MomScouter

We can take girls camping in GS as long as we have the correct ratio as outlined in Safety-Wise (similar to Guide to Safe Scouting) but I won't do it unless I have more parents than is required, especially with 1st-3rd graders! But by the time they are 3rd-4th grade they understand the rules, know they will have 'kapers' (jobs to do from collecting kindling to cleaning the latrine) so it gets a lot easier. Although I don't believe people hear about it as much, GS has a 'Gold Award' that is every bit as demanding as Eagle. There is also a Silver for Cadettes, and now a Bronze for Juniors.

evmori: This is from A Scout's Duty to God and Country 1998 by Michael F. Bowman and James Bryant 'We are concerned that we do not place a single Scout in the position of doubting the values of his own faith or feeling singled out and isolated because of his own faith. We should never create a climate were a Scout feels compelled to choose between Scouting and his religious beliefs. Frequently, it is best if the prayers acknowledge a common maker, such as the Maker of All Things, God, the Great Scoutmaster of all Scouts, or the Great Spirit, because each Scout can relate the words

I attend 2-3 a year. The ones I have been to are well run and informative. My biggest reason for not attending more is that not only are they about 45 minutes away, but they are in the next state and a different time zone, so when I attend I do not get home until after 10:30 (much too late for this early riser!) Our RT's are well run so I do not see a whole lot to improve there, but I would love to see all the information presented (including all handouts)placed on the council website. Yes I know, this would be more work for someone but I can dream can't I?

Eman, thanks for your reply. I think it is different everywhere; in our area we have to go out and recruit boys for packs and troops, but with the girls we have more girls wanting to join than we have leaders for. I am involved as a Brownie leader and a BSA troop committee person, and was a Cub leader. Several of my Brownie co-leaders are also Cub leaders. We make sure our girls have a lot of outdoor experiences as well as a wide range of other activities. We tend to borrow ideas from each other as well as resources. It is interesting how the council rules differ. In my area, I would rat

I believe that Baden Powell created Boy Scouts with the concept of being all inclusive, for all boys. The values inherent in Scouting are in sync with Christianity and Judaism, they are also in sync with many other religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, as well as many pagan religions.

OGE, good idea. Khepera, BSA is not a Christian organization. It is open to boys of ALL religions.

Sctmom and Bob Russell, thanks for your observations. Native American traditions are used extensively in BSA and are in fact pagan.

Rooster7, BSA can legally promote the values it so chooses Would you still contend this if you did not agree with the values they were promoting? Homosexuality, in my opinion, fits in with the rest of them. It's flat out wrong. This is your opinion. It may also be the opinion of a majority of members of BSA (or maybe not), but it is an opinion. From the studies I have read, over half the homosexual population has had sex with a minor. They prey on our youth. These people are pedophiles and as such have no business working with youth anywhere. But being a homosex

Sctmom, I expected to get slammed by a few of the posters here but I think debate is a good thing. I know my views are not popular with a lot of BSA members and I do put most of my energy into trying to make my son's program better, not getting on a soapbox! But I am not afraid to say what I believe. In our council we have a lot of respected women leaders, in fact, our council president is a woman. We also have units where adult male leaders refuse to go on campouts if women are present. Have a good Scouting for Food weekend! We do ours next month, we're getting ready for Klond

DD, The promotion of ANY sexual agenda is outside the boundaries of the scouting program. A persons individual sexual orientation is their own business, not that of BSA. And yes, DD, the quote I posted was from scoutingforall.com, as I stated. It was not my statement (although I do agree with a lot of it) , maybe you should go there and direct your condescending remarks to them. I thought you said they were born that way? Did I? I have no desire to argue with you the point of whether homosexuality is moral or immoral. You are entitled to your opinion as I am to mine.

