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I will also point out: social media posts intended to trigger rise up on feeds. Meanwhile proper discourse like what people may ponder in this moderated forum is not clickable. Even if a decent comment from a seasoned scouter here were to get memeified, it would be framed so terribly that half of us would think their membership should be revoked. When I was advising my coed crew, my most strident opponents provided some excellent program activities for my youth. Words may hurt me, but sticks and stones make for a great cooking fire.

I’m afraid that your expected timeline for change is far too soon. Seven or eight years is far too soon for any of these young women to rescue the lost in an avalanche, explore some unknown frontier, lead her nation through war, secure a peace, or become mom of the year or any of the other feats where, as such an adult, she will look back and say her time on the trail to eagle was the first step toward the rarified height where she now stands. Then and only then will people not have time to complain about the rise of a single scouting program for Americans of both sexes. I have a niece who I believed was presidential material. She balked when I said it years ago. She is now on her school board. I envision in another decade or two half of you will be voting for her, and the other half will be making up partisan excuses not to. (I’m just writing this now to be able to link to it in the future.) But for that to happen, she will have prevail in a sea of nay-sayers. Same for my daughter when she’d play dress-up. I told her to never settle for princess, or even queen. It’s empress or bust. The metaphor still applies now that she is an engineer solving a major corporation’s largest problems. My son’s wives are in similar positions. I sincerely hope one day they have their own firm. But that kind of growth only occurs when those who oppose you manifest for who they are. These “bullies” are doing your scouts a favor. They have something to overcome. It will make them great.

Well, there’s two. Sounds like leadership in his academic trajectory is of immediate importance. Are the family farmers? Have their own business? There might be one or more things that he can do to represent them. Religious life? Is there something he’d like to do for his faith community? How about on the ride to or from school? Maybe he can get to know one thing about each classmate. The requirement shouldn’t be overthought. It’s to help someone realize that leadership opportunities are everywhere. Give the kid at least one simple idea that you think suits him, and ask him to come up with three more. For some kids, structured activities are a no-brainer. For others, it’s noticing little things where they can make a contribution. Be positive, and hopefully this kid will come back to you with some nice ideas.

@brennan52 welcome to the forums and best of luck with your project. While you’re at it, consider starting to work toward the Distinguished Conservation Service Award.

The school is off today, so technically no meeting. We are, however, meeting at a local park to decorate one of their Christmas trees. We won’t meet during Christmas break, but we are planning a backpacking trip after Christmas. At the last CoH, I asked the boys to give a round of applause for the adults who provided the depth of leadership required for the activities we can do during “gaps” between meetings.

What position? Like a bill to reduce DoD's budget by the amount they would no longer spend to help secure jamborees or feed scouts evacuated from a hurricane?

Happy thanksgiving everyone. Generally, a scout who is belligerent to other scouts or not willing to talk to the committee would require the board to be suspended, written instructions given about what needs to change in some reasonable time frame (e.g., within a month, during the next campout). The board could then reconvene and determine if the youth's behavior was scout-like or if the youth was more willing to discuss troop life with these adults. I dealt with a "failure to bowline" once when I was a crew advisor when a scout failed to complete a Life BoR in his troop. The committee had not given him in writing how to remedy the situation. But, they did say that he could come back next week and demonstrate this skill. This was distressing to the scout who felt blind-sided by the challenge. Because he was in my crew, I laid out three options. He could comply and demonstrate the skill. I could discuss with the committee about how they might have been out of bounds. He could continue the rest of his advancement with me and the crew committee. He chose the first option. It turned out that the chairman of that board approached me about the situation. He was an Eagle Scout and knew very well that he didn't go by the book. But, he was frustrated that a number of scouts weren't keeping their skills up. He was just trying to turn it around. It didn't sound like he wanted every BoR to be a test. I opted to just listen (for once) and not play G2A wonk on the guy. It seemed like his heart was in the right place, and I'd rather have an adult like that than someone who quotes chapter and verse inflexibly.

Is this the cost of shrinking membership?

I’m having a similar challenge with a family member who would rather raise funds to sponsor a scout to attend World Jamboree while I know that, for the hassle, lowering the cost to every youth (and maybe young adult) in entire contingent would be preferred. I gave our head of contingent a call, and he had just talked to a parent of a former WSJ scout who also wanted to sponsor a single scout of the contingent’s choosing. I guess you have to work with donors as they come to you. But targeted contributions call for a lot of oversight. On a troop level, I tell donors that we have a scoutmaster discretionary fund to allow the SM, the CC, and the treasurer to confidentially assist scouts who need it.

I like your attempt at not swallowing the doublespeak. I would encourage everyone to be more direct and use the term “mixed sex troop.” The last thing the youth who participated in the mixed sex troop pilot need is for their efforts to imply that parents and siblings and extended family will all be part of the troop. No! These girls and boys weren’t testing the hypothesis that every scout’s family members would facilitate successful implementation of the program. The issue at hand was a neighborhood of boys and girls (not biological brothers and sisters) working the program together with beneficial outcomes that outweigh proposed detriments.

