qwazse

Based on your experience with other scouters in your vicinity, you might be right. You've seen through some of the rah--rah mentality. They've grated on your nerves, and you're not inclined to keep knocking your head against the wall to get rid of the headache. The question then becomes: how have the scouts been treating you? Would you like that to continue?

We're civilian, and it's pretty much like your experience (except for no pedophiles, thank God). We try get a few years out of an SM, and the ASM's are half emeritus, half parents of current scouts. E.g., right now, our last three SMs have been parents of scouts, a former SM and myself (a former crew advisor) assist as the old guard. One ASM is a parent of a former scout, and the other a parent of a crossover. The same applies to our committee. Honestly, the best training I've had is around campfires with some of these old guard. There are advantages and disadvantages to longer term SMs who are stronger leaders. The advantage is usually the boys get a more uniform experience over time. The disadvantage is they get "locked in" to things working a certain way.

Slightly tangential: our new PLC had its first meeting. The concluded that Totin' Chip will be one of the activities to cover in an upcoming meeting.

Another more nuanced question: are scouts from one troop/crew permitted to attend another unit's campout as provisional guests of that unit? We've always taken this to be affirmative. An "official" example, most packs welcome den chiefs on a pack campout.

What is chartered is councils obligation: I know some COR's who object to their scouts camping with others. That generally comes straight from the CO. But many COs actually want to encourage their youth to share an activity or two. So, I take the agreement to read "What CO's have joined together, let no council put asunder."

It’s actually a great idea that units have been doing for a long time. BSA is trying to put and end to it out of a desire to ensure NCAP standards at all activities. It appears in he COVID FAQ because units were maneuvering to replace canceled council activities, this obviously undermines the council’s effort to limit community spread. So, to the specific issue of COVID cases in school, if your scouts associate with those students, you need to seriously consider suspending activities for two weeks from the time that student was infected.

A minority who don't understand plain English. One who also doesn't understand that the next POTUS could pack the court with a woman who they favor. What would they want the marketers at GS/USA do then? One just can't cow-tow to mobs. Even when they don't see themselves as mobs. There was a similar minority (including one of my scout moms) who were up in arms about what their sons were hearing live from POTUS last jamboree. Online, I defended a practice that, frankly, I am quite ambivalent about. I debriefed a scout upon his return. His mom had called him that evening afterword. He assured her that he wasn't expecting flashing red lights to suddenly appear the day he would first go to the poll. (I think he's eligible to vote this year.) This past couple of years, my faith in the youth of America has only grown. But you do bring up an important point. Twitter is the worst place for an organization to reside. A group should rely on their own website to produce, and defend, their content. On social media leaders of an organization should post under their own names e.g. Miss Firstname Lastname, VP of x GS/USA. That's the sheer genius of Bryan on Scouting, it's official, but personal too. So when he or another writer spouts off an opinion, I know it's him. When it's in Scouting Magazine proper, I know it's more official and impersonal. I don' have to like it, but I know darn well if I want to complain about it, the letter to the editor should begin with "Dear Sir/Madame, ...." (Okay, not really. But anything disrespectful will be deleted.)

Rubbish. Showing girls that they have the potential to adjudicate on the highest court of the land is no more political than having boys hear from the siting POTUS. I once attended a lecture by the director of our local Planned Parenthood. I can vouch that she was an excellent speaker. That is not a political statement. We held strikingly disparate views on specific issues and agreed on others; regardless, sitting in a hall and listening to her lecture is not political. It's called growth and understanding. The people who find political incorrectness in everything are making the "politicial" statement. Like I said, the only way to respond to such rhetoric is to double down and clear the air. A good example https://scoutingwire.org/chief-perspective-presidential-visit/

What if this isn't about optics? Suppose the GS/USA's litigation against Scouts BSA gets appealed all the way to SCOTUS. Could this be an attempt to get the judge on record with an opinion so she would in a few years have to recuse herself?

Oh, and I'm buying cookies from any scout who knocks or phones.

My gut ... If you are in a no-win situation, double down. If it's your thing, you still invite POTUS to jambo. If it's your thing, you still honor women who achieve greatness. And, you encourage the detractors in your entourage to do the same. Meanwhile, if you have a buddy who is replacing his classic Farah Fawcett poster with a full-size ACB, you call the helpline. I don't know which one, but he's gonna need it.

