qwazse

I understand what you're trying to get at, but as we move into the 11-18 year old range, these nuances of language will mean precious little. I call my scouts, boys, sirs, gentlemen, kind sirs, Mr. ___ and ___, etc .... then remind them that this is a youth led movement, act accordingly. If we call girls girls and expect them to lead just as we expect boys to lead, they will respect us for our effort. If we call them scouts, but expect ourselves to lead, they will not.

My venturers had to endure my sometimes calling them "Sir" when I wasn't paying close attention to who was talking. Your girls will be fine if some stranger on the internet uses "boy" regarding them. The over-arching requirement in Cubs is "Do Your Best." You really want this to be a team activity. Even when I was a scout (in the days of cans with heavier gauge metal), the boys on kitchen patrol took turns at this. It takes a while to get used to it (see my note above about the new-fangled gizmos), and having three watch the other one take his/her turn will keep the less coordinated kid from being discouraged. Plus, teamwork on this little thing will translate into good patrolling in the future. That said, if your other adult is a good coach and a good carver, have him/her ready with a small project for the cub who get's bored of the can. P.S. - Make sure it's cans of something they'd love to eat. P.P.S. - Be ready with the first aid kit.

They don't have to open a can each! Have them take turns doing a few strokes on the same can. On each turn the boy can make a couple more strokes than he did the last time. Honestly, for safety and sanity's sake, you don't want any more cans being opened simultaneously than you have adults to watch the process. Once a group finishes their can, give them another.

The girls want us (be we BSA or GSUSA) ... to guide them in fulfilling a vision of the pinnacle scouting experience: hiking and camping independently with their mates. By any other name, that remains the promise of scouting.

Or, decades ago BSA should have insisted that GSUSA call themselves "Guides" the minute GSUSA abandoned the Golden Eaglet. Or again when GSUSA abandoned the First Class. Or when GSUSA decided to abandon the word "scout" entirely for its National Young Woman of Distinction! There is a reason, in many parts, many girls have a negative attitude towards a program that was built with them in mind. Maybe BSA should have made Eagle Scout rank advancement available to GSUSA members who were willing to hew to the requirements in the BSHB. They didn't. Understandably so. They would have failed for trying. So we are stuck letting "scout", and "scouting" mean two somewhat different things depending if it's preceded by "Boy" or "Girl." That's the real shame. But, BSA has time to defer. And I honestly don't think it would cost all that much. BSA could even let GSUSA keep "scouts" exclusively. Change our name to "US Youth Patrols", it's magazine to "Youth's Life", etc ..., and membership would be no worse. Heck, I'd be fine if next year we were Boy Guides of America (also for Girls), and I was suddenly a Guider in BGAAFG. Patrol me in! I'm working for smiles.

Durn it! You chased him off before I could take him up on his bet about what you all believe regarding fixed blades.

Ask your parents if any of them have a knife with one. It's best the boys learn on devices they can access everyday. Regardless, if it's your own money, it's better to just buy one or two of your own to share for the den meeting than to buy a dozen cheap ones. Tell Cabela's that you're coming with a carton of cans to test their knives on. Not every brand works as cleanly as the knife in the video. I've found Swiss Army and BSA to sell products that pretty much do what they say they will. Some of the new-fangled openers are so confusing ... opening cans is faster with my knife. It took me months to figure out one of those ergonomic ones, then once we all figured it out Mrs. Q decided she hated it. So, she gave it to Daughter for her apartment. I did inherit one without a can-opener. Well, "inherit" wasn't quite the right word for it. Mom got tired of grandpa whittling away his cane.

Well, one good thing about lawsuits, interesting tidbits of history surface: So, BSA didn't abandon "Scouting/USA" out of mere lack of enthusiasm. GS/USA clearly was defending their brand in light of girls joining Explorers and Swedish young women visiting BSA's National Jamborees.

Smarter? As in "Boy Scout Troop for Girls"? In the US, branding is never petty. Real membership (and, therefore, money) is at stake. Heretofore, GSUSA could easily market itself to its target audience as a separate-but-equivalent organization directed toward its non-target audience. In that environment, units and councils having joint boy-scout and girl-scout activities could be encouraged. It was a great way to recruit those boys' sisters! By BSA changing its brand (unnecessarily, IMHO) and claiming that its linchpin program now provides a separate-but-equivalent program for the same target audience that GS/USA wants to monopolize, it has reinforced the misconception that there is this "over-arching" organization called "scouts".

'Skip lost for words? Thanks, GS/USA legal, you just stole our Brit's wind!

The most efficient way to Eagle rank (be ye a ten year old tenderfoot or 17 year old life): Do the work! Epitomize the oath and law!

