qwazse

We all are trying to impose our will by showing up and paying well above cost for a dinner served by amateurs! We are willing that those amateurs continue to do the good we think they are doing in the world. Now, those amateurs have every right to refuse an ex-con's charity. But they aren't obligated to exercise that right just because they are obligated to refuse his/her leadership.

S99 has some great points. As a general rule, I tell Life scouts that nobody is going to care about what position patch is on their sleeve, but the will be asked what they accomplished in that position. I encourage my adults to ask the "what did you do" questions more than "what patch" questions. My observation: the most responsible boys will promptly list everything they didn't do. They are their own worst critics when it comes to management failure. The real challenge as an adult is recognizing leadership when you see it and encouraging the boys positively. (BTW: this includes "natural leader" things like rallying the patrols to do some impromptu activity that has adults scrambling to adjust schedules/ get out of bed/ ensure safety, or making sure to talk to the new boy from another school who might be having a tough time relating to every scout, etc ... .) Then, when a boy is reflecting on his scouting career, you need to get him to him recall the things he did do that positively impacted the life of the unit.

If I were the CC, I would tell that ASM to refer reporters to council HQ. But, since the cat's out of the bag ... I'm with Stosh. Sure, you could legally inform him he's not welcome, but there comes a time in your life where you have to face down your demons. I would let scouts (and parents) know that they can look an erstwhile predator in they eye and do business with a handshake and a smile, but not let him have any of the leadership privileges over youth that should be the sole rights of the trustworthy. The memory of "uncomfortable feeling" might come in handy one day when that boy is in a privileged position and finds himself tempted to do something untoward.

It's like Son #1 had an evil twin 6 years later. No Joke, a problem like this is precisely why I signed on to this forum! Since then, I've had dozens of multiply registered boys make Eagle. They all preferred to keep their primary registration through the troop, but depending on what they were doing at the time of life rank, some have counted their time as a crew officer as their POR. They've all filled out their paperwork indicated that they've earned their award through the troop; however, one boy (who did all of his advancement with the troop), by a slip of the registrar's fingers, had his award attached to the crew. I told him I could arrange to change it back to the troop, but he wasn't bothered, so I wasn't. Anyway, the only thing that matters for eagle is that the boy held 6 months of POR in either or both of his units. No extra paperwork necessary. I encourage the troop committee to ask specific questions about a boys' venturing POR (regardless of if he's counting it for advancement) during their boards of review. So, he can put either unit on his application. Let him know that regardless, there's a 10% chance that council will screw it up on his NESA card. KM, as to why boys want things one way and not the other -- especially when all the work has been done and he's gonna get the signatures regardless, I have no clue! As I've said elsewhere, venturers have boundary issues -- in a good way. In this case, it kinda forces the BS out of the BSA.

This makes me feel sad. No uncles are free? Have you talked to the SM to see there are any alternatives?

"We don't care what DL don't allow, We be loyal scouts anyhow ...." Bottom line: your boy won't complete AOL, he won't complete 5th grade, and he won't be 11. He really should be in a the next younger den, and there should be no reason to dey that to him,

Here, weather is the main factor. Schedules are the second. For six months out of the year, hypothermia is a present risk, especially to 10 and under years old. For three months, frostbite is a present risk ... especially when boys are by a fire and not attending to those earlobes farthest away from the flames! So most packs settle for a spring or fall weekend and summer resident camp.

Moz, sounds like the problem is with your district advancement chair. Complain loudly at round table that you need a little more backing from higher up when it comes to the planning process. But also, explain to your boys that they should be able to come back to their project 10 years from now, maybe with a wife and kids, and say "Wouldja look at that? The guy who set this up musta been some kind of awesome!" An Eagle candidate must have said "I will do my best ..." sometime during the program. About the only person who knows really what constitutes a boy's best is the boy and his SM. Never let all of this paper pushing get in the way of that.

I've seen more of this at VOA events than others. Not surprised. Not making excuses, but not judging either. Venturing adults have the widest extremes of bed-down preferences ... from sleep anywhere with at least a rock for a pillow to only in cabins with heating and plumbing. Love your crew for what they do and praise them loudly whenever they push the envelope.

RULE # 1: NEVER ask someone for a rule, they'll give you one. I don't sit around waiting for people to tell me what good work of mine is acceptable. If nowhere it is written that a good deed, like walking through MB requirements over the oh one in advance of or persuant to a counseling session, is unacceptable, then IT IS ACCEPTABLE.

