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That's why I chose to label this behavior as "thumbs on the scales". Cheating is contestant-driven, and often comes from seasoned participants. (Although coaches may be involved.) I could blame modern British fiction writers, but I think I'll put it on the shoulders of reality TV. In my day, there were the champions and there were the honor campers. The two might overlap on occasion, but were often distinct. I agree with @Eagledad Although I'm personally impressed that this year it looks like we will have 10,000 Scouts BSA girls, it's only one story. It also looks like we have thousands of Mormon youth who want to be scouts even when their church isn't requiring them to do so. We have scouters who don't like the change but are still pitching in. I would love media spots with folks like the former Cub mom (now great grandmother) who I sat with at our troop's spaghetti dinner. She said "Boys should learn to do boy things and girls should learn to do girl things." Her daughter tried to be more PC about it, but I thought that a video with hers as the opening line would be the best marketing Scout's BSA could ever wish to have. I think we would all like to hear about the girl's troop who's having a rough start but the boys and venturers around them are stopping by to encourage them to keep trying ... perhaps with an offer of dutch oven cobbler and a game of cards.

You could have stopped right there and won me over. Even if @Eagledad didn't mean to imply adults had their thumbs on the scales, that's what this was. The new patrols don't deserve to be patronized like that. My favorite camporees were run by JASMs. Adults might help set up etc ... but the youth allocated points, etc ... If the boys want to patronize the new scouts that's on them. Chances are, they'd do it by being cheerful and courteous, not doling out bling. @cocomax if your PLC really feels burned by this, they should write a letter telling the district key-3 so, and copying every SM in the district.

Or .. you could do what 'schiff suggested a couple months ago. Start the topic in Open Program (because helping scouts navigate their religion and citizenship is part of the program) and add the label Faith & Chaplaincy. Everybody wins!

Then I misunderstood what you meant when you said " the boys aren't just competing against girls, but the adults as well." And "no hope because I've never heard of a new scouts doing so well so fast ...  " Either the adults tipped the scales, or they did not. So, you don't believe they tipped the scales? Fine. We agree. If they did not, then these particular new scouts actually did well. They either did well because they are endowed with gifts that boys could never possess. Or, they are really excited about the program, and practiced hard and looked sharp for the big game. I choose to believe the latter. Because if that's true then I can tell that losing patrol to start practicing for the win next year. If the former is true, then we are stuck with a "Sorry boys, there goes your safe space" whine that just smacks of defeatism. If all you are saying is that you find the biased hype aggravating, I kind of agree. I think 'Schiff points to it in the misconception below: They are no more "rookies" than any other newly formed patrol. Many have been working on skills for months or years. Some could have already been friends for some time. That friendship might have forged by one common interest ... They just love this scouting stuff.

I'm confused. Were they not on the ballot? If they were, all they would need was for half the scouts to vote for them. There's no limit to the number of candidates a scout can vote for, so the scouts who didn't get elected need to learn what it was that made more than half their fellow scouts conclude that they were not worthy.

You were quite explicit ... How else am my supposed to understand what you said in any other terms besides your articulated belief that the adults wanted scouts of one sex to win so badly that they tipped the scales in their favor?

I know. I'm not saying this has to be done for every troop. But for this troop, at least a year. FWIW, I don't carry anything other than pump spray. Hard lesson learned when I was a PL and brought a stencil, pillow-case, and spray can to camp to paint our flag. I had no clue what a temptation that would be for my boys. Fortunately, it was a fairly wet year at camp. Also, the SM was not mean to any of us when I brought the can to him and explained why it could no longer stay in my tent.

The boys in the district where the new patrol bested them, had the opportunity to contend with some real first class scouts (patch not withstanding). They now have the opportunity to step up their game. Obviously I think @Eagledad's assumption that someone rigged the scoring to favor a particular sex is profoundly flawed. I think any new troop of scouts, be they immigrants or minority groups, have a lot going in their favor. They've stepped in from the outside and are gun-ho for something they can master while other patrols have taken for granted that everyone else in the district slacks a little. They will come on the field looking sharp. They will have been practicing. In this case, one or two of them will have been camp staff or will have picked up skills from their brothers. I have also seen that, if their brothers are Arrowmen, they will have loaded their siblings with top-notch gear. The bitter truth, however, is that as time goes forward these new troops likely become lax, and they will go through the team-building cycles that other patrols have. Their uniforms won't look as sharp. They might not always show scout spirit. The lion-tiger-... burnout* will affect parents of girls as well. I am pleasantly surprised that we have as many girls interested in the program as we do. But, as confident as I am that most who've joined "are all that", I'm also skeptical that the year-one Scouts BSA hype will tell us much of anything. *P.S. - A friend who counsels medical professionals sent me a lecture that the proper term for "burnout" is "moral injury". When time allows, I may open a topic on it in I&P.

