qwazse

IMHO - The largest reason why some folks don't believe in uniforming is that rolling out a new model uniform every couple of years has lead to very non-uniform uniforms -- especially from the waist down. At Scout Sunday I noticed this even in our shirts. Some boys had their Centenial uniform with khaki green epaulets, others had red epaulets. Our council just merged so shoulder patches were not all changed over. One mom who usually only sees me at scout meetings noticed I had my venturing shirt and the Kelly green epaulets. My newest female venturers said she felt odd sitting with the scouts when she and two of my officers didn't have a uniform even though they were compliant with the crew's dress code and looked sharp! In a sense, National doesn't believe in uniform. Their marketing promotes comfort (which some of here debate) and trendiness over conformity. So, why should we bother? Honestly, on the parade field some of those "all blue jeans" troops with vintage shirts look more uniform than the "national supply" troops where half the boys are in the latest style and the other half are in what their older brother got when he crossed over.

Not taking personal! Just trying to put some meat on boy-adult balancing act. Oh, and I haven't pulled out an inspection sheet since I was SPL. Except for once at the request of one SM, and then the boys were allowed to inspect the "old fart patrol." I have answered honest questions about insignia to the best of my knowledge -- looking up an answer when I was stumped. And, I have been able to outmaneuver most uniform police. So, I think we're both talking from opposite sides of the same coin. My ongoing approach (applied regularly to scout-son #2): Make clear what it means to be "in uniform" or not. Use a reference he can return to (just because it's better than EDGE). Avoid making a Federal case of the whole thing. And, let him bust my chops when it applies. FWIW - the best way I've seen this operate is when the SPL goes around the room and gives a vintage patch to each person in proper uniform. Minimum lecture, maximum action. Adults may qualify too (although we usually wind up tossing the patch in the bin on our way out the door). It's a great way to get those old collections out the door but not in the garbage.

I love the concept (and the challenge!) Additional question: how do you all pack it so you don't have carbon smudging all your gear? (I'm really not as fastidious as that just sounded, but I was just wondering.)

jb, I'm not against the boys. And they are welcome to comment on my insistence on wearing shorts (even in Winter) at CoH's because I'm not a fan of the pants. And wearing my comfortable non-uniform kaki's at meetings. As long as they can take it when I pull out the inspection sheet and hold them to it, they're welcome to dish it out. Adults, now that's a different story. As far as the SMs are concerned, well I'm sure they each did the calculus as to weather my laundry list of nuances were worth keeping me on their roster. Each addressed me on the issues they saw as important, and I've made adjustments where we all agreed it would improve the safety of the youth OR where it was clear the poor guy had enough hassles (by the adults in full uni with five rows of knots) without me adding to them. BS's worries about undermining leadership are, well, B.S. Talk to the man. Tell him you appreciate the things he brings to the table and you'd like him to bring one more. If he can't or wont but is still good for the boys, shut up and keep him around. If the boys bring it up, teach them how to be respectful in their ribbing. (You know, the way you'd want a caring adult to be.)

whatever you do at weigh in, encourage your boys to build solid cars that they can maintain and repair for years. Our boyscouts have a no-holes-barred PWD where they pull their old cars off the shelf. If it can make it down the track, it can race. modifications include duct-taping wrenches and soup cans to the cars. however, modest weight adjustment with a properly placed propeller seems to work best!

The form is on scouting.org if you search for youth membership application, it should give you the current link.

Does anyone require their scouts to provide their own PFDs? Our troop doesn't have its own gear. But I have my own tandem kayak and some families have their own canoes, paddles, and PFD's. Regardless, when we go to the outfitter, they will offer to loan from their collection of PFD's at no xtra charge. (They fact that we are renting a bunch of canoes on off-season means a lot to them.) We spot-check and if one of theirs is in better shape than one of ours we take it and stow ours. So, take a play from the outfitters, make sure your troop has a complete collection. The boys who take this up as an activity beyond scouting will eventually acquire their own gear.

