MattR

That makes sense. I've told older scouts they can have their own tent and none of them ever took me up on it. They will bring big tents and shove a bunch of scouts in, though. I just assume it's because they don't snore. These guys have been tenting with each other for 7 years and hanging out with each other is a great part of scouts so not being able to tent with each other after a birthday is an issue for them.

We may have to agree to disagree. I let scouts have water fights with squirt guns and they can climb on rocks higher than their waist. Certainly I took a risks with things like this and 18 year old scouts tenting with 17 year old scouts. But I'm okay with that. To me, the chance at having fun was worth more than the possibility that something bad was going to happen. You obviously see this differently and I'm okay with that as well.

@WisconsinMomma, should the focus be on the scout or the problem ASM? There is a difference. If the focus is on removing the ASM and the committee hesitates then you're in the position of having to leave the troop. I don't think this is what the scout wants. If the focus is on the scout then he is asked what he wants and he continues to get support. Concerns can be brought up with the SM, CC, DE, SE but it's not the focus. If they go slowly or not as expected then while it might not be ideal it's okay. The focus with the other adults and scouts is on developing support for the one scout that n

I'm stuck on this. The boy had fun. If he had called Tuesday, crying, and said everyone kept laughing at him then, sure, it's time to bring out the nukes. Rather, the SM and another ASM had his back. Clearly we've identified that the ASM/old Cubmaster is a jerk. But this boy is dealing with it. He's a tough kid. I hope someone is telling him that. The same adult that keeps "grinding his gears" can't keep him down. This adult is just proving his own lack of character. The scout is honing his mettle. This certainly doesn't make what this adult is doing okay, and if he gets thrown out then so be

We have a scout in our troop that for the first year slept with a parent. The parents wanted him on his own. He was just immature. Now he's fine. There are worse things. Like today I got email directed to all camp staffs that reminded everyone that they should put in baby changing stations at camp so as to support family camping. I wish they put as much effort into developing stronger patrols as they do for family camping.

Again, this is a discussion point at noac. Why is the sky falling, or at least filling with ashes? Have to disagree here. Regalia can also mean ceremonial clothing.

Welcome to the forum. This is beyond stupid. I can only hope this is an isolated incident. I had a scout turn 18 on a campout and he asked if had to move out of his tent that night. I asked him if he felt any different than the day before, he said no, I told him there's your answer.

Isn't this just part of the discussion? Rather than black arm bands they went with robes. Quite imaginative.

@HashTagScouts, I tried google but obviously your google skills are better. Thanks!

Does anyone know of a source for inexpensive tomahawks? I want to buy about 20 for our district to use at camporees. $15 would be good.

Ask the scouts. They'll tell the truth. The camp staff will just say they covered everything. My example is pioneering mb. Very few counselors can do the splices yet they all sign it off. I learned the splices years ago when the counselor asked for help in teaching it. He knew the splices, taught us, and we worked with the scouts. It's a one on one thing to teach. Every camp I go to I ask if they need help with this and the answer is usually no. A few weeks ago I went to my local camp just to ask about how things are going. One of the visiting adults said it was great, the staff is judged

Assuming your son is also ADHD, this explains a lot. Not that it's good but now it all makes sense to me. If I'm wrong then please excuse my assumption. Either way, ask your son what he wants. The troop will not put their heart into it no matter what and that's what your son wants. Assuming he is ADHD then he likely poured his heart into getting eagle. Maybe he'd like to go up to the mountains with his friends, have a 10 minute ceremony, and then have a slide show of good memories and a picnic. After all this fuss it will be the best memory and in 10 years from now it will be that much better.

From the OA: Okay, then why not develop a process for improving the manner and consistency? This could be a win for scouts and native tribes. I wonder how many complaints they got compared to how many tribes are happy with what they see. They might have to ask about about who is happy.

I suspect a lot of scouts know exactly what is going on. The solution involves getting them to talk about it but the challenge is they are very hesitant to talk about it. If what happened to a scout was a shock, as in he can't even imagine it happening, then that scout will have a hard time talking about it. Giving them examples of what you've seen in life as a kid, in detail, might let them understand that it's okay to talk about it. You might find out that the older scout just doesn't realize how he comes across or you might find out nothing really happened, or you might find out this kid ne

@Matt_theLife_Scout02, welcome to the forum. I like your enthusiasm. It might be a bit rough around the edges but I wish you were in my troop. If I were still the SM I'd give you the keys. Anyway, there are certainly issues. Not having elections is a really big one. Unfortunately, that will be a hard one to solve right now. Maybe later. The current SPL is another problem. My guess is you can't change his attitude very easily. So, what's left? Well, the entire troop, for one. Please describe to us what the PLC thinks of all of this. Do they agree with you? Or are they just going with the f

Maybe the way to do it is to tell the parents you have the medicines, how you'd use them, and ask if any parents have a problem with it. Ibuprofen is a blood thinner so there are some people that can't take it.

@Mich08212, now that you bring it up, I won't pardon your language. Let's keep it scout appropriate. Thank you, The moderator team.

@Mich08212, I haven't read all the pages of this thread so please excuse me if I'm missing something. But a fair number of people have brought up the possibility that your son did not really have a BOR because it was past the 90 day limit past his 18th birthday and you haven't responded. I suspect you don't understand the process. If he really did have a BOR he should have gone through the following process. Filled out an eagle application that was signed by his SM at his eagle SM conference. From there it should have been given to the council registrar who would have checked that it is was al

Sounds like my son. Very mellow. Was having fun. He was a year or so in and I sat down with him and showed him how easy it was to get things signed off. It was not on his radar. He was finally mature enough. He suddenly got two ranks at one COH. He still didn't get eagle until two months before his 18th birthday. What he enjoyed about scouts was the adventure and friendships. That has stuck with him. His dog has now been up more peaks over 14,000' than I have. I wouldn't tell him what to do. However, you could ask him what he wants to do in scouts and then support him. If he says he wants

The message I got from that article is that soccer numbers are dropping because parents are taking the fun out of it. Select soccer at 6? At 6 my kids met at the park and the coach was no more than the screw ball in chief. It's kind of like watching parents with kids skiing. Good ski instructors realize 6 year olds are as interested in hot chocolate and playing in the snow as actually skiing but the parents want their kids skiing the whole time. Message to scouters would be keep it fun. I just came back from talking to scouts, parents and staff at summer camp and the idea that summer camp

Welcome to the forum, @Keithami. Sounds like a mess to me. My view is you need to talk to some people higher up.

I thought that's what an F150 was for. Bu-bump.

@Eagledad and @CalicoPenn I think accountable is the wrong word. Supportive might be better. This program is about youth and we're the ones working with the youth. Support goes two ways. Maybe they should take Wood Badge and review a few things. The first is servant leadership. Another is the idea of a 360 degree review. The final one is the idea of having a clear vision of the program.

I believe all of this. There's one more aspect of this and that's money. I've seen volunteer organizations lose their way when it comes to money. BSA has high expenses so the core of the program is being ignored to solve the money issue. The focus has moved from quality program to high membership. Add in the fact that so many at national are far from the action and that so many parents see scouts as all about eagle and a reasonable solution is to push advancement. So FCFY, lions and tigers, STEM, silos of interest at national, and girls. In the mean time they've forgotten about the heart of th

To answer your question, no. I don't know much about the TAY numbers. Are you saying that because there are double the available youth JTE expects the total number of youth participating should double? That's nuts. The best advice I have heard about JTE, from my new DE no less, is work on the program.