mk9750

If it were me, I'd let him run again. Probelm is, it's not me, and not you. It's the boys' program. Let them decide at a PLC. We did have that situation, almost exactly. A great SPL who dropped the position because of scholastic requirments. When those waned, he wanted the position again. PLC voted, allowed him to run, two of the three who were running dropped out because he was so good at it. He won the election, all three others were voted to positions in which they flourished, and so far two of the three have been elected SPL and been successful (actually, one of them was just ele

Bob, Now your starting to rile me! It's not my time spent making the effort to contact cub packs, so I don't want to sound like I'm defending myself. It is our Scoutmaster's. But to depict the right way to make this happen taking the time to do it, and contrasting that to what we do is just not fair! I have never kept track of the time we spend making this effort (and as you can see, I certainly keep track of a lot of stuff!), but I'll bet our Scoutmaster's time spent recruiting, when totaled, adds up to days, not hours, each year. And, in reality, I think our performance shows

I admit to having almost no real information about lone scouts, but I do have an oppinion. As much as I think it is great that there is some mechanism to allow a truly isolated boy, or one who travels, to participate in scouting, I think it should be the last resort. There are so many good things about scouts, cub or boy. Outdoor skills, first aid skills, exposure to potential careers, etc. But the two bigest values I have seen in 10 years through both programs are the necesary development in skills to work cooperatively, and leadership development. These two benefits cannot be realized

Boy, brings back some fond memories! I think there are three great ideas for keeping young boys under control: 1) As suggested above, have the boys set the den rules. They might not behave like they know they should now, but they do know what constitutes good behavior. I'll bet that the rules they set down, and even more so the consequences they prescribe, will be tougher than you want them to be. 2) Use the first trick I learned in den leader training - A good behavior candle. Light it at the beginning of the meeting in a rather solemn ceremony, and have the person whose behavi

Bob, Just to clarify- There are three TROOPS in the area that draw from 6 PACKS. Two of the troops get @ 20% of the crossovers between them. That leaves 80% of eleigible boys, from whom we get between 50% to 94% to stay will us through rechartering (these stats are from 1996 through present, and I am counting all boys in our troop today as being with us next January for rechartering). Not a big deal, but I just wanted to make sure no one thought we are doing the impossible. Again, in theory, what you say is correct. It is not likely that cub leaders will know, understand, and promote boy

scoutmom, It wouldn't be a shock to me that if we had people running cub packs in our area that have your attitude, we'd cross and keep more boys. I'd love to have someone at the pack level be as up to speed about the transition as you are. I believe if you had a troop in your area like ours, who truly bend over backward to accomodate webelos for den chiefs, requirements for meeting visits and activities, and making them feel welcome, you'd get more boys crossing. (boy wouldn't I be embarassed if we were in the same town, huh?) After reading your post, I went pack to confirm this, so I

Great topic, and one that we have focused on in our troop for years now. Bob, I agree in principle that the troop has the bigger responsiblity for enticing boys to cross. However, I believe our troop may be a worthwhile study of that concept. We are on of 3 area troops that tend to get boys for 6 packs. Of that combination, only our Charter Organization has both a pack and a troop. We put on THE EXACT SAME recruiting effort EVERY YEAR. We then monitor the number of boys that cross to each of the three troops. The other two get almost the same percentage as each other, and from year to yea

There techically is no such thing as an Advancement Chairman (officially). It is not a recognized adult position in Scouting. The adult who oversees and enhances the part of the program that is advancement is appointed by, and serves at the pleasure of, the Committee Chair (officially). I do believe, however, that in most Troops, the practice is that this person is treated as if there is an actual office of Advancement Chair. I believe this is actually a good thing, for, as was mentioned, anything a Scoutmaster can delegate (probably a better way to phrase it) is good. This would be true of th

My three favorites: "All that is necesary for the triumpth of evil is that good men to do nothing." (my father, quoting Winston Churchill, I believe) "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man has stumbled. Or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust, and sweat, and blood. And who, if he fails, at least failed while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." Theodore R

I don't intend to directly quote anyone here, so please cut me some slack if I don't have the words exactly right. But Rooster talked about how the major part of a MB councilor's responsiblity is testing. I strongly object (to take a line from one of my favorite movies). And I'll offer one example from the list of Mbs I do. There are a large number of requirements, on very boring but important topics, in Personal Managment. The MB booklet covers all of the "test questions" enough so that a boy who studies modertely seriously can "pass the test". However, let's look at one topic: Checking Acc

I agree with sst3rd. When a boy wants to earn a Merit Badge, he should see his Scoutmaster and obtain a blue card. Depending on how the Troop is set up, the Scoutmaster of the Advancement Chairman provides the boy with a list of Merit Badge Councelors qualified by the council for the merit badge on which he wants to work. The boy should contact the Merit Badge councelor, make an appointment, remember the buddy system, and meet with the councelor. Ocassionally, it may make sense to do a class during a Troop meeting. This happens for us a couple times a year when we start our cycle on roc

I realize this thread is old and maybe forgotten, but I wanted to respond. Our troop elects both the SPL and ASPL. however, it has become expected in our troop that the ASPL WILL be the next SPL, regardless of ability or effort displayed. We view this as a problem, but one that we have not been able to resolve while maintaining "boy run". I'd love to hear some suggestions for us as adults influencing the boys to make a better decision when it is time to elect troop leaders. We think that all it would take is one cylce for us to say "NO, we don't care who you voted for, he isn't qua