I'd opt for @SSScout's option #2. I agree with @Eagle94-A1 that we want the WDL's signature in the book. But, I'd also call ahead to the SM of the troop they want their son to join. Maybe ask if he's going to your next roundtable and so you can touch base about this in person. If he's gun-ho about having the kid, see what you can do about moving things along. (Maybe he can loan a Troop Guide to play den chief and tutor this kid so he's solid on his AoL requirements.) If he's really concerned about accepting a scout too young and too early (maybe because the troop is doing something fairly rugged January and February) you can convey to the parents that it's not just your wish, but the SM's too, that you all tow the line.

National news, pshaw! They blow everything out of proportion by using military terms. All those politicians just asking folks for votes ... they called it campaigning as if they were some kind of Roman legion.

I don't think we need to be more obtuse. Nor do we need to throw down any gauntlets, but if we did .... Best Scouts of America (Abbreviation: BSA)

Welcome, and thanks in advance for all you'll do for our youth!

Under the Good Book maxim "Make peace with your enemy while he is far off ..." BSA should settle, but not in any way that undermines GS/USA's brand. There is nothing to be gained in misleading potential parents into thinking our "Scouts BSA" is somehow ignoring sex differences. "Family scouting" is anathema to, well, a lot of us. There is something to being plain spoken. "Boy Scouts - for Girls" makes it clear that we are taking a program that was built for boys, but being asked for by thousands of American girls. It's also an admission on so many levels that we're kind of winging it hoping that separate-but-equal will garner smiles. The lawyers can then go apply for jobs at the House of Representatives.

It's a pity nobody here was suggesting a name to National that would avoid wrong impressions.

Pinewood derby. Blocks, markers, stickers. Race! 'Nuff said. If you're really cleaver, you will stick that Q-R code, contact info, and meeting times to the bottom of the blocks!

Well, this is one problem about when rank advancement was denied to anyone over age 18 in the late sixties. Those ovals were seen as strictly kids awards. And, as the thinking evolved, what one learns as a kid isn't necessarily what one needs as an adult. Personally, I wish every ASM would have to earn 1st class rank, at least. Then, any specific adult training would indeed be material that probably wasn't taught to them as a scout. Heck, I would get rid of the age 18 deadline for eagle. What do I care if my SM tries to earn Eagle? An exercise in humility for sure, but the mere fact that he would be trying to do so would show our scouts how important the award is. That's not the world we have. Folks don't want to ditch the traditions we've built in the past 50 years. And along with those traditions is the assumption that new adult leaders can only learn through special classes just for adults, and somehow those classes will help adults get up to speed faster and retain more than the simple-minded pedagogy of an earlier time. The best you can do is not fall for it. Be judicious about your training. Choose things that will round out your current skill-set. Prioritize those and let your co-leaders know what those priorities are. If there's something required that you think you know well, ask your district training coordinator if you can help teach the course and in the process get credit for taking it. That should keep you busy for a couple or three years. By then, Woodbadge might sound appealing.

Make's sense. Among my social media friends of friends, its the new-to-scouting parents who are asking question about which to choose. When I have an opportunity to reply, I suggest that question #1 should be "Are the leaders kind?" Now, in my "seasoned scouter" rubric, kindness also includes a willingness to pack in 3 miles on the trail to camp in the cold with your scouts. And that could be the limiting factor in putting together units here up north. We need to get moms and older sisters used to a certain "weather envelope" before we're really ready to offer girls the same program we offer boys. That doesn't make BSA4G impossible, it just tilts the odds against it ... because leaders of girls' dens will have a good sense that it's gonna have to be them in that snow for Klondike in a couple of years.

I never thought to call it that either. That's the concern parents voiced when I was starting a crew. It could be where you lived. I was basically "stuck" with the same circle of girls in school, extracurricular, and church. And, yes, when it was time to go camping, getting away from them (and a few of the guys I always saw) as a real plus. For my sons, those circles were non-overlapping. Then came the telecom revolution and the rise of post-modern nomadic life.

I personally believe the patrol meeting where husband wife are nearby (e.g., doing chores around the house while the youth are in an open area) would provide a more than adequate barrier from abuse. Many of our crew meetings were like that.

I'm leaning towards real paradox. Venturing in our area seems to have stuck in more conservative (politically and socially) communities. The parents of female venturers who I've talked to do not believe in "girl power" or "safe spaces" as a means to equal and fair treatment of women. They see that their daughters will be better served working together with other boys and girls in an environment where sex-differences are not swept under the rug. Likewise, I'm guessing that about half of conservative parents of boys want them spending quality time with other young men and women in an environment where they learn to treat one another with respect. (Mrs. Q and I certainly looked for that for our sons.) The other half want their boys to have a "safe space" from girls for a few years. As boots-on-the-ground, I've found it a real challenge living up to the expectations of either "safe space" or "mutual respect." So much depends on neighborhood, media, and environments far beyond my control.

Two of my brothers and a cousin entered college on athletic scholarships. One lasted a term the other two earned their degree with their scholarship. One went pro. But, as far as I can tell, none of them where coddled by their parents. Sports was just one of many ways to get through college. We try to counsel parents of young athletes in the same way.

It's so incredible that we are bogging great work down with ridiculous stipulations.