Jump to content

BartHumphries

Members
  • Content Count

    535
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by BartHumphries

  1. I'm glad it worked out. I think a summer camp staff position (especially a completely unpaid position like the OP stated) is much more difficult and quite a bit more of a leadership test than a troop leadership position. A summer camp staff position is a real job -- you're working that many hours a day. Last summer I basically worked 12-14 hour days six days a week for seven weeks. A troop leadership position might only be a few hours a week. I'd love to see the PoR requirements rewritten to include working all summer at a summer camp as an option, with the caveat that a person still
  2. At my summer camp, the one I work at, we don't have a pre-camp leader's meeting. Leaders should read and be familiar with the emailed documents that list merit badge prerequisites and other important stuff (they're also available from the camp website). But there is a "first night" leader's meeting after swim checks are over and everyone's set up in their camp. The leaders of the troops and the department heads meet together to iron out the schedule irregularities that always come up. Usually, by far, most people have the same schedules that they signed up for on the website, but it's alwa
  3. From his religion which says that it's immoral and thus not "morally straight". It's not rocket science to answer those types of questions, acco40. Just let it go.
  4. I'm rather an introvert in private. People that remember me from high school may remember me walking from class to class with my nose in a book, not speaking to anyone. I have learned, however, to "put on my game face" when I'm in public, because that's what's expected when you're leading games. I'm not saying that it's all an act -- it's like not belching in public, I choose to act in a certain manner because that's what's expected. For instance, many people appear to be great confident public speakers, but when you ask them about it they'll tell you how worried they get when they spe
  5. As I understand it, the leaders of units, Cubmasters, Denmasters, Scoutmasters, etc., are not part of the committee. All of them work for the committee and the committee as a whole are appointed by the Charter Organization. Now, many CO's are hands-off and committee members are appointed by the committee chair or voted in or whatever, but ultimately the CO is responsible to put together the committee who appoints the Scoutmaster, etc. Some CO's sort of ignore the committee and dump everything on the Scoutmaster, but that's not how it's supposed to work. If you all get together as paren
  6. There were a whole bunch of posts essentially saying, "I can't understand why some people would not want homosexual leaders in the Boy Scouts. Why not?" I attempted to explain why. I didn't expect several posts in response comparing whether or not homosexuality is more or less bad than smoking. That wasn't the point, it's just an example, an allegory, a means of explaining why some say no -- it wasn't an exhaustive reason either, there may be other reasons. Don't get hung up on smoking, though, it's just an example.
  7. I hope it mentions something about this as well: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/06/01/131050832/a-mystery-why-can-t-we-walk-straight I mention that when I teach wilderness survival -- I'll usually blindfold someone, have them try to walk across a big flat area that we have. Usually they'll start turning within 20 feet. In search & rescue, I have been told that it's more of a problem finding the right trail that a person took (which was their most recent path) than finding their trail at all. By that I mean, people will walk in big loops and if a person's trail crosses itself m
  8. So, if I want to order nametags from a 3rd party supplier, I should go with 3 inch wide by 1 inch tall nametag? Just what size are they?
  9. We all agree that whether or not the activity is disdained, the individual person should not be denigrated, right? The problem lies with children having a reduced ability to "hate the sin but love the sinner". To have an authority figure openly engage in a disdainful activity engenders the perception that the activity must not be "that bad". This is why virtually every school district now bans teachers from smoking anywhere that kids could see, even if there's zero chance of second-hand smoke inhalation. Several times I've told Scouts or school kids or some other group of children that
  10. Whoever RichardB is, he most likely doesn't work in a vacuum. Even if his is the only name on the document, for something like the Guide to Safe Scouting, there's most likely some sort of committee or quorum. From National's point of view, the relevant matters have likely already been discussed and debated ad nauseum, so there's little to no point in sharing what happened with the rest of us. What probably happened is that kids used the wagons to race in, which was considered a stupid thing to do when I was a Cub Scout back in the late 80's/early 90's (at least by the adults then, and me no
  11. " then show me the remaining requirements which should include reading search reports of past lost scouts - what they did right/wrong, expense of search, injuries to all involved,..." When I teach wilderness survival, that's always been something that I've highlighted. Now that his movie has come out and he's more wildly know, I mention Aron Ralston. He's done amazing things, his resume is incredible. In most situations, he's a great example of what to do. That one trip of his, though, is a great example of what not to do. He went out without a buddy, left a note that said he was act
  12. I just wanted to point out that you don't have to be married to a person to give them control over your health/estate if you're sick/dying/dead. Just give them power of attorney. You can make it as general or as specific as you'd like.