TT: Most charter orgs would agree that "unhealthy" is the mildest way to describe it! But the issue is how do you help everyone grow given that this seems to the problem of the day. Well there are several topics that should be part of SM minutes or discussions at campfires: - Music/Video piracy. - Hacking. - Parental restrictions. And the age old "if you're doing something you know your parent's don't approve of, should you be doing it?" Or more simply, "don't break your Mama's heart!" In general, adults need to make clear that being clean and trustworthy doesn't always come easy. That's why they are in The Scout Law, and just because it's hard doesn't mean you're off the hook if you're doing less than your level best. But that's just general conversation. I think your "specific conversation" needs to be focused on your son. You need to know what *he* thinks. Has he tried to do the same thing? Is material being shared on troop outings? Should he take a stand? Does he feel intimidated by it all? Then, if you think the SM could be a positive influence, give him the heads up. Between the two of you, you can decide how to tell the parents. If you do wind up in a conversation with the scout (and I honestly don't think you will, unless the parents make him talk to you about it), explain to him that you're just starting him to work on the kind of thing that he'd have to address in Family Life merit badge anyway.

You phone company should have records of these incoming texts. (Or at least be able to archive them for you in the future.) Are you sure this isn't part of the scouts signature line? I had one youth who's messages to me end with "~ wierdo". Turns out he had chosen a default emoticon for which my phone did not have an image. So, instead of some goofy looking face, it spelled out the text! It is imperative that you confront the boy and his parents immediately. They need to understand that you welcome these meaningful "on record" conversations with boys, but sometimes a boy doesn't understand that texts are *not* private in that they don't disappear, sometimes a boy is trying to say something important but winds up being hurtful because he doesn't know exactly how to say it, sometimes a boy is in serious trouble and needs help. You, the boy, and the parents need to figure out which it is. You can make it clear that texts are fine, and you'll keep a record of them to help sort out problems in the future, but you also expect a certain level of decorum. Explain to the boy that you are responding to him the same way as if an adult friend would start behaving this way. But just like you'd demand an adult friend to straighten up immediately or get help in this situation, your demanding from him some respect and a full-out attempt to get at whats wrong promptly and peaceably. [if I'm a little sensitive to this, it's cause one of oldest son's former classmates committed suicide last week. There's no indication that anyone "missed" any signs, but we're all just a little on alert.]

If you can score a kayak paddle or too, you might find them useful for your gaurd boat who may want some extra maneuverability, our the newbie who needs a little help.

SW PA has a lot of camps within 2 hours drive. I think 7 different councils are within 90 miles of Pittsburgh.

First, congratulations for your hard work and success. I've never seen it done before, but I figure his/her next of kin will gladly recieve it on their behalf. Just attach the pin to a thank-you card. At your court of honor, read your card before giving to the family member. If they aren't present, read the card anyway and make a commitment to take it to them at the next opportunity.

We had one scout scour E-bay for stuff he could re-sale to the boys. If you ever put a trading post on two legs, he'd be it!

Thanks E, They are a stellar bunch of kids. But I'm not one of those grade inflation types. I'm also not inclined to go belly-aching because it's harder to corral older youth and their parents toward a common vision. Fact is, if they operate just a little bit more like a unit, they will that much more of a blessing to the youth in their community. JTE is just a map of where you are. You still have to decide if you want to go anywhere with it.

In the late 70's in my troop, the SM handed out skill awards and MB's (I think) at meetings, and badges of rank at CoH's. The SM would ask the SPL, "Are there any who have achieved __?", boys were called up in order of rank awarded, and the SPL lit the corresponding candle on the "advancement trail". There was no notion of 1st Class - First Year, so waiting a couple of months until the next CoH was no big deal. I might have known of one scout who was awarded TF and 2C on the same night. And it impressed us all to see it done. I think we also awarded TF to Life rank advancement at Eagle CoH's as well (as a lead-up to "the big show"). It was a big deal when we got that whole "advancement trail" lit up!

