NJCubScouter

The "taught by" kind of rankles me as well. For one thing, it kind of ignores the value of the MB pamphlet, and I agree with DuctTape, I don't think it accurately captures the role of the MB counselor. I have the seen the Aviation MB done in one day, and done very well, as I accompanied my son and 4 or 5 other Scouts who attended a program at a regional airport. But it took a LOT of work and planning by the organizer in getting a variety of speakers in the aviation field, and the kids were required to do some work on worksheets in advance... and it was a long, LONG Saturday at the airport. The kids definitely earned that one. (Unfortunately they did not get to go for a flight, which was an add-on to the MB program, due to heavy fog all day.) I particularly dislike the "class" and "teaching" approach, whether at summer camp or at one of these "days", for the Citizenship MB's. They are already too much like school, but I think there is some valuable information and experience that the Scout can gain from them if done through the "traditional" counseling approach. My son did have one MB that was "taught by a lawyer", and that was in a class setting over a few evenings at summer camp: Law MB. I was somewhat surprised that he chose to spend several evenings at camp doing that, but I think he learned something. And I can't deny feeling a little bit of pride, mixed with my surprise, when I picked him up on Saturday and found out about that badge.

CubmasterMichael, welcome to the forum and welcome (back?) to Scouting It is going to be a challenge to be a Cubmaster right off the bat, but I am sure you are up to it. The training is a great first step.

I think this is the first time I have ever heard of anyone outside of a school system itself using the federal free lunch eligibility as the basis for a "needs" scholarship or discount. Our school district uses it as the criterion for waiving fees for various other fees (sports and activity fees, maybe some testing fees, etc.) But that's within the school system. I suspect the council does it out of convenience. They don't have to develop their own criteria for financial need, collect financial information and evaluate it. They just have to look at the letter of eligibility from the school system and give the discount. I can understand that, but it does have drawbacks as you point out.

I don't think he'd be at all interested in being involved in the bureacracy at National, or in raising money for the salaries of said bureaucrats. I think he might be interested in a mostly-honorary position such as the one Bear Grylls has in the UK. (Or at least I think its mostly honorary.) But I doubt the BSA has much interest in creating such a position at this point. One might suspect that the actual Key 3 would not be enthusiastic about overshadowing themselves.

I think the Framers of the Constitution mostly agreed with you, which is why they put in checks and balances, three national-level elected offices (President, Senate and House) all with different-length terms, super-majorities required to amend the Constitution, etc. Of course, the question of whether the majority in a given election has been right, virtuous or has produced the best governance is often a matter of one's perspective - whose ox being gored, so to speak.

Well... I liked Dirty Jobs and probably watched every episode, some more than once. But I think the high-sounding language you are using was, if anything, "implied" much more than it was actually on the screen. Mike Rowe is an entertainer and he played the "dirty jobs" for laughs. It was mostly a comedy show and many times he was clearly making fun of the people whose job involves the hind end of a cow or crawling through "liquid waste" or whatever it was that was on the agenda that week. (And don't me wrong, I credit him for doing all those things himself, if only for a few minutes each, at the same time he was making fun of it.) I think some of the interviews that he has given about his own philosophy about the importance of hard work and the ordinary man, etc., which we can all agree with, have resulted in the elevation of the tv seriesn in some peoples' minds to something more than (as I said) was actually on the screen. And I actually think his voice work on "The Deadliest Catch" probably gets the same point across even better, although I don't know whether he actually writes any of his narration, or just reads it. But he reads it very well.

They sure can fall for anything. And there is another sentence that comes after that, that is just about screaming to leap out of my keyboard, but in the interest of not turning this discussion into a knock-down drag-out I will keep that comment in my keyboard.

I think what the Wikipedia entry suggests is that it is not generally regarded as an actual "phobia". But I suspect you probably wouldn't make too many "points" with the parents by mentioning that, if that is what they believe their son or daughter "has." I have never heard of this before. We have had enough issues in our troop dealing with situations for which kids have an actual professional diagnosis and treatment attached to them, without people making up new things to put roadblocks in their own way. (If trypophobia does happen to make it into the medical literature at some point, I take back that last part in advance.)

Congratulations!