The delusional thinking regarding increased membership stupefies me. We will be fortunate if we see a turnaround in a decade. Prove me wrong. (Seriously, please prove me wrong.) This summer, I did meet a couple that said they would not support our troop if it ever went coed. If five girls approach me to start a unit, I’ll help them. But, I have no inclination to hazard community support if SA continues the corporate doublespeak of “family” scouting. I’d rather say our CO fields a unit for boys, and one for girls, and they sometimes join in the same activities.

I haven’t seen enough adults with ovals on their pockets to be bothered. I find the rule to be a quirky one the sole purpose of which is to sell one more piece of insignia.

The kid probably passed out with his foot on the accelerator. The trailer may have very well saved his life. I know far too many young adults for whom it ended differently.

I'll push back on @fred8033 that it's not a celebration. At least our BoR's don't throw confetti, play music, and serve pizza! It's still a review. And I have had them tell a scout to come back in a couple of weeks because something was not up to snuff. But, @Armymutt, it's no formality. It's also a great way to hear about troop life from the the scouts most engaged with the program. The job interview analogy is apt. Also, some of us had to give a statement of faith to become a proper member of their church. By the time I had to do that, I had completed several BoR's and some of my church's elders were on the board. I think that helped me to better engage with that process. Then there was Aunt Mary who loved to stir the pot at any family gathering. You weren't allowed to sit quietly in a corner around her. Yes, my BoR's help me keep my nerve in a hot-tempered Mediterranean family! I think it helped my sons too. When I had friends over for dinner, they would be impressed that our boys would stay at the table and participate in conversation. Their kids didn't experience the adult association that mine did through scouting. There are things that I think the advancement method has formalized unnecessarily (EDGE, bean-counting service hours, etc ...), but personal growth conferences are not one of them. If you are just jumping through hoops in SMC's and BoR's, you're doing it wrong.

Of course you should be always flexible, but recruiting will go smoother if you have an SPL in place. That said, I hardly see the point of an SPL in a one patrol troop. It doesn’t sound likely but ask around if another troop might want to loan an SPL. That’s how the troop of my youth got on an even footing when it started.

Regarding orienteering in general: the only way to master it is to constantly have opportunities that necessitate using it. 1. Several months of orienteering races where scouts pair up and compete for accuracy and time. 2. Land navigation hikes where destinations have multiple choices. 3. Bridge building and other distance:height measurement challenges. 4. Map study: route planning for trips. 5. Dead drop ingredients for meals/dessert. Give headings to find them. The possibilities are endless once enough of them have earned the badge.

It’s not about class attendance. It’s about assigning a counselor who will go over all of the requirements with the scout (and a buddy or two) and review how the scout performed each requirement. Any scout may take your class and try your course. But most won’t take the time to meet with you and actually earn the merit badge. It’s really between you and the SM how to handle that 1st step. If the SM agrees that any scout coming to your course deserves a blue card with his signature, let him know who attends. If the SM needs scouts to be a little more intentional, then tell the scouts to talk to him about getting a blue card. This will free you up to focus on the training you want to deliver.

My troop growing up held BoRs after committee meetings which were concurrent with a troop meeting upstairs from where the troop met. Scouts stayed after the meeting for their BoR, waiting for the SM to finish his report to the committee. We literally were “up for review.” Every troop manages business differently, but reviewing youth progress and personal growth should be priority business.

Having closed and reopened once (and now with fairly robust numbers), I have tried to keep our assets lean. It’s hard to do with a steady stream of donations. Two months ago, we got a hundred flea market knives. Food donations covered the booth at a local carnival. Weekend campground fees are paid for the year. Last week we were given brand new axes. We are looking for troops who need gear, but that would require successful launching, which the council is not doing. I continue to encourage the committee to not have revenue in excess of expenses. The last thing we need is a huge balance in our checking account.

Welcome to the forums! Try picking a few things from Troop Leader Resources , Program Features: https://troopleader.scouting.org/program-features/ You and your PL’s should familiarize yourself with this site and navigate to the “meeting suggestions” for each feature.

Regarding length of a lower rank BOR, 15 minutes would be about right, so four a night doesn’t sound far fetched.

Now that we’re in the throes of WW-III, I can see that belief in God should face a healthy dose of skepticism, and faith in atheism is not the same as abdication to totalitarianism. Those were merely the exemplars that were elevated in the last Cold War. But while I was a young adult sorting things out, I came to divide people into a more subtle rubric, and I think the BSA of the 70s gave me a framework to do this. There are those who want to follow their religion, and those who want their religion to follow them. I’d be tempted to say that actions of the latter would be a pet peeve, but the Good Lord put them both here for a reason and learning from both is part of our journey.

From the moment National rolled out the ODL field uniform … why not the same tan shirt for Explorers (but with green epaulettes) and Sea Scouts (but with white epaulettes)?

My scouts are so slow about updating their rank patches that maybe they would be better served by just handing down their shirts to the kid who just made their last rank!

This is not new for deep water swimming (as one might do from a boat in a lake/river of any substance). In the 70s, ARC swimmer classes included practice jumping from a diving board with a PFD. An increasing number of recreational boaters came with an increased number of accidents, and media campaigns encouraging PFD use arose in response to this.