Rooster7, When you refer to BSA and they who do you mean? I am in BSA as well as all the executives who make policy. If they do not spell out policy changes made more or less restrictive anytime they choose then how can they expect us grass roots people to follow them? There is a danger of policy being made at the whim of whoever is in the upper ranks, with no kind of open process whatsoever. most in BSA would subscribe to the idea that homosexuality is immoral. Its BSA's free right to agree and to deny membership to homosexuals. This does not have to be printed in black and white

Hey let's not slam 4-H! My daughter has learned an incredible amount on animal care from this organization and its volunteers. She also has a wonderful time every year showing her animals at the fair, and has learned a lot about responsibility.

I see a major distinction between the atheist issue and the homosexuality issue: To the best of my knowledge (someone correct me if I am wrong), the Scout Oath and Law have always included references to God and being reverent. Thus as a private organization BSA is within their rights to exclude those who do not profess a belief in a higher power. However, I do believe that this is a form of religious discrimination and because of that the BSA should not expect to use public facilities or receive any kind of government funded perks. In contrast, there is nothing in the Oath, Law, or

Merlyn, I appreciate your comments and information. I find a lot of what you have said to be very logical. Discussion is good, dissenting opinions thought provoking. The topics you have presented need to be discussed by all scouters because they are not going to go away. There is dissension among scouters about the atheist issue as well as the homosexual issue; whole councils have petitioned the national office for change.

I am interested in comments and observations from those adult volunteers who are involved in both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Does your experience with one organization impact the other? Do you prefer one org policies over the other? Have your units ever done any joint projects or outings?

If you mean color bands for the arrow, I think they are: orange - Tiger red - Wolf dk. blue - Bear gold - gold arrow point silver - silver arrow points lt. blue - Webelos yellow - Arrow of Light I separated each band with some pinstriping from a body shop. I got a kit on the internet which contained a nice plaque to mount the arrow as well as an engraved plate.

FScouter, you are absolutely right about getting help. Sometimes I forget this in my enthusiasm! Starting small is the way to get parents involved and is in fact how I got started.

Chippewa, Thanks for the feedback. The troop is only a couple of years old, it was started by the SM so my guess is he plans on sticking around. For the most part we work OK together, at times he seems to want to impose his will on certain things but for the most part he plays by the rules. He has annoyed a number of other people though, including a couple of very good ASM's who have left for good over disagreements about how the money is handled. This is one of my problems as well; in my previous pack we used money mgmt. software and a report was produced every committee meeting, as well

Thanks for all your comments. Our troop does have a plan to go on a campout every month of the year cannot always follow through due to lack of boys willing to go! (Example - last campout, 2 boys working, 1 not allowed to go on 'cold' weather campouts because he got sick last year, 1 didn't go because it was his birthday, 2 others MIA). This happens every month! Scoutmaster strongly endorses outdoor program, not a problem there. Main problem seems to be lack of parental support for program. (At the annual 'parents meeting' last month NONE showed up! Probably because in the newsletter I said w

Rooster, I agree with everything you wrote. But what about my son who wants to go elsewhere now? He is getting frustrated and bored. The last campout was cut short because the SM got sick and there were no other adults there except 1 ASM, so (all 4 of the boys there) had to pack up and come home. They had talked about this campout for some time, the weather was great, yet we could not get other boys or parents to attend. I fear that it will be the same with the upcoming Klondike Derby. I have told my son to wait until he is with the troop a year and then make a decision, but I hate to se

I have a felt red vest and it is hot and itchy in warm weather! I made my son a red vest out of cotton and he used that in Cub Scouts for all his patches. I am going to make him another one for Boy Scouts, very large so he can grow in to it. Our Scoutmaster wears a tan vest with his patches. Is there a rule that the vest must be red, or for that matter does it have to be a vest or can patches be dispayed on a jacket?

My son is 11 and has been with his troop about 6 months. He is enthusiastic about Scouting, looks forward to campouts and events, participates in fundraisers and everything else. There is another boy (also 11) who also participates in everything. The problem is, the rest of the troop of about 9 (they come and go)does not seem very enthusiastic about anything. The 3 older boys are always busy with work and social activities. The younger ones show up for campouts and other things sporadically. I am committee chair (no one else wanted the job), and cannot get a committee to all show up for a meet