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I'll take Venturing advisors for 300. This thought went through their mind when their daughters were daisies. I've only seen this happen with women (often, but not necessarily moms) who've 1) had several girls spaced apart in age and 2) had boys in packs and troops and 3) had the endorsement of a community organization or business wanting a program for a wide range of girls. The truth is GS/USA believes that girls are better empowered by troops of no more than 15 girls, and will direct inquiring girls to troops matching their age but lacking in numbers.

With Dad's generous purchase of one bale of hay and a nice poster/target, I mastered archery in our back yard next to the woods between summer camps on a 25# wood bow that my brother had left in the basement rafters. (Best part of growing up: being tall enough to find stuff the rest of your family left in rafters.) That also included making/remaking bow string, fletching old arrows, learning the warp of an arrow and adjusting aim accordingly. It was the year my 100 year old grandpa moved in, and after I made a run to the general store to buy his Marsh Wheeling cigars, he would sit out and watch me shoot. (Mom wouldn't let him smoke in the house). It's as vivid as that spring day: the memory of his weak arms and poor sight trying to pull back that bow. I hope your son has similar good memories (excepting the tobacco purchase) as he masters this skill! If you are concerned about a safe range, most big-box sporting good stores and sportsman's clubs have youth programs. Regarding the troop, your son should be asking: Why he "got back" the blue card. It should have been given to him by his counselor at camp. Why his adult leaders are so arrogant to think that they, not their scouts, should be mismanaging blue cards. Why the troop advancement chair cannot read instructions. "Applicant will turn in this record ..." means just that. It should never be given to the unit by anyone except the scout via the SM after the SM has signed off on all three portions of the application. How soon the troop committee can revise its policies so that it delivers on the promise of scouting (which includes, among other things, a youth being accountable for his own advancement paperwork).

Welcome! When I was asked to serve as a PA, I told the PL, "I'll be on the opposite side of the room ignoring you. Come to me if you need advice." He did once or twice that year. If this is really discouraging to your son, he should talk to the SPL, or even the SM about switching patrols. It could also be that he is a good teacher, and the PA is nudging him to take more of a role managing the patrol. As a parent, it's really hard to tell the difference. But, if you think this patrol is indeed being treated like a den (e.g., no effective PL/APL, no flag, no yell, the boys are being challenged to learn stuff -- as opposed to vie against other patrols), you can expect to need long and protracted discussions with the SM and ASMs. P.S. - If possible, you and Pa Pa may want to offer some property for a patrol overnight. If you two aren't registered leaders, spring to feed the two adults who volunteer to chaperon. Let the boys set up camp a good 100 yards away (less only if it's very wooded). That should give your son a chance to cook up a storm for his mates.

How much suspended scouts may participate in Projects and MBU participation depends on the SM. Outside of scouting, there are lots of service opportunities. And, really, nobody can stop a boy from going to the library and reading up on the material he needs for any MB that he's interested in. That will prepare him for when he is permitted to meet with a counselor. When we suspend a scout, the SM and CC pay a visit to the parents in person. Even so, in these situations, there comes a point where you all have to agree to disagree. That is most scouters' hope ... thus a suspension rather than an expulsion. But, also keep in mind that it isn't just about the boy being punished. Sometimes, a problem is more pervasive than they boys who were suspended. Six months gives the boys time to show their true colors. If issues continue, there are fewer obvious targets to point the finger to.

And, if I were king of the world I would lift the age 18 deadline. Can't pass BoR as a scout? Come back when you're a trained ASM and see if you figured out how to command the respect that you couldn't before. P.S. - I think my dad was on most of my BoRs. I know for sure he said nothing while there (just like he were playing pea-knuckle) -- if any blanks were gonna be filled, it was on me. On the car ride home, maybe he'd voice an opinion. I remember a few of those, and they didn't have anything to do with the goings on in my BoR.

If your son wasn't a bully, he was complicit in bullying. Hard truth: you have no idea if he learned his mistake. That will likely be determined by how he behaves among his friends in the next six months. Bottom line: scouts stand up for each other or they stand down.

Welcome, and thanks in advance for all you do for the youth! You're in for a wild ride! Our first? I can't remember if it was caving or whitewater rafting and subsequent camping. Then there was the go-cart evening. Then Seabase. Then skeet shooting. Then Skiing. The high-schoolers in our community generally found employment to pay for their extracurriculars. Car-washes are usually work well.

I think, since they are all trying to learn the Oath and Law, use the usual one. This used to annoy me a lot as a kid ... when adults would try to teach us parody of a song to fit a context. Sometimes ... it's a novel idea. All the time ... and you think, "Why can't I sing this little light of mine as is?" That's partly how I was brought up. It didn't matter that I couldn't understand the words. When I was at my brother's house, he'd play me every Arabic album that he had. I didn't realize what a big deal it was to have heard those singers as an American until many years later when I met more guys from the Middle East. Which makes me wonder, history buffs ... was Scout Vespers an original? Or was the tune from something else?