This didn't happen with just one scout. They must have been talking about it all day, and the kid got inspired to try it. The whole troop should be in on making restitution, if that's even possible. No more cooking spray for anyone in the troop. Going forward, only provision with olive oil, lard, margarine, or butter. Check provisions for any other spray-ables. That includes deodorant. This means a thorough shakedown before departure for a year. Finally: buddy system?

I'd like to see the fundraiser that your SPL would pull off to get your QM that extra $15million suit! P.S. - Some folks in town are working on the next gen suit. It really is a nationwide endeavor.

We only set up the big dining flys (as you describe them) if we're expecting guests, setting up tables, etc ... Otherwise, it's tents and hammocks by patrols around their respective open-air fire/cooking area. Or maybe a small fly for each patrol as @jjlash described. FWIW, I met one troop from Michigan who had backpacked in on the North Country Trail and only set up flys ... no tents. They seemed happy as clams.

With each iteration of GPS tech, I've made a fool of myself. Then I went in the trunk, set up my burner, cooked up some espresso, unfolded a map, committed my route to memory, and when necessary corrected any wrong turns by celestial navigation.

Consider yourself lucky. Scouts around here (and I've seen a lot of them) don't put anything but the MBs they've earned on their sashes. I've tried to encourage them to do otherwise, and they look at me as if I'm some kind of alien. Full disclosure: I've never put anything besides MBs on my sash. But, I thought that would inspire my sons to be different. No such luck. At least your rodeo clowns are proud of all the places they've been!

I think you mistake what it means to be partisan. To allow individuals to express their political views on non-uniform gear is not partisan. That opens the door for productive debate. One kid brings a MAGA hat, another a Hope-and-Change hat. They invite dialogue upon themselves. Partisan is using your associations with an organization to misrepresent an organizational endorsement of a particular candidate. Most people know that if one scout is wearing a hat or even a campaign pin, and another is not, that the scouts are expressing individual -- not organizational -- aspirations. If the community at large is getting the impression that your troop is favoring a partisan endorsement (e.g., the candidate's banner on a campsite flagpole.) The scouter needs to reign things in. If the individual expressions are leading to boys not working amicably with their mates of differing views, the scouter needs to reign things in. If all the different hats look stupid, the scouter needs to lean on the PLC to adopt a headgear standard. I say this as a scouter who would probably tell boys to not wear their campaign hats at unit activities. If they have an opinion, they may articulate it while they cook a meal, clean up, chop wood or otherwise serve their fellow scouts. That's me. But, I never rushed my kids out of a troop when my boy's leaders let the scouts sport a slogan. That's basically because all the folks who actually held views I thoroughly despised never dressed the part.

Let us remind ourselves that it is a big country. What you've been told things represent may not be exactly what they do represent. One is certainly allowed to drop from any troop that allows for symbols that they don't like, but I would suggest that could lead to your youth falling in with persons whose malice is more vile than that of the youth sporting their trite shibboleths.

@Eagledad, That's like saying our patrols' consistent victories at Klondike is discouraging other boys in the district to join scouts. Let's face it, this isn't an absorption of GS/USA. This is a recruitment of scouts who care about skills the way many boys who drift into a troop actually should. In the short term, we can expect them some of these Scout's BSA for girls troops to give the lion's share of established patrols a run for their money. In the long term, we can expect the boys in the district to step up their game if their SM's are half the coaches they should be. Why is this? Most Scouts BSA for girls are a de-facto patrol. They have to work together and plan their own rank advancement and activities. If there are seasoned boys who they'd like on their team, the can't have them. They have to build their own with what they have. It's basically the mythic Rat Patrol or McHale's Navy in kid form. This weekend I finally got to meet a troop of Scouts BSA girls. They are sharp and diverse age-wise an slowly chipping away at their Scout Rank after one month of existence. (I.e., this is not one of those previously rogue troops.) I encouraged them that, from here on, their line to their leaders must be "Mrs. SM, where to this month?" If that does happen, then the boys in their linked troop will be inspired to step up their game as well as these upstarts who are sharing their CO have done.

