BadenP

It isn't that scouting has become too prissy but that the lazy, fat , scout leaders whose idea of the outdoor experience is driving to a local beach or park and sitting on their padded camping lounge chairs guzzling down soda chips coffee while the boys run wild with no agenda to follow. This was the case at a district camporee our crew was asked to help out with, all but two SM's sat around and did NOTHING, all of them 300 lbs or more while the crew and the two SM's created an activities schedule for them while I talked to the SM's sitting around about their responsibilities to the boys and g

This site needs some real work done, unable to post due to errors that are not even applicable. What is going on Terry? Are you selectively preventing certain members from posting on this site? My last three posts would not post due to a image error, what the heck is that? Fix this already Please!!!

How could anyone hate the Boy Scout programs??? You can be upset with all the political BS you have to put up with from National and Council so you give those two as little attention/participation as possible. But the youth programs themselves are second to none. This poll is poorly conceived and irrelevant. Run a fun and challenging program for your youth and ignore what National does. You design the quality, content, and challenges of your units program with over 100 years of past experiences and activities to support you. Think outside the box for a change, build it and they will come. Our

yeah I'm trying to figure out if I care ENOUGH to do this again. My boys are off to the troop, they are 13 and 17 now. I don't need a pack. Existing boys except 1 have never been in a large pack. closest other packs are 50-80 scouts. There is benefit in a bit smaller pack being available for some scouts. IF we kept all 7 and got the new 5 who are interested in joining, we'd have 3 in each den with 4 in webelos. So. 1. We could fold now and not recruit in August. That is super duper negative thinking and is just giving up. I hate to just give up after putting in so much time

The main problem with being a UC is that it is a thankless position where unit leaders look at you as a spy for the DE and council. As a DE I heard stories from UC's where they were asked to leave as soon as they showed up to a meeting. When they tried to explain what they were there for some were forcefully removed by unit leaders before they could finish, while others were told never to come back again for any reason. So it really isn't a mystery to me why no one wants the job. As a DE I used part of a roundtable to introduce the UC staff to the unit leaders with the DC explaining the role t

qwazse, Our crew after seeing the activities available at the Summit want to do a trip there next summer. From what I could see on BSA.org it looks like a fantastic facility with a lot of diverse outdoor activities. What always surprises me is just how little publicity the Jamboree gets on the National news, especially with the new site I guess they are too busy following Kim Kardassian and Snooky's new look. The Summit looks like fun and if our crew goes I am going to find a way to join them, especially for the whitewater kayaking and the big zipline.

Technically all religious medals are counseled and awarded by the priest, minister or rabbi of the religious institution the boy attends. He needs to make an appointment with his religious leader to start the process. A unit position for this purpose is unnecessary. Some denominations have training for unit leaders to counsel boys in obtaining their medals, however it is not the parents or unit leaders who decide if the boy has earned the medal it is up to the pastor/minister/rabbi or his designate to make that decision.

click, That maybe the case however when National makes changes to Venturing it usually is not from an expertise point of view rather than bending to outside pressure from those few making a lot of noise. In our own crew which is a very physically demanding high pressure high adventure program we do not accept anyone under 14 based on advice we received from experts on youth and with intensive outdoor programs. The council SE who knows our program well agrees with this policy. Everyone who joins our crew is on a 3 month probation to insure that they are a good fit for the crew and vice versa.

Well qwasze I thought I would have little time after taking over as Sr. Pastor however with a great staff and volunteers and a reorganization of the way things get done things are getting done better and faster than ever before so I have more time to dabble in the forums than I thought I would. I like your member emeritus classification however since I am already Advisor Emeritus for the crew I started at the church 12+ years ago.

When are you guys going to correct my ranking to Senior Member, with over 2600 posts and this site should have most of the bugs worked out by now. Terry are you using the IT staff from National to correct all the bugs, lol. Seriously though this site should be almost bug free by now.

Actually 14 is the minimum age for Venturing, grade is not a factor, male or female especially with a young girl in a crew of boys and girls averaging 15-20 years of age. A 13 yo would feel out of place and probably still be too immature to function well in a crew, and would most likely drop out in a few months. Our high adventure crew is made up of mainly experienced former boy and girl scouts or youth who have had a lot of outdoor experiences. I have not heard of remote venturing especially since the program is not designed for a solo Venturer .

The reality is most strong units with great programs can pretty much stand alone without council interference or those bozos at National who really think the membership change they construed and shoved down everyone's throats is really going to have real impact on the program or getting back corporate sponsors they have lost. Boy scouting is still IMHO the best youth program out there and the political game playing by National does absolutely NOTHING to improve, promote, or solidify scouting's reputation or credibility or program.

