Mommascout

sctmom - I also take every opportunity to photograph my son when he is in uniform and hope that someday when he outgrows being embarrassed about being seen in it around his male school peers - that he will remember what that uniform represented for him while he was growing up. He is at an awkward age (14) with his peers and as they don't see Scouting as being "cool" he feels he must not let them know he is a Scout. I am working on this with him and I see improvement. If his peers only knew what awesome things my son did in that uniform I'm sure they'd want to become scouts. When he g

As this topic has always been of interest to me I thought I'd check out the thread. I too, was unable to vote as I have felt confusion since my son's pre-k days as to where we should send him to school. My husband and I are practicing Roman Catholics both products of Catholic schools and so it was extremely difficult to make the decision to send our son (now in 8th grade) to public school which we did. Our small parish school had decreasing numbers and teachers and has since closed. It offered no technology, foreign language or music program. The brand new public school offered all that

Ozemu gave you wonderful advice. As a former pre-school teacher of 13 years I agree with the multicultural agenda. This idea can bring so much fun and understanding to your troop. Having the boys learn about several new cultures takes the focus off the differences in your group. I don't think there is one but there should be a merit badge on multicultural learning. Each culture has various holidays that you could base an entire program on. When the holiday comes up on the calendar there is a myriad of activities that you could do (customs, food & recipes, decorations, songs, dances, s

My son's best friend of 14 years moved to a neighboring state and has invited him to summer camp with his troop (which is in another council of course). It will be a bike trek for 1 week. My son is excited to go and has reciprocated the invitation to his friend to come to summer camp with our troop at a high adventure camp in NY. I was wondering if there are any rules against this. If this IS allowed what needs to transpire between the two troops and/or councils as far as records and paperwork? The boys miss each other very much and are looking forward to spending two weeks together this

Hi Scouters: I strongly agree with everyone on the issue of parents who stifle their sons and try to do everything for them. I think that most parents who choose Scouting for their sons have done so with their child's best interests at heart and can usually step back once they learn about the program. Those new parents in SCTMOM's troop who were angered, left early, and decided on another troop after the FIRST campout, certainly did not give the Scoutmaster or troop a fair chance to grow. If they do go on to start their own troop they will inevitably have to go through trai

My sentiments exactly !!! Thank you!

sst3rd Sorry about the title of this thread "Lousy Scoutmaster" ... but at the moment I wrote that, it was how I truly felt. A lot of these forums take a turn from the original posting subject. I will title my next issue in a more tactful way. That also was my very first time I posted! I've learned alot from reading the others.

MomScouter: I understand your feelings of frustration completely. My family WALKED last week!!! For different problems but the same issue: a SM who tried to run the show and made obvious mistakes doing so. Our former troop had 33 registered active scouts one year ago. We were down to 14. And now that my son and 2 foster sons have moved on to a much, much greener pasture it is down to 11. It took us a full year to make the change because like you, I kept hoping and thinking surely this will change - every one of the adult leaders went to the trainings - the same ones my husban

Ed & Bob; Forgive my tone. I don't mean to come off in an Unscoutlike manner. I am very new to the forums and my goal is to learn from the masters and not be defensive or offensive. BSA has been such a positive force in my life and in my family and I guess I get scout fever sometimes. I'm sorry guys.

(continuation) The boys will get to be PL for one meeting as a way of breaking the ice and easing into the program for any new scouts. Then after each has had a turn they will hold elections. There 11 or 12 scouts so they should complete their trial run in about 3 months.

Scouter Paul: Our new Webelos have just crossed over and will have similar opportunities that OGE's troop offers. They each will get a turn and will proceed in alphabetical order.

Ed Mori: In response - No, I never said a 15 year old is equal to an 18 year old in their experiences and mentality. I took the Ages and Stages training - remember? I said the 11-13 age group is very different than the 15-18 group. I was making a generalization to make a point about why the patrol method is important. I did not say patrols should be divided by age but many patrols are grouped with similar age-ranges. New scouts should be in their own new patrol until they reach the rank of First Class and have learned the basic skills needed and then they should move on to more e

I agree that kids (and adults) should be judged by character and not appearance. Body decorating (piercings, tatoos, hennas, hair design) goes back to ancient civilizations. It is simply a form of self expression. I don't think all boys with piercings are saying "look at me - I want your attention". I think they believe it is a cool trend or fad and just want to have fun with it. Yes, some may go to extremes and parents do need to try and limit overzealous teens. Peer pressure also comes into play. I don't think a tiny pinhole in one's ear can be considered "altering your body" - that's

Bob White: You have tried and tried to be helpful, courteous, kind, friendly and above all patient with Ed Mori. I've been following the dialogue and suggest that you abandon the cause because he just is not capable of accepting your superior knowledge. This is exactly the mentality I had to deal with in my son's former troop and I felt so frustrated at times with the stubborn attitude of a power-hungry Scoutmaster , a control freak that insisted on a 'one man show'. You seem to be a natural teacher and it is your instinct to help others learn in a positive way. (I recognize that because

Sorry, my eyes were bugged after reading the 10 pages on the homosexuality issue on another board and I had to get some shuteye. Those guys are intense in their debate. About the Patrol method and where I heard of it? It is just basic to Scouting. I learned it in Scoutmaster Fundamentals as well as from speaking to different leaders at campouts, camporees and the National Jamboree. Because my former troop (scoutmaster) refused to consider it, I was always curious about how other troops handle the issue. There are a lot of troops who do NOT use the method properly. I've asked Scoutm

Dear Bob White: Thank you for your support. I was going to leave the forum because I didn't wish to deal with ignorance and arrogance. But I'm glad I came back. The patrol method is the core of scouting and those of us who listened at training know that!! Thanks again. Mommascout

Dear Ed: 13 years! That's great.In the Scoutmaster Handbook, Chapter 3, "About Patrols" under the subheading "Patrol Activities" I quote: "A good patrol should carry out hikes, camping trips, and other activities of its own, and not just sit around waiting for the next troop event. After all, a patrol is not just one of several units into which a troop is conveniently divided, but one of several units that make up a troop.A patrol has every right to enlarge its share of Scouting adventure by planning activities of its own. A caution though: No patrol activity should conflict with or bypass

To Ed Mori/Troop 1:We would quit your troop, too. The patrol method was established to create independence and age-appropriate experiences within a troop. The 15-18 year olds need the opportunity to occasionally- not consistently without the troop - to go on outings themselves (with adult leadership of course). The 11-13 year olds need to be able to learn some skills independently. There is a training course for SM's who don't understand this method - it's called Ages & Stages. There is a wide gap between a new 11 year old scout and an experienced 15 year old scout and that needs to be

I have been involved in Scouting since my son was a Tiger Cub in 1994. He just acquired Star rank. My husband and I have been registered Adult Leaders since 1996 and our experience includes: Den Leadership, Daycamp, Resident camp, Summer Camp, Troop Committee, Quartermaster, Popcorn Chair, and we each counsel 5 Merit Badges, PR Newsletter, among other things. We've gone to all the trainings that come along. During Cub Scouting we had a CM who did not enforce discipline. The kids were out of bounds especially his son. By Webelos 1 we'd had enough and transferred to another pack for Webelo