Beavah

Yah, sure @@TAHAWK. I’m wrong more than half da time, eh? Da Bobwhites disagree with me just about all the time, but then they’re flighty birds not sturdy, hardworkin’ furry critters. We can only operate on the facts given - hearsay to be sure, Nah. That’s a choice, eh? We all know that hearsay is completely unreliable. That’s why it’s not at all admissible in court. Knowin’ that, why choose to believe hearsay is “fact� That won’t do anybody any good. Which do yeh really think is more likely: That a teenager is bein’ a bit immature and rebelli

Yah, I like da new eye-roll emoji. Or is it this one? Please, folks, in lots of states Hazing is a crime. It has a legal definition. It can even be a felony. If yeh accuse a fellow scouter of hazing you are accusing them of committing a crime. That can be slander or libel. Yeh never, ever want to go there. Say that yeh don't like makin' kids do push-ups. Say that yeh think singin' is a bad idea. Say that yeh don't believe givin' kids KP is consistent with Scoutin' values, whatever. Don't say that something is "hazing" when it comes nowhere near da legal definiti

Yah, hmmm.... We're a youth program, eh? Not a law enforcement squad. There's no such thing as "jurisdiction". I reckon we all would agree that a lad dealin' methamphetamine at school should be kicked out of Scoutin', even if he wasn't dealin' on scout trips. Sometimes what we do in the rest of our lives means that we lose friends, alienate family members, lose our jobs, cost ourselves opportunities. Scoutin' is a volunteer community; yeh lose your ability to stay in da community when yeh lose the trust of the community. I reckon we'd all agree that if a lad hosts a squirt gun

Yah, hmmm.... This seems to have gone off da rails a bit, eh? For some reason, on internet forums and sometimes in real life, otherwise good scouters come to imagine that fellow scouters are somehow bad people who want to "get" kids or whatnot. Often because they listen to hearsay, or because da other scouter doesn't do it da same way they would. And we all know that only we know Da Right Way, eh? @@Stosh, I'm not convinced that just signin' off on a lad who shows up on your doorstep is really bein' helpful to the boy. I know it's not bein' helpful, courteous, or loyal to a fe

Yah, interestin' thread, @@blw2. There are probably as many ways of handlin' da finance and treasury procedures as there are troops, eh? First rule: Don't start out rockin' da boat. The troop has a method and approach it's used to, that folks trust and buy into (at least, I hope it does! If you're participatin' in a "rescue" that's a different kettle of fish). Havin' somethin' in place that folks trust is a good thing. Start with that, figure out how it works, just keep da train on da tracks for 6 months to a year. That's enough time for yeh to see the good things as well as th

At this point, the scouts aren't involved in budgeting at all, as far as I know. Yah, @@blw2, if yeh want somethin' to spur da conversation, take a look at the Journey to Excellence scorecard for troops, eh? Right there in black and white, highest points for the boys bein' involved in setting and monitoring the troop budget. Just remember, yeh have to pull, encourage, and inspire people, eh? Not push 'em. Even the best of us hate to be pushed. I'll see if I can find yer other thread on treasurers. Beavah

Yah, sometimes we get a bit crazy about helmets, eh? Not sure there've been any significant head injuries go-cartin'. I don't really know that industry though. To answer da original poster's question, though, the regular commercial go-cart course activity like what exists in many summer tourism areas is perfectly allowable. It's no longer unauthorized. From what I understand, there was never any intention to prohibit that sort of go-carting. No real safety issues there, and da liability falls on the commercial facility, not the BSA. Da go-cart prohibition means that as a unit yeh sh

Not just you, eh? I think, though, that if a troop is usin' Advancement Method well then there should be a pretty strong relationship between his rank and his character/maturity/scout spirit, eh? Just like there should be a good relationship between his havin' Lifesavin' MB and our ability to trust him to help supervise a waterfront. If not, then we're not doin' a good job with advancement. Awards and ranks and badges and such won't mean anything to the boys if they don't mean anything important to us. For da rest, every troop approaches things differently, eh? That's why I reck

Interestin', Stosh. I'm never quite sure what adults are thinkin' when they have kids who are in positions with no real expectations. Doesn't matter whether it's JASM or Historian or whatnot. We're all about settin' up a game to help kids grow and keep growin'. Why would yeh park a kid who wants to contribute in a do nuthin' or "fake" position of some sort? Best units I've seen with JASMs the JASMs are functionin' as full-fledged ASMs. They attend scouters' meetings, they do instruction that da regular youth leaders aren't yet up for. Lots of times they put together and run Troop

