Beavah

Yah, RichardB, sometimes yeh worry me mate. I'm sure yeh realize that injurin' a grand total of 8 people total over all da user-days of use of slip-and-slides represents an injury rate that's statistically trivial. Also makes a good data point for @@Stosh's view about excessive government. As a young lad, I had a friend who broke his back while sleddin' down a hill. He had a history of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and was a bigger fellow. He hit a jump with some speed and landed hard and broke his back. It was a freak thing, and he recovered fine. Old folks and even young

Yah, Stosh, but we tried to warn you, eh? Yeh just weren't willin' to listen. Boys need coachin', eh? They can take on a lot of stuff, but it takes time to build troop cultures like that. It takes time to educate parents, time to build traditions of youth leadership, and all the rest. @@Adamcp isn't leadin' the well-developed troop with da long tradition of Patrol Method and Youth Leadership and parental support, eh? He's fairly new to the game, and the boys are fairly new to the game. Sink-or-swim sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, but it's usually not the best way.

Hiya Adamcc! Da notion of rotatin' leadership positions or clearin' out leadership positions or havin' a "senior patrol" as a parkin' spot for older boys is almost always an adult, troop-method notion, eh? In da modern BSA system the PLC is supposed to be the "Senior Patrol", eh? The title is a holdover from the past. The SPL is not supposed to be leadin' his own separate Senior Patrol, he's supposed to be leadin' the PLC. Rotatin' leadership is one of da worst ideas I've ever seen for troops. It comes from Advancement Run Amok, where yeh deliberately break up the natural leader

Yah, @walkinthewoods, I like it! Well, most of it anyways. I think there's a strong case to be made for just givin' poor folks money rather than lots of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. I reckon there's a strong case for allowin' choice and da markets to drive things that are optional purchases or purchases where havin' choice to better fit your own needs makes sense, like education. Not quite with yeh on some other things, though. I don't want all da highways to be privatized. Leads to different rules, different standards, lots of private fees that increase da friction of t

Yah, @@Cambridgeskip, this is da fun stuff for us scouters, eh? What I'll do lots of times is come over and start talkin' to the boys. "Hey, Joe, how many times have you set up this kind of tent?" "Seven, Mr. Beavah!" "Awesome. Thanks for takin' your time to help Billy Newscout practice. Practicin' and lettin' him take time to learn is really important. Mr. Meddlesome and I are just goin' to get out of your way now and let yeh get on with it. Do you mind if we watch, though? We might learn a few of your tricks for doin' it in the rain." Then take Mr. Meddlesome asid

Yah, well, I reckon I'm not always that clear, eh? I think our first duty is to higher principles, eh? God and Country in da Oath and such. Our duty in Scoutin' is to our Chartered Organization if we're unit Scouters, and to da CO's mission for youth. Our duty as council or national scouters is to da Mission and Aims of the BSA. Da rules, laws, policies, guidelines, historical practices, local adaptations and all da rest serve those various purposes, eh? They don't serve themselves. So it's never OK to apply a rule or practice or whatnot in a way that harms da Aims, Goals, a

Nah. If yeh think that, then yeh aren't usin' the Advancement Method the way the BSA intends, eh? The Methods are all related to each other. More important, da Methods are all applied to da goals of teachin' character, fitness, and citizenship, eh? All those other things yeh learned (or teach) in trainin', they all go together, eh? That's how da Scoutin' program works. So my question to you is how yeh think a parent should respond to his or her lad's teacher/coach/referee/scoutmaster when that other adult in the boy's life makes a judgment call, eh? Especially when that judgment ca

Yah, in legal philosophy there's law (rules) and equity (fairness), eh? Law (rules) has it's problems, yeh know. It's really hard to write good laws or rules. It's impossible to write laws or rules that work for all situations. Not human laws anyways. We humans just aren't that smart, and when we try to specify all da permutations we create really long complicated laws that are unworkable. So from Aristotle onward in just societies there's always been a notion of equity. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about it for Christendom, but I reckon Jesus had him beat by over a thousand years

