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Last increase, my kids all concluded to forgo yearbooks.

Mrs. Q, in one of her attempts at reforming me, cleaned out my t-shirt collection shortly after we were married. The only survivor was a high school shirt with all of my classmate's names on it. It survived because she used it to put on the dog to keep him from shedding in the car. I saw it, and spared it further indignity! We all really need to cowboy up and work those full-size neckers! That said, if the scouts want to produce their own shirts, a tie dye campout is a fun activity!

Honestly, who really cares if you can't spot your scouts in a crowd? If they get swapped for some other scout, you might get a better cook! All of that lettering on the back of the shirt? It gets covered by a backpack anyway. I've become a real fan of troop/patrol neckerchiefs. It's a tough sell, but frankly a lot easier to manage. Our camp produced a neckerchief with a map on it.

Yeah, I'd tell the SPL to count -1 for each segment not on the left pocket. The pants aren't standard issue either. So, this scout would bring his patrol down. But, if he's leading an awesome service project, nobody would mind losing inspection to a more meticulous but less ambitious patrol.

My happy places ban motorized vehicles (including drones -- well technically they could fly over, but not be launched, landed, or operated from within the area). So, if you bring the theater, does that mean you have to skip the car chase scenes?

Thanks @JasonG172. Any chance you know the replacement cost of the plastic height-locks? 'cause I'm pretty sure I can jury rig something in a pinch out someone's tick-picker.

Looking at @5thGenTexan's budget (which is as straight-shooting a letter as any I've seen), my reply as a parent would be, "Here's $85, don't give our kids any awards except a shake from your generous hand." It's just that simple. The other alternative is parents will sacrifice a night out, or the unit remove one (more) activity. Until national reduces belt loops to thin strips with just the name of the award in black and white and prints Boy's Life and Scouting, and every handbook and MB pamphlet in two-color at most, it's not showing that it's saving every dime possible. So, we have to decide if we'll do it for them.

@Mrjeff. this is what's disconcerting about this issue. With the rise of the self-righteous secular* mob: extending their logic, the institution of family should be dismantled in light of the risks it poses to the nation's youth. Going there invites apocalypse. *No offense to my friends who host such a show (should they every discover this post), but to me Christian + talk radio is a delusion in that the talk therein is not much more elevated than what we would find in my Uncle's bar when the miners came off shift -- healthy in small doses, but hopefully everyone leaves before too much is said.

At World Scout Jamboree, the Swiss exhibit had a bed of straw where they invited scouts to practice wrestling.

@mrkstvns, tell your scouts they can load up on turkey early, then hitchhike to Steeler country ... https://www.lhcscouting.org/boy-scouts-america/what-makes-scouting-come-alive/ten-commandment-and-world-faiths-hike

Because dropping my scouts over blades spinning 100x the RPMs of my lawn mower, albeit separated by a metal grate, seems like a rational thing to do. I'll note that the article in the OP is not about a crew going on a skydiving adventure. It's about what should be on the list of destinations for anyone who might enjoy skydiving. This is actually what I want venturers to be doing. After whatever BSA-confined super-activity we may try, I may mention a "next-level challenge", and hope that some of them "take the bait" and ask me for details, I then give them some links or phone numbers to call, they do more research, discover the array of possibilities that could open up for them in the next decade or so, and present a report on them. Prepared for Life ... it's what we offer.

Prior to the '80s, only Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, and 1st Class were ranks. Hillcourt's handbook listed Star, Life, Eagle, and Palms as awards. The term "rank" was hardly used at all. Treating three of those advanced awards as ranks and the forth as "not a rank" was a fairly recent conception. I tend to not harp on language as much as @TAHAWK, but in this case the novel distinction between ranks and awards was used as an argument in favor of insta-palms.

Question: who ever actually did 5 miles of land navigation during their IOLS? Measure the width of a ravine? Height of a tree?

Venturing Magazine is not an official voice of BSA. Their articles are not scrubbed for political correctness.

I'm not a fan of changing language on whim of fashion. But there are plenty of other applications for the word that don't imply thuggery. (Folks still say, "The gang's all here." Don't they?) American street gangs pride themselves to taking care of one another, giving their young members the dignity that their family and society has failed to do, and living by a code of honor. The problem is that code runs afoul of law and order. BP was determined to turn the term "gang" on its head in much the same way as he was transforming the term "scout" to be a tool for peace, not war. Scouting for Boys stood in stark contrast to Scouting for Military Agents. I think we do well to keep up that tradition.