When I meet with Scouts to have the discussion required by First Class requirement 5 (not sure if that's still the number in the new book), I give them a gold star (figuratively) if they say that voting is both a right and an obligation (not a legal obligation, but an obligation of good citizenship.) If they don't mention voting at all, that's what I suggest to them. And as if to set a good example, I have already voted. New Jersey does not officially have "early voting", but they do have mail-in voting (formerly absentee voting but you no longer have to be absent.) If you are willing to jump through a few hoops, you can turn mail-in voting into early voting, without mailing anything. In case anyone was wondering, I voted "Yes" on the referendum to amend our state constitution to permit gambling casinos in northern New Jersey.

By the way, the page I linked-to above does not say anything about the den flag being part of a flag ceremony at the beginning of a pack meeting. It says the flag should be brought to the pack meeting and should (my words) sit with the den. I personally don't see anything wrong with it being part of the flag ceremony, but if someone is objecting to maybe a compromise is in order. In our troop, the American flag and troop flag are brought to the "front" as part of the opening ceremonies, but the patrol flags just sit there, in their stands, next to each patrol. (After re-reading the other posts, and thinking about it some more, since it is a pack meeting, it probably should be the pack flag and not a den flag that is involved in the movement of flags during the opening ceremony.)

If you go to this page, https://cubscouts.org/library/den-flags/ you will find this: "The flag should be brought to each pack meeting and mark the place where the den sits." That is an official BSA site, so I think there's your answer right there. I see no reason why there would be a difference between patrol flags and den flags anyway. Clearly patrol flags can be brought to a troop meeting and you shouldn't need an official BSA web site to prove that den flags are treated the same. But now you have one. Obviously the rules of precedence for the U.S. flag must be observed when other flags are around.

Well, they are more independent in one direction than the other. They are "independent" in the sense of being "on their own" financially, which is what scoutldr was talking about. (In other words, National does not give councils any money.) The councils are not so independent when National wants to exert control, which they can do by threatening to suspend/revoke a council's charter and possibly other ways that I am not aware of. It is not that dissimilar to any franchising situation. The McDonald's down the street is probably owned by a corporation or other entity that is independent from the national McDonald's, but if they stop paying their franchising fee or otherwise violate their franchise agreement, they will lose the right to use the name or logo of McDonald's. That does not end their independence as a corporation, but now it is a corporation that owns an empty restraurant.

Our local United Way stopped funding our council shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court decision on membership policy, so probably 2001-2002. Right around that same time the council merged with another council, but I believe that was in the works (and maybe even completed) before the UW decision, so I do not think there was a direct cause-and-effect. Since that time there have been several district mergers, and I suspect the loss of UW funding and other corporate-type funding did play a role in that. A few years ago a neighboring council shut its doors, and although I am not familiar with that ex-council's finances, and I don't know whether the UW in that area cut off funding (if I had to guess it would be yes, but I don't know), it is logical to suspect that a loss of corporate-type funding in general, as well as declining membership, had a lot to do with it. I do not know whether our local UW ever restored funding after the policy was changed.

Well, if that is truly the case, then the problem is not that the Scouts are not coming up with their own ideas (which they are not required to do), the problem is that the troops and district are approving projects that probably do not meet the requirement because they do not allow the Scout to demonstrate the ability to "plan" and "develop" a project. The project is already planned and developed. But that's not the fault of an outside group that is trying to be helpful and get a (whatever) in return, nor is it really the fault of Joe Scout who saw his friend do a shovel-ready project and thinks that's the way to go. The problem is that the "approvers" of Eagle projects need to draw a line, and it's a tough thing to do when you have had a string of past projects that do not meet the requirement but got approved anyway.

This doesn't happen all that often, but I am going to agree with DavidCO. At least if CubScouts went coed, all of the expectations regarding program, leadership, etc. etc. would stay the same. It's just that there would be more kids, some of them girls, and there would have to be more leaders. But this isn't that. This is adding an extra function to Cub Scouting, namely keeping the rest of the family entertained. And when the Cub Scouts turn into Boy Scouts, why should the parents expect anything different? I wonder if the council has thought about the implications of THAT. (Or the many packs around the country that are already doing this, for that matter.)

The potential implications of this are making my head spin. (I'm a lawyer, I can't help it.) Please tell me that you at least make sure these assistant den leaders (and all other leaders) are registered as leaders with the BSA and have taken Youth Protection Training.

