qwazse

So it's funding. Think of it this way: Adults pay from their own pocket, or Adults pay from their boys' pocket. Either is fine as long as everyone knows what's going on. The treasurer's expense report should specify "amount paid from dues collected" vs. "amount paid from troop fund". Chances are your more active adults if they understand what's happening will want to make a donation to offset their membership costs, if they can. Like everything in life, there are pluses and minuses to either approach, leave that for your committee to hash out while you're tending the boys.

I resent the tone the article takes toward my "at risk" venturers of a particular race and child-rearing situation. Were I to take it to it's conclusion, I would presume that my (fortunately formerly) homeless youth of minority persuasion is doomed to thuggery, while I have nothing to worry about from my supposedly well-parented poor-impulse-control youth. Actually, it seems that the former youth is being forced to work (picking up magician jobs at the last minute) for a living and necessarily has to be courteous to all to keep from the brink of starvation. Meanwhile, the other fellow has free time and sufficient shelter to develop a surly and ill-tempered attitude. Our kids are exposed to innumerable man/womanhood rituals that undermine their proper character development. It's our jobs as caring adults to call their attention to any of it. One of my phrases to ALL of my "gangsta wannabe" youth: "Thuggery does not become you." I really, really hope they all take it to heart.

Scouting Magazine for every adult New advancement requirements A whole lot of lawyering That about sums it up.

So, it sounds like your adults don't pay dues. Are you concerned because the boys will have to raise more funds to pay for adult registrations if you keep your pool of adults large? Or, is this about more than just money?

Growing up, my SM operated this way. The committee was just a few parents (including my dad) and started its meeting during the troop meeting and once the boys were dismissed, SM went upstairs to give his report. I distinctly remember waiting in the scout house (along with lads waiting for BoRs) for my dad. Never knew anyone to have a problem with it. SM had more hours to spend with youth. The CC and COR represented the SM to the rest of the committee. The all went to the same church (and school, I think, growing up), so they were pretty tight. My son's SMs aren't comfortable with this, and sit in on the entire meeting. So, we hold it on a different night. Takes up more time out of people's week. With lots of folks pulling double shifts to maintain their standard of living, you lose adults. As Advisor, I play a much different game. (The chart IS different too! But most folks come in with a sense of things similar to your parents'.) I told my crew committee to not hold any meeting in the absence of the crew president. That solved a multitude of problems. (Caused others, like if a youth doesn't step up and make some phone calls, there is a high probability of their pet activity not happening.) Different strokes, I guess.

You can't possibly mean Scouting as it was understood by Baden-Powell: Proficiency Badges that measure a Scout's current proficiency in Boy Scout skills only? Bad idea! That would attract boys who like camping, in the same way that basketball teams attract boys who like basketball, baseball teams attract boys who like baseball, football teams attract boys who like football, and soccer teams attract boys who like soccer. The Merit Badge system is designed for adults with a marginal interest in Cub Scout outdoor skills for teens, but seek to make up for the shortcomings of the public school system by turning Scouting into after-school school. Oh, the horror that a Boy Scout might pick up Personal Management in a one hour trick-or-treat session, while we struggle to uphold the standards that most red-blooded outdoor boys hate, have always hated, and will continue to hate until the end of time. Yours at 300 feet, Kudu Will reducing the number of MBs get us any closer to "proficiency badges" (in the outdoors or otherwise)?

No! The worst thing we can do is teach our kids that the only things "out there" are a few occupations and interests that are economically valuable and all they need to do is master those and the world will be a better place.

Like I teach the kids in my youh group, steer clear of Christiena. They're a vicious lot who'll ruin your walk with Jesus if you let them. Some concerned individuals threatened to do the same thing to my unit if a particular adult was stayed on my roster. The person didn't want any trouble, but I concluded cow-towing would invite more trouble, so I recharted with no dropping anyone. Lots of ranting to H.Q., calls from HQ, me writing a succinct letter of the facts for the record, and making clear to my DE that no positions would change. We're still here years later. Your mileage may vary.

Let's see: because I pursued Eagle Scout I: - learned to develop film long before I joined camera club. - understood how to read weather maps. - made insane orienteering courses. - had one-on-one conversations with bank presidents, county sherrifs, professors, miners, EMTs, clergy, organists, journeymen, etc ... Because other boys were earning it I ... - Learned to use the come-along that was hanging in my dad's garage (logs for trout ladders) - learned every detail of steam locomotives (from inside the boiler out) - gained a healthy respect of mountain laurel and limestone caves in the same weekend .., and the list goes on. But that should be enough to answer your question.

I hope by "rank" you really mean his title/position of PL, and not his BSA rank (2nd Class, 1st Class, Star, etc). Once a BSA rank has been awarded - no one - except the BSA National office, has the ability to remove it. Certainly not your Troop's committee. Talk to your Scoutmaster - NOW. BTW - what was done with Alex for his multiple incidents of shoving, and (especially) Jacob for shoving, stabbing, tripping, stealing, and punching? James might have incited the incidents, but these boys were the ones to actually demonstrate, CLEARLY, what it means to NOT live by the Scout Oath and Law. The excuse of someone else "making" them act like aggressive bullies does not fly in my book. It was THEIR choice to act the way they did. Do these parents get that it's the SM's call when elections happen? It's his call about which troop customs to uphold/amend. The ASMs assist him. Period. Typically it's the boys who vote their leaders, and leaders don't get removed lightly.