This is a very simple and practical scout skill. If I'm transporting scouts who have hand-helds (and their parents will allow it), I always ask them to look up directions and help me navigate. I might even suggest they add a coffee shop I'd like to try as a waypoint!

@ScoutMom45036, welcome to the forums! A couple of son #2's best buddies had anxiety issues ... maybe related to divorce, but usually it was more complicated than that. If the boy's telling you he's nervous about it now, it's a good indication that giong "cold turkey" wont work. Our troop has welcomed moms like you with kids like yours to come camp with us adults. You're not the problem mom who we generally worry about. Generally, you're good company, and you're not hovering over your son. You get to know the leaders and other parents and catch them up on the things your son is going through. You might actually do us a favor and mentor some of our other boys -- that's not expected, but when it happens, it's good to see. During the day, you might be able to help the camp staff . But, at the very least, by getting registered and trained, you'll get a sense of how we leaders should be accountable to one another. That's always helpful. One other thing you might not have noticed: but your son is old enough to take on chores. Make sure he's responsible for some things besides homework ... garbage pick-up and putting out ... setting up and cleaning up dishes ... helping you cook ... checking the doors/lights in the evening ... putting away laundry ... making his bed in the morning. Just enough of those, and a week away from home begins to sound sweet.

@CaptBurgers, welcome to the forums! Any chance you have your dad's handbook? That would contain the guide that boys would follow. Boys Life and Scouter magazines have online magazines that you could also research. As to Eagle pins and knots, try browsing https://www.sageventure.com/history/

Not a prize that I was looking for, but it's the world we live in. 😪 Just a reminder, folks: use that "Report" button for posts that seem a little "off". (Not off base - that could be my posts on any given day!) That just don't add up logically. Feel free to look at a user's other posts to see if they "hang together" like they are something that would come from a single scout or scouter. That's tough because we all have multiple positions, official and unofficial. This poster's give-away was when he/she/it reported volunteering in a BSA program, then started a thread purporting to be in a country that did not use that program. Didn't add up. I noticed the obtuse replies before I noticed that each reply had a quotation of an established forum member had links to vile content in it. Then, I clicked "report" for each similar post (i.e., all of today's from this one account). Thanks @John-in-KC for prompt action! I'm sorry for everyone else who got hijacked.

Finally took a look at the requirement as GBB wrote it (BSHB, 9th Ed, Camping skill award, 3.a.): Whip the ends of a rope. What!? No fusing? And we didn't have to show anybody. We could come to our leader with one rope -- ends neatly bound -- and say, "See, I whipped it. Whipped it good." [Cue Devo] Then for fun I could go find some strike-anywhere matches, light them off my teeth, and melt me some of that new-fangled nylon rope. Advancement was so much easier back in the day ... at least I didn't have as much legalese to parse!

With a cub? I would just go for one. At this point most of the places you'd stay are full, so you would have a substantial drive to the nearest hotel or campground each day.

Like Cleveland Rocks said ... plus we're telling our scouts it's not so much a trade as giving a memento of your meeting. Our contingent is designing a shirt in hopes that it will be a desirable gift. It's a challenge to come up with the right balance of leading edge, cost, and quality.

@EastCst, welcome to the forums! I don't have much to add, except this ... Son #1's cubmaster (of about 10 years ago) was laid to rest yesterday. He was a stand-up guy. But there were moments of contention. I thought, "What was so important that everyone had to dig their heels in?" Time is short. For some, way shorter than anyone thinks. Remind everyone of that. Move on.

Yeah, scouting becomes such a different environment that there's no way of telling how this will tilt. A scout like this who has come up to me with issue X (that has nothing to do with safety) will usually get a response like, "Good news: nobody cares." I try to be as polite as possible and support the chain of command. Generally there's plenty of work to do. So, in the process, things like this find their own norm if you let it. You will probably have to convey to such a scout that you hold your PL's in highest esteem. But, as time goes on, focus on how he/she performs in the troop and encourage the rest of the scouts to do so. Eventually you all might just be able to discuss if a change in manner in the rest of life is in order.