(I tried to reply yesterday, hopefully it will stick today!) The details make a difference, and in this case they work in favor of you being accepted as a leader. Even before the background check, there's a (very small) space to disclose this on the application. Fill that out. Find a quiet place to explain the situation to your Charter Org rep and Committee Chair when you turn in your application. (Be patient while they laugh at you. Then tell them it's not something you don't want bantered about You just want them to be prepared if the folks at headquarters find out from the check.) If the record does turn up, a Council executive may call your CC/COR about it. If everyone agrees that that's all there is to this story, that's the end of it. I think it's worth the effort. And, on the application, you'll read fine print about your rights regarding the background check. Have fun leading.

You and your son may also want to consider joining a new pack for summer camp. Now is the time to jump on that bandwagon, if there is one.

My take on all of this: The draft is not supposed to help the scout with the final plan. It's just supposed to let everybody know that the scout wants to do "project x" and everybody is in agreement with him developing and implementing a plan to do it. It's between the scout and the "Service Project MBC" (sorry, getting sick of the term Eagle Coach) how much feedback he should get and how solid his plan should be before implementation. Different projects require different levels and types of preparation. Thus, the draft is a blue-card of sorts. That said, our district advancement chair is fairly meticulous about projects, and requests that boys meet with him personally. He likes to see drafts in pretty good condition before giving the go-ahead.

A rose by any other name ... No matter what you call it, you are accounting for individuals' fundraising and crediting their access to pack funds in proportion to what they've raised. The only question is: does that accounting exist for the boy's parents' personal benefit, or does it enable the boy stewards over some pack funds for the pack's benefit?

Was at the scout shop yesterday and skimmed it. It did not seem "head and shoulders" better than the last edition, so no purchase made.

Son #1 and his buddies listened to mostly 80s music, so if the band was good I doubt it would have been a problem. Son #2 was with our crew this fall at a council camporee that included a decent local country western band, laser show, and fireworks. They were delayed because of rain, and one of the girls was getting chilled, so he and another fellow and female youth requested to go back to camp (which was a mile away, but there was an adult hanging back there). I had no problems with it. I can imagine a patrol of younger boys wanting to make similar adjustments. So my opinion: as long as the boys were still being accountable to their adult leadership, the Campmaster was out of line. If there was a safety issue, he should have had the courtesy to explain it.

I got weird database errors when trying to post yesterday. Not sure what that was a bout.

I dunno, a little oragami can make a comfy shelter from a tarp, or a perfect sling from a necker, or a sturdy pack from two boards and a drop-cloth, or a collapsible three-shelf oven from a #10 can and a wire coat hanger ...

"I can't help but think that if the other adult leaders in the troop had the strength of character, including myself, and/or the inclination to take on the role of SM that the current SM would have been ousted by now. If he steps down or is asked to step down, I believe it is highly unlikely that the troop will continue." This is an indication of really bad leadership that a lot of us need to look out for. When folks around us think that we cannot be replaced and everything will fall apart if we go, we are not prepared when things go off the rails. You need to find the institutional head and ask for someone to step in for the COR. Heart attacks take months to bounce back from. You can tell him/her that since becoming CC you realized that the troop isn't functioning as it ought, and you need a little guidance to make it better. We scouters screw up interpersonally all the time. It's actually one of the benefits of being an adult in the program. You get to come clean about your strengths and weaknesses and over time improve a little. I'm all for giving a person the benefit of the doubt, but if a guy hasn't apologized to you for his inappropriate behavior, I'm afraid it just means he's moving on to his next mark.

If you mean will the BSA still exist? That really depends on if the adults of tomorrow value what BSA's done for them as the youth of today. Will scouting still exist? Based on the number of scouting organizations world wide and in the USA. Odds are one or two of them will allow youth to hike and camp and head up a vibrant program independent of adults.

We've had a spate of Eagles who generate service projects every other month, it seems. Then we collect scouting for food and sort it for the pantry at our CO. Folks ask us to retire flags, so we do that. Then we leave it up to the boys. Most of them volunteer to help our crew coordinate the district in placing flags on veterans' graves in a large non-profit cemetery. Plus, wherever we camp, we ask how we can help. We definitely knock out more than 4 a year. It depends on the year and the boys if we do more than that.