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Since everybody is so into STEM these days, you could set up a Black Jack table and teach kids some basic probabilities.

Sounds like your council doesn't require letters from the parents. (Makes sense to me, haven't they done enough paperwork already?)

Dad! Stop over thinking this! No wonder the poor kid is a perfectionist! With 2-3 patrols, I took a play from the guys on this forum and had the SM de-elevate the role of SPL to a sane and manageable level. The SPL just checks on the two PLs to see if they need anything. Sets up a roster to assign tasks to patrols (opening, closing, clean-up). On outings assigns similar rosters (flags, site sweep, evening campfire): Find out what the patrols are doing. (The advantage for him here, is if one patrol is doing something that he might need for advancement, he could ask to drop in.) Find out what they need. Get ASPL to help with it. All the other stuff that adults expect of SPL are things the PL should be doing or things that should not be happening. Beyond that, SPL regularly follows-up with the SM. If your son is like mine, your hardest job will be nudging him to get on the phone with the SM and find out what needs to be done for the next meeting. Oh, and drop that non-consecutive term rule ASAP. It's idiotic. If everyone feels one boy is the best for the job for 10 terms straight, let him have it.

The boy is required to list a parent or guardian as a reference. If your question is about a written reference being normal, that varies by council (ours requires the boy to collect them). There is nothing on the application that says someone on the BOR couldn't volunteer to check each reference by phone or simply walk around town and get a handshake on each reference's vouching for the boy.

I think a HB like Stosh's would be very helpful for the 2C's troop to see.

I think this is a great opportunity to work with your son at a "teachable" age. But ... Don't lift a pen for him. But show him where he should be "filling in the blanks." Read the SPL handbook with him. See if your PLC could plan an ILST course. Most importantly, make sure he has the SM on speed dial. It's okay if plans are a little rough. It would be very bad if you smoothed every thing over and raise the bar too high for the next SPL!

Don't know. Been to a GSUSA camporee, and it was a blast. (Of course, half of the organizers/staff were venturers ... I literally could have had a crew meeting during break time. ) There's a lot to be said for keeping the opposite sex out of the equation. Certainly Girl Guides in the UK are motoring along just fine.

(Point of clarification to some of the replies that were cub-specific. In spite of his handle, the OP is dealing with troop management issues. Although it sounds like some cross-over parents are asking, "Why can't we do it like we did in the Pack?") I think we need to stick with the hardcopy handbook, initials, and notes for one simple reason. It's a wonderful momento. Two examples: I showed my scouts my HB a few months ago. They got a kick out of it, and a few went straight to the back and compared what MB's I earned to their list. One boy was quite proud that I earned an elective MB that he was also interested in. Last year, after a Wilderness First Aid course, a venturer (from out of our area) asked the instructor to sign her Ranger hand-book. This guy hadn't initialed an advancement for years! It was amusing to see the puzzle look on his face. (Note: in our council, we don't expect the college kids to chase signatures, we do expect them to give us course dates and show us certifications, photos, etc ...) So, some advisor in Cradel of Liberty sees this initial and dates from an old salt on the other side of the Appalachians ... not gonna tip the scales in deciding if the young lady gets the bling. But for that young lady, there's a fond memory of a weekend with some genuinely awesome scouters. These books -- if they survive years of moving and child-rearing -- have stories that get pulled out of the attic and told every now and then. Those stories inspire the next generation of 1st Class Scouts. Some of those stories might show years passing between requirements. That's important too. A youth who's doubting him/herself might realize that Dad or Uncle or Mom had to be patient too. Or he/she might decide that it's time to beat the old folks' time! 2C, maybe that's an approach you could take. Find someone who was in the program as a youth. Ask him to bring his HB in and talk about the initials and dates in it. Tell the boys that the PLs and SPLs who will fill the pages of their books are helping them with the story of their 1st class journey as well.

So, do these parents want to buy the PL's smart phones, so they can log the skills they observe in each boy? By "lots of guff" are a dozen parents livid at you? Or, are a couple pushing to innovate and want you to get with the program?

15 minutes is more than most younger scouts can stand! And that seems to be the average length of ours. A scout may request a BoR any time three committee members are available. (We use the term loosely to be sure to include "off-roster" folks such as yourself!) Obviously, he is more likely to get one if he requests a week in advance. Generally there is no problem take a scout out of a meeting ... especially if he has made arrangements with his patrol in advance.

The PWD is a trail of tears most days. Your son does have something to be proud of. I hope you do find a pack without these monkey-shines. But if you don't. When your son is 11, do consider having him visit a troop or two.

I can't remember if I was SPL or PL at the time, but I was fully responsible for my non-compliant scout one winter campout. When he went hopping away from the fire with lit boot, it was entirely on me to tackle him, grab that smoking lump of rubber off his foot, sink it in the snow, and figure out if his foot got hurt. (It didn't.) Then it was on me to figure out how to make that holey boot and a sock full or tar babies serviceable until we got home. Only after that, would I then walk the 100 yards over to the SM and report the situation. Frankly, I never knew there could be a panoply of adults meddling in campfire affairs until my son started scouting. But then, our kids are dressed in much more expensive foot gear. Gotta protect that investment, I suppose.

