MattR

I'll find out in a few weeks. Doing something similar. But Tampa Turtle brings up a very important point. A pie in the face will only help patrol spirit if it's something the patrol wants to do. It will also only last as long as the competition, so a couple of months in this case. In my troop the older scouts decided to perfect making pizza in a DO and have chocolate fondue afterwards. It's their thing, they came up with it, and other things get pushed out of the way to accommodate it. They've been doing this every campout for the past 9 months. That's leadership and teamwork. I was ta

@@Cubmaster35, this is my take on what @@Beavah was saying -- talk to the church with the intent of doing nothing more than getting an explanation. Maybe there's a valid reason they want to make a change, maybe it's a misunderstanding. If it's a misunderstanding you can likely work it out. As Beavah said, your choices are simple, work with the church or start another pack. The cost of starting another pack is a dollar per scout to transfer them from the old to the new pack. For the scouts it's not much of a deal, assuming all of the parents want to go that route. If instead this ends up sp

I think this is a big issue in the development of scouts that doesn't get much attention, especially when it has to do with turning a troop around. Most scouts are not adventurous enough to step into the unknown. They're still trying to figure out how to fit in, they don't want to rock the boat. So giving them lots of freedom to do as they please doesn't seem to work out the way I would like. One way to stay in the rut is to always do the same thing. I've seen scouts brag about how they like to eat burnt food, rather than admit they might need to try something different. Another way they stay

I'd add a qualification to this subject. MBs taught by someone that requires certification are usually done well. So, shooting, aquatics, climbing. Those are all good. I talked to some counselors at the camp we went to and these folks were all good and they had a surprising number of older counselors. If they had their choice they would change things and just go do stuff. No discussions, not reports, no class room settings, none of that boring stuff. Build stuff, hike, cook, whatever, and they'd do it 4 hours at a time. This is an unusual camp but they understand. I'm not sure who's pushin

He's an Eagle scout as soon as the BOR is completed. So if he wants to wear the patch, let him. He doesn't have to do the COH. I'd call that bad taste but there was a story about someone that missed his ECOH because he went to war in WWII (so, not in bad taste). Anyway, when the guy was something like 85 years old he decided to have his ECOH.

I'll play by your rules, Beavah. First rule is that all decisions are made in the context of the scout oath and law. It's not about you, it's about others. The biggest problem I see is scouts afraid to make a decision. They should be encouraged to try and as long as they consider the oath an The point of the patrol is to deliver the promise of scouting: fun, friendship, the outdoors, advancement, adventure, and service. Not the troop, not the adults, the patrol. The size of the patrol is less than 8 for a reason. That's how many personalities a group can deal with, youth or adult.

Influence them? It would be a whole lot easier on everyone to just make a requirement and let the scouts figure out how to meet it. Oh, but wait, we're not allowed to change the requirements or retest. I don't retest, I have my scouts sit down with an ASM that "checks" their skills. Kind of like calling squirt guns water projectile devices. But that would cause another boring, drawn out, 14 page argument on this forum that has already been beaten to death. No thanks. I'd rather go camping.

I don't have a problem with certs that are two years long. A week ago I got to practice my CPR. It's still a shock to see a body in a heap on the side of the road. The skills need to be muscle memory and that only comes from repetition. Personally, I think the first aid MB is a crock. Only the BSA says one and done on CPR for Eagle scouts. The adults have to do it every two years because that's what the Red Cross thinks is right. We can be retested but a scout that got First Aid MB can't be.

Very sorry to hear that.

I just saw this thing two days ago with an adult in my troop. Conclusion: great way to get hit by a car. The good news is rather than a driver being distracted and hitting someone on a bike, it will be the distracted person getting hit by a car. The bad news, it will likely be a child. When gpses first came out I spent too much time looking at the screen and not enough looking at the scene. Eventually I figured that all out. Here's a cheaper version. Get a bunch of blindfolds and an area away from the street. Make pokemon characters out of paper cups. Learn how to use other senses to g

You've only run into this problem twice in 15 years? That's pretty good. I seem to run into this more often. It sucks and it ruins all the fun. But someone has to set a standard and that's why you're miserable over this. Since you're not the SM there's only so much you can do. If you were the SM then this is what I'd tell you. You can't say after the fact that this is what has to happen. It has to be said before. If nobody has told this scout up to this point that his participation is not enough then that's the adults' problem. In fairness to the scout, he doesn't know what the requirement

I think you might be getting a lot of sideways looks wearing a pirate bandana during a flag ceremony. I hope they don't salute with an "aaarrgh" Anyway, to answer your question, I googled about and troops can define their own neckerchiefs and headgear. The only official word seems to be on the uniform inspection sheet and that says the troop has to vote on the head gear. It doesn't say anything else. Shirt, belt, socks, pants all need to be official. So, looks like as long as it's scout appropriate, then it works. But what's appropriate? A beer ad would certainly not be appropriate. Stosh

Me thinks we scared him off.

