NeilLup

I have never met anyone who regrets being pushed to earn the Eagle Scout award. I have met people who have earned the Eagle to whom it doesn't seem to mean much. And I have met people who have earned the Eagle who didn't seem to understand the Scout Oath and Law. I have met plenty of wonderful people and wonderful Scouters who had not earned the Eagle Scout award. Many of them regretted not earning it. But I'm not sure I ever met someone who wished they had been pushed to earn it.

You may think that becoming an adult is a matter of having a 21st birthday, etc. It is not. It is a matter of the kind of experiences you have just had. You took a major step in becoming an adult. Congratulations. My cousin makes the distinction between adults and "tall people". Just because someone is a tall person does not mean they will behave like an adult. You still do need to show them appropriate respect, just as we all do. But you know the difference between an adult and a tall person. When you have to deal with a tall person, you have to try to do your best.

You have received some extremely wise counsel. The final line of Saltheart's post is exceedingly wise. One of the most difficult thing that a parent has to do is sit back when their child makes choices other than those that the parent would choose or prefer. Most of us who are parents have bitemarks on our tongues from that. We have no sons and only one daughter. She was on staff of our council's summer camp one summer and the next summer, was invited to be a Philmont ranger. This was an opportunity that, as a boy, I would have killed for. She turned it down saying "Dad,

I completely agree with you, Sctmom. That's why I have a problem with stating that the BSA and GSUSA programs are designed to meet the respective needs of boys and girls. The GSUSA program has been described to me by most of the women I know who are familiar with it (including my wife and daughter) as "knitting doilies" and doing girly-girl type stuff while the BSA program is independence, leadership, camping, high adventure, etc. (Again, these words come from my wife and daughter) A relative of mine has just failed to complete her Gold Award because of the project. She was essent

Twocubdad, The answer to both of your questions is yes. However, it isn't a simple black/white question. The "religious reference" is intended to help the Eagle Scout Board of Review assess the Scout's suitability to become an Eagle Scout. The Board really doesn't have (or at least shouldn't have) a choice whether to accept a reference. What they can do is make a decision that the Scout has not met the "Duty to God" requirement and so is not qualified to become an Eagle Scout. If they do turn the boy down, they are required to state in writing why the decision was made

Every time that I read the last line of Sctmom's post, I want to comment. I just can't hold off any longer. I'm not sure that today's boys and girls have needs that are that different. It is clear that BSA and GSUSA have different agendas. I believe that the adult leaders of BSA and GSUSA have different needs. And I believe that the national, council and unit leaders of BSA and GSUSA perceive that boys and girls have different needs.

I would like to comment on Chippewa's story also. I had a boss once who was a BSA leader. He took his son on camping trips, including a 50 miler at age 8. Kid had a great time, was no problem etc. However, when he turned 11, he had no interest at all in joining the Troop. Said that he had done everything. Father was heartbroken. It's important to remember that for kids, camping is the excitment and is much of Scouting. However, we adults know that camping is the lure that gets the kid to stay around for the citizenship and character training. More than once, I have he

I believe that I agree completely with Bob White. However, you should know that in some parts of the country, you may need to push and possibly appeal to have that interpretation accepted. In other words, absent a reference from the Scout's personal religious leader, the board will not happen. I have heard of parents and possibly Scout leaders providing the religious reference. I also know of cases where the Scout chooses not to provide a religious reference and simply states "not provided" on the form. In these cases, of course, the Scout can expect the Board to pay particul

Concerning the comments and terminology of OGE. Please be nice to those of us who speak Olde English.

Concerning the "Troop Account" paying for the trip. A sad lesson that I learned awhile ago dealing with Wood Badge scholarships. Even if there is a full scholarship, we ask the person to pay a significant part of the cost up front. Then, when they complete the course, they get the money back. If they don't show or drop out, no reimbursement. I would always suggest such an arrangement to ensure that there is some real commitment to participation.

