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Well, there were precious few adults in the vicinity when I was a scout, so it was never a possibility. (I cant remember the SM and ASM joining us for meals. The would have had to, but I don't recall it.) Currently this is a troop tradition. Or, more accurately a solution to the problem of active adults in a campsite that is much smaller than the desired 600 yard postage stamp. It consumes space and ads clutter creating one more cooking station for a bunch of guys (and the occasional lady) who would do just as well with a pot for tea and coffee. Otherwise, old fart's patrols can get out of hand. For example, when I run shop, the menu includes shrimp scampi (properly done with clarified butter, dill and chili powder) and fettuchini alfredo beside fresh greens with vinegar and olive oil ... maybe tiramisu for desert. You can see how menus like that 5 days straight could could turn a boys' camp into a big-boy playground. Instead, we keep ourselves company at a picnic table some modest distance away from the hubub of cooking and wait for the PL to whom we were assigned to send a runner letting us know the meal is ready. We do have weekend camps where adults can "show how it's done" ... summer camp just isn't one of them.

Welcome. If you and your patrol find anything that folks here have written helpful, post a reply letting us know how it worked out. I'm not gonna try and discourage you from looking at controversial forums, but do let your folks know what you're reading. Their opinions should matter to you most. In four years someone should be handing you a voter's registration and asking you to run our country. So, start reading up no to be prepared for that day!

Working in the sciences, I see the need on a daily basis for the Oath and Law or some similar ethic. Lacking it, these fields quickly become monstrosities. Convenience is a factor as well. Lots of folks live closer to a lab or factory than they do to a farm or forest.

@@Eamonn, we never cook for the boys ... Especially at summe camp. There is plenty of time for them to cook for their troop ... Including the adults, two guests per patrol. Plenty of time left over for merit badges and camp-wide shenanigans. @@TAHAWK, I never learned about patrol method from professionals. It's volunteers who articulated it best for me. As a youth, I'm pretty sure my SPLs did more to explain it to us. Of course Green Bar Bill's articles provided ideas for practical implementation. Son#2's new roommate is also an Eagle Scout, and they've obviously been comparing notes. Son#2 told me he was a little envious the other troop's more successful implementation of the method.

I don't get that. Yes, the Mrs. and I have a bias towards STEM, and we infected our kids with that attitude to the point they gave their humanities teachers a run for their money. Heck, Son #1 confessed his love to he girl he would eventually marry using an integral formula. But, there is no way I'd waste a dime on science camp.

Credit the college boys I know who came up through scouting in the Czech Republic. The youngest might join our troop as an ASM if he can spare the time. They have no cubmaster or crew advisor or GS leader... just one "scoutmaster" for all 80-100 of them. His top rovers serve as den leaders (not the same term, but similar function) under his mentor-ship. By the time those rovers move on, their charges are at our boys' cross-over age. The down side, from talking to the boys' parents, is Eastern block folks had the whole adult association thing beaten out of them until the Wall came down. So, still 30 years later, the SM has hardly any committee, and a lot of drop-off parents. All those discussions have me thinking of how the grass can be made a little greener on either side of the old iron curtain.

Actually, I'm kinda thinking the reverse. We've revamped the CS program so many times over, I think one more modest change would be just fine. What if the next position after SPL or Crew President, would be (wait for it) ... .... Cubmaster? Really, why does that have to be an adult position? The best ones I know act like big kids anyway. He/she would be a mature 16-20 year old (yes they are out there) and would draw on fellow scouts/venturers to be Den Chiefs. They report to the SM or committee chair (perhaps now unified across both units) and would work with moms and dads to line up program for the boys. This would get parents more comfortable with the idea of youth leadership. What would adults who would-be Cubmasters do instead? Well, how about they start working on earning 1st class rank? That would get them comfortable with the skills needed to be a scout, and put them in a position to better assist the SM! Plus it would give them a leg up in earning Eagle (if they haven't already). Maybe getting a few adults to go through the advancement process again would lead to shedding off those required pencil-whipping badges y'all gripe about. But what about unintended consequences, like moms getting that bird bling? Don't worry, if O/A can play their smoke and mirrors to deny first-class female youth an honor, I'm sure the rest of us can keep up that charade as well.

