qwazse

I'll be interested to read Dr. Warren's peer-reviewed article. It will be some time before that's published, and I hope it's not delayed by court proceedings.

Then don't send your scouts there. Threaten to resign your position if anybody on the committee promotes that MBU. Put it in writing. Copy your district commissioners and executives, your scout executives, and the course director. If you have a scout who does not seem to have grasped the MB material that he should have, follow the procedure listed in the Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.7. The problem isn't bogus MBUs. The problem is not enough scouters pushing back against them.

Even more peculiar about Fingerprinting ... As a scout, our troop did a town hike and stopped at the state police barracks. Among other things, we got finger-printed. The officer who taught us how to do that lived four doors down from me. I played with his kids. I never earned the badge.

Absolutely you and a co-leader may set up a course at any sizeable local park. Walk your park, find some nice spots to hang a flag about a square foot large (those cheap litter pick-up vests are perfect) visible from 100 feet from at least three directions. Mark them on your GPS. Plot them on a map. Set up the course in the morning, take it down in the afternoon. An easy free solution to mapping is caltopo.com. I use it regularly. You could literally map it. Use it to set up your course. Save it as a .pdf. Send it to your boys and tell them "Go!" My scouts hate me. But you may also ... Call those clubs and see if they have someone who would volunteer to set up a course for your troop. (In exchange for your best dutch-oven meal, of course.) Or (better) schedule one of their events at a location near you. Contact the ranger at your favorite scout camp. They often have several courses built into the camp. Contact your nearest state park. An orienteering club might built one or more permanent courses there. If not, the ranger might know where the nearest one is. Ask at your district roundtable if anyone has a scout working on Orienteering MB who would like to set up a course for your troop.

Welcome to the forums! To the first question: it depends. To the second question: it depends. No MBU is identical to another. If the objective of self-reliance is undermined, you are correct. If the event helps scouts be more self-reliant you are on base. The justification for an MBU is simple: it introduces a scout to someone deemed most qualified to counsel that badge. Take, for example, motorboating. You might have a dad in your troop who takes his boat out once a month, or you might have a retired grandparent who built or tested racing hulls, or you might have the captain of the coast guard. When I attended our district's MB Pow-Wow as a scout, I got to meet the counselor of a badge I was interested in, do cool stuff, got his contact info, then follow-up with him at a later date to complete the badge. Partial completions on the day of the event were the norm. There are some things that are done much better in groups. For example an officer of the court might want to demonstrate a jury trial. Well, he/she could talk to the scouts and show video, or he/she can get twelve scouts to sit in the juror's box, listen to arguments, elect a foreman and deliberate. It's all in the details. And if your MBU is not attending to the details, then send your scouts elsewhere.

@RememberSchiff we all know the whole point of the application and the workbook is to make life easier for adults. If we wanted to make it a better experience for the scout, these would be pages in his handbook, which he would fill out and submit personally, or ... take pictures of and send to council. They could also be fields in Scoutbook ... the whole thing (spare us the pictures) could be plain text.

No joke. A friend was planning a mom's weekend away. They hiked into their site and before they finished setting up their tent, a bear lumbered in and made straight for the smellables which were sealed in a dry bag. They didn't even have a chance to get it out of their packs, he did that for them after tearing everything apart because - well, he couldn't smell exactly where the food was. There's no way he tracked them to their sight. He probably didn't even smell the food! He just knew to make for a campsite along a trail as soon as he heard weekend cars and motorcycles winding up the valley. Dinner was being delivered! If he waited too long it would be tucked up and away.

We had an SM blow his F150 engine pulling our trailer off a mountain then punching it on the interstate. So wear and tear on a vehicle is no joke.

@dedkad, our patrol's fondue was a weekend camp activity. We never considered doing it at summer camp because by the middle sessions the critters were all too familiar with boys and the snacks that they snuck in.

Seabase FL has a luau for it's closing ceremony. An old submersible doubles as a playground. At Seabase Bahama's as a crew drove to the airport after a week's adventure, Captain Steve (RIP) would wave his hands over his head crossing and I crossing them. It was signal for snorklers to "come back to the boat."

