qwazse

I was irritated at the coddling of son #1, who I had to drive 1.5 miles down sidewalked streets to his best friend's. Payback was daughter who got into an exercise routine of midnight runs through the neighborhood ... I'd smirk, but Mrs. Q packs a punch.

In Mr. Q's warped world, incompletion = success. Nobody needs to know that they know what they already know. Everybody needs to know what it is that they don't already know. I've named my open field compass course "tortured soul". Each control has a deck of cards with headings to each of the other controls (including the entry/exit control). Read the top card, set your compass, put the card on the bottom of the deck, proceed to the drawn control. Repeat until you have visited all controls, then continue the course until you draw a card to the exit control. I'm not well loved for that one, but toward the end, each scout can quickly gauge a heading precisely before even setting the compass. If you have the staff, repeat the canoe course next year. I'm sure there will be one or two patrols who will want to take vengeance on that one. Besides, regarding your theme, zombies, I'm told, don't swim.

@@Faith, congratulations to your son! If the troop goes on lots of treks (the carry-your-own-gear kind) you will want to stick with the hand held LEDs or headlamps. Best if they all use the same batteries. I routinely pack a headlamp, a AA battery hand light, and spare batteries for them and/or my gps. (Plus I have some old foil wrappers in another pocket of my pack and steel wool in another pocket ... in case my matches fail me.) I do have one of those rechargeable headlamp/hand lights, (Nitecore), but it gets really hot. A young scout might not be comfortable working with it. Certain types of batteries for it are on the no-fly list. So, you have to be careful about what you purchase for replacements if you take an airline to the trail head. On the other hand, it is nice not to need spare batteries.

I use the -1 because my thumb slipped, mainly. When I do it on purpose, it's usually because I think an opinion is thoroughly unfounded. It may be downright mean. Maybe not. To me pushing the red button allows me to simply dissent without saying anything specific. That allows that person's statement to be the last one on the thread while still letting readers know there's notable dissent regarding it. There's a lot of stuff that you all do where maybe I'd do the opposite, but I don't -1 those posts. I might even +1 although I disagree with a post. If it's well written and worth thinking about, I'd like to draw attention to it. Obviously in those situations I'll reply if I think it will help clarify any part of the post that runs counter to my experience on the matter.

I'm having the opposite problem ... Teaching boys to put a fire dead out. Last week, I was last to leave the site because I was rigging the dog's pack as well as mine. I stopped to check the fire circle, and smoke was rising from one corner. I thought I 'd have to unrig my gear to put it out. Then lo and behold, on the edge of the ring was someone's ozark bottle and just enough water to put the remaining coals dead out. The boys were late to the extraction, so I saved the stern lecture about paying closer attention and how the dog carried more water because I had to carry an somebody's empty empty bottle. At least the ASPL owned up to it once we got home and sorted gear. I told him no worries, I needed to slow the dog down anyway, and am looking forward to the boy's song at the next meeting.

Just a follow-up. Because we had a fourth vehicle, driven by parents who had no specific plans except to hang out at a B&B in the area, I had volunteers who could drive my venturers to their trail head, then take my van back to the extraction point -- no scouts having to wait while we shuttled vehicles. Moreover, there was a sick kid emergency, and they both being nurses and close to the kids' parents, were able to help me handle it without disrupting the venturers' plans. Plus, the mom offered to chaperon crew activities should I need a female adult. Sometimes involving more parents on the weekend does help the program.

Specific to safety: I once called out a DE at round-table who said we should file a tour plan for every meeting outside our meeting place. The crew at that time was meeting someplace special every other week! At weekend camps, I would give the boys a map and have them devise a day hike plan. My SM thought that meant one of us had to go with them on the hike. I showed him the appropriate pages of G2SS. He promptly grabbed his chain saw and chaps and went off cutting some deadfall that the boys happily split on their return. Since then, he and I have enjoyed quite a few pleasurable hikes in the opposite direction of the boys -- sometimes arranging rendezvous with them at some scenic location.

You might also ask your CO. They get a copy of every adult member application, and may have a file of them in their archives.

You're the one who asked "Why not?" My point: there is an overall institutional cost to the profusion of awards. We have boy scouts' attention for one hour a week ... venturers, less. They can only focus on so much. I invest that time in telling them who to contact for EMT certification, the local VFD, JROTC, BSA or RC lifeguard, or the Law Enforcement or Medical Exploring ... or whatever organization will help them find their specific path. I then encourage them to do their best to draw their buddies in. The E-prep award is just more noise unless we become convinced that first responders are looking for anything more than the helping hands that stosh describes.