There's another way of looking at this. We go to the outdoors to get away from ... wait for it ... the indoors. Every one of us has our own level of comfort. Does bringing your own food make you sissy city folk? Catch your own! Anyway, maybe a better question is why do we go to the outdoors and what would make that experience better? Not only do I get away from the usual grind and have some fun, but it also allows me to get closer to God, nature, or whatever anyone else wants to call it. That perfectly serene moment when the universe just seems right. Cell phone coverage would absolutely r

I think this is a great opportunity for someone that knows what they're doing to show someone that has never used a tool before to learn and make it useful. The big IFs here are common sense, do you trust the teacher and the student, and will there be enough time to do it right? If so, go for it. Power augers that I have used can get out of hand quickly and I'd say no unless the scout is big enough to handle it and an adult is on the other side of it. Gas powered tampers are less of a problem but you do need size and strength. Power screw drivers? saws? No problem. Wenches can get out of h

I wish them the best of luck. If they get it figured it out I think it could really help troops and cubs.

Tedious must be British for wrong. I remember going for two weeks and maybe completing 2 or 3 MBs as a scout. The rest of the time was summer camp. We learned outdoor skills and did them. We did lots of competitions. The only class setting was at the rifle range where a gruff old guy scared us into learning gun safety (that subsequently prevented a huge disaster in my life some 12 years later). We built towers. We went canoeing. We had fun all day. Now it's school. When I ask about scheduling time for summer camp things the response is sure, go for it, but you can't use any of the boats, lake,

Not really. It's mostly scheduled around MBs and the MB classes take up the bulk of every day. There is some free time but it's mostly scheduled. If you want to just play with a canoe then you almost have to do it through a MB class. The problem is that most of the class is not really playing, so you sit there most of the time listening to a counselor jabber on. I'd rather see what they do with swimming, make a small part of the time instruction and enough testing so the scouts are safe, and most of the time open to everyone. If a scout wants the MB he can do the book work at home or in camp,

No and I don't think so. But that's my opinion and to each his own. The idea of a CO saying these are our rules but anyone of any, or no, religion is welcome to join us, sounds better to me.

Do you have Cliff Notes? I go on a campout and miss so much fun Yet, the topic of how best to encourage a scout is getting down to the crux of what we're all about and I'm sympathetic to both sides. People can abuse this program and they can also make it do wonderful things. Ain't that the definition of life.

Absolutely. Here is where Stosh's take care of your people comes in. A 5 year plan I'd like to see is: 1) Find one unit in each council that wants to turn things around. 2) Help them turn things around. 3) Repeat. 4) If the council can't do that then fix the council. I suppose 0) is: Believe in scouting. Anyway, this would do more to help the BSA then any of the vacuous blather I read in that speech. Once they started turning troops and packs around they'd learn what to put into all of the training, they'd learn how to structure round tables, how to rewrite JTE, and plenty of other things.

Hedge, it does seem like an unusual use of what a troop guide normally is. It might not be bad but whenever I see someone from outside of the patrol assigned to the patrol for some function then it can be troublesome. It sounds like the underlying problem being solved is having someone look out for the new scouts in a regular patrol. I think that's a worthy problem to solve. You said the PL's are busy doing other stuff. Why not make a patrol troop guide, much like a patrol quartermaster? The PL picks him and not the SPL. This offloads some work from the PL and teaches him how to delegate,

Here's your problem: Nothing happens to them when they don't turn them in on time....there are no consequences. Plenty happens to me as I am then required to track down parents and hound them for what we need. The onus is on you to make this happen, not the parents/scouts. The reason it's on you is because you don't want the scouts to not go to camp, to not fail, to not have any problems. Everyone wants the scouts to go to camp, so you help and do all the work. You're so sweet! And a lot of people are walking all over you. It doesn't matter that you said the rules are to get the forms in

Preferably after a night of no sleep. That's called birth control.

Facebook, per their terms, requires a minimum age of 13 for someone to create an account. https://www.facebook.com/help/157793540954833 Someone convinced my daughter to lie about her age and get an account when she was about 9. That was an interesting discussion. Anyway, if the parents did not create accounts for the scouts then the scouts lied about their age.