Gone

That's just a different type of Helicopter Parenting. That's "Stealth Mode" helicopter parenting. I am reminded about the now infamous Mike Rowe letter to a potential Eagle scout. I've taken this road with my Scouts...and my son. If you don't make it you will be in good company. Heck, I know guys who aged-out at Life and are now Scouters and they are better people for having NOT made Eagle than they likely ever would have been had they made it. It is a goal, but is it not the end of things if you fail. There's a better life lesson in failure than in success.

So in my council it appears that you can no longer buy a rank patch without your Advancement Chair from your unit printing out a form from the Internet Advancement website to validate your Scout is the rank you say he is. Of course there's no way you can buy bulk rank patches either anymore without said paperwork. If you try they make you fill out a form with the names of the scouts for which you are buying said patch. I asked, "So, do I still have to pay or does this count as the Internet Advancement paperwork to get my patches free?" The reply was, "Nope, you still have to pay." Then I asked, "Ok, so does council take the paperwork and check off that these scouts got their badge?" The young man said, "No, the council just wants this paper filled out." Naturally I asked, "What does council do with the form." Expecting nothing better I heard, "Nothing. All the forms I've given them get filed and forgotten." So, to be clear, if you don't show up with a print out from Internet Advancement you need to 1) fill out a form that will never get used, 2) have to still pay for your patches and 3) if you are a mom or dad simply buying that second or third rank patch (all ranks included on this, not just Eagle) you are out of luck. Somewhere in my state there a roving band of illegal scouts wearing unearned rank badges that caused this whole mess.

Save money for college now. Mine was 17,5 thirty years ago and is now over 65k. At that rate you'll be paying near 100k/year. Back to Eagle badges, I don't see any problem with the ones required. Using the college analogy, all colleges have required courses so why are required MBs any different? They are built around core scouting values (citizenship, outdoorsmanship, family, first aid/prep, etc.). BSA has made several "either/or" badges (e.g., swimming, hiking, cycling) to provide that personalization others have requested. All other MBs for Eagle are elective. Heck, BSA removed the required badges for the lower ranks years ago, so if anything they more than personalized the journey to Eagle. My biggest beef with BSA is the plethora of stuff to earn. If there was one central location to research (and illustrate for the boys how to earn) all badges, patches, pins and awards out there I'd be happy. As it is we have to rely on hobby Scouters to cobble together a network of this stuff for us to help the boys fine their way.

We have a 30-something (no wife or kids) interested in joining our crew. There is apprehension. He's new to town (small town) and people always suspect the worst. I am sure there will be a background check by the CO.

Safari=works Opera=works IE=works Chrome=works That's pretty good coverage.

Don't worry, the NSA has copies. If you use web-based email or a third party provider then everything you send and receive is saved...at least for a period of time. Not sure saving your email is the same as copying someone. That's like telling someone about your 1v1 meeting than being two-deep *during* said meeting.

Folks, you have Scouts right? Do this: - Pay tuition. - Limit extra $$$ to their reporting of grades to you. - Cut off tuition if you need to. Make them pay for failed grades. Have their summer money in an account earmarked for failed grades. If none, allocate as speeding money. - You cannot complain about helicopter parenting if you're not willing to let them learn their own lessons. Failing out of college never hurt anyone. Might be a great life lesson. I know I learned my lesson. Got straight As in graduate school.

LOL...too funny.

I have a modified hat. Not campaign style, not Indian Jones. Have an Akubra hat like this one. Been through rain, snow, fog, high mountains, river valleys, the heat of Egypt and a Temple of Doom. Works great. Had it 10 years.

Use the advanced editor and display. Eliminates the need for 1998 text coding.

Ah, Helicopter Parents! I've had three in the last six years. Two of the boys are Eagle but can't lead a Webelos Den. The third may make Eagle but won't have learned a thing. Despite meeting after meeting over the last five years, none of these moms have backed off. They coordinate which MBs the kids take, what camp outs they go on, etc. Even had one attend TWO Scoutmaster conferences. The other two sat in on MB sessions because th thought the MBC was being too strict (she wasn't! she was just making them work). BTW, none of these kids are special needs. Ironically we have a group of special needs scouts (attend a local school together) and their parents have never attended their SMC....go figure. Sadly, none of these helicopter scouts are worth a darn. They know some stuff but can't lead, plan or execute. Wasted five years in scouts. We've tried to shoot those Blackhawks down but they keep coming back. They've done a total disservice to their kids.

