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What do you mean by "nothing"? Have they elected officers? How many meetings have they had in the past month? How many activities have they had in the past four months? Are meetings announced at least a few days in advance? Your situation happens a lot, and there may or may not be reasons for it. Scoutnut suggested a good starting point. Be careful that you don't come off like your blaming it on your kids, explain that when youth are part of the solution for one crew, they become a great resource for lots of crews.

I take a break for the weekend and look what I miss out on! gayS couT: in reply to your answer ... Q1. Not enough information. (You know, like in the test which says at the top: "make sure you read all of the instructions before starting!") Q2. Still not enough information. Are you going to stand up for your beleifs and drop out of this organization? There are a few God-denying sodomites whom I will trust to lead my Christian kids in some activity or another, because they demonstrate an otherwise high moral character. Part of that character includes not "sweeping under

If we have a half-dozen cross-overs at the same time, we form a NSP for 5-6 months. The TG's goal is to get the joining rank and maybe tenderfoot requirements down. Each boy may not make rank, he'll just recieve instruction. Since attendance at activities is far from perfect, the new scouts usually get folded into the existing patrols for the weekends. At summer camp, permanent patrol assignments are made. We give our boys the lattitude of completely rehsaping themselves every year (new name, new yell, new flag). In terms of relationships this seems to work pretty well. The troo

A COR whose kid is in a unit will probably operate differently than one who never had kids in scouting, and both will operate differently than one whose kids have graduated scouting. We've experienced all three. More importantly, take a long hard look at the COR's training record when you visit a unit.

BD, Scout parent = volunteer. Eliza, return to your superiors (be they your boys or other parents) and say that there are no reputable purveyors of sleds suitable for a district klondike derby! But, you could probably call some scouts or venturers who may have a one in their garage. They may loan it without even asking for a generous donation to their coffers. For example, if you are in the Pittsburgh area IM me.

A civic event would be an appropriate time to wear SOME of your medals (ie Eagle medal or the like) This is an important point that folks often neglect. The Eagle medal is not just for your scouting uniform. If one attends "tie and tails" social events where medals are worn, one could wear his eagle on his lapel. Also, for scout Sunday, you might want to encourage former eagles to pull their medals out of the attic and put them on their "Sunday best". (Actually, if you encourage their wives, it's more likely to happen!) That's the point of medals, they are meant for formal occasio

I don't know, but I think it's the same reason why my church promotes small group Bible studies. It's easy to get lost in the crowd if your group is more than 8. My crew has activities that involve 4 to 40 kids. Good memories come from all of them, but I think they cherish the ones when the numbers are on the small side.

It doesn't sound like capability was the issue. Otherwise the point of contention would not be when to cruise, but rather to cruise at all! But, this brings up another, more personal, approach to Mrs. X. "The other youth and I are getting the impression that you lack confidence in our ability carry out our responsibilities. Was there anything that we did that gave you this impression? What can we do to regain your trust? We would like to restore things to where the brunt of the work from planning on down is in the youths' hands. How can we act to rebuild that relationship?" If

Tell your young adults we appreciate their contribution to the BSA. It keeps registration costs down for the rest of us!

So do all of the seabase medical forms I circulated two months ago still work?

Engine - I'd consider 60 a big troop. That said, it probably could benefit from leadership in "there's-not-a-patch-for-that" areas. I wholeheartedly agree with the above suggestions. Also is a venturing crew available to these boys? POR's while serving in a crew count. This can be more of a hassle, because ... 1. Crew officers may have a different standard for holding office. Joining a crew just because you need a POR may be a non-starter, unless the boy backs it up with real work. Upon board of review, the troop committee may need the boy to explain a crew POR in more detail tha

OGE - Our venturers/SA's only pay one fee to whichever unit they are primary. They are a multiple of the other unit(s). I leave it up to the boys to decide which they want. Another advisor in our council automatically registers his boys as primary with the crew when they turn 18 and it's up to them to push the adult application, which costs nothing since it is a multiple application. PE - "Special provision" for Eagle's must have been a local rule. All of my young ASM's growing up were not Eagles. Regardless, National only gets $15/year from each of our members. We don't pay extr

Some adults require constant reminding to take a step back. I'm one of them, and have learned to take my cue from certain adults, ignore others, and lay the law down to others. To buy yourself some time, think of something really challenging that your crew does not like doing but probably should (recruiting, generating promotional materials, attending district meetings, getting adults trained) that you can ask Mr. and Mrs. X to take on. The other way to approach this is to become real sticklers for Robert's Rules or some other parlimentary procedure that governs who has "voice b

