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Beavah

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Everything posted by Beavah

  1. Yah, if yeh think an 8-year-old is actually seekin' surgery without that notion bein' strongly encouraged by adults in his or her life, you're out of your mind. And if yeh think any responsible professional in da medical community would consider such surgery, let me know so I can report 'em to their state medical board and have their license to practice medicine permanently revoked. Playin' into pre-pubescent notions of bein' "trans" is just irresponsible as close as I can tell from da available research. If somewhere between 80% and 98% of the children with professionally diagnosed "
  2. Yah, hmmm... Where are yeh livin', @@qwazse? This strikes me as kids bein' kids, and seeking after attention in da way that happens to work for 'em. Used to be it was Rock and Roll, or long hair, or green hair. Like @@Eagledad says, I reckon they're all sharin' a drink we call Loneliness, but it's better than drinkin' alone. As I understand it, da large majority of "trans" kids discover within a few years that they're just fine with their biological gender. If that's the case, then we have to ask ourselves as a society and as scouters "What in tarnation are we doing???".
  3. Yah, hmmm... Yah, sure, I know trans adults. Have worked with a lot of kids over da years who struggled with various things; Mrs. Beavah has worked with a lot more and in a professional role. I reckon an 8 year old often enough has a hard time makin' an informed choice about vegetables vs. ice cream. Can't say I'm aware of any well-raised child of 8 who is spendin' much time thinkin' of sex. Girls have cooties! In da years from age 8-18 friends change, personalities change, desires change, behaviors change. One thing that doesn't change is that kids make considerable ef
  4. Yah, hats off to yeh for a nice resolution, @@qwazse. His buddies (all from a smaller troop of older scouts who were absorbed by the large troop of younger scouts) have a few gripes. This is what struck me from all your description, eh? Boys who spend a few years as 10-13 year olds in a troop get to thinkin' that their troop is the one that does things right. That troop becomes their native culture, and just like humans of any age, our first instinct when travelin' is to compare what we find to our native culture. Mostly to point out what's wrong with the new place! Same wit
  5. Yah, hmmm... It's nice theory, but it mostly doesn't work in practice. Whether it's G2SS or da requirements for BSA or council high adventure programs, there are age limits, eh? So a gang of 11-year-olds can't always do what a gang of high schoolers can do. Lots of good reasons for that, too. Practically speakin', if it's paddle a mess of miles across a lake to go camp, a gang of experienced high school scouts will have no trouble. A mixed age patrol will be able to do it, with da stronger older lads helpin' out the younger fellows who are learnin'. They'll have challenges, b
  6. Yah, hmmm... I reckon we all knew it was comin', eh? I really feel for the child. It's hard enough to be a kid. Harder still to be a kid whose behavior is different. When yeh add in parents and others behavin' bizarrely because of their own agendas, da anchors are gone and the child's cast adrift. Functional child abuse, regardless of the legal definition. Used to be we accepted tomboys as what they are, eh? Fun, adventurous girls. Beavah
  7. Yah, hmmm... I think da problem may be that yeh don't understand what's really fun for teenagers. Yeh seem to think "fun" involves hangin' with friends and doin' what yeh want to do. I think that's wrong. Teenagers by and large want to be part of something, not just hang out. They want to be seen as adult - as capable, as good at something. They'll spend hours beatin' their head against a video game level to get good at it. They'll spend hours tryin' to master a skateboard trick. Their brains are wired to be attracted to learnin'. They thrive on da feeling of developing re
  8. Yah, hmmm.... I'll certainly agree that those two ways aren't da right way to do it, eh? That's just lazy adults bringin' up kids to be lazy. Seems like lots of times it's also adults who don't have much experience, either with the topic (so they have to rely on da books and worksheets for knowledge) or workin' with kids (so they rely on school procedures for lack of real-world youth mentoring). For most of da history of mankind, boys learned how to do things by apprenticeship. That's the natural way to learn, eh? That's what MB counseling should be like, I reckon, at least in a
  9. Yah, hmmm... To my mind, at this size a troop should either be one patrol or two mixed-age patrols, eh? So instead of havin' a young/old divide, yeh have two patrols where there are a pair of older scout leaders and instructors, and a second-year scout or two, and a first year scout or two. Patrol competitions then become possible, harder outings supported by da strength of older scouts become possible, and real servant leadership by the older lads becomes possible. Bein' a PL becomes a cool thing that older, competent boys do rather than a popularity contest among same-age peers.