I think this is the advantage of working the patrol method in the face of contemporary youth protection requirements. If a troop with three independent patrols needs two registered 21+ year-old adults to chaperon each them when they are doing separate activities. It's unrealistic to have the SM and the same ASM at every patrol activity and meeting and troop activity and meeting plus round table and training -- even if those two adults are able to keep to themselves and maybe attend rountable online while the Flaming Arrows are refurbishing their Klondike derby sled. If you get parents to "buy in" to the troop as a federation of patrols, than a couple of those parents need to get with the program so that their child's patrol can be all it can be. It happens rarely in my troop, but there's nothing better than being able to drop in on a handful of scouts and responsible, trained, parents, do my thing, and hear that they can handle the rest of the evening. A half dozen trained adults yields a couple of really good ASMs (even if their official position for the time being is MC). Encourage a that many to onboard every year, and you have a handful of ASMs in your depth chart . Some stick around even if their child leaves the troop! Stepping up to SM for those adults is no longer a big step. This is not so true, I found, for crew advisors. Very few adults were willing to wear the co-advisor patch. From our older scouts, there's been some demand for us to restart the crew. I'm making it clear to the adults that our venturers will benefit from a younger advisor (i.e., not me), so any plans for a restart might involve a search for someone willing to cut away time from their career to assist me. Basically, I need a fellowship of young adults willing to be available for my venturers while I make sure they are fully caffeinated.

Fears are always uneven. The small patrol meetings might be the best compromise. How spread out are you all geographically? Is there a farm or local park where you could camp? What is your school district doing? All are driving factors. If you could walk to a park and meet with the PLC, that would help.

I’d be right over.

G2SS policy was meant to prevent stupid, which happens fast. It happens real fast in units that cut corners, of which not seeking guidance from council is a hallmark. This pack sought guidance because they were in the unique situation of available qualified supervision but lack of access to other district/council wide events: In other words, they were in full compliance with the very significant, but often ignored, page 1 of G2SS. Specifically this sentence: Why review reference material when “such activities” are said to be disallowed by the pack? Well, first is to understand why packs aren’t allowed to have their own events. Second is to understand what goes into holding a district event according NCAP standards and the Shooting Sports Manual. When a group of scouters can convince their SE that they can meet and exceed NCAP standards and the council would not otherwise be providing those same standards to those particular scouts, councils will try to work with those scouters. Otherwise we risk cubs and parents doing these activities on their own. Safety lectures (the most important part, I felt, for my kids to hear) will be missed, and bad things will happen. In other words, there’s the Guide to Safe Scouting and there’s actually scouting safely. We want the former to enable, not impede, the latter.

Our lodge had theirs this weekend. I think 100 candidates.

Pandemic-addled (Adj) : We’ve seen the opposite. Boys are starving for interaction. So, attendance at summer camp, troop meetings, and two subsequent camp outs (plus one for older scouts), has been high. On the other hand, we’re all in different situations. Many of my troop’s parents are essential employees or own their own businesses, and have been out and about since lockdown. But the one family who has avoided social situations ... even if distanced ... as decided not to recharter with us. I told the parents that we’re close to them to not push things. Everyone has their own burdens. For example, after scouting events, I don’t watch my grandson for a week out of an abundance of caution. And, I don’t attend events if I kno I babysit that week. Fortunately we have depth on both the scout-volunteer front and baby-sitting front. (I’m not needed for every overnight, and the grandson has doting aunts and uncles.)

@walk in the woods, although I understand the “go out with a bang” mentality, it’s unlikely that all of the adults in a unit may share it. For example, my contributions to the troop for the past 5 years have nothing to do with my children — all adults. It would bother me greatly if those were squandered on individuals instead of helping some other troops keep rolling.

That’s the crux of it — returning the favor and doing great good in the world. (Also applies to why I teach Sunday school to 4th-6th grades. That, and I was being too disruptive in the adult class.) From that perspective, there is a concern that youth are more harmed than helped by the net effects of this litigation.

Best you make the first move. Decide if you’re gonna look for a new CO. If not see if the closest troop in your district will accept you handing down everything. Leave a nominal donation to the church as you all move out.

Envisioning an omnibus tax on each child born to offset the cost to society of reparations to children who were abused by their family members.

I loved (and still miss dearly) my Big Angus! Try sleeping on the floor one evening. If you only loose a couple of hours, you’ll be fine with a thermarest. Your scout is probably so light he won’t notice a thing.

As I’ve been saying, pretty soon the institution of the family will be sued because of the increase risk of abuse that it poses to kids.

Regarding safety: there’s a whole lot boys can do on their own that won’t burn down the forest. Then, there’s the time when you have to empty your entire canteen because you come upon them lighting a little fire in the middle of a hike in a field of tall dry grass. Regarding personalities. I started in the troop as pretty much type B. But soon learned that nobody else is up to start a fire at 5 am on a cold morning, and your patrol will like waking up to a warm fire, and might even start your breakfast for you when they see it. Well, getting a fire started on some cold wet mornings requires teamwork, so you learn right quick to tell your mates (sometimes the night before, sometimes while they’re standing there watching you sit on the cold ground working the tinder) to build a stash of kindling that you can use. Personality types lose relevance over time when you’re one of 8 scouts situated 100 yards away from any other group.

A falling tide grounds all boats.:(