... riding jblakes horse a little further ... EDGE also assumes there is no reference besides the teacher. That's why I'll sign off on the teaching method requirement if a scout tells a noob to read the Handbook, then shows the Handbook, and the boy does the Handbook. If that boy who just taught that skill can't remember what EDGE stands for, I'll probably offer him some chocolate as well as my initials. ... oh and for tossing kids in deep water ... ability groups trump teaching method. If you've been explained and demostrated by the best, you ain't any further along than the kid

1T: In some situations, I can agree with you. But my read on the situation, and I could be wrong, is that the young PL lacks confidence. In that case, letting him come to a wrong conclusion and failing is worse than forcing him to come to the right one. It depends on the "fail". Sleeping on a pile of rocks really is not life threatening. On a ledge with a 50' drop .... So, for the young PL who makes that first time tough decision, at the end of the weekend let him know that you are proud that he kept his patrol safe from harm. I usally end with " ... and I promise to never treat

One more piece of advice, have fun! Here's an example ... Have your boys pick an activity that they would like to do with/for every 5th grader in your community (ski day, night hike, bb shooting, catapult building ...). Publicize it in your school. They usually have a student directory. Invite every boy. Your sixth and seventh graders might want the chance to skip school and visit the elementary school. During the event recognize any boys who happen to be Webelos and are finishing their cub scout career. Hand out BSA applications to all guests. Let the Webelos know that their tran

Why should dues paid by a Tiger parent be used to pay for another scout's patch and a $20 - $40 plaque? I agree. Drop the plaque. Maybe even drop the Webelos patch. Explain (if anyone asks) that some folks had a hard time keeping up with pack dues, so you decided to go old school and focus on essentials. That will probably be the most likely decision when you lay out the what's in the treasury and what the net expense is of crossing over. Also, consider going to monthly dues (at least for Webelos) the following year. Our troop usually waives dues for cross-overs (we jus

In advising about by-laws, point out that the ones worth making are ones that won't get thrown out on appeal. Or, to put it another way: "No point in legistlating anything that'll only make a lawyer rich." (No offense, Beav.)

Eagle007 - Just handled a "jaded beast of jealousy" issue with two boys who (before a mutual friend became one's girlfriend) were best buddies! It took months for everyone to readjust, and because the young lady was *not* in the crew, I think it made matters worse. Be it Venturing or other movements for youth in that age range, I've found those "morale dampeners" to be rare. For each guy or girl with that kind of drama going on, there are dozens who grow into their relationships without much drama at all. Same with the 16 y.o. officer. She may need to back off the program for the

The "value", such as it is, involves working closely with the Chartered Organization to be sure it is represented well, and helping youth take their place in their community. Married? Pregnancy is a welcome event. At 19, it's downright common in some parts. In fact I recently met a regional VOA officer and her husband in that exact situation. Engaged? You're definitely getting teased for jumping the gun! (And I still call dib's on the baby during officer's meetings!) Some serious issues might be how to act around the 20 year old who's been married for two years and has yet to

P.E. - I sort of think that's how it would play out in our crew. As far as social convention, each teen pregnacy that I've known about in or community was managed differently. (Lots of different social classes, religion, etc ...) That's why bringing in the Charter Organization for a little guidance is important. E-007. - No offense taken. Trust me before I started this gig, I thought the same thing. But, there was no "separate but equal" option. The nearest girls-only crew was miles away. Girl scouts was not promoting an outdoor program the way my daughter was expecting (having see

Eagle007: But why we are co-eding these kids up in overnight settings is beyond me. ... But why put an alcoholic drink in front of a recovering alcoholic? ... One thing I've learned over the past 5 years: Girls are not honey, and boys are not flies. The co-ed outdoor program seems to give promiscuous impulses pause. I don't understand why, it's just what I've observed. Whereas, a Saturday afternoon at the mall seems to heighten it.

Crew/Pack/Troop: Married couples typically tent together. My wife endured a lot of disruption this fall because I had to repeatedly go adress curfew violators. Still, she chalked it up to one of the best camping weekends she's ever had.

BDPT100, never saw my approach as liberal. Good Book says the Almighty sides with the poor and fatherless ... guess I'd better follow suit. On one level, I don't like the hypotheticals. On another I think they do help us improve our frame of mind with the youth. I'm not touching the early termination scenario. Partly because it brings me to tears, but mainly because it's unlikely that it would occur out in the open. The likes of us would never be told. Married youth are a grey area in sleeping arrangements ... but the nice thing about a crew is that discipline the officers'

OGE: I so wish I could have that conversation with every parent. More often than not, parents foolishly listen to their kids when told to just drop them off. (Needless to say, the ones who stick around for the "open house lecture" are the ones who keep bringing their kids back.) But, our community is rife with gossip. There doesn't need to be a baby in the background for any parent to know my youth have baggage. I'd almost prefer that something as glaring as a baby would appear for every youth's misdeed. All the cards would be on the table when mom or dad signs the registration form.