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BP, it's not "my idea" from some backwater fringe area of scouting. The parents in my troop and neighboring troops are a relatively forward-thinking lot perfectly fine with some boys being in a crew and some not. No problem. If scouting went co-ed, my guess is about half of them would reorganize into a boys-only organization. Some of those parents only have boys and the others happily shuttle their girls to different activities. Yes, the girl-scouts who join my crew do so primarily because they want to do some outdoor activity that their GS mom can't or won't organize, but for every one of them there are 5-10 others who would far rather just be GS. And it's not the parent's fault. Some of my boy-scout parents who have tried to convince their daughters to be part of the program have gotten push-back. They've seen us at camp and simply don't want any part of it. If *I* had my way we would be co-ed. Simply because I feel my daughter learned a lot from Venturing and the boys who camped with her. But, here's the bottom line: the moms and dads who would *volunteer* to make a co-ed program work are few and far between. (Don't know if you've noticed, but your garden variety co-ed youth ministries are paid church positions.)

Well, KDD, as long as it wore the heaven into you as well ....

Now, see BD, that's where you're being poud foolish. Put a hitch on the church van, pull the trailer, and you won't need the pick-up truck.

MB, what bothers me about your lodge is that you haven't mentioned the *lodge chief*. Your young arrowmen need to give him a call and let him know that they would like to provide this service for your troop an any others as time allows. Frankly, this whole conversation should be between the youth, and you, your "expert scouter", and the advisor need to take a step back, encourage communication on the youth level, and support whatever decision the Chief and his officers approve. Chances are, your boys will like the results, and they don't, they can suck it up for now and run for office next year. If either you or the advisor find yourselves getting in the way of this, you both need to find a half-hour at a nice coffee shop and sit and chill for awhile.

In terms of what boys want, I can offer a sample of 1. About half the boys in our troop who could join our crew don't. That could be for a lot of reasons, but one is certainly that they have enough women in their lives already.

I guess it would fall under: Conduct the Scouting program according to its • own policies and guidelines as well as those of the Boy Scouts of America. -- Annual Charter Agreement.

Way to act like a pro e92. The note refers to monkey bridges. The crux of which cannot exceed 5'. That means the stays are gonna be at least 10'. So, you would need to contrive an 11' rig to support the stays. That's about the proportion of the plans shown. The boys cannot work at that height. (Unless they are properly supervised and harnessed.) But they can certainly build a tower that tall. (Hint, the Egyptians didn't build their obelisks upright.) And once erect and proven stable, they are certainly allowed to climb it!

Gotta say, KM, you seem right on target with a group of 13-and-under boys. Note-taking is a very strange and foriegn act to them. Can I suggest something a little unconventional? For things like attendance, etc ... Teach them a knot language. Instead of taking attendance via check boxes, have a colored chord for each boy into which the scribe ties for each meeting. You would keep this in a scribe's box, which would also have a calendar, etc ... You need to put your thinking cap on to figure out how to make this symbolic. You might have different colored beads or totems for chores and assignments. To record an assignment the scribe would tie the totem to the appropriate chord and have. Just an idea. I know boy scouts love paperwork and all, but sometimes we all get a little bit ridiculous with it.

BD, my "ghetto" kids are like yours. I feel very fortunate that the wealthier kids in our unit respect being tight on funds and maybe that's why they don't push big program ideas that only half of us could afford. I think they take a little pride in having adventures that don't break the bank. Week before last, SM had them put together a collage from a stack of this years' photos. At the center: the sign at a Dolly Sods trail-head with warnings and pictures of unexploded ordnance. That trip set everyone back maybe $25. (Boys who didn't have their own gear, were able to borrow -- thanks to years of boys handing down the stuff they bought via their scout accounts.) Now, I do think there is a place for "big trips", and sometimes everyone pulling together to fund it is a needed boost for a unit.. So don't get peeved at round table if, in inspiring certain leaders, it reminded you of your tough times. Just offer the commish to teach a topic like "Our Boy's Best Budget Memories." Sometimes those "big trip" folks forget about how important the "little things" are and wind up missing things close to home. And sometimes, there's a troop just needing to run a little leaner, but with no clue how. You might give them some much needed guidance.

