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As I explain to our post-docs: there’s differential diagnosis, and then there’s the hair rising on the back of your neck.

@SiouxRanger without belaboring the details, me too. I was the next to last person to leave the water and did that last once-over scan that lifesaving instructors pound into your head, saw my friend struggling in the deep about to slip quietly away, reached out a hand, and forestalled death. It’s what we do. No fanfare required.

I've observed "cold starting" scouts do just as well as scouts who've been in since crossing over. They're coming in a couple of years older. They're a little more mature. Their reading comprehension is better. Such scouts have done a lot for the life of our troop. They are also very helpful because they question bureaucracy, and every once in a while, they're right!

Welcome, and thanks in advance for all you’ll do for the youth!

That’s a very key point. A patch is more valuable with thorough research as to its provenance. (E.g., who wore it? What does “476” signify? Any photos of it from that period?)

This 🙄. Sailors and LEOs who want to reach out to teens aren’t looking for a lot of meddling from BSA pros.

Some conversations, including replies from a member, may be found here …

Time to get serious with that welding MB.

The reason why this disturbs is that it supposed that mass murder could be a rational conclusion based on the environment in which one is immersed. Having known a few young men (all from good parents) who committed suicide (not all with firearms), I often wonder if one or two of them were motivated by an urgent need to prevent themselves from doing anything worse. Obviously I’ll never know, but I certainly wish they had the courage to talk it out with one or more of the many people who they could trust,myself included.

Flawed assumption: not all crews have an “outdoor adventure program.” Nor should they. A crew’s program goals may very well clash with the objectives of any of the nearest troop. E.g., the crew might seek to master pistol marksmanship. Also flawed. My crew was the most vibrant when it wasn’t being feed by a troop. It had a tangible purpose when non-scouts were in the mix, especially as leaders. Regarding an older scouts’ patrol/leadership corps/venture patrol, I challenge anyone to float it by your scouts to see who wants to start one now and see if it sticks. I foresee good things in store for @Cburkhardt’s leadership corps.

For my youth Venturing was a safe space to get away from all of the advancement chatter. A Venture Patrol does nothing for the relationships between 15-17 year olds and 18-20 year olds. Youth will leave BSA to pursue those associations. Merging with Exploring, IMHO, offers the greatest potential. All crews become posts. Harmonize award as needed, increase mobility between career exploration and the activities in venturing, have fun.

Too lazy to find the link to one of my earlier posts, so I’ll retype: An Italian exchange student in my crew was trying to get up to speed with translating her scouting experience into ours. Among the terms that perplexed her: “scouter.” Because, she said, “You know, once a scout, always a scout.”

If I were that scout, I’d ask DEC for the claws that poked my bag!

This . A very key point of venturing was our ability to take the senior venturer and say: "Hey, we've given you the skills. Consider starting a troop or a pack." Or, "This troop needs an adult leader for a weekend trek. You've got that Ranger award. Want to be the hike-master's #2?" Or, "Get together with your fellow council officers at a location of your choice, brainstorm, and at next meeting we'll discuss implementing the next big Council/Area/Region/National event." Or, "Write an article for the council newsletter about the last event." (The council wouldn't publish it because the SE wanted to dedicate more space to pitching summer camps. In other words, we could give an 18-20 y.o. tremendous autonomy to run program across districts and councils. But, regardless of the YP stats, letting that happen in this litigious environment is a huge liability to BSA. I'm afraid that until someone is able to underwrite that liability, youth will seek leadership opportunities in other organizations.

Those were the titles of my graduate courses, in that order.

Why should being removed from your committee responsibilities bother you? Your boys decided to relocate to another troop. You can now do so without there being any formal obligation to the committee on your part. The downside of posting your complaint on a forum like this, is that everyone can read it. It is likely that we will soon get a reply to this thread from a member of the troop stating that the situation has been misrepresented, and the actual issues are being handled with discretion by the committee. It doesn't matter. You can move on with little to lose. You won't be forced to stay in a troop with what you have concluded is a toxic atmosphere. And you can do so knowing that you've done your due diligence.

And if the horse has been rotting on the ground for a year, you’re allowed to flail it! Did we do something in another thread that needs us to be reminded?