I hope by "rank" you really mean his title/position of PL, and not his BSA rank (2nd Class, 1st Class, Star, etc). Once a BSA rank has been awarded - no one - except the BSA National office, has the ability to remove it. Certainly not your Troop's committee. Talk to your Scoutmaster - NOW. BTW - what was done with Alex for his multiple incidents of shoving, and (especially) Jacob for shoving, stabbing, tripping, stealing, and punching? James might have incited the incidents, but these boys were the ones to actually demonstrate, CLEARLY, what it means to NOT live by the Scout Oath and Law. The excuse of someone else "making" them act like aggressive bullies does not fly in my book. It was THEIR choice to act the way they did. SN, I agree with you that the common thugs need to have a light shined on their behaviors. I also agree that the committee shouldn't be bothered with who's in what patrol. I think the one point NAE learned (and tried to discuss with the committee) is that shuffling players does not increase discipline. That kind of thing might work if you have a low performing patrol and a high performing patrol (low and high in terms of skills, not discipline) and a couple of boys in the high-performing patrol are up for the challenge of helping those boys up their program. But as a corrective tool, it rarely succeeds. But, if a kid is trying to undermine leadership at every turn, they need to be rewarded with some time out from under that leadership. Being disloyal, unfriendly, and unclean (it doesn't have to be cussing to be foul speech) also demonstrate a disregard of the scout law. My co-advisor had a GS in her troop who was equally divisive. Made things miserable for all the girls (especially her "best friend"), until about age 16 they all realized life was so much better when everybody united and ignored her.

Scout (a.k.a. joining rank) SM conferences are little more than a handshake and "how ya doin?" But every SM approaches them differently. Even if he had one with a boy before AoL, he might want to another once the boy crosses over anyway. So don't think of it as repeating the requirement. Think of it as getting each boy comfortable with introducing himself to different scouters. Many of us think that is the most significant part of the program. That the advancement program exists is to encourage young men to increase their level of adult association.

Meeting the SM of the troop they might join in a year or so sounds like a good idea.

SM"s call. But here's how I would advise him. Shoving match with PL, one week suspension. Abusive behavior, one month suspension. Inciting to riot, six month suspension. To be shortened if the writes an essay on Absolam's rebellion (and considers getting a haircut).

Son #1 and his buddies were just nuts about improvisation at that age. They would do skit after skit, and wouldn't stop. Before meetings, after meetings, on campouts ... Son #2, they just followed a short script for the Pack's Blue and Gold banquet. If you are visiting a troop on a campout, ask if they have a skit time in the evening. If so, challenge the boys to prepare something for that.

Agree with Stosh. Furthermore, the nice thing when someone lies about you, you know to believe the opposite when they "help" you by providing an opinion about someone else,

The SE replied to the article, and his council taking the responsibility of repairs without saying any of the boys are responsible.

After my last snarky remark, I was just thinking what if the forum had scouting equivalent of emoticons? Like: -88- Figure eight on a byte? =x= Clove hitch? _-_ Smoky-the-bear hat (help?) Clearly, this is egg ain't all fried yet, but maybe you can reply with better ones.

I'm so proud of being a scouter, I drop young women and men off cliffs! (After teaching them how to tie-in on a figure 8 on a bight. )

Just make a low fire ring from flat stones (or wood painted to look like stones if you really need to nail everything down). Pile it high with red/yellow/orange/black wrapped candy that the boys can toss to the crowd. Keep a backup box of candy in the tent. Ask your council HQ if they might have any swag to give away to the crowd.

Venturing, our grand co-ed experiment, is the fastest declining division. THOSE co-eds are the ones who will be agents of change in 10 years. And, if their numbers are shrinking, who's going to be around to press for what looks to be a loss-leader? Unless the majority of dedicated boy scouts who aren't in venturing want something different for their kids, there is no constituency. Just sayin' ... from the crew advisor's cheap seats.

Daughter's friend is a pro ballerina. Just like earning all the MB's, home school helped her pursue her passion. The down side: zero time for venturing -- and these were parents who made a sincere effort to make scouting work for each kid.

Oh yeah. Checklists. I had one crew officer bragging about how she "just had to" get red carded her senior soccer season. I leaned over, gave her the cold stare, and moved my lips "N O". She was too busy too earn any bling from the BSA, but she never got worse then a yellow that season, and that's award enough for me. So, a kid earning 2 MBs a week ... that's a checklist attitude I can tolerate.

KDD, sad story: A scout missed our last campout because he volunteered to make a Minecraft pyramid for social studies class, and got behind in completing his assignment. Sadder yet, the boys got into chopping so much wood, that he could have spent the weekend stacking it into pyramids!

BD, in our outfit, age is not a consideration for JASM. A lot of our 16/17 y.o.'s have preferred to be guides or instructors, or serve as a crew officer. Although, the wiki says "must be 16", so we probably wouldn't give a kid the patch for it. If he was 14 and doing the exact same work ... a rose by any other name ...