AvidSM

The long term camp that my Troop attends requires that all meds be handed in, except for inhalers, epi pens, insulin pumps, etc. This includes adults also, so no meds are in the tents back at the campsite. There is also a new form that the parents must sign to allow the camp to give out the dosage.

It is my understanding that for short-term camping, the scouts should be self-medicating for both prescription and OTC. I ask that the scout's parents only give him enough meds for the time they are camping in a labeled zip lock bag and packed away with the rest of his sundries. This should not pose a serious safety issue as long as the boy's respect each other's property and privacy. The adult leaders camping with the scouts should be aware of what medications they are taking by reading the medical forms or by asking the parents beforehand. That way, they can ask a boy if he has take

I am in agreement with the posts above. Troop funds should not be used to pay for all or part of an eagle project; that is not the intent of those funds. If it becomes the norm, you could potentially bankrupt the troop. It does not allow the boy to demonstrate leadership. The scout should asking the other troop members for fundraising ideas, not money. He should be going to local businesses asking for donations or organizing fundraisers, such as car washes or pancake breakfastes. That would be demonstrating leadership!

The money should either go to the project benefactor or back to the donors. Niether the troop nor the boy should keep it, since that was not the original intent of the donation. The question of what happend to extra funds may come up during his Eagle Board of Review. A record of where this money went should be part of his project write up.

I concur with EagleInKY, it's a good idea to visit more than one Troop. Go with the one that your son feels most comfortable with, but try to steer him in the right direction. I guess the thing to really watch out for is extreamism. Avoid troops that do nothing but advancmenet, are very strict with their uniforming or that have the boys doing drilling exercises. The youth leaders should be running the meeting, not the Scoutmaster or any other adult. The fact that the Scoutmaster had only 3-4 minutes at the end of the meeting for his scoutmaster's minute is a good thing. As for your

The cell phone has become more like an electronic swiss army knife. It's a phone, watch, camera, pager, game device, calculator, message board, internet link, etc... For that reason, it's hard to separate a boy from his phone - you could even say some are addicted to it. I agree that conversations should be kept private. That incoming calls should not inturrupt meetings or activities. That they should not be talking on or playing with their phone instead of interacting with each other. But I find it very hard to enforce an outright ban on cell phones at scouting functions. I

The best advice I can give you is to read the offical Scoutmaster's Handbook, specifically the chapters pertainig to boy-led meetings and meeting planning. And, a good source of unoffical information is The Scoutmaster's Other Handbook by Mark Rey. It has similar chapters concerning troop meetings and youth leadership. Working with your youth leadership to plan out, prepare for and run weekly troop meetings can be the most challenging and yet rewarding experience for an adult leader. Boys might expect to have some active hands-on fun, meet as a patrol, plan for a future activity,

"Not sure if Roundtable Commissioners fall under them as well..." Yes, Roundtable Commissioners fall under the District Commissioner. But I'm not certain if Unit Commissioner selections have to be approved by the Council Executive Board. I think that might be only the District Commissioners themselves have to be approved by that body.

To abandon the program for the numbers puts scouting in a downward spiral. We need to focus on a quality program first, at both the district and unit level. A good program and properly trained leaders should attract more scouts to join. The council, district and units should all be working towards the same thing - a quality program. Otherwise, there is no real partnership between them. It's a known fact that the overall membership numbers in the BSA are decreasing. Our Councils executives need to react to this by focusing on the program first, instead of desperately trying to s

I see a lot of pressure on our DE to get the numbers up, both in dollars and registration. The fact that overall BSA membership is down, which puts downsizing and merger pressure on our executives doesnt help. Its gotten to the point where the DE wants everyone to be focused on the numbers, instead of doing their jobs. I feel the District Commissioners job as to make sure the units are delivering a quality program. He does this via his staff of UCs. He is like the Scoutmaster of the district. Our last DC resigned due to the pressure from Council to have the UCs focus on FOS instead o

One of my scouts who submitted his eagle application was told by our Council that he never made Star! An advancement date in the council computer was inputted wrong and had a ripple effect across all his records. Once in was corrected, everthing fell into place. It's very important that the scouts, troops and councils records all agree. The challenge is that the scouts records are in his book and his blue cards, the troop's records are in TroopMaster and Council has their own computerized records. And it seems that getting things to agree doesn't matter until the boy goes for his eag