I agree with those who have said that Scouting isn't the only way to creat a responsible person, but it is a great way. As such, and with the belief that it seems you have that Scouting COULD be something special for your son, could you consider starting a new troop? It might contradict your desire to distance yourself from your son while he participates in scouting (which in many insances is a good thing, I think). But the oppurtunity you could give your son, and other boys who would benefit from your better understanding of the methods of scouting, would be worth it. If I lived in your area,

Laura, Let's see if I can beat Bob making this point: The requirements you speak about for 1st Class is to participate in 10 Troop or Patrol ACTIVITIES, other than meetings. This is in contrast to 10 campouts, and especially in contrast to 10 Nights of camping. A troop or patrol activity could include a day hike, a service project, a learning experience (once a year our guys plan a trip to the local fire department where an officer does a first aid class and a CPR class (over two weeks). If the PLC plans this for an evening IN ADDITION to a regular weekly meeting, we count this

We always go for 2 nights, and when we can take advantage of a long weekend, we go three nights. Attendees are expected to be packed ahead of time (our youngest boys get their packs inspected at the meeting before the campout for the first 2 or 3 times). That makes getting to our departure point a matter of changing into uniform (Scouts and adults), picking up your pack, and going. Lot's of McDonalds being wolfed down in the parking lot before everyone gets there. and we do a light snack requiring little or no prep once camp is set up (hard pretzels, to dutch oven cobbler). We leave between 6

When I initially saw the title of the thread, and the first post,I assumed this was a light question intended to have some fun. In that spirit, I asked my son, who is two half MBs away from Eagle (Personal Management and Personal Fitness) how much HE thought it had cost, in that he pays much of his own way (we paid 100% until he was 13, 75% until he got a job at 16, now we pay @ 25%). He assumed that all of the costs of Scouting through the years counted, as he doesn't believe he could make Eagle without all of the campouts, summer camps, Appalacian Trail Hikes, Tinnerman canoe treks, equipmen

Scoutnut, Thanks for the analysis. It is certainly helpful. What I get out of your explaination is that regardless of the age of any girls they have, there are many correlations but few exact similiarities to the two programs. That being true, I think it does become fair for us to tell the moms that we are different from GS, and to step back and allow the boys to dictate the essence of their own program, and to offer assistance for them to become trained if they feel a need to understand it better. Your very last point makes me realize I need to clarify one more point. The PL who did the y

Laura, I agree 100% with your idea. I have long thought that we do a diservice to our boys by not exposing them to the "home economics" skills. Most of these guys will go on to college without mom to wash or clean or mend for them. Some may remain bachelors for a long time. And others may become "Mr Moms", or take an equal role in running a household. To allow them to get to those points in their life without teaching them to wield a needle of add the right amount of soap to a washing machine is a crime. I have written National trying to convince them to add a mb for these skills, or at l

Thanks to all! A couple more points to be made: 1) Bob - I get the impression you read into the situation that someone hit someone else. This is not the case. The PL yelled at the boys who did not clean the tents. All of your prerequisites were met except that it was not done in private. This one of the parts of the incident that the ASM felt the method could have been improved. One of the moms allegedly was heard to say that she was going to tell her son it would be OK to hit anyone who yelled at him again. No actual contact happened. 2)The very first thing our new scouts are taught is ho

OGE, Points all well taken, and you are absolutely right. As I said, the ASM was going to speak to the PL about his method, but was happy that at least the leader was leading, even if the method was prefered. And I assure you that even though I also agree it was not the optimal way for the PL to make his point, it was not out of line at all. After discussing the conversation between the CC and the mom, a few of us are convinced that our best course of action is to pressure (and I use that word intentionally) these moms into some type of training. Short of that, we want to find a way to exc

You know, Youngblood, I've read with great delight all of the replies you have made on a number of topics. You have a tremendous knack for boiling down issues and making wise comments. I like your style!! Anytime you're looking for a job, I'd love to have you! good luck! Keep up the great stuff! Mark

The difficulty we are having revolves around two mothers whose sons often do not meet the expectations of their junior leaders. A good example happened last night. Over the weekend, our troop went on a campout. Upon return, as always, troop gear was distributed among the boys, with the expectation that it would be thoughoughly cleaned and dried (tents that had to be packed wet). Our quartermaster is responsible for assigning gear to patrol leaders, who then assign it to patrol members. Last night, one boy (middle of 2nd year in BS) turned back a tent that was obviously never touched. The other

I'll start shedding some light on the situation. Again, not too much to start, because I would like to get objective answers. I'll do it by asking a follow up question: How much does Girl Scouts rely on youth leadership as compared to Boy Scouts?

We have a couple of mothers of boys in our troop who have been very unhappy with the way things happen in our troop. I'd rather not affect the answers I hope to get here, so I won't describe the whole situation right now. But these moms keep repeating one common theme: "that isn't the way Girl Scouts do things". My basic question is "What are the main differences between the Boy Scouts and Girl Scout programs? Without any real knowledge of their program (I have two boys), I have great respect for the Girl Scouts. But these moms keep referencing Girl scouts when they are not happy wit

Yaworski, It is interesting you see Heritage as a fine example of a safe firing range, as it is Heritage that I was speaking of when I said we keep kids away from the range at summer camp. We attend Heritage every other year (odd years), so I was not there this year. But the rangemaster in all of the years I have been there is a rather thin, marines - looking guy. I've spoken with him a number of times, and listened while he spoke with others. He is a VERY nice guy, and I don't want anything I say to be misunderstood. He is a great person. But the safety instruction Scouts get t