Hiya @@TAHAWK, I think da article meant that it's close to an all time low as number of federal employees per number of employed Americans. Not absolute number. Da number of folks in government should be expected to increase in proportion to da general population, eh? More people means yeh need more police; more air travel means yeh need more sky marshals and FAA inspectors, etc. The federal Department of Education wasn't on my list because it's an even smaller slice of da pie, eh? Much of the DOE funding is for Pell Grants for college, plus the student loan program. With China

Why would yeh think that, @@Sentinel947? Our business is helpin' kids learn and grow, eh? That doesn't stop when we wave a pencil around. A Scoutmaster may have signed off on "Scout Spirit". Then between that signoff and his BOR the lad might get caught bullying a younger scout with his fists, or he might get arrested for stealin' from a local shop. Do yeh think that the BOR must give him a rank and the troop must throw him a party because there happens to be a signature on a line? Of course not! The lad might also have had "Earn 21 Merit Badges" signed off 2 years ago,

Yah, @@Stosh, I reckon it just depends whether yeh view Boy Scout ranks as entitlements or not, eh? If gettin' a Boy Scout rank is an entitlement, then if yeh don't get what's comin' to yeh you might be "screwed over". I don't see BSA ranks as entitlements, and I don't think we're playin' this Scoutin' game to teach kids to feel entitled to the time and effort and recognition of others. Just my humble opinion. I think we are bein' trustworthy when we follow the "cardinal rule" of advancement and make sure we're usin' advancement to educate kids. I think we build confidence i

Yah, hmmm.... A lot of stuff there, eh? I'm an old fellow, but I'm not one of da doom-and-gloom, the-country-is-dyin' critters. I think yeh make some fine points, @@Stosh, but there are other fine points to be made as well. All things in balance. For example, da Constitution does not really allow for a standing army, eh? To quote James Madison "The means of defence against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home." That's why appropriations for the Army are limited to two years, unlike any other appropriation. Small-government anti-Federalists l

Yah, hmmm.... Yeh do know us beavers generally take down da trees that are part of da forest, eh? They make great dams! @@Krampus, advancement is just a method, eh? Yeh can have a fine troop and never do a lick of advancement if yeh want. That's not the same thing as Youth Protection and I reckon we both know that, eh? We also both know that da "cardinal rule" of BSA advancement is NOT "don't add to the requirements." When yeh signed up for da BSA you promised to adhere to da Charter and Bylaws and Rules and Regulations of da BSA. Those define the cardinal rule for BSA adva

Yah, hmmm.... Not to put too fine a point on it @@Stosh, but yeh do know that da number of folks employed by da federal government has not been goin' up, right? In fact, as a percentage of da employed population of the country, the number of federal workers is near an all-time low. Not sure where all these bloated bureaucrats are hidin'. Are you? (http://www.businessinsider.com/how-big-is-our-government-2012-7?op=1) Try this as an exercise, eh? Name who you would cut. Da Pentagon has perhaps our biggest bureaucracy. Are yeh cuttin' them? Goin' to go back to our pre-Civil War s

Yah, @@CalicoPenn, I reckon that we want lads to be challenged, think creatively, and all the rest, eh? Character, Fitness, Citizenship, Service, right? Leaders in their community? One of da rare 5%? Somethin' worthy of special consideration for college admissions, military promotion, job hiring? Challenges aren't roadblocks, they're challenges. I reckon we want Eagle projects to do a few things, eh? We want 'em to be a leadership challenge for the boy, so that he gets to apply those skills we tried to teach him - budgeting and planning and communication and leadin' others a

