MomToEli

I wish some of these posts came with pictures. What color woman leader shirt is she wearing? The yellow one, well, you could see ANYTHING through that thing! Since this was back in 2005 ... it could well have been one of the tan jobs, male issue. I remember when they first came out with the expanding pockets. Those little suckers stood straight at attention at an unfortunate place - and I'm talking about the shirt pockets here! But, I digress. If it was a tan shirt you would NOT be able to see the "girls" through the fabric. And depending on the fit of her bra you may or not be able to t

packsaddle, if you do I promise to jump in with wild and perhaps even reckless abandon. That is just the way I'm rollin' today ...

Basementdweller, just curious ... what is your position in the Pack? You do seem to be the front guy for a whole lotta stuff and maybe you can start telling your committee it isn't your job ... so you can just focus on the boys.

Eammon, I agree with you for the most part, but ... A boy who feels like he is always compromising just so the group will go will also leave. IMNSHO, we have a duty to teach the Lads in our care the fine art of give and take. Life really *isn't* all about him. Why would I want to support his illusion? The boy who will quit if he is expected to learn to participate in things that he may not like - well, so be it. Maybe my perspective is skewed by having a unit small enough that one boy refusing to go to something could make the difference between anyone going or not. I've seen

I hadn't considered if they were all adults, frankly. College students could, theoretically, be under 21. Since I didn't attend, however, I can't say. I agree that it is difficult to get the boys to take the initiative. We are in the process of changing the way things work in our own troop. The first thing I had to do was explain what a blue card is. They were using the merit badge workbooks you can get online for both the blue cards AND the merit badge handbooks. So, it is a process, but we will make the change one step at a time. I can see the value in some of the MBU event

Deep breaths ... I get the whole feeling of wanting to just chuck it all. Time to refocus on what is important and give the jerk the attention he is due - which is none. Papadaddy is right - it isn't an application without the money. Ask the DE just how excited he thinks the SE would be to find out he is pressuring units to turn in non-existent applications? National auditors aren't particularly fond of padded membership numbers ...

I would think it would be up to the school, but hopefully they will allow it. Otherwise that is one more thing competing for the time of the youth in our Troops. And given the choice between a project required for graduation and a requirement for Star Scout, I suspect graduation will win.

packsaddle, that was certainly an interesting read. It took everything I had to not chime in and resurrect the years old thread! I wonder what ever happened to that poor woman? There have been many male leaders I would love to have pulled aside and given instructions on how to dress appropriately, believe me. But, since I am not perfection by anyone's standard I've accepted that they care enough to be involved in the first place and figured if the parents of the scouts closest to them are happy, who am I to interfere? See, I guess my attempts to sit on my hands and type nothing were an

Thanks for the update! Sounds like it was everything one could hope for. And here's to many, many more in the years ahead (raising glass).

I don't know, OldGreyEagle, but I would be very surprised if there was. If so I suspect it would have been executed in a few cases in our own Council ...

SeattlePioneer, that would be perfect! And does anyone else find it a bit unsettling how easy it was to snap that sword over his knee? There are some days I think I just take myself way too seriously ...

Thanks for all of the replies, folks. Trainerlady, yes, I do encourage them to take classes at camp. Merit Badge classes at camp are structured such that they take at least two separate sessions with time in between to absorb what they are learning. They are mostly limited to offerings that are outdoor oriented and Eagle required badges are very limited. Scoutcraft, frankly, is the area where staff seems to be the most lacking. it is simply amazing how many Eagle Scouts come to camp staff unable to tie knots and build fires - oh, don't get me started on that one! You also get the overze

So ... how did it go? Did they have the greatest time ever? Did you live through the experience?

"Imagine a giant field or park with Pioneering structures, Cooking demonstrations, Fire Safety experiments, Wilderness Survival shelters, Cinematography instruction ... giving Scouts a taste of what the badge involves beyond the picture in the back of the Handbook." It seems to me that there used to be something of this sort - rather like a Scouting Fair. Hmm ... sounds like a grand idea for me to take back to our District Committee ...