Every group of boys is different. Especially at that age. I think you should give it a try. Even if they don't get the words, I think they will understand the feeling of reverence. Pay attention to the wind. I find younger scouts are often not prepared to deal with smoke from a campfire. Make sure adults know they may need to help scouts who think they just "have" to circle up.

Um, actually, the patrol method (and the most ancient definition of scouting ... c.f. the twelve Israelite spies in Canaan) implies action in the complete absence -- yet under the command -- of the principal. And, it will happen. It does happen. With or without BSA or LDS Young Men or any other youth-facing organizations. Sometimes it will be an innocent group of kids who just wanna fish on the far corner of grandpas farm. Other times it will be a street gang in a brutal turf war. Faced with the latter worst-case scenario, isn't it better that the would-be gang work on acquiring ideals and skills, developing solid and noble plans, then patrolling with increasing independence as their worth Is proven to be a net positive for their community?

Ostensibly (based on YPT training) a youth predator may be more likely use the organization's sanctioned independence to groom targets. To counter this, a never-leave-youth-to-their-own-devices strategy has been put in place. But, the boardroom truth is liability. This policy (be it BSA's and LDS's) is out of an abundance of litigation. If a half dozen youth get together independently (for hike, bible study, movies, whatever) and a youth is abused, the organization (church or scout) can claim to not be at fault.

Been there, seen that with venturing. That's the funny thing I've learned about Americans in general ... even if they can't stand what you're doing on principle, they'll help you give it an full-blown try. I think it's because that way, if you fail, you won't be able to blame it on not having the best hands helping you!

This is why I thought BSA4G would be better implemented after World Jamboree. We scouters could use the event learn more about various WOSM partners ... including those of nations who represent large ethnic blocks in our own communities. BSA is definitely bottom-dollar marketing. I think we'll see heavier promotion in councils where BSA4G troops actually form. I believe our best sponsors will be industries who feel they need to more women working along side men in their field jobs (energy extraction, steel/manufacturing, military, etc ...). But, that will be a thin slice of the pie until there are female eagles crediting their scouting experience to their skill on the job.

@Treflienne , I don't think she was defensive. She didn't bring up the competition. Someone else did. She mentioned BSA's failure to serve 90% of US boys without mentioning that GS/USA is not serving an all-season outdoor adventure to 90% of US girls. And, by pounding the "safe", "all-girl", "girl-led", and "girl-friendly" adjectives, she believes (or at least wants us to infer) that BSA is girl-unsafe, girl-unfriendly, and rife with glass ceilings that will deny girls leadership at every level. She did it without saying so. It's as good a sales pitch as any in its context. All I ever promised high-school girls and their parents was rocks and bogs. Didn't do much for recruitment, but it was nice seeing some muddy smiles at the end of a day when that promise was delivered.

The reporter brought it up. I think Ms. Acevedo's reply was spot-on according to rules of salesmanship. She has a vision of a "safe" space by virtue of a girl-only environment. Without mentioning BSA's name, she believes (or at least wishes us to infer) that BSA does not. She said that GS/USA knows how to crack the code to re-program girls for leadership in postmodern society. Without mentioning it's name, she believes (or at least wishes us to infer) that BSA does not. She said GS/USA are experts. Without mentioning it's name, she believes (or at least wishes us to infer) that BSA are amateur hacks. As @Eagledad attests, It is this very arrogance on the part of professionals that has often annoyed many GS moms. However, we should never misconstrue arrogance for error. She might be right. @gblotter and @cocomax are also right. The first 15 girls to join a troop where the Mom will hike and camp them anywhere they can carry their canvas ... they have tremendous fun. It's the 16th who will get herded elsewhere, make doilies, weary of ennui (as @Hawkwin and my daughter did), and quit. Give me about half of those "16th girls" and I can see BSA doing wonders for them. Thanks to Venturing, I have seen it happen. But here's the reality check: 1/16th is a small slice of girls. It won't put a dent in GS/USA, and -- if some otherwise "lost brothers" tag along -- it will take quite a while before its effects (if any) really rock BSA. (Yes, I know it's a big if.)

Missles are a shooting sport all their own!

She reads my posts! I called tech-enabled sashes and shirts a decade ago. However, what's interesting is that she is envisions what the shirt displays will depend on who is looking. Not sure how that makes it a great time to be a GS, but it's interesting.