  10. Yah, sure it is. Sellin' popcorn is helpin' the pack go! Every boy should be doin' his best to do his duty to help the pack go! Helpin' the pack go is part of how we teach citizenship, eh? Yeh contribute time to improvin' your community because that's what good citizens do, not because yeh expect to get paid for it. For my part, I'm glad da BSA is finally squeezin' out this notion. Aside from bein' not particularly kosher from a legal perspective, I think it works against our Aims, eh? Just one old furry fellow's opinion, anyway. That havin' been said, there's nothin' tha
  11. Yah, hmmm... Let me see if I can echo @@CalicoPenn here a bit. Puttin' on my teenage girl hat... Ugh! @@Plugging Away is driving me crazy. I love Venturing, but the adults all come from this little-kid Boy Scouts thing which they claim is youth run, but is really like this lame middle school thing. Why can't they realize we're not little kids like the Boy Scouts. We've got this! We can do it. We want to do it. It's so much more empowering when as crew President I can just work out the details with my friends over SnapChat. We get things done and have fun doing it, without all
  12. Yah, they won't let you. New troop should have no problem though, eh? I reckon most new troops will accept da blue card and take care of things for yeh. Same goes for gettin' your son badges and awarding at their next Court of Honor. The thing yeh need to do up front as you're lookin' for a new troop is to ask about this sort of thing, eh? Troops have different styles and different approaches to the Advancement game. You're clearly lookin' for a rapid-advancement / advancement-focused sort of style that is willin' to deal with badges comin' fast and furious on the quest
  13. Yah, as far as I know da blue cards don't matter to a typical scout shop. Sales of restricted items depend on da ScoutNet record, as updated by advancement report forms from the troop. Beavah
  14. Yah, hmmmm... @@cchoat missed da next part, eh? None of this changes da circumstances, eh? If yeh come in as a parent and start quotin' BSA texts at people yeh might find that yeh are no longer welcome. Courtesy in the face of discourtesy, eh? That's the ticket, and the example to set for your son. I can't for da life of me figure out why a Scoutmaster is havin' problems after the fact if he signed off on blue cards for da MB Day in the first place, unless he really thinks that cheatin' is going on. This is somethin' that gifted lads have to deal with from time to ti
  15. Yah, hmmm... Thanks for da additional information, @@NobodyReally. Some troops are pretty advancement-focused, some less advancement-focused. Sounds like yeh have a less advancement-focused troop and a very advancement-focused youth (and dad, perhaps). That's when yeh either look for a better fit program, or yeh use it as a learning experience for your son and let him negotiate da process as @@qwazse suggests. Lots of time in his future school and life da path won't be all laid out for him with superiors ready to assist. Pushin' through obstacles and perceptions can be a good lesso
  16. Hello @@NobodyReally! Welcome to da forums. Sounds like a bit of a disconnect between you and your son's troop, eh? First thing to remember is that Boy Scouts isn't quite like Cub Scouts, where the lads spend most of their time in a group workin' together on awards. Advancement Method is only 1/8 of Boy Scoutin', and it's meant to be done in a way that's integrated with da rest of da program. Advancement is like a suntan. It's what yeh get from being outdoors with your patrol doin' things with your troop. That's where all the real learnin' and character development happen. Th
  17. Yah, hmmm... I think I'm with @@Zaphod. A person who gives a cash donation to a BSA unit is intendin' the donation to go to support that unit. Turnin' around and givin' da entire donation to military popcorn (is there a chronic popcorn shortage in our armed forces?) is arguably violatin' the donor's intent. Yeh have at least a moral obligation to disclose that's what yeh intend to do with the money, so the donor can make an informed decision on whether to give his/her hard-earned cash to send popcorn to the military. I think yeh have to put it in the unit treasury. If there's a un
