NJCubScouter

Exactly.

I have learned to be careful of making assumptions, especially in certain situations, like when there is a "smiley face" included in a post. I usually include a smiley face when I mean "Just kidding." So, before I make a comment on this: Are you just kidding, Stosh? Or do you really advise your boys to give long answers to questions and tell them it is because it means they will have to answer fewer questions?

I am sure all the Scouters in this forum hope that the numbers will bear out this rosy picture. Right?

I noticed Yawning Guy too. He didn't look old enough to have kids, to me. In fact, I was kind of wondering who the audience was. Without going back and watching it again, my impression is that a lot of them seemed to college student age or so, including Yawning Guy. Maybe he was up late the night before, partying and/or studying. The audience is a distraction, though. What the speaker was saying was interesting.

Very interesting, thanks for posting that.

Welcome to the forum Richard!

In our council one of the sessions at the annual University of Scouting is basically the same as that. That is clearly what is being "discouraged" in the G2A. Now we're way past "discouraged". That is clearly improper. They are adding another mandatory step to the process.

Ok. I thought you were responding to me.

Isn't that what I said?

Momleader, good points. On #2, what you experience is probably what the parents also experience at home, and they don't deal with it properly, so the kids figure it will work on you too. On #6 I get the impression you don't just mean "other towns" but are being diplomatic.

In my part of New Jersey, you cannot drive down any highway (even the minor ones) without passing a Dunkin Donuts about every four minutes. I have seen Dunkin Donuts one block away from each other. (Which comes close to the Lewis Black comedy routine about the Starbucks across the street from another Starbucks.) One DD in my area is in the same shopping plaza as a Weight Watchers store, and seeing the two of them on the same sign is pretty funny. However, to my knowledge I have never seen a Krispy Kreme. (There are some convenience stores that will have a case with Krispy Kreme donuts, so who knows how far they have traveled and how long they have been sitting there.) The Internet tells me that there is exactly one Krispy Kreme in the State of New Jersey, and it is about as far away from me as you can get without being in Pennsylvania. The Internet also tells me that the company plans to open six stores in NJ "over the next several years", but they aren't here yet. So for now its Dunkin Donuts.

For the benefit of the original poster and anyone else who may not be aware, RichardB is director of health and safety at BSA National, so his answer is about as authoritative as you will get on this forum, on a health and safety issue. Thank you for the answer Richard. From my own perspective, I agree with some of the answers above, that you and you fellow parents are not being asked by the BSA to change who treats your children. You are simply being asked to have a specific kind of medical professional sign off on your childrens' health status. I do not think it is an unreasonable requirement.

Our troop is fortunate to have a very generous friend who provides funds to assist Scouts with extraordinary financial needs. The Scout and their family is still expected to contribute something. I would say that 4-5 Scouts have benefited from this over the past 15 years. One Scout went to the National Jamboree with assistance from these funds and a council campership fund, along with their own funds. This is apart from regular troop fundraising.

This seems pretty clear to me. I had never heard the term "allopathic practitioner" before (nor has this forum's built-in spellcheck, apparently) so I looked it up on my favorite source for all medical knowledge, Wikipedia. (Sarcasm alert, but most of the time it actually is correct, you just have to be careful.) Apparently "allopathy" is a term used by believers in "alternative medicine" to describe what most of us would just call "medicine", so an "allopathic practitioner" would be what most people would traditionally think of as a medical doctor. With the expansion of those who can "practice" medicine (to at least a degree) to DO's, nurse practitioners (for whom a degree called Doctor of Nursing Practice is in the process of becoming the standard, Wikipedia tells me) and physician's assistants, apparently the BSA is also allowing those who are licensed and/or certified as such to complete Part C of the medical form. I know some will disagree (including the original poster, apparently), but I think the requirement as to who may complete the form is in the best interest of the Scouts.

I have recently become aware that some troops in my district do have a "troop board of review" before the official EBOR. Ours does not. I think these are really "practice" EBOR's, so they could potentially benefit the Scout - but only if it is conducted in a way that makes the Scout more prepared for the EBOR and reduces (rather than increasing) the Scout's anxiety about the whole thing. I believe the GTA says that a Scout cannot be REQUIRED to participate in an unofficial or practice EBOR, but it does not prohibit them. (Moving this to Advancement section.)

That's correct. This forum is the only place I have ever heard of it. On the other hand I once went on a weekend camping trip at the camp where OA was founded. I find OA to be a little overbearing at times but not to the level you are describing.