I know a number of parents (myself included, at times) wish the boys would want to take a big trip to the Indianapilis 500 like they did in the past. (I missed it the time our troop went.) Boys aren't interested. They want to take a trip on an extended weekend to go back and hike the West Rim trail of the PA Grand Canyon at a fraction of the cost of Indi. (We only did half of it a few years ago.)

IMHO (and keep in mind I've only been and advisor for 7 years and have watched about 8 crews very closely, others have more experience). The challenge of Venturing: vision. How do you boys see yourselves? As a venture patrol of the troop? A leadership team? A youth group? An outdoor club? A chance to "catch up" for your friends who missed out out scouting? Sometimes when you go down at list you realize: "hey, we could just do all those activities as older guys in the troop". Sounds like that's where you're at now. Sometimes you say "what about pistols? Go karts? Our girlfriends and sisters?" Then you press on. Now, not every event has to attract more than five people, and not every position has to be filled. (Let's face it, you're a treasurer with nothing to treasure!). If there's just two of you leading, plan two activities this year. Wait for someone who's taken a back seat to say "I wish we would do X". Then you reply "hey a position just opened up for activity chair of X!" Is it dysfunctional? A little. But, it's amazing how when you shut the doors, someone will ask "what's the crew doing next?"

I've done this on several occasions with my crew. To make sure everyone's aware, give a call to the SM of the troop you're sharing a campsite with to let them know your situation. He might even loan you an ASM buddy for Saturday morning!

Reb, I hear you. I just know -- from camping with Jr. High co-eds outside of scouting -- that things don't always run smoothly. Sex differences get in the way, and most scouters would rather not deal with them. High school youth have begun to accept those differences and work with them on their own. (Some youth make terrible decisions in this process, that's why adult association is a critical method of Venturing, but generally awesome ideas result from the different perspectives.) Thus the Explorer and Venturing programs and BSA's broad mission statement. But harsh reality: making it work for High School kids is still controversial. There are plenty of scouters who resent Venturing. (About half of them might be people we'd respect.) Those numbers get very large when we start talking at the Jr. High level.

Reb, I hear you. I just know -- from camping with Jr. High co-eds outside of scouting -- that things don't always run smoothly. Sex differences get in the way, and most scouters would rather not deal with them. High school youth have begun to accept those differences and work with them on their own. (Some youth make terrible decisions in this process, that's why adult association is a critical method of Venturing, but generally awesome ideas result from the different perspectives.) Thus the Explorer and Venturing programs and BSA's broad mission statement. But harsh reality: making it work for High School kids is still controversial. There are plenty of scouters who resent Venturing. (About half of them might be people we'd respect.) Those numbers get very large when we start talking at the Jr. High level.

Wow. It's like my crew has an evil twin! There's a lot here, but I want to suggest two things. 1. Do your job maybe a little bit more, but lean on other folks to do theirs. If the books are balanced because you've fulfilled your treasurer role, take responsibility for your pet activity and be the chairperson for that. Your one guy, get him trained and make sure your supporting whatever activity he wants to do. An attractive crew is one where a handful of guys actually take care of one another. 2. God bless your SM for wearing a second big hat, but a different adult leader in that position stands a better chance of helping your crew grow. I advise and another adult SM's, and both of our lives are better for it. Is there a mom (maybe even a den mom who thought she was going to retire) who can help you bring a few young women into the mix? There's plenty more to say, but as complex as your problem is, I wanted to pick two things that you could try in the next month or so.

