ParkMan

I'm sure an 11-17 year old troop can work. So too can a 11-14 and a 15-17 troop. It's not a question of what can work. This is a topic about the sustainability of the BSA's program. For years we've seen declining membership numbers. We hear numerous stories about boys becoming less active once high school starts. We've got another topic now on re-engaging older scouts. This forum has seen countless topics on how troops are mis-applying the program. You get the sense that the true "boy led" troop is a pretty rare thing We see story after story about how Vent

I'd agree with much of what you write here. But, what if we're asking the wrong question. What if it's not how to make it work - but whether we should be making it work. Yes - 11 year olds & 16 year olds will play laser tag together. But, is that really what your average 16 year old wants? You can challenge a 15 year old to develop the program to get an 11 year old to first class - but again, is that what your typical 15 year old wants? Is it that the American program is failing because it is trying to make the Scouting into a leadership lab? What if the BSA did draw a l

Agreed. One of the biggest differences I've noticed between troops and crews in our area is the lack of a vision and shared desire to succeed for Crews. Scoutmasters, Committee Members, other adults - they understand what a troop is and what needs to happen to sustain it. Funds, membership, program, etc. Crews seem to float by, lack direction, vision, etc. I'd worry that when you combine three crews into one, all you're doing is delaying things by a few years. If you really want to have a Crew, I think the CO (and by extension other adults) need to rally around the Crew. Just

What's we've done to help with this is we've got a focused BOR organizer. That person explains the concept to new parents and organizes a BOR such the either he/she sits on it, or another experienced person does. That helps us make sure that it's never just new parents in the room with the scout. One person who knows the ropes is always there. It has also helped us dispel the notion that a BOR is about testing. Sure, we have the Scout talk about accomplishments. We also have him go over the oath, law, etc. That latter is done so that we can have a conversation about how a scout

Kids are going to generally gravitate towards spending time with those people who they feel at ease and comfortable with. 17 year olds live in a very different world than 11 year olds. High schoolers live in a different world than middle schoolers. Sure, they can and do spend time together - but it's different than "hanging out" with friends. I think this is the easy to say/hard to do part of Scouting. Once a 15 year old has been camping 30 times, then what? Once a 15 year old has been through the core camping skills 3 times, then what? It seems that in my troop, older Scout acti

I think the key thing is having a differentiated program at each age range. In theory, a group of kids could start together as Lions and progress together. It's not so much that 6 years of Cub Scouting is bad, it's that 6 years of the same Cub Scouting with minor differences each year has a high potential to get boring. Separating them by ages lets each group take on a different feel and helps inject some newness, but it's not a guarantee. A good pack could make it feel new as well through a thought out progression, den leader change, etc. At the Boy Scout level, it's a tad differ

Maybe this is the point where packs differentiate more sharply between Cubs and Webelos.

We do this in a BOR. At the end of the board, we tell the scout that we are done asking him questions and would like his feedback on how Scouting is going. We explain that it is quality control. In the boards I sat it on, we seemed to get pretty good feedback. While the Scoutmaster can gather similar info - it's good for the MCs to hear. It provides for some objective adults hearing it too - brings more people into the discussion.

I like this. Older scouts don't want to hear - "tonight we're going to have a lesson on ..." Build the challenge into what you do.

On the GSUSA side - all adults have to be registered. The BSA is actually pretty lax on this one.

We tried to help everyone earn their rank award every year - regardless of when they joined. I always found that earning their rank was pretty important to most Cub Scouts. Sure they had fun participating, but they had more fun participating and earning the badge. If someone asked me to work to get these girls to their rank in a few months it would have been a no brainer. I'd have wanted that for my son.

I'd make sure you know the BSA YPT rules here. But as you're den leader for a den of just your daughter, maybe those rules are a bit different. Me - I'd focus on figuring out how to build a den around your daughter. I'm worried your den of one will turn into a troop of one in a year. If you need to jump packs, rally more help on recruiting, or something else - I think you need to be asking those questions. My goal would be a patrol of 10 girls your daughters age in a year.

It's not a topic for a troop meeting, but us male Scouters probably ought to get used to hearing about it. It's just a normal part of life. I do imagine the girls would be more comfortable talking with a female, but we should be careful to not make them feel awkward about it. Interesting take on the skorts though - never thought about that. I'm 100% behind uniform updates that are thought out and practical. With that in mind skorts with pockets now make sense to me. I'm curious to see what the 11-18 year old uniform updates will bring.

I'm all for tailoring the uniforms so they for better - but things like skorts, no pockets, and capri pants just seem odd.

Thank you. I think someone ought to capture more stories that for SM training. Our troop is a fair bit off from that. But - that's a topic for another day. What you describe here is a very good example of how Scouting develops the character and leadership qualities of youth. My son could have benefited from that. Goodness - I could have benefited as a Scout. Though he would have grown from that, I doubt that leading other scouts would have kept his interest. My son never showed any interest in leading within the troop. He liked the camping & camaraderie. The rest all see

I've got two daughters - a Brownie and a Cadette. Each started as Daisy. My son was in the BSA from Tigers until age 14. I really liked the GSUSA camps. I've been very impressed with them. It always seem to me that the BSA camps are generally bigger. I liked the GSUSA camps because they felt smaller. Camp conditions in my neck of the woods are comparable. It depends more on the age of the camp than on whether it's a BSA or a GSUSA camp. I had the same reaction to the tents. Much better at the GSUSA camps. Bigger, newer, had screens. My understanding is that in the

Thank you for all you have done for the Scouts and for Scouting. For the little it's worth - I don't think National was trying to disrespect us. I think they just handled it poorly.

I see your point. The difficulty I see though is the challenge in Scouting is elusive. If I think through some areas: - camping & the outdoors - What we tend to do in Boy Scouts & Venturing peaks at around 1st class. After that the challenge turns into refining one's skills. - high adventure - There are the occasional high adventure trips, but they are not that frequent - advancement/scouting skills - Again, you learn most things by first class. Yes - I think there is ongoing challenge on the leadership side - but I'm wondering - is that really enough to keep kids in

Thanks - that makes sense. I didn't think about the rank advancement. I'm sure it's important to them!

From the BSA aquatics staff guide: To qualify as a merit badge counselor, a volunteer must: • Register annually with the Boy Scouts of America. • Be at least 18 years old. • Be of good character. • Be proficient in the merit badge subject by vocation, avocation, or special training. • Be able to work with Scout-age youth. I think that's about it.

I expect the answer is probably: - be a registered MBC - be able to teach the material Have you found a document that states you need more?

Out of curiosity - why are you shutting down registration? I thought as an early adopter pack you could keep registering girls & boys passed the March 15 date. If the council is pushing this, it seems like an odd restriction.

Huh? Adding girls is not going to force the program into a pale shadow of its former self.

I see the same thing, but draw a different conclusion. My daughter is a ballet dancer. Every year gets more and more challenging. She loves it and thrives off it. She dances four afternoons a week now. Scouting morphs over the years, but I don't see the challenge grow. I suppose if you really like running meetings it does. But, for most boy scouts - it doesn't change a whole lot over time.

Not sure I follow what you mean.