To respond to the original question, there might be another possibility. G2SS says that two deep adult leadership is required for an outing and at least one must be 21 or over. Presumably that means the other could be 18-20. However, for OA purposes, a person is not an "adult" until they are 21. So for OA purposes, a person 18-20 is considered a youth. So on an OA event, one could have one adult (age 21 or older) and one "youth" age 18-20 to provide leadership and still meet the letter of the G2SS. As far as the matter of patrol outings, etc. I one time did verify

The National Council recently issued a free CD to go to every Scoutmaster. If you haven't gotten yours, check with your local council. It is packaged in a backpack like envelope and is new for fall 2003. The idea is that the Troop makes copies of the CD and gives them to every Scout. The Scout can then use the CD to make videos and other things to encourage their friends to join the Troop. Using the CD, they can then send these videos to their friends. No cost, other than the cost of the CDs. Sometimes the stores in our area have a deal where you buy 50 blank CDs for $10,

I guess if your Troop insists on 1 day camps, I might be OK with a couple of family camp days for a Life Scout. I'd have real trouble with a Tenderfoot Scout qualifying for Camping merit badge based on a 6 day summer camp and 14 days of family camping. I noted the sleep under stars or under canvas requirement. In our part of the country, and I suspect in yours, the weather makes that impractical if not unpleasant for several of the Scouting months of the year. (Of course, one could hairsplit and say that we always sleep under the stars. Just sometimes, there is a roof between

Troop Historian, eh? Can be an interesting job if you want it to be. Here are some possibilities (depending upon how good and how interested the Troop Scribe is.) 1)Webmaster for the Troop or else for the history section of the Troop website (listing and biographies of past Eagle Scouts and SMs, past great campouts, etc.) 2) History section of the Troop Newspaper (You do have a Troop Newspaper, don't you? If not, maybe editor of the Troop Newspaper.) 3) Organize (or coordinate or support) a Troop reunion. 4) Organize (or coordinate or support) an exhibit on Troop

A couple of thoughts, inspired largely by the posts of FScouter and TrailPounder. It is very easy to get confused about Venture Patrols and Venturing Crews. Sound the same but are completely different. Venture Patrols - Are part of a Boy Scout Troop. They consist of the older boys, wear Boy Scout Uniforms, earn Boy Scout advancement, etc. Venturing Crews - Are not part of a Boy Scout Troop. They have separate registration. Can be members from age 14 through 21 as youth. Can be coed. Have a completely different advancement program leading to the Silver Award. Their o

Hello AdvanceOn, A couple more thoughts. You might involve your District Advancement Chairman in this also. It certainly is possible to have Boards of Review as a Roundtable topic with a model Board of Review. You then just need to be sure that the people from this Troop go to that Roundtable. Also, concerning the Commissioner on the Board, you can show them in "black and white" that the Board of Review for ranks other than Eagle Scout is comprised of Troop Committee members. That is in the Advancement Rules and Regulations book (probably not the exact title). So, as a C

Hello Padre, As a person who has directed a 21st Century WB Course, I'm rather troubled by your post. Not suggesting that it is inaccurate bur that things are happening that shouldn't be. I have seen people take Scouting too seriously and certainly have seen people take WB too seriously. My wife accuses me of that. She's probably correct. When 21st Century WB came out, there was confusion over the ticket relative to previous tickets. I think that much of that has been resolved now but not all. The ticket should lay out items which will enable the person to do a be

Given a choice where religious considerations don't enter, I would select Monday. 1) There are several 3 day weekends you can run onto . These mean that your participants and staff only need take one vacation day 2) Particularly the second weekend, Day 4 is the day where there are youth staff. If you run Sat Sun Mon, then they work on Saturday. If you run Friday, Sat Sun, then they work Friday and need to get a day off from school. Of course, there isn't really any reason not to run Fri, Sat Sun one weekend and Sat Sun, Mon the other but that likely would be confusing