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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 ...

The reporter asked all the wrong questions ... Especially for a video segment. I would have preferred footage of the boy tying a timber hitch, or maybe demonstrating some Lifesaving holds. But, if you didn't know his age, you'd look at his insignia and ask if he'll have his Eagle project done soon. The boy is already SPL.

MT, I have yet to meet a boy who would beg his mom to look up ornaments online when there was a chance to join with some older scouts in making catapults (of any size). But, yeah, I agree that everyone should keep this about the boys and try to find another weekend where you all can make decorations (and cookies).

I'm so sorry about the coffee. If it's any consolation, I'll keep an eye out for a ceremony team leader, and run a serving through my espresso pot for him in your name (er, alias). Change is always afoot. Sometimes it's at the council level, sometimes it's at the camp level, and sometimes ist's at the national level.

Welcome to the forums, SB. Two-deep is most relevant during overnight camping. Or any scenario where one-on-one contact is likely. (Definitely meetings and go-see-its ... thus the buddy system.) Unless you're driving one of those road homes with private rooms, one-on-one contact is unlikely. Drivers in separate cars is just fine. (Of course it's always nice to have another parent to talk to.) By the way, Son #2 visited a TV station when he was in cub scouts. A local weatherman invited our den. It was a whole lot of fun!

First of all, it's really encouraging to hear someone had a huge recruiting year. With a bigger unit, you will appreciate adults who "take point" for a number of tasks. Definitely make the treasurer a separate position. For any organization, IMHO, there should be no more than three signatories on accounts. Adding to what Fred said, only register MC's who are willing to get trained as such and attend roundtables - at least in turns. What you really need of MC's is people who are taking the pulse of the Pack and making sure the boys and the DL's have everything they need for a successful program.

Yeah, Huey, that's all fine and good, but if I get my BSA guard from somebody who ran an aquatics area for five years but hasn't taken EDGE for a decade, I think my card is bout as valid as that from a guy who to EDGE yesterday but has only operated an area for one year.

MT, There is basically only one question here that matters. You should encourage your Webelos to visit and camp with every troop within an day's walk, then decide amongst their folks and friends to where they would like to crossover. A UC can't make anybody do anything, so don't try. Buy them coffee. Listen to their vision, and help by connecting them to the people or resources to make it happen. You don't have to agree with them. You can even tell them "I you wish you would consider doing things differently, but I'll do my best to help with whatever you need." How the baggage with MIB (my shorthand for MT's son for those new to the formums) should be handled? It's baggage. Let it go.

I doubt you'll find a national policy on this.

Don't use any individual's # from here on out. See GeorgiaMom's post below. That link is new, and the most detailed I've ever seen from the BSA. Beats me why it is on the Seabase site instead of Scouting. A lot of folks do the individual thing because it is less of a paper-chase. But that's a poor excuse that puts the unit at risk for all manner of graft and corruption. (The most obvious is actually the treasurer declaring those $$ as income and then applying the untaxed portion for his/her personal gain.)

I think it's up to the council to decide if there's an inappropriate time for the fundraising. My understanding of the point of the fundraising application is to make sure the methods used don't conflict with the BSA's values and other fundraisers. As long as the boy makes it clear that the fundraiser is to pay off personal loans that underwrote the completed project, there's no ethical conflict. Most of your federal taxes, for example, are to pay off the interest accrued on dept (not even the dept itself) for services already used. But, just like taxes, fundraising is that much harder when donors realize they are contributing retroactively. Obviously, there is a point when the boy should call it quits. More than a couple of months, and it gets a little absurd. Might as well give those receipts to the tax preparer.