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Proud Eagle

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Everything posted by Proud Eagle

  1. How do you do these teaching requirements in a troop that is homogeneous with regards to age/rank/skill level? I know of a local troop that has about half a dozen Scouts currently, all crossed over at once, and that is the sum total membership of the troop. I know back when I was a Scout there was difficulty with one of the requirements that involved teaching another Scout, because everyone in the troop knew the skill involved.(This message has been edited by Proud Eagle)
  2. So what happens when a government is overthrown based on bad intel? After all, we overthrew a government based on bad intel, so we know our intel is not always correct. What happens when WikiLeaks leaks something that turns out not to be fact, and people act on that incorrect information, assuming it to be truth? It may not have happened yet, but given enough time it is bound to happen sooner or later. Also, in poli sci circles we speak of both procedural and substantive liberty and democracy. Countries can in fact have democracti processes for making laws, and yet the substance of th
  3. I think including teaching requirements in Star, Life, and Eagle is a good idea. Scouts at that level should be masters of Scouting skills and knowledge to the point of being able to pass on that knowledge. However, I do have a few issues. First, is the EDGE method really the best method for teaching all things to all people? Who actuallly checks to make sure that EDGE is held to so long as the thing is taught? Further, while it is great that we are asking our senior Scouts to teach the younger ones, is "teaching" the requirments for a Merit Badge reasonable for a youth? Youth ar
  4. Taking something off the table, that sort of expression, at least as it is used in these parts, has a rather permanent and final ring to it. Once something is off the table, it does not go back on it later, it is an option that is gone, full stop. So in our way of speaking in these parts, if you took Eagle off the table, then put it back on the table, that would be looked at rather strangely around here. (I suspect in Beavah's story the mention of taking Eagle off the table has slightly different meaning compared to how that would be understood in this area, probably a meaning that
  5. I suspect 16 hours was chosen because that can be covered in a single weekend if need be, any longer and you are looking at multiple sessions (scheduling problems) or more days (time off work problems). Plus purely book or lecture type training isn't much help to those who have no hands on experience, at least in my opinion. Walking through some hands on scenarios can give them a hint of the real world. Its the same reason for CPR you have to do all that stuff with the training dummies, not just watch a video and take a test. I can't vouch for the quality of either the BSA standard
  6. There will never be enough First Aid training. No matter how much you have you are one extra variable or symptom from being out of your depth, and I hate to say it, but the situations where people most often die are the ones where a whole lot of the variables went the wrong way. First Aid exists only for those marginal cases where just a little extra help keeps the person alive long enough for someone else to have a chance to carry them through to the next stage. CPR has conversion rates that make it seem nearly hopeless, but again there are a few cases on the margins where it can make the
  7. As a youth I passed up going on three trips, two with the troop and one with another troop because I wasn't sure if I was up to it. I think I probably made the right call about one of those, and the wrong one about the other two, but it was my choice to make. When I first joined my troop a long trip to Wyoming was planned for that summmer in addition to summer camp. I went to camp, but I wasn't sure I was ready to take a trip half way across the continent with a bunch of people I had just met. I wish I had, but I have always been the rather reluctant sort that has plenty of doubts all
  8. As a youth I passed up going on three trips, two with the troop and one with another troop because I wasn't sure if I was up to it. I think I probably made the right call about one of those, and the wrong one about the other two, but it was my choice to make. When I first joined my troop a long trip to Wyoming was planned for that summmer in addition to summer camp. I went to camp, but I wasn't sure I was ready to take a trip half way across the continent with a bunch of people I had just met. I wish I had, but I have always been the rather reluctant sort that has plenty of doubts all
  9. The line between drinking and drunk isn't very well defined, but it is there and everyone who has experience with this knows it. At some point if you keep drinking you arrive at drunk. Even the adult DUI laws seem to acknowledge such a distinction due to legal limits being involved rather than simply any trace being enough. At my age college life is still a relatively recent memory, and college students certainly know the difference between drinking in moderation and drinking to get drunk. Many choose, from the start, to drink without moderation with the objective of getting drunk. Thus t
  10. p.s. About the child spanking/discipline brought up earlier in the thread: If you are going to discipline your child in such a way, please have the courtesy toward others to do so with some discretion, do it in private unless it is an emergency. If you make a scene in public with spanking your child, it really does become something of a public matter. Do it at home, or in the care, or in the public restroom. If you plop your kid down on the check-out counter and belt him then and there, don't be suprised if someone takes notice. On the other hand, I am all in favor of parents doing
  11. As a Scout, there were two brothers, one about a year older, the other about a year younger than I am. For most of the time we were in the troop together their father was out of the picture, he was in prison. He was driving under the influence and was in a serious accident, and at least one of the people in the other vehicle died. He was himself a second generation Eagle and vice principal of a school. Everyone that knew him always said he was a great, stand up sort of fellow. He had no other criminal history, and was considered a model citizen, leader of the community, and model family m
  12. The objective outcome from Scouting, as regards outings, would create a group of Scouts with the Scoutcraft/Outdoor skills to do their own camping/hiking/etc and create Patrol Leaders with the leadership skills to plan and lead such things. This is not the objective for new Scouts or new Scout patrols. Once Scouts are First Class they should have the basic skills, once a Scout has been a PL for a while and gotten trained he should have the leadership ability, and once these Scouts have worked together and matured a bit it should be possible. Obviously they should run their ideas past the PL
