qwazse

If it's always the same kid, maybe you have a problem. Maybe the boy actually does fit in with a different patrol. Or, maybe you have a real PL in the making. It's hard to tell this side of the internet. If it's a really young scout, maybe the SPL can keep one eye on him to figure out what the true situation is. I can't remember if I was in a patrol of one situation as a scout. I do remember a morning when the SPL taught me how to restart a fire from the previous night's embers. Just him and me ... none of my patrol were there (to the best of my memory). For the rest of my tenure in the troop I became the guy who was up before sunrise lighting the fire.

First, I agree with V that if you are not key three, expect modest change. (Or in my case, extreme push-back from the boys.). There is nothing wrong with a "patrol of one." You may not want the little guy camping by himself 100 yards away in mountain lion country, but for challenges, troop duties and such, he should tackle them on his own. If he loses, he can talk to the patrol mates who bailed on him. If he wins, he represents his patrol with pride. I met one boy on a campout, who was cooking an outstanding batch of asparagus because he didn't have any of his patrol mates around to fuss about the menu. (He did have a lot of adults show up at his table with plates in hand!) Obviously, if you are doing climbing or whitewater, merge patrols as safety demands.

I concur with Merlyn. Although one of my favorite songs is "Stretched on Your Grave" ... about holding on to your first love forever, Christ's teachings on marriage are pretty clear that the contract doesn't extend into eternity. "Lifelong" should be interpreted as the shortest time either partner spends this side of glory. Upon resurrection, those mortal contracts, although blessed by the Almighty at the time, are non-binding. This astounded his disciples, but I'd wager was pretty much a relief to their wives. Making sure there was a man in the house was their only form of social security, and spending the remainder of one's life without an earthly husband would be equivalent to a vow of poverty. Paul and other writers insisted it was fine for widows to seek to remarry within the church, but they should be held in high regard if they chose to remain single. Ancient Christianity was known for ensuring the community's widows were well cared for and empowered to serve any way they saw fit. A practice that was somewhat tarnished over the ages. Anyway Christians have always promoted marriage as something for us on here on earth who really have a hard time understanding any other way of being fruitful and multiplying. I've read about sects who interpreted things differently. But I don't think they will comprise much of TL's constituency.

Communication is such a drama killer. But, here's something to consider ... why are you being the middleman between your boy and his SM? There will be dozen's of decisions like this between now and project completion. The reason why we require projects like this is to teach boys how to manage multiple parties, including their parents. If something is unclear, do point it out to the boy and have him figure out what to do/who to call. Then the next day ask him if he did it. I know I hated that role of being the guy giving my kids those "little nudges" to talk to SM/Coach/Teacher/Principle on their own, but it's really impressive a couple of years later to see those kids nudging themselves and taking the world by storm.

Take the BS out of the BS of A. I would tell the scout ... Put all three dates on the form with "Best date to be determined after consultation with businesses involved." Get those signatures ASAP. You might get feedback as to which date would be better from your district's perspective. Talk to the owners of the businesses about the possible fundraising date. Let them know you have yet to get final approval. This will help you know if there are goings-on in your community that will determine the best date for you. Determine what works best for everybody involved. Choose that date. Call your council HQ with the confirmed date and they can update the form accordingly. (I am certain every council does this differently.) Don't let circular reasoning get in the way of a good deed!

Although crazy, indeed, because of your unstable adult assigments, Webelos dens often visit multiple troops. Son #1 and I visited and camped with 3. Also if troops can partner for activities and still maintain their identity. In fact, growing up, my troop (with a Presbyterian church), did a few activities with an LDS troop.

tgr, where are the 11-13 y.o. pre-high school youth who would participate in her election? Does she want to be in OA? Or, does she just want to do the great things that Arrowmen do? If she organizes her crew to spend a night under the stars and a day fasting while performing service in complete silence. All without the fussing over sashes, etc, designed for uniforms which many venturers never wear ... would that suffice?

Not everyone ... Lots of us bought the cow before taking the milk, and are still kicking. But, again, I'd rather have the permission to go scouting with the army I have. If that includes "broken leaders", I think I can work with that.

You mean like the personal offenses I endured because I wouldn't back down from befriending the grubby, potentially gay, or gender-confused kids in class? I finally applied Mamma's advice. "Stop cryin. Get big." And kept my friends. Maybe that offended the Klansmen among them. But it was clear that I was not about to be bothered. (Not flinching when punched helped a little too.) I don't direct scouts to share tents. If a guy or girl's bothered about ANYONE whom they tent with, we got plenty of open sky.

Maybe some misguided Hacker Scouts ...

