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BD, in that situation, I'd suggest: Work it out with the boy(s) who want to be den chiefs. Play nice. This may mean the den chief's figure out a rotation, or their PLs touch base after meeting. It sounds like one of the better headaches to have.

The boys have spoken. Dude, you have to do something out of doors that first or second weekend in October even if it's a day hike around town with a stop at the nearest soda fountain. This month, have the boys read each other the safe hiking chapters from the book. Call your game officer or agricultural agent. They might be able to give the boys some idea of how to find wildlife, and when/how to hike safely during hunting season. Campfire can be in someone's back yard barbecue. (That's assuming your away from the burn ban.) Do you all have leaves to rake yet? Maybe there's a

I dunno. Most hunter camps I see advertised have lodgings with four walls and a roof. But, a definition that would apply to 11 year olds should fall within Pack's parameters.

One patrol. Boys elect their leaders - who may or may not be the trained youth. Or two small patrols. Boys elect their leaders as above. Leave the choice up to the boys. Provide basic training for whoever is elected (maybe the NYLT boys could do this). Don't elect an SPL/ASPL until you have about 24 boys. Never appoint SPLs. You have other things to worry about.

Never saw a troop who capped at 32.

Those are our future venturers, so what we think does matter. Many Webelo I's do not camp all that much. But, for that age, IMHO, you should have a tent weekend in the fall and spring, get a cabin someplace in the winter, and attend a week long GSUSA summer camp. Your daughter might be overwhelmed by the numbers. To see if she's right, you need to work with her to see how much free time she has throuout the year. Don't rule out the possibility at you are running her ragged with too many activities. But most likely she will see that this this is just a drop in the bucket. Plus, it am

Not quite sure what your aiming at, but crews often use this: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/venturing/pdf/510-013WB.pdf

Tickets don't get worked in a vacuum. There's no way of avoiding preconceived notions -- even without the Internet to bounce ideas off of!

If they were very active in Webelos, I would definitely say yes. There was no reason why either of my sons couldn't have nailed down all of those skills. They had already camped and hiked and knew community leaders and had to learn to swim (because we spent lots of time with in-laws on Lake Erie and on the FL Treasure Coast). But lacking a sense of urgency, they took years. Adults (and even a PLC if they are determined) can set up a program that moves boys along and gets them tested properly. Now, the real challenge is helping those boys maintain and build upon those skills.

I'm suggesting to my older boys that a skit about the merit badge process would be helpful. I have one youth who should do quite well at it. But he's more "director" than "playwright." If anyone has something prepared, I'd appreciate sharing. (Woodbadge ticket, maybe?)

It's amazing how the things you think are easy can become quite complicated. Usually that's because the goal is dependent on other people. Becoming conversational in any language requires a huge commitment. That includes, among other things, spending time conversing with native speakers. If you have tons of Spanish speaking friends who will welcome you into their community and won't fall back on speaking English with you, you're goal is attainable. Otherwise, not so much. Don't judge other folks' ticket items. Getting first aid certification or trying out a few new recipes may be

Boys that are in school full time asking for another class in the evening? Never saw it happen. If the boys wanted to hear from a counselor about a particular MB they could invite him to come and present on it. It's each boy's responsibility to start the badge if he's interested. Our boys do ask to meet with counselors during meeting time. We allow for that. It's the easiest way to address YP issues. And it's a good way to demonstrate for younger boys how to work on MBs. As boys mature, we see he following progression: 1. Earn a badge at camp. 2. Earn a badge from a counse

Depends on what the leader and his/her assistant can handle. But, I would say "No, it's not okay. At least not for the first few meetings." It's also important to get to know the parent's situation. Sometimes there is a mom/dad out there who truly deserves a "pass". Sometimes it's good for the kid to have mom away from the building for an hour.

Really, the cop should take jr. to the homicide investigation scene? The surgeon should take Jr. into the OR? The corrections officer, the pyschologist that counsels suididal pateints, shall I go on... not sure of the correlation there... Love the "shelter the boy" mentality. Of course you don't take him to the scene. It could impact the chain of evidence. But, by venturing age he could ride along. He could watch mom/dad present the evidence in court. One of our boy's moms is a child advocate lawyer. From following her to work (which can be a dose of gruesome mixed with sad som

It might but it also burns way too many scouts. How many scouts does it burn, really? How many "marginal" boys will be put off scouting and will never participate again (even though they hardly participated at as Life scouts year after year)? How many boys involved in "outside activities" don't even bother to call in weekly or put forth an effort to drop by an activity even for half a day? Not even for half a year? How many boys care so little about their troop, that no amount of verbiage is going to convince an SM that his signature belongs on the bottom of an Eagle app?

Not in any manual that I've read, but ... I expect an Eagle to have a certain sense of dissatisfaction. Most recent example: Had an eSMC last week for a 17.9 y.o., and we pointed a number of areas that the boy would need to sharpen (chapter 1 material) before his board. He's a smart guy, I'm sure he could cram the night before and be good to go. But got a call from the SM today, and the boy wants another conference even though the paperwork was signed, checked, and approved. He is not satisfied with his performance, and wants to make a better showing to be sure he's prepared for t

"Can your boys join ours on a campout and teach us some of those skills?"

Last night I just saw an vocal stand of boys get a yellow card and evicted from the end-zone because the goal keeper complained that she was being harassed. No trial. No appeal. The ref just deciding that there was a teachable moment, and put a strike against the team. Two more of those could have cost the team the game. But complain to the conference that the ref was holding too high a standard of sportsmanship? Not a coach or player around that would dare ... Reason #4 (I'll wager) why families choose sports over scouts: varsity athletes AND fans are held to high standa

"But I just want to hike and camp -- and other distractions."

"Did you do the requirements? Convincing yourself that your answer is the right one."

Back in the day ... No geocaches! Rock climbing? Nope. Compound bows? Rarely. Trap shooting? Not at camp. Rifle? Yep, but buy your own ammo. Line up at the trading post by the pay phone to call mom.

What about a man (my dad) who lets his 11y.o. son work at his beer distributor, hauling cases and legs into every bar in the county? Maybe he shouldn't have been a committee member. Very few of us are really in a position to throw stones. That said, if your profession is not one where you'd bring your kid, you probably have some thinking to do. And regarding the polished view of Thai bar girls, I met a woman who was widowed thanks to AIDS from one such "respectable" sex worker. She dug deep, forgave, and got to know some of the girls (most start their careers at age 12 and

Put him with the den whose leader is most likely to succeed with the boy.

I think as parents of two girls who are getting fed up with the politicking, they have a say. But BP has a point. The best way to redeem the situation is to put the girls in touch with their leaders. It's really hard for a kid to complain about another adult. They want to be respectful. Plus, they may have recently acted like this adult (leaving not much room to throw stones). So you don't want the girls to feel like they have to complain about the person. What you want them to discuss with their leader is how they want what they say to be respected, and how they are afraid of cer

P. - I think E was trying to connect a story with some experience guiding scouters who had adopted a similar attitude. E. - My cousin just teamed up with a cleric to ask hotel chains to stop offering porn on their subscription channels. Their proposal is getting some serious consideration. It may sound like he's swimming upstream, but there is a certain ebb and flow to these things.