Wow. It's like my crew has an evil twin! There's a lot here, but I want to suggest two things. 1. Do your job maybe a little bit more, but lean on other folks to do theirs. If the books are balanced because you've fulfilled your treasurer role, take responsibility for your pet activity and be the chairperson for that. Your one guy, get him trained and make sure your supporting whatever activity he wants to do. An attractive crew is one where a handful of guys actually take care of one another. 2. God bless your SM for wearing a second big hat, but a different adult leader in that position stands a better chance of helping your crew grow. I advise and another adult SM's, and both of our lives are better for it. Is there a mom (maybe even a den mom who thought she was going to retire) who can help you bring a few young women into the mix? There's plenty more to say, but as complex as your problem is, I wanted to pick two things that you could try in the next month or so.

Did one when I was a scout. Lot"s of fun. Way safer then leaving those sticks lying around for someone to beat someone with or that rope for someone to lose hold of while trying to climb with! Time depends on skill, if the boys are cutting down their own sticks, making their own rope, etc ... My suggestion: have the boys work on the ladder at a meeting. They'll get faster with the lashings as they go along. They will also get a feel for how tight things have to be, and the teamwork involved. Then they'll have an idea of if the tower would be a half day or full day project. Safety? Hard hats I guess would be a good idea. I'll let others weigh in.

In our boy's dens, everyone paid dues up front for the supplies we might need. Special costs, everyone pitched in ahead of time. If people didn't pay, we didn't do. No problem. The boys really didn't mind just going out and playing catch. The way my crew operates is that paying dues keeps you on the mailing list. Other stuff is on an individual basis.

Still using Picasa. It now is mashed up with Google+ photos, which has advantages and disadvantages. For example, you can share an album with overlapping groups (circles) pretty easy. On the other hand, integrating a sideshow into your website may work for some devices, not others. Also I don't post volumes of photos. I do like shutterfly's stuff.

This question came up as my newest youth was reading the BSA application. (I like this kid ... real VP Administration material.) She asked me what non-sectarian meant in the middle of the meeting. I used the "showing no preference in relgion" definition and went on to point out that we want you to bring your faith to scouting and we believe you'll grow in that faith as you see others express theirs. She didn't have any questions about the rest of application. Which brought something home to me. Most of us grew up hearing about the Irish and Lebanese civil wars. In college I met many of the victims of those conflicts. Sectarian had a visceral meaning to it that our kids hopefully will never know. Not because that type of violence has dissipated, but because the media is so diffuse these days. Anyway, the fact that we have to define non-sectarianism may just be due to it being so ubiquitous.

DeanRx, no excuse. I got plenty of the opposite sex in my crew, and band and drama still attracts youth away. It's one thing to make music together, it's another thing to spend nights in the wild ...

TJ, until you see it for yourself, you may never believe it. But when you are the adult trying to get a unit to "gel", sometimes it's nice to not have the sex differences in the equation. Other times, it's a lot of fun.

Hey JAR, Did you have any Jr. High girls in the mix? Just saying that if you did, you may have been able to answer your question. Although I'm a crew advisor and love all the co-ed stuff, I don't like the "prom drama" that can seep into some of our outings with other crews. Just this weekend I was dealing with a young lady who was trying to make it "all about her." I managed to do it courteously, without having to wake her advisor, and my crew was glad for it. I might have had to have been uncomfortably blunt if the group was a few years younger. So, I can certainly respect GS and BS leaders who would rather not have to put up with those kinds of hassles in the presence of the opposite sex. Maybe if we did have these kids working together more at younger ages, it wouldn't be a problem. Or we'd find ways to give opposite sexes their own corners for a bit of their time on their own campouts. It really does yank my chain when a girl who was gung-ho for BSA at age 11 is distracted by other things by age 14.

If the doctor says there is a physical disability, get a waiver for the requirement. If not, I'd be satisfied if a scout makes an honest effort to improve. That means grabbing a pull-up bar every day for a month. Try asking the boy ... This pull-up thing, do you think you showed improvement? Would you like to really try hard on this one and we'll see next month? If this is the only thing keeping you from Tenderfoot, how about knocking off some second and first class requirements while you work on this one?