On the bright side, we've all gained skills in remote connection. I think that means that there's real potential for better youth-facing tools for youth protection, and possibly a better way to multiply adult resources. So, here's a how-to: Develop publicly accessible youth-protection and youth-development resources that directly communicate barriers to abuse as they may occur in and around the venturing program. This must necessarily include youth forums and safe-space for reporting and delivery of psychological and legal aid.

Anointing parents of scouts as crew leaders is absurd on in face (and I say that as an advisor who had 2 of his 3 kids enroll while also in a troop). Across the bridge and tunnel* from me were two phenomenal a an advisors one who only had daughters and another who matriculated from a crew (no kids at the time). The latter woman out-shined me in every way, partly because she was brought up in a crew with young advisors who expected youth to train to be future advisors. About half of the crews in our council were led well by people who didn't have kids or whose kids weren't in scouting. The fact is, parents of youth in this age range are scrambling working extra hours to save up for fees in other activities and college tuition. That makes for a terrible time in life to be a good advisor, and as @Eagle94-A1 indicates, compared to 5 years ago, crews now need an exponential amount of time from beleaguered adults. Let's also not discount that some very competent adult advisors and/or committee died or became disabled via the pandemic. Other's (including some on these forums) have needed to commit their time and talent addressing it. (Even I took on a side-gig for my pandemic guy.) These are typically the kinds of people who make outstanding advisors, and they have less free time. *Bridges and tunnels are Pittsburgh measurements of space-time.

My observation is that my high school age kids benefited greatly from being in fellowship with college age youth. So I see no point in changing the age range from the current one.

@Cburkhardt the one striking omission: older youth -- especially 18-20 year olds -- do not need a pair 21+ year old adults of the appropriate sex to meet and plan adventures. They would rather risk (or perhaps are ignorant of the risks of) the potential abuse inherent in meeting on their own in the absence of adults (or in the presence of just one adult of the opposite sex), and bring in, as needed, the occasional adult based on his/her qualifications to supervise their activities of interest. IMHO, this, above all other things, undercuts BSA's ability to fashion venturing into the umbrella program that it once was. In the face of that, these other items are immaterial, but could go a long way to recognizing venturing as a viable "next step" for many scouts: Advancement is immaterial. My guess is about 0.1% of youth in this age range are interested in obscure awards. I don't think ALPS is discouraging to youth, but I do think it lacks appeal because of the lack of connection to American scouting. The dissonance in award names is a huge problem. I believe First Class Venturer, Star Venturer, Life Venturer, and Eagle Venturer would convey real value to anyone with a scouting background. Along those lines venture scout rolls off the tongue way more easily than venturer. Finally, program should be identifiable with only epaulets on the standard BSA field uniform shirt: a color for cubs, a color for scouts BSA, and a color for Venturers. Epaulets for persons in both programs should have combined colors. Basically, the obsession with branding differently will have to end.

Exploitive teachers are nothing new. The issue is what schools are doing to screen out such teachers. Schools that are under the auspices of a larger organization may face legal action similar to BSA. How likely that is depends on the wealth of the organization.

@5thGenTexan, I agree with @Eagledad. A couple of MB’s and mastering basic scout skills is a great start. I’m told that down your way, maximizing time swimming is essential to beat the heat. For my family, who spends a lot of time on water, those instructional swim periods took a load of of my mind.

No, the image means we give everyone the tools needed to pick the maximum number of apples so that the cobbler gets in the dutch oven before nightfall. It's about free markets, pure and simple. It means some people get a lake, others a pool, others travel to a nearby park/college with qualified supervision, but all learn how to forestall death.

Again, equality is "everybody goes to Jambo." However that event is not merely some prize for scouts with a fortune ... If your scouts agree that your troop would be best represented at Jambo by a scout with little means, then yes the equitable thing would be to support him/her. The expectation should be that that scout would more likely return with enthusiasm and novel ideas to benefit his/her fellow scouts. More importantly, if one of us only had $500 to spare for jambo, and there was a potential ASM who was qualified but limited in funds to go, equity dictates we give what we have to make sure our scouts are tended to by who we trust the most.