  13. Same here. I'm always amazed at the non-rural people who can get letters within a day or two of the letter being mailed. Not to mention people who actually have their mail delivered to their house -- the USPS refuses to deliver mail on the windy twisty roads where I live, so each household gets a free PO box. My parents only check theirs every week or two.
  14. They're only away for a week. If parents aren't helicoptering or enabling ("If you get worried, just call, I'll be right by the phone and can come pick you up any time...") that's barely enough time for most kids to notice that their parents are gone. Let it wait, then sit down with some good food and hear all about everything that happened at Scout camp in more detail. If parents ask for a post card, they're going to get the post card version of events and the kids will complain about how they already told you everything when pressed for real details. If parents find themselves dreadfully
  15. When I teach knots, I tell the real world applications for most of them. Square knot, that's what I use to tie my boots, since when you torque it, it'll become a slip knot. Tautline hitch, I've used that to tie down a load when I don't have ratcheting straps. Bowline, there're better knots for every possible use, so learn it for tradition's sake, but then forget it and never use it again.
  16. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says, and bear in mind that this is the viewpoint of a single Charter Organization, that "Scouting and Duty to God strengthen faith in Jesus Christ, character, relationships, and skills. In addition, they provide opportunities for young men to develop abilities that are essential to the priesthood ministry to which they are called, such as leading and serving. ... Scoutings outdoor program is part of its message of self-reliance, but its more than that. Its a relationship-building program in which young men work with each other and with their adv
  17. "I never said BSA would accept anyone as a CO, I just said it would defend the membership policies of the organizations it does accept. I'm pretty sure that would be a requirement of any sort of Local Choice policy." So... one of those parent groups gets together, starts a troop and it turns out that the parents are all members of the Aryan Nation. The BSA will now be defending that membership policy? How extensive will the new background checks be that the BSA will be conducting and how deeply will the BSA be defending its CO's membership policies? That may be an extreme example, but
  18. The camp will work with you to figure out what has to be done to enable your troop to come. Call them and have a chat. They'll probably pair you with another troop.
  19. As to #8, Tenderfoot through First Class is essentially a repeat of Wolf through Webelos. If a person knew their Cub Scout stuff forward and backwards (granted, most don't), they'll blow right through T-1. Personally, I think a policy of repeated learning should be required. Most of the Tenderfoot through First Class items can be recited/performed within an hour by someone who's really ready to do that. Each rank after First Class should require an hour where the Scout runs through those requirements again. For instance, the Scout should have been tying square knots since Wolf, sheet
  20. Wow, cool. When you carried on your 5-minute conversation, how many words (roughly) were conveyed? Is there any words-per-minute requirement?
  21. I agree with Beavah. Wahl's work wasn't "effective" lobbying. It's quite literally political showboating. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (15.5%), the United Methodist Church (14%), and the Catholic Church (11%) together have 40% of the registered Scouting youths and they actively support the current policy. Enough other churches also support the current policy (such as many Lutheran, Baptist, and Episcopal Church - United States congregations, although not all of their congregations, since those churches have sort of split stances on the topic) that the number of regist
  22. The point of the requirement is that boys should be camping throughout the year, not just one week during the summer then nothing else. Also "long-term camp" has a specific meaning in Boy Scouts. It's a six-day five-night "resident" camping experience. If you go on a week-long backpacking 50-miler, moving camps every night, then it's not a long-term camp. Philmont treks aren't "long-term" or resident camping. "Under the sky" doesn't necessarily mean literally under the sky either -- a wilderness survival shelter counts too. Don't get hung up on the requirement, the intent is that if
  23. BDPT00, the Scout Leader's Training Knot: http://www.boyscouttrail.com/square-knots.asp#scouter Be an adult leader for two years and complete all your basic training. Then do five things from the big list, most of which you're already going to be doing as an adult leader, like actively participate in the Courts of Honor (set it up, decorate, work with the Scouts to get the flag ceremony right, etc.), participate/support your troops fundraiser, "participate in a support role" for five overnight campouts, etc. Adult knot requirements are guides to the sorts of things that you should b
  24. All of the adult knots have static requirements but represent those things that you "should be doing anyway". For instance, the basic Assistant Scoutmaster/Scoutmaster knot -- be around for two years, complete basic training, complete Youth Protection, do a few other things which might include attending roundtables, etc. After you earn the knot, if you have that position, you should continue to do those things. I think the same would be true for the James West Knot, especially since a person is always "in that position". If you're going to wear it, then you should continue doing the re
×
×
  • Create New...