@@RichardB, what does the "award" do that being a first class scout does not? And if it does that, is there something wrong with 1st class rank requirements? Maybe, just maybe, if BSA and it's trained adult lackeys would stop saying things like: "Track your service hours." "There's a patch for that." "Log on the website." "Here's the paperwork." "Make sure it's a troop campout." ... the boys would spend less time filtering the noise and be able to hear "Keep your uni (or at least your necker) at the ready, folks will count on you if they see you're a scout."

Non sequitur... scout doesn't have to wear uniform during campouts to count them. Why should he have to wear it for service hours.But, then again, why should he have to count service hours at all? Maybe we have a nation of boys who want to serve out of their free will, and don't want BSA hogging their work for bragging rights.

Got flack from my oldest venturer coming on the next outing: "Why can't we go on the shorter hike with the rest of the troop? And, why do you add an orienteering course to it?" Not one of my better moments, said in surly, ill-tempered advisor voice ... "Because, you are in a Crew meeting. This is what we do." I shouldn't get on his case too bad. The three youth who were really asking for this event can't attend. The other youth who was involved in the planning couldn't attend last night. So, I'm the "middle man" trying to pass along a certain vision. I could see where, in his case, one might balk between a choice of an hour orienteering course followed by six miles backpacking and 4 miles backpacking with the last part bushwhacking "up and over" a wooded ridge. I'm sure we sound the same way as we cringe at MB universities, etc ... folks don't see their "process streamlining" as shooting for the lowest common denominator.

I have a funny feeling that even that set-up is lighter than our trailer fully over-loaded!

I don't scour the 'net for feel-good stores about troops/crews showing up for disaster relief, so I can't counter your observations. But I'll speculate that your odds of seeing what you're looking for have slimmed over the years for two reasons: The uniform is now too precious to wear while serving. The notion of wearing just your neckerchief when you risk mussing your uni has not caught on. The notion that being in uniform might identify you as one ready to serve is completely lost on scouts. (Tangent: some scouts asked if they should wear their uniform backpacking this weekend. I said, "Nobody's going to make you, but I reserve patches from my collection for boys who do.") Membership declines actually do mean something. The odds have titled against running into a card-carrying BSA member, youth or adult, especially in the southeast. You are more likely to find a boy or girl in the civil air patrol these days. Seriously, @@Stosh, you are the first person who ever told me about that organization first-hand. Since then I've met a couple young men who joined and enjoy it (advantage of this forum: you actually learn stuff that helps you talk to youth). We can also speculate that the "free market" design of troop selection has conspired against this sort of thing. If your troop meets on the opposite side of town, and your neighbors are in the gulch across the street, mobilizing the troop might by on the bottom of your E-prep strategies. If instead, BSA somehow encouraged boys to bolster the troop nearest their home and all boys were within walking distance of the scout house... that could make rallying your mates easier.

This weekend: 13 scouts, 3 venturers, 4 drivers, and my dog. No trailers. 2 minivans, 1 pickup, 1 explorer. With the trailer, we might have taken one less vehicle.

Now, if they were detained by a police officer, arraigned by a grand jury, and defended by a lawyer ... that might make for an interesting weekend. Different scouts could be assigned as witnesses, bailiffs, assist the prosecution, the jury pool, etc ... Mock trial camporee ... that could be fun.

Every specific phobia is unusual. (If one were usual, not being afraid would be given a disorder name in pop. Psych.) And, they can be culturally based. (E.g., We had a Korean scout who was terrified of spiders because, growing up he was taught to avoid them because most of the species there were dangerously poisonous to humans.) Scouting is a form of exposure therapy. Youth are presented with a panoply of revulsions in a context where they have to deal with them, while supported.by their pears. We have scouts afraid of heights that stare at that climbing wall until they are ready to belay on, afraid of guns until the day they load their first round. Bugs, snakes, big hairy scoutmasters who don't cater to your fears .., we have it all. My latest scout from southern Italy, brimming with enthusiasm, stopped us while we were planning campouts through November and December and said "Guys, I'm really afraid of the winter, l never experienced this kind of cold." The best you can do is tell a kid with a specific phobia "Yes, you may have to face that stuff. But, we'll be right here with you when we do." For the Italian kid, I told her that this time of year, when I start to load my backpack with winter gear, I feel my body screaming: aren't you too old for this yet? Then I step out into the woods hike the hills, and take in the beauty. And those screaming fears subside.