  18. Yah, hmmm... I'm firmly with @@CalicoPenn. All Courts of Honor are troop events, eh? They should be hosted by da troop, and organized and run by da PLC. The Eagle(s) and family(s) are honored guests. I reckon it just ain't courteous for us to make our honored guests do the work and pay for the meal. Much like school graduation or award ceremonies, eh? They're run by the school. Black belt award ceremonies? Run by the dojo. In fact, I can't think of any organization that expects da folks being honored to pay for or plan their own award ceremony. I reckon there are few good, s
  19. Yah, hmmm... I'm wonderin' why yeh think state health regulations apply to unit campin' at all, @@TAHAWK. Large events requirin' special permitting on public land, like a jamboree... perhaps. Commercial sale of food as part of fundraisin', like running a food booth at a county fair, sure. Otherwise not really. Da three-tub method for heavyweight car campin' to my mind is usually associated with Troop Method camping. For Patrol Method where yeh have 4-8 kids, other options seem more appropriate and consistent with LNT. Beavah
  20. Yah, hmmm... Welcome @@Hershey. Thanks for supportin' your son and his scouting program. Is there some rush in da family for gettin' advancement on a schedule? Sometimes lads are tryin' to beat an older brother's time-to-rank or somethin' similar. Is he gettin' really close to 17.5 years old? Seems like he's comin' along just fine. We're tryin' to teach life lessons in Scouting, eh? One of the life lessons that I think is a good one is that yeh learn things for more than just a test. Yeh learn 'em because yeh might need to actually know them. If spendin' a few extra da
  21. Yah, hmmm.... This is a piece of legislative-advocacy journalism. More smoke than fire, I reckon. The report says da SE made a statement published in the newspaper way back in 2014 that reported the ASMs behavior at some length. Hard to imagine that he didn't notify law enforcement at the time unless he was aware da parents already had made that notification. Or the local prosecutor could just read his morning newspaper, eh? Certainly they seem to have begun pursuin' a case right away. Da only real question is the ASM who received the initial report from the lad. Given the cl
  22. Yah, hmmm... @@thrifty, thanks for comin' to the Forums! I highlighted this comment of yours just so yeh could see it by itself and think about it a bit. "We" shouldn't be doin' Merit Badges, eh? HE should. And if your own peace of mind is affected by what your almost-teenaged son does or doesn't do, you're goin' to be needin' heavy doses of Xanax within a few years. So will he! Just a thought. Informationally, some MBs are low-hanging fruit for younger boys, while other MBs offer more of a challenge for high schoolers. Game Design MB is a harder one, eh? Lots of
  23. Yah, hmmmm... Welcome, @@Phrogger. Simple fact is that at age 10 he isn't eligible to be a Boy Scout. Too much too soon, eh? It can be hard for 11-year-olds who are entering into 6th grade their first year. I think there's nuthin' to be gained by pushing your son to stay in if he wants to quit so much that he's makin' himself sick before meetings. I was in his place, once. Was pushed by my parents into swim lessons. I was actually OK in the water, so I ended up in a YMCA group with older kids. I didn't know 'em, and older kids were scary. I didn't really know the YMCA. I
  24. Yah, @@SouthPoleScout, I hear yeh. Sometimes we chase da fads a bit, eh? Remember "Soccer & Scouting"? Or BSA Varsity Teams? I'm an old curmudgeon and remember Baden-Powell's admonition that Scouting should never "trench upon the work of the schools". Partly because we don't have da expertise, eh? And partly because boys aren't clamoring for more school. We can't compete with First Robotics; not sure why we'd waste resources tryin'. First Robotics can't compete with us in da outdoors and citizenship area. Better to be partners than competitors. At da same time, I
  25. Why wait? They are plannin' weekend trips on their own, right? Seein' as how they're Boy Scouts. This is just like a weekend trip, only bigger! What part of da Midwest are yeh in, mate, and how far are yeh willin' to travel? Are yeh really lookin' for full outfitter support (prepackaged guided tour/trip) or are yeh willin' to mix it up at least a bit? Does it have to be a BSA camp program? Yeh can bike across Iowa with RAGBRAI. Yeh can go Sea Kayakin' the Apostle Islands or backpackin' out on Isle Royale. Yeh can look for Great Lakes sailing opportunities or a long cruise wi
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