My adult kids are all about the Venmo. Not sure how it would help a club or unit.

The other thread about the law reminded me of an online reference regarding the evolution of the aims and methods over time: http://www.inquiry.net/adult/methods/index.htm I thought there was a way we could grid out these buggers in the current forum software, but I'll have to dig a little.

'Shiff's reference is a nice matrix of the points as they evolved over the years. Also on that site: BP's Law and Oath with investiture ceremonies. http://www.inquiry.net/ideals/b-p/law.htm

If it is anything like the Eagle project workbook, then no. If it is a plain-old-asci standard (e.g. .XML), then yes. The scout could log on and download his/her own pre-filled app. In fact, as soon as the last req is completed and logged by the unit, an E-mail with a pre-filled application could be sent to the scout.

I agree that this phenomenon is firstly girls trying to look acceptable to other girls. Being able to turn boys' heads is secondary. It's almost universal. Once my crew (all boys at the time) visited a Christian commune for a holiday open-house, the community's women and girls dressed similarly. Dresses and head covering had the same modest cut, but colors varied (think 18th century with lots of greys, blues, tans, and purples). One of my leaders asked his host about the "uniforms". The host said, "We leave that to the women. None of us guys would dare touch on that topic." Guys do the same thing, but it seems to a lesser degree. For example, my buddies ribbed me when I was getting too tall for my jeans. It never crossed my mind that I should ask my mom for a new wardrobe. I figured if they weren't picking on me for that they'd pick on my for my purple converse all-stars. (The only outfit for which I never got smack from the guys, BTW, was when I would wear my scout uniform to school.) But more importantly, I never felt "on the outs" with the guys because of how I dressed. Same for my other buddy who always dressed sharp. I don't think it was the same for girls. So any discussion, IMHO, needs to recognize that there is a psychological phenomenon among women upon which industry capitalizes, and "civic action" on a girls' part could involve standing up for her school's dress code and, for example, asking stores to stock fashion that conforms to it.

I think they kind of cluster together, but this is just me. Like @SSScout said, they are tuned to the American ear of a century ago. Trustworthy, Loyal, and Helpful are for citizenship Friendly, Courteous, and Kind are interpersonal Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty speak to being mentally awake Brave, Clean, and Reverent speak to physical strength and moral rectitud. I don't know if there is any intent in the order, but it seems that I do see them appear in boys on a deeper-than-surface level in roughly that sequence.

Far be it from me to tell GS/USA what issues its girls and parents should address. It may be that this issue is confounding lots of GS Juniors, so their moms invited discussion. I'm certain some girls earned GS awards for tackling this issue in their school. So, maybe the organization provided helps to parents in similar situations -- suggesting ways that this could be a skills-acquisition moment. I've seen Bryan's blog write up similar topics on behalf of BSA and invite lots of discussion. But, I'm puzzled as to why someone payed for it to appear as a sponsored link on FB. Maybe GS/USA thinks that this was the kind of thing that would motivate others to follow its other posts? Maybe they just wanted to generate buzz ... good or bad? I guess, given that I posted here, they at least accomplished that.

We had to deal with this as parents. Femurs grew, skirt didn't. The principle was doing his best to handle things discretely. Even so Mrs. Q took umbrage. Daughter wasn't offended, but also didn't think she had much agency in the situation. So, I understand the emotion. I just want to hear from an organization who is partnering with me recognize that my family (including children) might be in favor of their school's dress code -- and share advice on how I may help my daughter enter into this dialogue. With youth, always promote both civic action and servant leadership. Middle school kids often see things going on in a community that other folks miss. Their playground/pool might be impacted by budget cuts. There might be a dangerous intersection on the way to school. Or, a newly elected public official might need to know the issues important to youth.