Yah, @@Krampus, Advancement Method is just a method, eh? It's only one of eight Methods. I reckon if da troop totally messed up advancement but was doin' fine with everything else, they'd still get an 87.5% for a B+, eh? Or, more properly, they'd be a Journey to Excellence Gold Troop. I think it's hard to argue that a JTE Gold troop is "completely out of control". In the broad world, this sort of thing happens occasionally, eh? A troop runs down and gets lax about advancement, then a new SM tries to right the ship. Volunteers feel taken advantage of by people doin' drop-off-

Awesome! I wish we had some way to share great projects like this nationally, eh? A regular feature in Boys' Life on an exemplary project, perhaps? Sorta like "Eagle Scouts in Action". A regular blog on great scout projects? Somethin' to inspire kids who are comin' up to Star and Life to tackle a real need and not go for da de minimis approach to Eagle projects. Somethin' to prod troop and district adults to challenge lads to think creatively big. Beavah

Yah, nicely done @Eagle94-1. Recognitions like this are a kindness, but also a great example to others. Make a big public deal of it, eh? It's worth celebratin', and it makes da example sing louder and farther. Beavah

Yah, @@Stosh, I hear yeh when it comes to da sentiment. Two things, though. First, School Boards aren't at all outside our current code of laws, eh? They're a full part of 'em. They're an elected legislature for da school district. Just like da elected city council can pass local ordinances for da city yeh live in, the elected school board can pass local policies for da schools. That's the charge given 'em by state laws (or sometimes by state constitutions). No taxation with out representation, eh? As long as there's a school tax on da populace, da populace gets to elect represe

Yah, @@SSF, I'm sorry I missed this post. Still gettin' used to da new forum software. Da thread sorta wandered off into more theoretical considerations of how folks view Scoutin' and commissioner work that I reckon was less helpful for you, eh? Can I ask when your son turns 18? I agree with you that da seeming passive-aggressive nature of da response of the SM to your boy's requests can be frustratin' for both of you. It can seem like he doesn't care or whatnot. That isn't necessarily da case, eh? Lots of times with volunteers it's just that they have a lot on their plates (i

But Beavah we are talking about a very delicate situation here. Yah, @@Krampus. Exactly why it's best to proceed delicately. First, who knows how long before this kid's clock ticks to 18? Is it next year, next month, next week? We can ask. Though from da post it doesn't seem at all like we're down to da last months. Second, we have the unit totally out of control, so resolution within the unit is likely not possible. Assumes facts not in evidence. We really have no idea whether da unit is "totally out of control". Seems like there's one disaffected family. Also seems

If yeh don't think windin' up a helicopter parent and sendin' her/him back to da unit with a whole bunch of "the people on the internet said you're wrong!!" stuff is punishment for unit volunteers, yeh need to spend some more time as a unit volunteer mate! I think a discussion about da whys and hows of this sort of case would be interestin' and would get folks sharin', but I can't figure out how to spin off a new discussion in the new Scouter.Com system. Has da spin-off function gone away? Beavah

Or we can make a major commitment to teaching. Or we can work with folks to help 'em understand that they shouldn't run advancement mills. Or we can help guide 'em toward understandin' da patrol method We can choose to de-escalate conflict. We can patiently ask more questions. We can apply experience. We can give up imaginin' that anything posted on an internet forum amounts to "facts" . We can offer options. We can just listen and let 'em vent, without supportin' da notion that their SM/troop/etc. is "bad". On and on. Me personally, I've never seen anything positive

Just to provoke thought and reflection, eh? We can't on one hand decry da schools for zero tolerance and on the other embrace BSA policies with da same approach. There's not a lick of difference. Folks who spend lots of time on internet forums are a bit wonky, eh? They're da folks who are so into Scoutin' that they read all 120 pages of G2SS and all 100+ pages of G2A, etc. They take pride in bein' able to quote chapter and verse at folks. That's an OK thing as far as it goes. I think we have to recognize that the average volunteer doesn't do that, eh? They're focused on da kids

Yah, da zero tolerance policy folks seem alive and well in da BSA, eh?