You're sitting in 1984? Our SMs email is an alias. It copies an ASM automatically. Any incoming email is be default two-deep. Replies require the adult to manually copy an adult. We copy parents by default. All parents required to provide an email at registration. No email no registration. Text messaging is not allowed. Replies are copied to parents reminding the scout texting is not allowed. Phone calls are always on speaker phone with an adult in the room otherwise I'm "busy" and they need to call me back when they (or i) have an adult present.

DO S'mores - Butter 1/3 cup on bottom, greased in like a baking dish - Layer bottom with graham crackers - Layer in mashmallows - Layer in chocolate bars - Layer top with graham crackers Cover lid with 4-8 coals, bottom with 3-5 coals...very light heat. Just need melting and slight baking. If you stay or soak the graham crackers in milk they bake well and it's gooier.

But how do you get the boys to pull the trailer?

With MB colleges popping up everywhere you'd see the Eagle rate jump to 20% if we didn't have required MBs.

I have three 6th graders recently elected as PLs. They are turning out to be better than the three high school kids that preceded them. "Never do for a boy what he can do for himself." - LB-P

Cooking for Cooking MB is a separate activity from cooking for Tenderfoot, Second Class or First Class or for Camping MB. As Stosh said, unless BSA says they can be used for other requirements the rule should be they are separate events.

Lol! Sadly my mom must have been Julia Childs....everything from scratch. Pain in the patootie replicating my childhood eats, but always worth the effort once I sit down to eat.

Show them Dutch oven s'mores. They'll never go back to the real ones.

Teenagers are always a "path of least resistance" group. Sure they like good food, but if they can do less work they almost always will. Agree that cooking competitions help. But these actions need to be continuous to keep the vigor alive.

A good BBQ brisket will cure veganism. Nothing like burnt ends, chopped brisket and a fried pickle!

I think you're confusing multi-tool with Swiss Army knives bought at Walmart. A serious survival multi-tool doesn't have those things. Pliers, yes....and those have helped me a few dozen times. The one we got in the service also had a Paracord cutter. Yes we also had our sheath knife, but that had one main purpose which we don't use in Scouts.

Makes you wonder, in the "old days" did these kids just not join Scouts? Or has this whole issue just become more endemic?

Exactly. Heading across country one year we had to check everyone's pocket knife. Our state has a 4" rule....two of the seven states we drove through had 3" rules. Our entire bus would have been in violation of the law had we not checked. The PLC looked in to the average knife lengths in most states that summer, compare with BSA pocket knife/multitool lengths and then settled on 3" as the standard length. Developed a policy and told the Scouts. Everyone carries BSA standard pocket or Swiss Army knives.

Due to a company that has relocated to my neck of the woods we have an influx of Asian folk. This has lead to an increased need to be more open in our menus, so this issue comes up a lot. I will say this, the "I don't like [insert food here]" argument does not hold water with my guys. They plan for the majority and the picky eaters can eat around it. Dietary, religious or allergy excuses are a different story. Being a picky eaters is a choice. True Story: Had a scout who didn't like tomatoes but it was situational; liked it on spaghetti (n sauce) but didn't like pizza (on top or on sauce), liked them in salads (raw) but didn't like them on sandwiches. It was silly. His patrol had DO pizza one night. Since he hated pizza sauce (but again, liked spaghetti sauce) he did not eat that night. After campfire and lights out he went to bed....hungry. About an hour later one could hear a rather large mammal working it's way about one camp site. This mammal manage to open the DO and proceeded to eat the leftover DO pizza. The full moon that night illuminated the mammal pretty well. It was the aforementioned scout, hunched over eating the cold, burnt DO pizza. Over the next few months he went from picky eater to eater of everything. Problem solved.