I think that's why the designers of STEM scouts bypassed the merit-badge program. It is simply not flexible enough to have age-appropriate activities for any cluster of science related badges over a long term. The same thing could be said for GS-USA's science-related badges. My reading through this and the STEM-Nova programs gives me the sense that accumulation of time in various lab settings is as central to them as accumulating varied camping nights is to boy scouts. In fact, I could envision the pinnacle STEM-scouting experience as independently replicating science and unlocking the secrets of the universe with your mates. Lets hope the leaders and parents of this division can too.

I'm less concerned about where we failed, and more about how we can succeed. Since we've all bought into management speak, one way or another, I start with vision. Most of you have heard mine, but I repeat for newbies: Every American youth should envision the pinnacle scouting experience as hiking and camping independently with your mates. All other activities including meetings, cubs, troop camp-outs, summer camp, Jambo, high adventure bases, advancement, service, STEM, patriotism, etc ...are stepping stones to building that vision. Our success hinges on youth and adults actually thinking that's when you know you've arrived as scout. If you actually get there by your 18th birthday is another issue. But *the varsity letter* is not a badge or whatever, it's when your fellow citizens actually trust you (when the responsible adults are not there) to be good stewards of their land for a weekend. The next question becomes, what do we need to change to inculcate that vision?

Well, that saves Trail Life from ruminating about making allowances for social trinitarians.

Room and board is part of the compensation. And, it is seasonal work!

Bottom line: nothing official would prevent it. With our troop we often encourage it. Usually it's because the boys are friends across troop boundaries. But there have been other reasons as well, like a boy couldn't go to summer camp with his troop on a particular week. Your son is absolutely within his rights to call other SMs and explain his situation. And the SM is within his rights to explain his. For example, he might say he is really trying to get the boys to plan better, so it's important for him to attend the two meetings prior to a campout. Or there might be a training on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. That stuff you'll only know if you call. The opinions of a bunch of old farts on the internet hardly matter.

You say arbitrary, I say respectful of council resources and the local culture and mindset.

Yep, your son should respectfully ask to either wear a troop guide patch and the patch of his patrol of origin, or the patrol leader patch and the patch of the patrol he's leading. He may already be seeing a natural leader among the boys, so he may want to recommend to the SM that that boy be PL. Or, he may suggest that the boy be his assistant PL. His argument could be "Sir, when I'm old and forgetful, I'd like to pull out my patch box and remember my scouting journey exactly how it was. This will help." Regardless, you should be proud that the SM trusts your kid with this responsibility.

From the boys' perspective, if there's this guy/gal who's teaching them cool things and they get away from the hubbub of daily life and their parents are proud of them for it, why not stick around -- even if it's just two of you? Not every boy wants to be part of a crowd. And for some boys, 8 is a crowd. (Heck, in Dolly Sods this summer, it began to feel like 3 and me was a crowd!) The question really isn't about quitting. It is about are these boys motivated enough to lead by recruiting? Are they willing to look beyond their buddies to some boys who might not have found their niche in school, sports, or whatever? If they are, then you should coach them accordingly. At the least, they should visit a Webelos den or two, talk about what they've done in the past year while you shuffle the parents off to another room and explain to them how your troop operates and what you think of your boys as potential leaders of their kids.

What he can or cannot do in a troop with or without a parent is not a function of any of y'all's special little policies, but rather a function of what the SM will put up with. Back in the day before we'd hem and haw over the Internet with strangers about this sort of thing, two leaders would talk about the situation and hash it out. District personnel would never be told, except maybe the SM would say to the UC and his CC "We have ... I want it to work out with H.Q. so that .... Make it so." Hands shake. DL thinks SM can walk on water. Boys have fun. I suspect that's still how things operate most days.