I think the dinner would be fun. I think if, at the next CoH, the SM or SPL announces that you will be getting your beads at a council dinner, then you stand, they applaud, and you throw down a challenge like "Who will be the next adult to work their ticket?" ... that will get you the recognition you want without all the hoopla you don't want. Suggestion for anyone who does want to have the beading at a troop function, dismiss the youth for cookies/campfire/whatever before giving your WB buddies the floor. That way, they can have the fun and fellowship they like to have while the adults have the "fun" and fellowship they like to have.

i guess they'd have to lash you to a mast to keep you from counseling them!

I can't remember what our pack did. The troop did try to cut large families a break. Precisely for the reason @@David CO suggests. Large families contribute more to the "unit brain trust". Stories get handed down. Gear gets handed down. Scouts come wanting to do what their brothers did. Simplifies the PLC no scouter has to explain the possibilities, they boys already know. Fundraisers become nearly automatic, because the parents who support them have done so for more than a decade. In our Venturing crew, because our older siblings move on to college or war, and parents need to direct their attention elsewhere, we sorely notice the absence of that institutional memory. I find myself explaining (what I think are) the simplest things.

I think that boils down to the "individual sport" strategy. I.e., no MB classes during meetings, no working on MBs during meetings (although, I think most troops with that strategy still grant boys a few minutes to meet with their counselors by appointment during opening games or patrol break-out sessions -- for the sake of youth protection), brief conversation with the SM regarding blue cards, touch base with the librarian about pamphlets, and that's it. Activities planned for their own sake without regard to any MB that could be earned in the process. It's on the boy to connect the dots and maybe influence program toward a badge of his interest. That's basically how I had my boys operate. Mainly because every attempt at MB class during a meeting led to eyes rolling into the backs of their little heads when we got to handing out worksheets and school-type requirements. Now, having one or two boys bring in a demonstration as part of a requirement for a badge (e.g., cooking supper in the church kitchen, lighting and extinguishing grease fires in the parking lot, etc ...) ... THAT resonated very well with the rest of the boys. Completing their badge, however, was left up to each scout on his own time, and only a percentage of the boys did that. It works for us, but none of our scouts earn Eagle quickly, and their sashes aren't overly burdened with round medallions. I don't think NobodyReallySon would like our troop at first blush. @@TAHAWK, if you've experienced another way of a troop "letting a scout's interests drive what merit badge he persues" do tell. Because, the OP has a kid who's nuts about earning MBs (usually an indicator of broad interests) and they would surely like to fall in with a troop who will make that a possibility.

Fred said everything I would say about "back room dish" on other troops. How to pick? Well, he first needs to get some more data. Specifically, who decides which topics a troop will work on? If the committee has a routine schedule that covers only Eagle-required badges, then that's a no-go for your son. It sounds like he's well on his way to knocking those out with or without the troop's encouragement; therefore, what would benefit him is a troop willing to go after obscure MBs just for the fun of it. If the boys in leadership positions plan what merit-badges the entire troop does for certain meetings, that's better. Your son can give feedback, and maybe an obscure one gets on the docket. If the responsibility for MBs courses falls on the patrol, that's even better. It's far easier to get 8 guys to agree to try an obscure badge ... plus, if four patrols are going after four different badges, they might be flexible enough to swap members who might want to try a MB being considered by a different patrol. What that means is increased odds that at any given time he'll have a buddy (or eight) to work on MB's with. Now, in the end, he may see earning MBs as an individual sport. In that case, the only thing that matters is a troop full of welcoming boys who have fun during the meetings and an SM who likes signing blue cards frequently.

Welcome! (To you and your strange request.) And, thanks in advance for all you'll do for the boys. I have not seen anything of the sort. I have seen decals (for scrapbooking, etc ...). But not for windows/windshield. I don't think it's proprietary, but it may be something that folks haven't demanded. Scouts change units just enough to make marking up a car a questionable endeavor. Have you thought about crafting something with cloth numbers that might hang from a review mirror, or sit on a dashboard?

As far as our nation's code, the Senate is here for you: http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30243.pdf You mentioned the den flag. Where is the pack flag? As far as some unwritten "unit code": patrol flags usually move with the patrol leader. So, if they get posted anywhere, it would be where the boys seat themselves (on an outside aisle, so as not to obstruct the audience's view). But there should be no disrespect however you do it (e.g posted adjacent to the pack flag), as long as the other den flags are treated equally. For example, a couple of weeks ago, when the W2's visited, the patrol flags were displayed along the wall behind the US and national flags.