I don't think my troop has elected anyone to OA since a couple of years before my son joined the troop, and he's about to have his 25th birthday, so it's been awhile. There have been a few kids over the years who have talked about getting it going again, and a couple of presentations to the boys about it (probably separated by 10 years), but in the end the interest just wasn't there. But that is just my troop. It is my understanding that the lodge is going strong, it's just going without us.

You could look at it that way. Or you could choose to look at it as, Scout planned and developed a project (even though someone else came up with the idea) and gave leadership to others in carrying it out, AND he had to surmount the challenge (a BIG challenge for some kids, and a definite character-building experience) of explaining in writing what he was going to do and why, and how, and then explain what he did, in order to complete the workbook... AND he got his Eagle, and the outside group got their whatever. Does that make you a little less grumpy?

So they are encouraging dens to include siblings from the "much younger" (how young is that, by the way? 2? 3?) to the older, presumably teenagers and young adults, just to get the 5- to 10-year-old girls into the program? I don't know about that. There are far easier ways to let girls be Cub Scouts. And besides, when and if Cub Scouts does go coed, there will be a registration fee involved, you can bet on that. Maybe this is one of those rare times when something is exactly what it claims to be. The council (and all councils) are probably hearing that one of the reasons a number of boys leave the Cub Scout program is that it requires the parents to make other arrangements for their other children. As others have said, a lot of parents are bringing their other kids anyway, and they are participating in the dens to one degree or another. So the BSA, or this council at least, is saying, we give up, you can bring your other kids, but here is some advice to the pack/den leaders to try to avoid diluting the Cub Scout program for the actual Cub Scouts and to try to maintain some sort of control amidst the chaos.

It would be great if every Eagle program came from the Scout's own original idea, but from what I have seen, most don't, and it's not part of the requirement.

Beavah, I see nothing in the original post to suggest that this Scout has not earned the MB's in question. You seem to be assuming he hasn't, but you know what happens when you assume. As for "So while Merit Badge days and group instruction aren't forbidden in da BSA, they're not exactly encouraged either." Not exactly encouraged by who? In our area it is usually the district (which is really the council) that runs the MB Day. Even if it is being offered by a business or some other organization, there is usually a flier from the district notifying units of the event. As for "group instruction", it takes place every day of the summer at many council camps. So if BSA councils are holding these events, the BSA is encouraging it. Whether it should or not is a different story. The BSA tells the kids what they need to do to earn a merit badge. If they do it (and that's the key word there, IF), we shouldn't be talking about "racking up bling." It's not bling, it's a badge they earned and it's part of the program. Aren't you the least bit concerned that this Scout is being told that Eagle-required MB's earned before the rank of Star "won't count"? I am hoping this is a misunderstanding by the Scout and/or a miscommunication with the father, because otherwise it suggests that there is a real problem with this troop's administration of the advancement program.

Have you sat down with the crew president, explained what your job is as advisor, and what kind of communication you need from her to do your job? (And you could sneak in there a comment about how she probably does not realize it, but some of her communications to you come off as curt and even rude.) If that doesn't do the job, you might explain to her that you are there as a volunteer to support the activities she is leading, and that without adult leaders there is no crew.

I am somewhat surprised to see no mention of any need for the "sibling participants" to register and pay a fee. The whole way the document itself (the PDF) is written sort of surprises me as well. Let's just pick out this sentence: "An older sibling could work as an assistant or the den could consider a Den Chief." What is an "assistant"? An assistant den leader? An older sibling who is 18 or over could always be an assistant den leader. When I was a den leader there was some consideration given to my daughter (who was over 18) becoming an assistant den leader. (After helping to keep the kids in some sort of order at a parade, she seemed to cool on the idea.) As for a "Den Chief", are they suggesting an older sibling as a Den Chief? An older sibling who is not connected to any other BSA unit? (And who therefore does not wear a uniform?) An older sister? Or are they just suggesting that a Boy Scout who has a younger brother in the den can be a Den Chief? (Which has been a common practice, probably as long as Cub Scouts has existed.)

Sounds good UncleP. Hopefully someday your nephew will appreciate the fact that you have stepped into the void.