Welcome! And thanks for your service to our future venturers (hopefully)! My co-advisor had a very similar situation with her GS-Troop. The girl was also in my crew. Charming at first, but her attitude grew toxic. So much so that her best friend was being dragged into the drama as well. In venturing, that behavior rarely succeeds because the youth do all of the work and, because of the tasks that older youth take on, a character like that "hits the wall" fairly quickly (roughly when everyone starts talking about prepping for two days in bear county). So, this girl eventually contented herself with only being a pest in her troop. It came to a head on what should have been an otherwise beautiful day at the beach, when she was being surly and trying to get the rest of the girls - or at least her buddy - to mutiny. A grandma (bless her soul) who was there to chaperon finally called her on it and suggested in no uncertain terms that if she wants to make the world a worst place she can do it on her own time! So, now's the chance to correct things. Sometimes scouting is the only place such behaviors occur. So, don't be surprised at the mom's comment. Do not hesitate to give the "shape up or ship out" talk. There are acceptable behaviors that bring joy and flourishing. Make clear in no uncertain terms that your troop will regard those behaviors highly. Everything else is unwelcome. Do not even suggest this girl go to another troop. If she leaves she can waste her own mental energy figuring out whom she will pester. If she shapes up, you might just have yourself a natural leader in a few years. P.S. - I have noticed that girls can be unforgiving when a kid does try to turn things around. So, assuming your prodigal pulls it together, you'll have to teach everyone else a whole other set of lessons!

That's not a hard-and-fast requirement. But there's pressure from family, as in the OP's case, to devote time to to the LDS unit. I can see it as a real challenge for an SM to declare that his religious duty is all about guiding boys into the woods monthly. Been there a little myself. We've also heard from scouters whose religious restrictions make Saturdays or Sundays "off limits". So, I get why units are the way they are, and how a boy whose breaking the mold can't induce change. On the other hand I do venturing, so I really understand how tough it is, as @@Twocubdad describes, to have boys just drop in for the campout and maintain that youth led sense. But, I'm proof that there are scouters out there who will let it happen and let the youth-led failures-to-communicate chips fall where they may. That's what boys actually like about my program -- and I often feel it's the worst aspect of it. Have the kid make the phone calls. You never know what kind of troops are out there and what they'll accommodate.

Like the Italians would say, "America e` grande!" It's a big country, with varying grand traditions and attitudes toward central authority that pre-date scouting. E.g., I live in Whiskey Rebellion country. So, it takes a lot of convincing when someone tells us the equivalent of "pay tax in dollars" when we only get paid in doubloons ... You cite the "adding to the requirements" principle. There's also the "no secrets in scouting" principle.

Just heard the news this morning. A tragic day for racing, scouting, and most importantly what by all accounts is a lovely family. Prayers said.

I guess topography defines us. At summer camp we have more boys than we do open field. So they would be saluting a tree trunk or the latrine if we did not arrange lines at some depth. We do form to the left or right of the pole on the downhill side, so the SPLs do not obstruct the view of the flag. Also, maybe you all should consider tall poles, so that the back row can enjoy the view! @@Stosh, You didn't answer the OP. Where does you colorguard retire to? Around behind the formation? Or, into the formation?

Electronic mail is automatically filtered by most savvy parents.There is just too much noise. If flyers aren't being hand-carried home by enthusiastic boys, you're wasting time. If the principal can't free up the time for a full school assembly, save the paper and have some fun ... Talk to the local PTA about your scouts hosting a family night event. For example, maybe an informal pinewood derby race. Loan old cars or build there. Not too complicated, use some blocks to color and stick on some well-made flatbeds would do. Or whatever ... a mix of craft and competition. No keeping score, just sending as many wheels down the track as possible. Then get your best committtee member to work the crowd ... "All this and more could be yours ..." Team up with the local GSUSA council and see they can provide another activity ... kill two birds with one stone.

I think it needs a photo of some youth in an active service project. More youth are looking for that sort of thing than we give credit. The classic hauling trash out of a stream is one that caught my attention back in the day. I wish I had a camera at the ready on Son #2's last day as a scout. He ended it in uniform helping an elderly lady across the parking lot into her cab. See an image of that, and every mom I know would sign the dotted line.

I love to hear from youth when they talk to me about this. But, I know I need to hear from parents. For example, I had a girl who wanted to join our crew, but her mom was dead set against it. I wished I could have got the two of them and Dad in the same room at the same time. Other times, I had a mom or dad who talked me an earful about getting their kid into scouts, but the kid was hardly interested. I think your son calling the SM and asking to meet with you and him would be the right way to go.

Probably too late for '16. Maybe next year. @@SeattlePioneer, you get a -1 from me for a crappy title. We don't need more BS in the organization than we already have!