If a church is having misgivings about hosting a BSA unit, maybe this is their program. But, I would be concerned if, for example, the best canoeing instructor in the community is non-Christian, and my youth want to develop a long term canoeing program. I would like to be able to incorporate that person in an official capacity in my unit. Sounds like the TL leaders are going to have to work around obstacles like that.

Part of the purpose of scouting is to teach citizenship. Part of the responsibilities of every American would be to leave pristine land to which they as individuals have no title or deed.

My Jordanian friends would take offense ...

Not a stretch at all. She should go for it, and be prepared to explain a little bit of scouting history along the way. I was pleaseed to visit another troop's court of honor and there saw one boy in a uniform from the 50's. I didn't ask if it was grandpa's or a find on E-bay. It looked sharp ant the boy wore it well.

Unfortunately, I have experiences similar to KDD's that are much more recent.

The are lots of cons. The worst of which, IMHO, is that a troop meeting can turn into one more hour of school. I find the troop meetings are busy enough getting the boys to master first-class skills. Part of the time is teaching the skill to newbies, part of it refreshing the skill, part of it having a mini-competition on the skill, and part of it planning the next event that will demand use of those skills. We barely manage to cover every skill in a year, and our scouts rarely reach mastery of every skill in two years. The pro is that a counselor can introduce his hobby/profession to a large number of boys. Sometimes getting to know the counselor at a troop meeting increases a younger scout's comfort level about calling him on the phone and arranging to complete the merit badge. Boys see the MB process being modeled, and may be more comfortable with it. If the boy's are choosing the badge and who will teach it, it can be a well integrated part of a varied program.

My experience is opposite: Some of our boys applied for and got camperships this year. Might have helped avoid a family with sky-high health bills having to choose which son went. Our state park fees are more expensive and often charge per user. So, a patrol might find the state park cheaper than council camp, but four patrols? Doubt it. Between crew and troop, we will have used council facilities at least 6 times this year. So, yeah, FoS does take the edge off for us. If a variety of council facilities were not available on a competitive basis, our boys would have to fund raise harder. You folks who only have one humble camp property in your council, I can definitely understand where you don't see much return on investment.

Basically, I'm telling the other person that I think the boy's fit for the job. You know those thoroughly inept camp staff that irritate the tar out of you? Well, some scoutmaster or crew advisor recommended them to the job. Now sometimes, a person's flawed character does not manifest itself in the few weekends the unit leader has had to observe them, but most of the time the SM dropped his pen down without even calling the camp director about some slight reservation. When I was recruiting additional members for my Seabase contingent, I wanted an SM or Advisor to talk to about the youth. I told one mom that and did not hear from her again. It could have been the money issue, but it could have also been that the SM felt the boy wasn't ready to get in a boat with a bunch of venturers. So, my bottom line: has the boy demonstrated that he has the discipline for the job/contingent/office? If so, put your name down. If the guy's the least bit of a slacker, but you think the program might help him shape up, give the person asking for the recommendation a call. Sometimes, there's lattitude; other times, not so much.

Accomplishments trump bling. If the boys play the games, they get the pin. Loop, card, or platinum embossed plaque is not necessary. If money's tight, don't even buy the pins. Just award the badge once they've completed the rest of the requirements.

Nothing wrong with visiting a troop you won't be joining for a couple of years. Your boys can ask the older boys what that in-between year is like. Tailoring a program to suit the spiritual needs of the community doesn't sound all that crazy to me. It's just how to make scouting work.

Never say never ... If this boy is fulfilling his positions of responsibilities, is gung-ho about scouting, and still knows most of his knots, why stop him? There's got be something of substance that's bothering the SM about this kid.

It's what the CC was doing to the SM. I would strongly encourage the CC to back off. Save the heavy hand for real bad kids.

This falls under the category of "be careful what you wish for.". Our experience ... We have a detailed troop handbook with a discipline policy that nobody reads. Oddly the goy that helped us write it had a boy with some of the worst discipline problems in the troop. That boy was one of our better leaders. My bottom line, the ASMs and committee need to be prepared to support the SM. If he's worried about the same things you are, move forward. If you're not convinced this is a problem that needs a whole "Geneva convention", talk to him about what you think would really assist him.

I'll leave the actual date-checking to the collectors among us. I usually just look at the requirements listed in the book, and if they are a lot different than the ones online I suggest the boy get a newer one. Troops should keep a library of used pamphlets to help boys save costs. One boy should be a troop librarian, and be responsible for making sure used books are collected (say after camp, or once a few boys are awarded MBs), and make sure really outdated editions are not in the library. Our library, by the way, is a couple of durable plastic file boxes (you know the oversize tool box type) which we can transport easily.

We don't get eel on the line in these parts. One time when son #1 and I were visiting FL, we pulled in a ribbon fish from Jensen Beach pier. Now that's the stuff nightmares are made of! But, never an eel.