I agree with previous posts in that working a ticket is no excuse for confrontational behavior. A WB participant should know better! The problem could be that this new ASM's WB ticket is no longer applicable to his new role in scouting. If this is the case, he needs to sit down with his ticket advisor a rewrite the entire thing! Perhaps he knows this and doesn't want to go back to square one? His ticket adviser is the person you need to contact. This is the only person from his WB course who should be reviewing his progress and providing advice. The Scoutmaster of the WB course

I'm with Lisabob on this one. Wait and see before you take the SM position. Get the training you need and get some experience with the Boy Scouting program first. I seems like the existing SM is looking to step down and you look like a good candidate based on your success with the cub scouts. Tell them that you are interested, but you want to get you feet wet first. Let them know that you have concerns about your son. I was an ASM when my son was a scout. I avoided signing off in his book, but I was not afraid to wear my dad hat and encourage him when he needed it. He was not

No, you don't need Wood Badge training to take Cub scouts on outings or plan fun meetings. You don't need it to be a Scoutmaster either. Some people are natural leaders and don't really need leadership training. They have the natural ability to take an idea and turn it into reality by getting other people involved and willing to help. So, why take the training? Why earn the beads? Once you get involved in scouting and get to know and make friends with enough scouters you are bound to hear some of them talk about Wood Badge you notice the beads on some of them. (Hopefully none of

Having to do five eagle required MB's all at once in the next two months is a tall order. I would be very surprised to hear that this boy/adult finished them all in time. Perhaps his mom wants the eagle more that he does?

I have seen the sash in at least two different sizes. Ask your chapter if they can order a smaller size one for your son.

I believe the BSRT Guide is available on ScoutNet. You need to ask your DE if he or she can download a copy for you.

Can your District send out a district-wide email for you with the information? When is your next Roundtable? Can you make an annoucement there?

In this situation, could a Scoutmaster refuse to sign the merit badge cards and Eagle Project paperwork? This would be based on the lack of scout spirit and not being up front and honest with the troop's leaders.

There are a few things about this story that bother me. First is that the boy did not start working on anything until he had the extension in hand. Clearly the spirit of why a boy earns merit badges and completes a project in the first place is not there. Then there is the issue of not talking to the Scoutmaster until after the fact. This says the scout has a problem in associating with other adults, even his leader. Lastly, how did he and his mother know that you could get an extension in the first place? This is not something that is common knowlegde amongst non-scouters. Pro

I have never had to send a boy home, thank goodness. I would if it was a youth protection issue, severe in nature (ex: a knife attack)or if the behavior was repetitive to the point of affecting others with no signs of stopping. Other than that, its the SPLs job to discipline the scouts. In my troop the SPL has each boy sign a written code of conduct that states that you should keep your hands to yourself and abide by the Scout Oath and Law. This code of conduct clearly states the repercussions for breaking the rules, sort of like your three strikes. For example, if a boy was cau

I think when it comes to the UP and proper uniforming, we are dealing with three separate issue here: Knowledge - The scout has to know the proper placement of the proper patches and when to wear or not wear certain elements - MB/OA Sash, necker, hat. Means - The scout (and his family) have to have the money to buy all the elements of the uniform and have the ability to sew/stick on the patches. And beleive me, I have some single moms that can't sew and can't afford to buy the pants or replace them when they are outgrown. Desire - The scout has to want to wear the uniform and

I made up the following handout to explain to my new adult leaders what I think makes a strong leader in scouting. I think it is this strength that helps you when you hit that "wall". To me, SPIRIT is the key to a scouters strength. ***** "A Sturdy and Strong Scout Leader" The three things that make up a sturdy and strong Scout Leader are SPIRIT, TIME and TRAINING. These are like the three legs of a stool. If one or more of the legs are weak and wobbly, the stool will not stand sturdy and strong. SPIRIT is the love of scouting and the desire to be involved. A person of go

I see Kahuna's point. I was much happier with scouting when I didn't know about all the negative things. And, gwd-scouter, you hit the nail right on the head with me. I know exactly what you are going through. I don't think anything could have prepared you (or me) to take over as SM. You would think that six years as ASM would help, but it didn't. I hit the same wall you did. I'll I can say is don't give up and try to remember why would wanted to be SM in the first place. I find this forum useful in that I get to read about how other scouters do things. We should try to help ea

The issue of whether or not to hold a NSP together has been debated in this forum before with both sides expressing the advantages and disadvantages of each. Having a NSP out of control is a problem and will affect how a new boy sees scouting. If that boy is immature or has other issues and is not ready to join scouting, an out-of-control NSP would certainly make things worse. The story of this boy is not unique and it sounds like he just didn't fit in. I have seen some NSP's mesh together very well and I have had others that I could not wait to see split up and merge with other