We have several camps to choose from, and troop and crew combined pick them as locations 2 or 3 times throughout the year.

Finally got my crew's key-4 youth in one room on the same night. Had him fill out the form. We didn't even meet bronze! Guess that means you all can ignore every word I type on this forum! But just in case you don't ... I asked them what they thought ... here are their general impressions The form stinks. We're still a good crew. We break the mold! Training is a big issue. The adults have not taken VLST and only two of the youth have ILSC. Youth protection stragglers are delaying timely submission of our charter. I made it clear that they are a good group of kids and they have adults who love them. I'm not about to leave and look for a gold crew to advise! Still, when they elect officers next week, they need to realize that they should devote a little more time than they have in the past to the life of the crew. I suggested they pick one weak category to work on for next year. Even if they don't wind up bringing up our total score, they will at least give the crew a different emphasis this year. And, for high-school age kids, variety is the spice of life.

Two BCSR camp staff sailed with us this summer. They said they love the place.

I think it is pretty much the natural order of things that when we complete our SMC with the boy, we walk him over to the AC so she can record it and line up a BoR. The older boys know this drill and will do it themselves. As far as training is concerned, we prefer that parents observe a few. Time training should be spent on more challenging material.

Wow! A whole topic just about me! (Except the ex-mil thing, and the $1000, and if it seems really important I have a pair of vintage BSA shorts and dark green hiking socks.) Be up front with the guy. Say that his one shortcoming in your eyes is that he won't throw on a pair of trousers from National Supply. But if he persists you'll try to dig deep and bear it. Your leadership is more likely to be undermined by some knot collector in complete field dress.

Where three or more committee are gathered, there we may have a BOR. They seem to take pride in being available to the boys, dividing and conquering if necessary.

1Hour - that's more PM than we have in our average-sized troop! One year our senior scouts where a bunch of scholar athletes. It made for a leadership vacuum in the fall. The younger scouts filled the vacuum with hardly a complaint. We did have to shy away from extremely rugged activities because the maturity just wasn't there for sufficient discipline. (On the flip side, the football team's defense was the smartest and fastest our conference had ever seen.)

Jblake makes a good point. If you and a couple of others are investing a lot of volunteer time towards council venturing (that means time away from your crew), then the SE had better giving you a serious allocation of staff time. You should have a big say on who that is, and request a change is it isn't working out. That staff had better be able to connect with the top youth in your council. The VOA officers will need a lot of respect and support.

E61, excellent application of acronyms. Doubt any'll stick, but I'm at my coffee break chuckling subtly. That said, our advancement chairs probably do deserve a regular dose of flowers and chocolate! Ours tries to make it to every troop meeting so boys can register their progress with her. We do advancement-as-you-go, and that spreads most of the traffic over the year (think of that fortnight spread over one evening a week for 14 weeks). The CoH is basically a handshake for patches that should already be sewed on the uniform. There is a little pile up the week or to before CoH, but that is usually trail to 1st Class kids who we nudged two weeks earlier to wrap up those last couple of requirements to make mamma proud. Unless the boy is special needs, he does the showing PL's or MBC's signatures. No parents involved. Event if the boy has special needs, usually an ASM (not the kid's parent) will do the mediating. IMHO your Mrs. is within her rights to demand the SM's and ASM's run a little more interference for her. Parents need to see her as a resource for their boys, not a back-door to go around whatever they don't like about how the troop operates.

What would happen? A few troops would do it on their own as they always have. The rest would pull together, start a capital fund for a sweet piece of property, recruit full-time staff to develop/manage it, encourage boys to become counselors for a pittance, and adults to make annual donations to offset the cost to individual campers. They might even come up with a fancy name for themselves like "District X, Friends of Scouting!"