Several Districts in our Council host or put on Merit Badge Universities - most are one day, while one District breaks it into 3 days, about 4 weeks apart. We are closing in on the time of year when these start to pop up again. And I hate them. IMO they are totally diametrically opposed to the heart and soul of the Merit Badge program. I also have yet to meet a young man who earned a Merit Badge that way who has recollection of the subject learned or who developed any sort of passion to follow up and learn more. (I'm sure there ARE some who have, but I've yet to meet one.) As our uni

True, they aren't all created equal. I sure can't help it if there are people who want to do the minimum. And I wouldn't minimize most of the Eagle projects I've seen to claim they'd be easy to complete as an adult. Some are pretty cheezy, for sure, but many are pretty impressive projects. While I don't believe any of mine ranked up there with rebuilding a sod house or laying out a memorial plaza or others done by boys I know, I know I worked pretty durn hard at them - and didn't have a team to supervise - did 'er all myself. So, pass the splint, cuz my arm might be hurtin' any minute now.

(him is a she ... shhhh ... haha) Thanks for the congrats, all! (tiptoe through the tulips ...)

Through the process of the course and as a result of it my unit has direct benefit of five projects that I may have thought of, but would likely never taken the time to complete, all for the good of the unit and the boys in it. One of the things that gives it great value is that is not a "have to" course. It is a "want to" course. So, those that take it are motivated to do so in the first place, and then feel a sense of obligation to carry it through to the end. Only a particular type of person will take the course in the first place - those that look for opportunities to learn better

Last Thursday night I finally got signed off my Wood Badge tickets!!! That was a whole lot of work, but the Troop has some great things in place because of it :-) C-16-09 was a great session! :-) Forever Foxes rock!! (Doin' the happy dance ... in big, wide circles ... Woot! Woot!)(This message has been edited by momtoeli)

(This got posted in the wrong place - the topic I thought I was replying to was about younger scouts not listening to older scouts, which morphed into poor leadership skills/bully leadership). Came in looking for ideas on overcoming this very issue. We are a small Troop - 7 active boys - three 16-18, two 13-14, one 12 and one new scout, 11. What I have observed is a learned pattern. The older young men aren't mean spirited, but they treat the younger young men like pesky little brothers. They don't teach them. They cherry pick tasks on campouts and stick the younger ones with the

How do you present the Scout Badge? (The one before Tenderfoot) I can find all sorts of ceremonies from Tenderfoot on, and plenty from AOL back, but not the Scout Badge. Do you just hand it to the young fellow?

No training makes you a better leader. Application of what you learn during that training is what makes you a better leader. One very big part of Woodbadge is your ticket items. You will be required to complete 5 projects over the 18 months following your "classroom" time, which should be unit based if you are active in a unit. The result of those tickets should better your unit in some way. So, from that stand point alone, I would answer your question as yes - Woodbadge is worth it. From a personal side I got a better perspective on Scouting - Boys Scouts in particular - thro

(Sorry! Duplicate post) (This message has been edited by momtoeli)

Gosh, hopefully your Troop is putting much more than 10% of popcorn sales into the boys' Scout Accounts. My son deposited over $700 from popcorn this year. Eagle92 and others are spot on. I would add to the equipment list a little, though. Good boots and lots of socks are a must. Boots keep us going because son's feet are still growing, but I'd rather that than messed up feet. They need to be waterproof and count on them getting muddy! For winter he will need a really good base layer of clothing - Under Armor type stuff and polypropylene (which we got used at the Army Surplus store)

Another resource for problem resolution is your Unit Commissioner and/or District Executive. The DE has a vested interest in the success of every unit in their District. They can often act as mediators. Postings on Facebook up the ante, IMO, as that is a public forum. Get screen shots of those. Talk to the Committee Chair and have THEM call a committee meeting to which they've invited the Unit Commissioner and ALL committee members. They CM should have the ear of the COR and between them they can remove the disruptive party. The DE can get them removed from scouting all together if t