Gone

He's more likely to get injured crossing the street by his school with the way people drive these days. As long as adults and Scout exercise good judgement and caution we can attempt to limit such tragedies.

Ok, so nothing from a reliable, non-partisan source. It is a sampling of just over 1000 people. And the way the question was worded (and possible responses) leaves much to be interpreted. How can one "somewhat support" something. You either do or don't. That leaves nearly 30% of the people "somewhat" supporting or opposing this issue. There's no way 50% of the US supports this.

Source?

Wonder how many had WRFA training and if that would have mattered?

In my experience, dads who never made eagle but were Life or Star scouts have proven the best SMs. But still better were those who were never scouts. Not all, but the majority have been top shelf.

In my experience, the former Eagles are full of themselves but are too absorbed in their jobs to put that same effort in to their family or scouting. Those who were never scouts seem genuinely interested in learning all they can and rolling up their sleeves and getting involved. Those with WB are essentially like my Eagle ASMs, but are worse...they go for adult accolades like knots and could not be bothered to pitch in and help train our youth. I'll take 1 new dad never having been in scouting over 10 Eagle, WB-trained dads any day...twice on camp out Sunday.

I found the old JLT and Leadership Crops manuals online and developed training based on those. Even found the old videos which are more relevant today than ever. The current stuff is fluff and useless. BSA should go back to basics.

My interaction with folks who have taken both their basic training and WB is not good. They talk a good game but lack the drive to see it through. My best Scouters are those who were never scouts, but have taken the training for their position. The worst ones are former Eagles who have their basic training and WB. Not an good advertisement for the program in my area. WB has become a standing joke in my area among Scouters.

I have found a program called Quiz Star that allows me to develop online quizzes for the Scouts to take. I can customize as needed and it reports scores. Pretty nice free tool.

I found the comments around JASMs interesting. My experience has been the complete opposite. My JASMs (all ex-SPLs) have absolutely relished their role. They have become ASMs in every sense of the word. They hang back and let the PLs and SPL lead and step in only when necessary. I have come to rely on them heavily and they appreciate their role and contribution. It has led to our unit being more boy-led in every sense of the phrase.

In my neck of the woods these MB colleges are big business. They are always full. I know this issue is in another thread, but if you ever wanted to see "paper Eagles" just go to one of these classes. I ran in to an Eagle Scout at one of these with his MB sash all filled with MBs (nearly both sides). Young kid, probably 14. He was taking Pioneering with two Scouts from our first-year program. The kid could not tie a clove hitch, so I have my two Tenderfoot Scouts teach him that and his lashings. ;-)

Here's the other side of that coin. Where I live we do a ton of MB "colleges". They churn our MBs like a Texas BBQ joint turns our brisket. It's amazing. The level of detail is suspicious to say the least. There is little to no hands on work. They are supported by Districts (heck, they are run by Districts) and even Council. A few years back (when I was new to Scouting and so was my son) my son took the First Aid MB. It was an 8 hour course...of Powerpoint slides. No hands on. No demos. No EDGE. Nothing. My son came home and I asked him how the class was. He said he did not deserve the MB

Sadly the folks I know with WB training are not that impressive. The folks with older WB training I think are better but cannot tell if that is from their WB training or simply having been in Scouts that long. The current WB grads I have met are less prepared and knowledgeable than my senior Scouts.

That's it. Great tool. Integrates with TroopMaster very well. We use Shutterfly for photos and Blogger for updating camping blogs for our weekend camp outs and summer camp. Helps to keep mom and dad informed. Recently started using Waze for road trips to keep everyone together and to report ETA back home. Our parents appreciate the info, avoids late pick ups and gives a nice trail of activities for the boys to use as planning aids. We require all the boys to check the website and email to stay informed. Has worked like a charm.

For the sake of argument, if the scout meets all the requirements -- if even just barely -- how can anyone call him out on it? The requirements don't say he has to be a Rockwellesque scout, just that he meet all requirements.

We use mytroop. Everything integrated in one place. Great tool.

We did a Top Chef competition as part of our Cooking MB class within the troop. It worked out well, taught the boys some things outside the requirements and helped amp up the cooking on camp outs.

I am heading up a high adventure group from our troop to Germany in 2016. We are planning to trek up the Zugspitze (from Ehrwald, up the south side and in through the glacier) and then possibly the Watzmann in Berchtesgaden. Has anyone done this or similar hikes? Any suggestions for good hiking treks? Would like to maybe to an over night tent hike in the Alps. Am looking through the various hiking associations and clubs in Germany/Austria to see what other say. Any suggestions anyone might have would be great!!

I have seen SMs make kids like that JASMs and then ASMs if they turn 18 before they graduate. That might mean more to him than anything. Also, I hear H. Ross Perot is sympathetic to such plights. A kind note to him might get a letter in return for your Scout.

For 26 new Scouts who we are trying to teach trail to FC to AND get feed and first trip from home and, and and....yes. That's a huge plus. We have plenty of time for the usual Scout-style dining hall with lousy food, horrid sanitation and the like later. Right now with 3 adults going we need easy. But even if you prefer roughing it, that's the only difference between CDB and other camps being discussed. All other ammenities are the same. Staff at CDB is outstanding. On a seperate note, anyone ever been to Medicine Mountain Scout Ranch?

Thanks all. This is exactly how I read the award (Unit Leader Award of Merti) too. I had always understood that the ULAM and Scouter Key to be for unit leaders only (read: Scoutmasters, Crew Leads, etc.), and that the SM Training Award was for ASMs. Sadly, I think there are folks in my District not reading this the same way.