As a former DE for five years in the same council and for the same two districts I can tell you that the re-shifting of priorities by National for the DE has led many of the good ones to abandon ship and take on a more regular job with realistic and obtainable goals, less hours, and better pay. The National BSA is currently like a boat heading up the river without a paddle or direction which will end up sinking along the way. The animosity between professional scouters and the volunteers continues to get worse and worse and many unit leaders now just ignore council and FOS campaigns. When will

Schiff, Are you kidding statues as memorials to these guys. It fits perfectly for these egomaniacs who contributed so little to the BSA and asked so much from everyone else in scouting. I guess Mazzuca's large retirement package wasn't enough of a tribute to him. Now you know another reason why jamboree prices soared up for this years jamboree

Brian- As Basement said there is no official policy regarding crew dating. In our large crew we have several couples however the crew policy is that on official crew outings no PDA's or other innappropriate behavior. Our crew is over 12 years old and we have never had a problem yet, if the teens know what is expected of them and you treat them like adults with respect you will be surprised at their response.

Stosh I took both the old WB course and WB21C and they were like night and day. The original course had a great well trained and knowledgeable staff that made the experience worthwhile and fun, while WB21C had a staff who basically read from scripts, were not very knowledgeable at all and made it a horrendeously boring and tedious endeavor. I tell new scouters that before signing up check to see who is on staff and if they are experienced and knowlegeable by asking around and if they are newbies or 70% Cub leaders check out other councils in your area for a better staff BEFORE you commit. IMH

The sad part is that this compromise solution will not be enough to satisfy the demands of corporate sponsors, United Way in order to bring back the big dollars to the BSA. The parents of the scouts will now be forced to decide whether or not the BSA meets their own values or to pull their kids out of the program. The CO's will be upset they do not have any say in this matter. Bottom line this is a no win solution that shows National is trying to appease certain groups without really directly dealing with the issue as a whole. Just another Poorly thought out and hypocritical solution that wil

What I found interesting after watching the video conference on National's website is that allowing gay scouts will be all inclusive and not be at the discretion of any CO. That means that if if gay boy wants to join an LDS troop, a Catholic troop or any other conservative groups troop the CO will be unable to deny him membership with the current wording of the proposal. IMHO I do not see the LDS and many other CO's with an anti gay position remaining in scouting. I think the BSA shot themselves in the foot once again by not giving the CO the option based on their religious principles. If thi

qwase I think your idea about the crew is really outdated in todays world. Parents dont want to shuffle their kids to different meetings if they could all belong to one group. The GSUSA is losing members even faster then the BSA, no outdoor activities is the main reason my Venturing girls tell me, who were former girl scouts. The BSA is also losing membership at an alarming rate especially in troops and crews. If the current trend continues both BSA and GSUSA will be gone in another decade. It is time the BSA does what its European and South American counterparts have done and make the pr

I think all you naysayers better look at some hard facts, the BSA being a "male" group which is not entirely true is NOT a valid argument to support your objections. Your idea of only male role models in scouts is an antiquated idea which is no longer valid in todays society, like it or not. The fact is most of you old time scouters are rapidly aging out of the program and the younger replacements coming on board are much more open to the idea of coed units. The other fact is that the BSA continues to lose members and community/corporate support at an ever increasing rate each year and if Nati

Twocub, I actually agree with most of your post. This new policy is like a waterballoon about to burst, all it will do is get everyone wet and mad. National has once again proven they do not have the ability or guts to come up with a viable and workable policy. Giving this decision to the CO's to decide is the only way it will work. With the way it stands now the BSA will continue to see corporate money givers continue to diminish and more CO's decide to look for alternative youth programs. Time for a restructure of the National Office starting with the CSE and giving the power back to the CO'

The saddest part of all of this is that the National leadership is incapable of taking and holding a firm stance on this issue/policy. The May policy change on their site is so wishy washy and hypocritical that all it will do is alienate all sides in this debate. In my area three churches ,long time active scouting supporters have suspended all scouting until National comes to some kind of supportable solution to this issue. In our communty the BSA has become the butt of anger, indecisiveness, and a "bad influence on the youth". Parents have been pulling their kids out in droves. Even in my ch

When are you going to get the membership status thing straightened out Terry??? I and many senior members are still being listed as junior members why is that??? Secondly with all these older topics still being posted on the site it is a real hassle navigating through the mass and maze of information. Just curious is all because of the old adage "newer is always better" doesn't seem to apply here, and that many regular old time posters seem to have disappeared from the forum. alltogether.

Man I will truly miss OGE and his posts. Even when we disagreed he always made me smile. He was a man who dearly loved scouting and will surely be missed by all who knew him. He was a great and very fair moderator here in this forum. OGE I know you are with the great Almighty now enjoying your eternal reward. Blessings and comfort to your family and friends, you will indeed be missed.

BD I understand your feelings and it really is sad that certain parents rather destroy an entire unit then to just move to another one that fits their own narrow views. IMO scouting would run a whole lot better without parents who feel they are allowed to be real PIA's just to get their own way.