Let me answer your question with two questions: When camping, how far away do you insist that adults camp from the boys, and how far away do does each patrol camp from the others? During meetings how many rooms down the hall are the adults from the boys?

My junior sociopaths would run to some very dark places with that one. Maybe we could try "what promotes the greatest survival advantage of the species", but that is very Homo-centric. ..."What is wholesome for all sentient beings?" A little more universal. "What's best for the biosphere?" But, why? I'm all for pointing out inklings of "God-sense" in a friend, but I'm also not inclined to patronize someone who thinks it all to be bollocks. If they think we're all wasting precious time mucking about with religion (even the highly disorganized individualistic variety), then we have a fundamental difference over a hefty chunk of what scouting in the USA is supposed to be. If an athiest doesn't want his/her son exposed to what they would chalk up to a bunch of gibberish, it's fair to warn them that cost of the bling includes acquiescing to said gibberish. This is hardly any different than a conservative Jew or Christian who feels that his/her teen should not be exposed to inter-faith influences. Well, I ignored that photo of Wayne Perry in tan shirt and brown pants .... As far as I can tell, National hasn't asked me to be its henchman. My job. Get to know the parents. Let them know there's this rift that your scouters try to smooth over, but at a certain point, maybe when a boy reads his own membership application, definitely if a boy applies for Eagle, it may come up. How they want to prepare their son between now and then is entirely up to them (and eventually him).

I never saw my Webelos DL in uniform (either BSA or his State Police uni). He was younger, and I think he was making it clear that he was one of us. And, yes we did take advantage of it and prank him from time to time. But it wasn't that hard to know his boundaries and we definitely stayed within those. In exchange, he got us into all kinds of activities -- including one fond memory of him teaching us how to shoot his .38 special. (G2SS wonks can sit on your hands, please. This was a county where boys made their own gunpowder because it was cheaper than playing video games all day.) I think he cut me some slack with a few pins as well -- basically calling my dad and asking if I at least tried each activity. I kinda felt bad for some of those "gimmes" ... But at least my dad told me why he thought I deserved them, which brings me to a point I didn't make earlier: boys know if you "cut corners", and it adds a little shame to the award. So remind parents that their kids deserve a real sense of pride. They need to know someone loves them even if they fall short, but they also need to know that there will be no whitewashing of shortfalls.

MBCs are usually managed by district. So, troops usually get a listing of only those within their district. So generally, you aren't likely to get a call from 150 miles away. As far as I know, however, that does not preclude you from counseling a scout from the opposite side of the country.

Guys, I'm no expert on hillbilly hat sizing from 35 years ago. But, yes, my head is larger than most. Size 8 is snug on me but it's usually because my head is not as oval as most hat holes! It takes years of trying on lots of models to find one to suit.

First, advancement is not a method of venturing. Awards and recognition is. The specialty awards, Ranger, Quest, and Trust are still available. None of my youth are at all interested in these or any other awards. They just want the occasional activity that stretches and challenges them, and they want unique social opportunities. Other advisors, however, tell me they can't keep their kids away from awards. Every crew's different.

CNY, you've read this forum enough to know the answer. Cut the BS from the BSA. Your son is the DC. He is the one to help out. He is the one to tell these boys what's so important about uniforming. He has the right to ask the boys to shape up or else he will be embarrassed to introduce them to his troop. At the same time, he is the one who can tell the boys that AoL sets them up for a successful introduction to troop life. They should make an honest effort to earn it. But it's okay if they don't. They can still join the troop when they meet the age/grade limit. If your son is feeling disrespected, he can talk to DL, CM and SM about how to handle it. You may be there to put the parents in line. So, take them into another room if you have to. Assure them that the AoL requirements must be completed as written to earn the award. The DL is more than happy to read those loosely. But there has to be a good faith effort on the part of the boy and his family. If the requirements are not completed the award will not be earned. The B&G is an imaginary deadline as far as you are concerned and any attempt to link it to AoL is a drag on the Pack's program. Furthermore, if any boy gets so much as a bead under false pretenses, you would rather him look for another troop. Otherwise, your troop is happy to take in any boy who ages in unpretentiously. Inform them that sometimes not earning AoL is a healthy way for a boy to start his trail to Eagle. I guess epithets like "cupcake" and "parlor" scout are in order. But, it seems like you don't know these parents well enough to use them.

CNY, this is wrong on a number of levels, and one family who shuns religion is the least of your worries, IMHO. Boys don't need AOL to cross over. They don't need to cross-over in any particular time frame. And they certainly don't need to do it for any B&G dog-and-pony show. If the boys want to hussle up and do those requirements in the next three months, fine. If not, you should tell the Pack Committee to not "waive" any requirements except for physical disability. Your son has the opportunity to actually get a den full of boys to enjoy scouting. He doesn't need to be involved in any "rubber stamping.":confused: If, starting in February, the troop wants to welcome the Webelos who haven't earned AoL to "visit" meetings and events on a regular basis, that's fine too. As each boy comes of age or graduates 5th grade, hand them the application for transfer. Actually, if a few of them cross over without AoL, your son should consider himself a real success. Why? Because he will have presented scouting to those boys as something more than a pathway to more bling.