-ce pas?

Sorry, SMMatt, to step in ahead of you. Qwaze, how are the girls "out there"? Does the Boy Scout Handbook have to spell out exactly how to be courteous to young women? Isn't that our job as Scouters to show a good example? Are you really suggesting that we should blame the girls for how other treat them based on the girls' clothing? I'm really surprised that anyone would suggest that fellow Venturers are "tramps" or insinuate that they are prostitutes--earlier in the thread and perhaps above? Girl-blaming isn't going to solve the issue.

Thanks for sharing this, Oddball! My Troop does frequent projects to help those currently experiencing homelessness. 1. The Road Home (trhome.org) --Three or four times per year, our Scouts move folding cots and personal belongings up and down several flights of stairs. This rotating model gives families a warm place to stay each week. 2. Church food pantry--We collect food throughout the year but mostly through Scouting for Food, like many Troops and Packs. 3. Soup Kitchen--Our Scouts cook a hot meal and serve it at the local men's drop-in shelter. We also concentrate on environmental conservation and awareness with monthly stream-monitoring projects at a local urban creek. It's part of a larger watershed that empties into the Rock River. The Scouts get to test the dissolved oxygen, water clarity, and biotic index of the stream. I think their favorite part is playing with the bugs.

There's a tendency in society and on this forum to seek first to lay blame rather than a real effort to solve the underlying issue(s) at hand. How can me solve the issue while doing our utmost to keep the Scout in Scouting? How can we find the true cause of the problem without blaming someone? We must be the change we want to see. If we are constantly looking to blame someone or something we're darned well gonna find that someone or something. But if we seek to find a solution while working with other people, without pointing fingers, I think we'd be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Basement, I think the resolution of payment before popcorn pick-up is an excellent idea, especially if you have been burned by it before. However, I worry about the last part. While it's great that you wouldn't remove the Scout from your Troop, I am concerned that you would outright not trust the whole family. I realize that once trust is broken it is difficult to regain. However, shouldn't we confront the issue and then seek to forgive those who hurt us?

So Scouting shouldn't be warm and fuzzy? Dang, I didn't get that memo. I've been being cheerful, courteous, and kind all this time. Basement, I know some long-time Scouters who come across as jerks. But have you ever called them out on it? What would happen if you did? You wouldn't get fired from your high-paying Scoutmaster job. I just think it get tiring to crucify the beknotted rather than engage them.

I love you, too, Basement. Remember that time I thanked you for being a Scoutmaster even when people weren't nice to you? I meant that. Also, I make nowhere near six figures. But I know when it's worth it to help one of my Scouts. None of us were with you but, in my opinion, you made it sound like it was the mother who was taking advantage of you and not the Scout--the "mother pulled a fast one". Take care and keep Scouting with a smile.

Hi, 441. There seems to be a lot wrapped up in there. Not sure I'm willing to let myself get to worked up over a paraphrase/adaptation of a Psalm. Once I worked at a Borders and tried to show a long-time customer a copy of "The Message," a modern language version of the New Testament. He went ballistic. Look, not everyone reads NT Greek or even Hebrew these days. So if we can allow the Bible to be interpreted in such a way that the Scouts can appreciate it I'm really not that worked up about it. If we can give the Gospels to the Scouts in such a way that they can see the compassion of Jesus I'm certainly happy with that. Jesus accepted people for who they were. He didn't have to worry about tolerance or political correcctness because he accepted others anyway. I don't know if you were going for tolerance of Bible translations here or it you had bigger fish in mind. (I'd put a smiley face here to show you I'm a nice guy and just looking for further explanation but my iPad won't let me.)

I was inducted into the OA in 1993 and made Brotherhood in 1994. Then, in 1997 when I went off to college I didn't remain active with the BSA. It wasn't until 2011 that I came back and have been very active as a Scouter. The only thing I had to do was pay $12 and tell them when my Brotherhood date was... Your Scout's situation sounds fishy to me. You might inquire with your local Lodge Advisor to get the scoop.

This right here. Love it.

Stosh, that's what I thought you meant. The article from Scouting magazine really resonated with me and I appreciated the South Carolina Troop's efforts to fund-raise for the entire group rather than focus on the individual. My view on this is quite similar to yours in that the Scouts should be helping each other to succeed rather than focus on their own "accounts". Thanks for your clarification.

A warm welcome to you, PenPilot! Glad to have you here.

Yup, I can totally get behind that!

Well, I didn't want to come right out and call him a Communist...

Stosh! Long time no see, buddy. Could you clarify this statement? What myopic efforts are you referring to?

It sounds like you might be scared, insecure, or paranoid about people with different colored eyes...or big trucks...

Just to play Devi's Advocate, though, do you think the Scout would feel good knowing that he was inducted into the Order of the Arrow knowing that he wasn't chosen by his fellow Scouts? If someone accidentally pinned an Eagle medal on my chest (hyperbole, I know) I would feel weird knowing that I didn't earn the rank of Eagle. At any rate, I do agree with you that Scouts shouldn't be penalized due to the errors of adults.

We had a situation in my Troop where one of the long-time Scouts (a now Eagle off at college) failed to collect from the folks who "purchased" the popcorn. So our committee--in the socialist ways of my Troop--floated his family the money until he was able to pay it all back. This obligation was made known to him each time we had an activity because his outing wasn't paid for by the Troop until he paid back every cent he owed. Fortunately, we had enough cash to pay for his missing funds. The Scout in question had to get a job and figure out how things work in real life, too.

Skeptic, I can't believe you would post this! Now they're going to be talking about Commander Data all day long!

My Troop is lucky in that we live in the capital city of our state. We have representatives, senators, aldermen, etc who are always happy to come visit our meetings or have one-on-one discussions with Scouts (obviously YPT appropriate ). In fact, our local representative sent out a packet of info to all area units letting them know who to get in touch with her and letting everyone know what services she was able/willing to provide. There was even a form to fill out for Eagle Scout commendations. It's a breathe of fresh air to have so many political figures, Democrat and Republican, wishing to meet with our young men.

When our Troop visited an out-of-council summer camp this year, our adults had a lot of time to schmooze with adults from other Troops and the topic of fundraising came up almost every day. My Troop has traditionally sold popcorn and wreathes in the fall followed by an annual chili supper in February. However, I have heard of some Troops who do a full-court press on popcorn for six straight weeks. At the end of that period they have enough funding for the entire year's worth of adventures. This idea was recently echoed in the Scouting magazine (pgs 12-13): http://digital.scouting.org/scoutingmagazine/novdec2014/resources/index.htm With the recent backlash against individual Scout accounts, I like the idea of everyone pitching in to help fund the Troop as a whole. If no one has to worry about not being able to pay for a trip, lock-in, or other activity I think we'd be able to avoid most embarrassing incidents. Thoughts?

Welcome, Tyke.