Not sure why, but this sponsored link kept popping up on my FB wall: Your Daughter vs. Her School Dress Code What I find interesting: Someone at GS/USA thinks this issue can be used to promote their brand. Appealing school restrictions on students is deemed a "civic action", but appealing the fashion industry's body-shaming arms race is not even a suggestion. At some point, any of us in BSA who've worked with young women come across this issue with our youth. In venturing, this is great fodder for ethical controversies. But, it's not something where I would tell parents that my advice is the reason they should trust their girls' personal growth to me. More importantly, if I were to present parent-facing material, I would present the multiple viewpoints of youths (both girls and boys) on the matter.

This is the kind of family you want to come back to when your scouts start wanting to earn merit badges. Does the father or mother have a job or hobby that would allow them to serve as a MB counselor, or maybe they can comprise your committee? Your pitch would be "You asked me if I would be around for your boy. Now I'm asking, will you be around for our scouts?"

Welcome! And thanks for all you do for the youth!

@scoutmaster759, welcome to the forums and thanks in advance all you'll do for the youth.

Really? A sixteen year old can earn two or three MBs a month, meet the caring adults in her community at her convenience, use some of those learning experiences to enhance the life of her patrol and troop, be in control of her own destiny, have all the badges she needs plus a few for insta-palms by year's end ... and you think "extra summer camps" is a good idea? That's not being prepared. What if she can't go to more than one BSA camp? What if she goes, and hates it because all she has is MB classes that she doesn't care about. What if she goes and likes only one MB because that camp is ansolute best at teaching it and only wants to take that one again and again and again. What if she goes, and your venturer tells her about a really awesome two-week super activity that a crew she knows is doing next year? And, this is really important: your new adults have more to offer through their jobs and hobbies than they realize. If you endorse some stranger's MB program over their ability to provide unique opportunities for your troop, you are giving a vote of no-confidence to the people who will be keeping your program afloat for years to come. This is not a hypothetical. I've made lots of plans with older teens ... all of them were extremely diverse ... none of them involved extra weeks as participants at summer camp. They didn't all end aging out with Eagle rank, but they all achieved the aims of scouting. If after week 1, this scout really likes summer camp, let her know about additional weeks she may attend. But, don't link that with advancement.

@Cburkhardt, I think any other scout's particular written plan could send your scouts down a very wrong path -- especially if it winds up clashing with their interests. These older teens can review the requirements and plan for themselves. The venturer, especially should by now be skilled at back-dating from a target date to schedule a series of steps towards completion of an adventure. Most camp staff have similar opportunities, plus they should know how blue cards work. Scout C is a wild card. You almost certainly need to listen carefully to her interests and have her start on an MB of interest to her with a counselor you trust. Then when she comes back with her first blue card, you will have data to let her know if she needs to pick up the pace to stay on track. For mature scouts, I always suggest that they be working on an elective and required MB every month. Most scouts this age would do well with personal management, personal fitness, and family life. Weekend campouts are a must if they want to earn Camping MB in 18 months. Really, they only need to attend one summer camp so they can rack up 6 camping nights. Everything else they need for advancement they should do on weekends or evenings with their troop, patrol, or their friends. Your next few SMCs will tell a whole lot more about where to direct them than any timetable that someone claims worked for their scouts.

First, nobody *needs* to earn Eagle, but it's great that you have three great teens who want to within the time allotted to them. you don't want to take anyone for granted, but I suspect the 16 year old starting fresh will need most of your attention. She simply doesn't know scouts and scouters well, so you're going to need to make sure she gets connected to your better merit badge counselors, that she understands the first class rank requirements, and respects whatever younger scout may be her PL or SPL. We have similar issues with boys who join in their late teens. Sometimes they have a buddy who will show them the ropes, but they are often much more in need of adult guidance. Girls A and B are treading new territory. They will need to work a balance between troop and college. For them, you will need to constantly ask if they are having fun. A younger mom with a big heart might be a good mentor. On the flip side, their college classmates might have some cool things to offer your troop. Keep challenging them to find was to build synergy between their schools and scouting. I think this is a great opportunity for these girls, but your number 1 priority is building 1st class scouts. It sounds like you have a good idea of who is well on their way. Like any scout, you need to listen and watch and at SMCs give them honest appraisals.