  13. I think there is a place called Ute Medow at Philmont. I don't even think the $1 transfer should be charged, because he is not transferring from one unit to another, he is staying in the exact same unit, but I suspect the tranfer fee will be asked for. In truth I suspect those who will turn 18 during the charter year should only be charged the registration fee for a partial year in the first place, because until they pass the background check and do YPT training they can't be an adult member. However, I doubt this will fly with BSA. The pro-rated fees are on the registration
  14. Could the doctor strike out the part about meeting height and weight and then go ahead and sign it? I know of several adult scouters who have run up against the height/weight rules and made very serious changes in their life to be able to meet those requirements. One of them had surgery so he could lose the weight needed to staff 2010 Jambo (and he needed to lose it any way), another I know went on a strict diet and exercise program to go from over 300lbs to under 200lbs to do cavalcade at Philmont. I know I could stand to lose a few pounds myself even though I am not what most people w
  15. I sit on Eagle BOR for my district from time to time. About half of these statements are reasonably good and tell us something. The other half are meaningless fluff and gobbly-gook that someone thought sounded good. I hate the meaningless fluff ones. Many Scouts don't know what their ambitions and life purpose are, at least not in any concrete sense. That is OK, tell us what you do know, tell us what you do want, give us what you can and be willing to admit what your limits are at this phase in life. On the other hand, adults mentoring Eagle candidates should really try t
  16. The low dollar pay being reported for some camps offends me. Our own council pays what we feel is a terribly low wage, but it is the best we can do. We did make a major effort to increase the pay for all members of our staff several years ago during a leadership change. Basically we tought it was unethical to pay the rate that had been going, and further we figured if someone wasn't going to give us at least our new minimum plus room and board worth of value we shouldn't have them on staff in the first place. At the time we selected $100 per week plus room and board and free program
  17. drmbear, You seem to get just what I was meaning. You know and understand the patrol method and the different types of adult involvement. Too many start out as Tiger leaders and never learn what the Patrol Method is until they and their sons have been in a Boy Scout troop for a while. This is one of the reasons I think the patrol method is necessary knowledge for every type of Scout leader. You can't very well gradually transition your Cubs and Webelos into something you don't know about. In any case, I think you have the right attitude. If you want to play over grown pat
  18. The directory is not the same as the list of all Eagles. The directory only includes those they had some sort of current records on, and a lot of people were missed in the search. Even some who responded were not included. Many never got the mailings or phone calls asking for their info. Awards can be revoked, it is possible. It is also virtually unheard of, but the corporation does have the ability to revoke an award, and can in fact prohibit someone from wearing or displaying it. There is no common procedure for this, thus you can assume it is not intended to happen. Two
  19. This level 6 Tiger Cub program sounds like a bad place to be. I would say make decision to do one of three things: 1. Move on to another unit. 2. Suck it up and live it as is, making the best of it. 3. Try to change it, but if change doesn't work, move on elsewhere. Scouts in this situation should look at all available options, find out about other troops, consider where their friends are, what the programs are like, then make a choice and do it. Hawkrod, I know the situation. My current troop folded and then was restarted with new members and leade
  20. Not exactly on the original topic, but something that needs to be thought about: Two troops can not survive, let alone thrive, on the cross overs from one Pack. You are going to need to make a larger recruiting pool/stream somehow. That may mean getting very active with school, church, and community based recruiting of those not involved in Scouting. Yes, it is possible to recruit directly into Boy Scouts. It may also mean that your town needs a second pack. This really can't be a back burner matter for long, though. You need to start working on a realistic recruiting plan
  21. If you have an active and involved female youth Venturer or Sea Scout, and who can make a real contribution to the camp, and you have the facilities and adult leadership to handle housing and supervision of female youth, then go ahaed, but keep in mind that neither Venturing nor Sea Scouting is the same as Boy Scouts and thus there will be a learning curve. We have had good results with a few female youth who were very active Venturers in a crew that was very high adventure and aquatics oriented. The two I am thinking of both went on to earn the Quartermaster and I think also the Silver
  22. If you wan and to improve things on the Boy Scout side of things, you need to take a long hard look at the patrol and all aspects of the program. The patrol needs to become the essential and fundamental unit of Scouting. Not the troop. The entire advancement system, the guide to safe scouting, everything needs to be looked at anew with the idea of the patrol. For example, if a patrol is the main unit for doing Scouting, particularly outings, perhaps we need to enable Scout leaders to better prepare their patrols to go and do Scouting as a patrol. We need safety ideas not based
  23. For several years running my troop as a youth had a mother's day weekend camp out, always back early on Sunday, but it was well liked by all. Got the teen age sons out of the house for a bit better than 24 hours and yet home in time for Sunday dinner. My primary calendar is the Scout council calendar. So, yep, that puts me on the addict side. Our OA section seems to always schedule its CoC meeting the same day as significant events in our council. This year the spring CoC is the same day/time as our University of Scouting, and our first in section NLS in many years is the
  24. The unit I am currently involved with has had both models of committee memberships. When my father was committee chair back in the day, it was developed into a properly functioning troop committee that was more or less by the book and conformed to the ideal rather more closely than is perhaps typical. Then after him it degenerated into a "parents committee" where none of the members had any real responsibilities and it was rather seriously dysfunctional because no one saw themself as a Scout leader, only just a parent. The troop spirraled into being a fine youth club with only a vague gloss
  25. hum... I don't have much to offer on this one, but the fact tha parents have started to step into this issue has me a bit concerned that it may be or may be at risk of getting out of hand. I hope others have some insights on this one.
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