Sounds about right for a patrol. Not every scout needs a compass, map, trowel, TP, etc ... Unless you're trying to train scouts in a particular skill (e.g., with navigation, it's good to show each scout how their own compass works.) Proper clothing can obviate the need for a tick remover. (I have no idea how well it does pulling them off your jeans that are properly tucked under your high socks. But, I'm not afraid to use fingers.) And, if you're not wearing proper clothing, you might need a mirror to find where that tick has landed! Flashlight batteries double fire-starter, especially if the metal from the tick remover can serve as a resistor! One essential: pencil (okay, down south you don't have to worry about pens freezing, so one of those is good too) and small notebook. Almost as essential as a neckerchief. And of course ... Don't forget your full-size neckerchief!

Fine, call me a downplayer. Even my hand-held won't play music at full volume anymore ... I'm not ameliorating anybody. I just don't consider earning a rank besides Eagle to be a failure. There are 1st class scouts (concept not patch) who chose to do other things besides earning Eagle. Some contented themselves with an earlier rank. Those who chose to do so are a unique breed indeed. But those who do not are far from failures. They are what make it fun for the rest of us. And maybe that's why I cringe a little at the thought of a troop forming just so LDS scouts can get their bird. Maybe if the Eagle-bound are also encouraged to do their advancement in a way that bolsters their church's youth program, it will balance out. But earning that award while enhancing the scouting experience for those not interested in it is part of the glitter of the reward.

My state mandates YPT for every youth-facing organization. So, that does not make BSA distinctive. Fortunately, the state accepts BSA's training for mandatory reporters at face value, so we all don't have to take the state's training. In the sense that BSA's program could prepare adults for volunteering in other youth organizations, I guess that's a unique service. Two decades ago, it was implied that patrols would have the best YP when they weren't with adults. I suppose that perception discounted the risk of bullying. I have a friend who defended a scout who was bullied by other scouts on BSA property in the 80s. So, it makes sense that striving for a bully-free organization is a priority. I don't think there's a good way of knowing if these more stringent YP policies reduce the actual risk. I think there's some hope that it reduces the organization's liability.

Imagining a young @Eagledad and his Flaming Arrows floating up to the boardwalk intersection, idling the engine, and showting: "Hey, ladies! Throw your tanks on this here hover craft of ours, and we'll get you to that dive site in sixty seconds flat! "

Am I looking at this crooked, or are youth basically underwriting the background checks for their merit badge counselors?

I have a low bar: If a clique is robbing liquor stores to buy drugs, it's bad. If a clique is lofting a projectile to land loudly yet harmlessly on the SM's tent ... not so bad.

With us, it has nothing to do with more or less donations. It has to do with when our food bank (which is managed by our CO) really needs it. So typically our pack collects in the fall; our troop, in the spring. That usually syncs up well with Thanksgiving/Easter times when families would like to be able to put a little more on the table. I don't know what you mean by "biggest". Some councils cover a wider area. Some have more members. Some food banks have more clients. So, we can talk about items/pounds per member, items/pounds per square mile, or items/pounds per persons or households served. There might be a numbers wonk who keeps track of stuff, but we're dealing with a voluntary reporting system. I doubt we'll ever have comparable stats across the country.

@ParkMan, a great outdoor program involves inculcating a vision of the pinnacle scouting experience of hiking and camping independently with your mates. National policies directly impact my ability to offer that. Treading the graveled paths of SBR or any other HA base with minders around every corner is not a pinnacle scouting experience. It's nice, and inspiring. But it only translates into something meaningful if you can do what the Portugese scout we invited for dinner told us she does with her patrol back home. (I.e., they pick a place, let her SM and their parents know where they will go, arrange transportation, go, and report back upon their return.) I can't blame BSA for moving in ways that fend off litigation. But it means that their priority is in ensuring that the promise of scouting in every corner of this nation is delivered outside of the BSA.

Twice this week (once on in person and once online), I heard from leaders, that when they started, they took all the online training and still didn't know how to be a tiger DL! We have a thread from a scouter who is trying to outline "how to start a unit" and is doing it from Troop experience. It seems like we got into the habit of thinking the tail should wag the dog. It's a far cry from "Get the boys together, read the book, pick the next chapter, do what it says."

For fits and giggles I looked at some recent venturing packets for area gatherings ... max was 8 pages and that included the roster crews were to turn in.