Oh boy. In my view the question is, has YOUR SON concluded that he is not going to be given a Scoutmaster Conference for Eagle. And I guess another question would be, would an objective observer looking at all of the provable facts, conclude that your son is being DENIED an SMC for Eagle. Not simply "delayed", but delayed and delayed and delayed to the point where one would conclude that it is never going to happen. Personally, if there is no 18th birthday coming up, my rule of thumb would be that if your son asked for an SMC at least 3 months ago, and it hasn't happened, it is being denied. Others here might disagree on the time frame. But it isn't up to us, it is up to the objective observer. And who might that objective observer be? No offense, but it's not you. It's someone like your District Advancement Chair, because in my view, your son's situation is at (or getting close to) bringing it to that person. If your son is actually being denied an SMC, my next question would be this: Has your son passed EVERY requirement for Eagle except for the SMC and BOR? And I mean every single one, and he can prove it. His handbook has signatures for all the requirements. His Eagle project workbook has every signature that it needs, including the SM and CC of his troop. He either has the fully signed blue cards for 13 Eagle-required merit badges and 8 other merit badges, or he has some other proof (which will satisfy council) that he has earned all of those badges. He has written the "life goals" or whatever the requirements call them these days. In other words, literally, every single requirement has been completed and your son can prove it, except for SMC and BOR. If that is true, I think that joining another troop in order to finish the very last requirement for Eagle probably is not the right answer. The right answer is probably in the Guide to Advancement (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf), section 8.0.3.2, Eagle Board of Review under Disputed Circumstances. There is a procedure there, and it will probably require contacting the District Advancement Chair or perhaps an employee at council, or both. It seems to me that that procedure, which I have never seen used in real life, may be tailor-made for your son's situation. I would also suggest that if your son decides to pursue this course, that he should be his own spokesman. I may be wrong, but I think joining another troop at this moment may distract from the real issue at hand. If your son has actually earned Eagle but the SM is obstructing the completion of the SMC/BOR requirements, the focus should be on finishing Eagle. Once he has that, then he can decide what else he wants to do in Scouting. I can tell you that if I was a Scoutmaster of another troop and had a Scout show up with a transfer application and immediately ask for an SMC for Eagle, my first call would be to council/district to find out what to do.

Exactly what has happened in my troop. And I knew it would happen. And I said it would happen, but the answer was "Let's give it a try" and neither I nor anybody else wanted to hurt the feelings of the people who were pushing for a "constitution", who are wonderful, selfless people and have given so much of their time and energy to the troop over the years. But even wonderful people can have bad ideas, and nobody stops them because they are wonderful people, and that's how you end up in a mess.

Well, E probably stands for Eagle... that's as far as I get...

My troop committee adopted a "Constitution" about a year ago, over my diplomatically voiced objections, and we have had nothing but trouble with it since. I think that when the school year starts up again, there will be a move to either repeal it or remove substantial parts of it.

Welcome to the forum RMcKenzie!

Maybe because I live in the real world and not in some extremist-libertarian/anarchist fantasy land. I see peoples' interests, needs, wants and desires come into conflict every day. Perhaps my perspective is influenced by the profession I (er, "we") have chosen. Perhaps it is influenced by the fact that I live in the most densely populated state in the country, where people just naturally tend to bump into each other, both figuratively and literally. The numbers (mine and yours) are exaggerated. But conceptually, yes, I expect it to happen, it happens every day in other contexts. I have been in places where there were so many people making phone calls and texting on their smartphones in a confined space that the cell network (or whatever it was) basically gave up. (Full disclosure, this was at my son's graduation from Rutgers where I was in a stadium with 49,999 of my closest friends, so it was kind of an unusual situation. But it did happen.) Ain't likely? Some version of what I am talking about is virtually certain. As for the rest of it, I would move the word "sometimes" in the sentence. Sometimes citizens can work things out on their own. But sometimes they can't. The correct analogy would be if the next big fad were for people to start cutting down trees and launching them through the air and one hit a kid. Yes, there would be regulation of that. (Come to think of it, this tree-launching thing is not a new idea, I think the ancient Spartans, Persians, Romans and/or whoever did it, but it was for a different purpose.) Yes, there is never any reason to fear anything new, Dr. Oppenheimer.

Welcome to the forums JPohunek! Very interesting first post. I think it is great when we get an "international" perspective here, and I mean more than just the usual British guys. (I mean that in the nicest way possible.) I have never heard of this before, but I see there is an article in the English version of Wikipedia that describes the same thing you are apparently talking about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_tramping. That article seems to suggest that this phenomenon is specific to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. (I was going to write Czechoslovakia, since that is what it was when this movement started, but I did not want to start an argument with a new forum member. ) Interestingly enough, if you search on "tramping" in Wikipedia you get redirected to the article on "Hiking", which is about regular-old hiking without the "movement" aspect, but then you can select other pages including "Czech tramping" and "Tramping in New Zealand." However, the latter is about regular-old backpacking and hiking in New Zealand, again without any real "movement" aspect. There are certainly people in the U.S. who got involved in camping as Scouts and then continued to go hiking, backpacking, camping, etc. on their own apart from Scouting as young adults (and older), but there is nothing I would describe as a "movement" like you are describing. Certainly no "fashion" aspect or adoption of aspects of other cultures, like the Czech trampers appeared to have borrowed the U.S. "Wild West." (Ironically, in this discussion, the "Bohemian movement" did reach the United States, but that is something different.)

I'll be looking forward to reading your published decision on the matter, Judge.

We have some ex-professional Scouters on here who might be interested in giving you the pros (so to speak) and cons of that potential future career. I don't know whether we have any current professionals who are currently active on the forum. Are you currently in a volunteer capacity in Scouting?