@HashTagScouts nailed it. The GTA was written to disavow girls of any notion that they can earn Eagle, but at the same time to encourage boys to contribute time to both their troop and their crew. Meanwhile it attempted to give Venturing awards an equal footing. Maybe it worked for other crews, but it didn't do much for mine. Boys in other troops openly asserted to female venturers that a girl's Silver would be no match for a boy's Eagle. I suspect this was true nation-wide, so there remained a group of girls who strongly preferred to earn MBs - even if they weren't awarded patches for it.

Welcome to the forum. Be glad you're not in PA. And yes, CO's can request more of you all so that they will be in compliance with their own by-laws.

@gblotter you are looking through the world with mud-colored glasses. Let's try to balance your bleak outlook: I don't know about where you live, but around here black males account for a disproportionate number of the school suspensions. There is no talk that they need their own white-free space so that they don't have to be judged according to a standard of "white boy behavior". Nor should there be talk of it. Nor talk of a "girl behavior" standard. It just makes no sense (except for deluded rich and powerful men who think they have a right to "locker-room" talk). College enrollment rates (https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cpb.asp) are 44% in white females vs. 40% in white males, 39% in black females vs. 33% in black males, and 44% in hispanic females vs. 35% in hispanic females. So depending race, any given boy has a mere 5-9 point disparity -- that's somewhere between 11:10 to 5:4 odds against them. If it were a horse race, I'd take any of those odds any day. That gap has not changed for two decades. But why the disparity? Well, young men (especially white males) are more likely to start careers in the military, enroll in a trade, or start their own or assume their family's business. In other words, more women are going to college out of a perceived need to do so. They have been taught that, for the same pay as a male counterpart, they will have to be more credentialed. With credentials, however, comes staggering debt, and that does indeed impact prospects for marriage and the desire for large families. In other words. Your son, even with current troubles in school, is far more likely to reach his 30s with a lower debt profile and more career prospects than your daughters.

You have the classic IT upgrade problem. There may be volumes of data in one storage format (i.e., handbooks), but only some of it adds value to your workflow by being in a different format (e.g., wall-charts, electronic databases, etc ...). Yes, you should be able to retroactively enter awards. (Lots of folks, like my troop, have yet to sync up with SB, so they will likely be doing this in the near future.) You just need to ask yourself how doing so will help your pack going forward. Are the boys really upset that they don't have a diving weight's worth of belt loops to slow them down?

@Bowline, not sure where you got info that venturers can "start" earning MBs. I mean, I guess technically there's never been anything to stop anyone from earning MBs. I guess had they asked, I could have drawn up blue cards years ago for any in my crew who wanted to try to earn the round medallions. I know some rogue troops have done something of the sort. But, they wont count for rank advancement until this February. At that point, if a 16 year old female venturer shows up with a stack of blue cards and everyone knows that she has the skills, it would be false for me to say she hasn't earned the badges. In fact I'd probably say "Please, find a buddy and a woman of integrity and help me jump-start this program for these half-dozen crossovers."

Not blaming Exploring. I think the popularity among youth should be mapped against number of people in each sector against return on education/training investment. No idea how my 3 got chemical engineering in their heads. So far they have found jobs in specialty steel, oil/gas extraction, and petroleum refinement. The hours can be long because nobody else is stepping in line to compete for them. (Well, some Saudis and South Americans are, but with the hope of eventually returning home to work those jobs at a less breakneck pace.) Going into those with a high school education demands even more hours and time away from family. But, if you show dedication, most union halls will train you. The downside: exposure to layoffs due to strikes over healthcare and other political hot-potatoes.

Pack in the saddle, again!!!!! Always good to hear from you -- especially good to know you added to the cardiologists "success" tally! Thanks for being a role model for us youngns'. ;)

Interesting that the illustration was a parent bringing a child's water bottle to school. In our school, kids were using them to smuggle alcohol, so they were banned (for a while). I'm pretty sure we scouters didn't create this style of parenting. But as Americans, we've instilled a post-modern nomadic* worldview. Part of its implication is that our families are seen as caravans in a strange land. We must be equipped with our own devices to avoid "contamination" from our environment. If we feel a threat of "contamination", our first reflex is to call on our families to resolve it. Case in point: not paying attention to how much son #2 left in the tank, I ran out of gas on the road last week and had to call the auto club for assistance. It delayed me 45 minutes, and Mrs. Q was already at the destination about 45 minutes away. I got in just a little past bedtime no worse for the wait and a $10. Next morning, I explained what took me so long, and she asked, "Why didn't you call? I would have come and brought you fuel!" I replied, "That's precisely why I didn't tell you what was happening until now. You would have wasted an hour and a half of your time and more than $10 in gas." But, you see, for a post-modern nomad, it is better to hazard helping your own than rely on the services of a stranger. *Feel free to use that term instead of that wretched label, millenial . Tell them some stranger on the internet set you.