Yah, hmmmm.... I admit I'm an old-fashioned sort of critter, eh? I just wonder if we really want to teach the lads that it's in their "rights" to be defiant. Especially when the man or woman who they're busy gettin' all defiant with is doin' the job for free. I've seen this sort of thing cause grief in many troops, and harm the scouting of lots of kids. Nuthin' worse for units than when adults are fightin' other adults. The kids are always collateral damage. I know as a young eager little beaver I got in a few tussles with teachers and coaches and whatnot. It's part of grow

LOL. Yah, these new forum features are interestin', eh? Seems to show me when I've been mentioned. Glad you're still around, John-in-KC, and still a nice guy! RichardB from his writin' here is Richard Bourlon, Health and Safety Team Leader for BSA National in Irving. Postin' on internet forums he's commentin' as himself and not as a BSA official, of course, and da BSA's house rules for reasons that have never made any sense to me don't allow for employees to really make any direct statements or share any real info via social media. Everything's got to go through the marketing/comm

Yah, CalicoPenn, not sure where you're gettin' your info, eh? I've been around all that time and yeh just aren't reportin' it accurately. Maybe at some local camp there were some rules, but never nationally. Yeh can find old issues of Boys Life magazine with squirt guns, especially when Super Soakers came out. Da G2SS didn't incorporate a vague laser tag prohibition until around 2000, and we all assumed it meant da laser sites for real firearms, not the toys. And nerf and suction cup darts and all sorts of other things have been around for decades, but da prohibition on "simulated firea

Yah, hmmm.... Seems to me if yeh have bigger fish to catch and fry then yeh should be doin' that, eh? Not wastin' your time on bubble-ball bans. Don't sweat the small stuff, mate. I've never seen bubble-ball or orb stuff, but I hear it was great fun at OA, with no injuries. So what's da problem? We've been doin' wide field games in Scoutin' since da birth of the Movement. As much as anything, that is scouting. This is just wide field games in bubble wrap. Yeh really are makin' your team look out of touch and foolish. Besides, if you're goin' to let the little ones go, then

Yah, this harkens back from da Olde Days of Scoutin', eh? Bring your dues in cash to a meetin'. Nowadays we don't do that sort of thing anywhere in da real world. So I'm not sure why we think it's important to do in Scoutin'. Seems like a make-work task to me, and it's makin' a lot of work. I reckon this is one of those "we've always done it this way" sorts of things, eh? My question would be whether the PLC controls da budget, eh? If you're goin' to teach kids real responsibility, give 'em a real task. Let da PLC control the budget and manage the fundraisin'. Let the Scrib

Aww, shucks. Missed yeh all too, eh? Da Forums were a bit of a mess for quite a while, I recall. Sort of wandered away to go do some Beaverin', but then discovered I was growin' old and feeble. Or at least Mrs. B was a bit. Family, life, and health happen. All's doin' better, so perhaps I can Beavah some more. I reckon I'll come back to this Happy Land a bit as I'm able. Glad yeh all are doin' well, and keepin' the campfire burnin'. Beavah

Yah, fred, I hear yeh. I've even shared that sentiment at times. I think da thing to ask ourselves is "if I'm viewin' things as a fight with other parents and volunteers, have I lost my way?" Is that really da sort of character and citizenship I want to teach my boy? We all have to answer that question for ourselves, I reckon. Me personally, I think too many of da folks who are tryin' to call themselves "leaders" want to whip folks up for a fight against fellow citizens these days. Seems to me leadership should be a more a calm, service-minded thing, and citizenship means sacrifi

I would say that from all accounts here, your absence at the campfire has been about 0%, the big threads? No participation ribbon for you! Yah, for sure! Guess I'm goin' to have to go on a few virtual campouts before I ask for signoff on Forum Spirit, eh? Thanks for the kind words, Stosh. Da forums were pretty broken for a while there, eh? Then life happened in Beavah-land with some health issues for Mrs. B, so I've been away from the woods and trails for a bit. Things settlin' down now, and all's well. Scout on!

Yah, Tatung, what you're describin' is fairly common, eh? It comes from well-meaning adults who are usually (but not always) newer to da Scouting game. Just like most youth leaders start out by tryin' to order folks around and then gradually develop other approaches, most adult leaders start out by directin' things as adults, and then gradually try other approaches. I don't reckon it's quite as harmful as some others here are implyin'. It doesn't produce as much growth in da long run, but it still produces some. After all, every other activity in boys' lives these days is adult run,

Yah, hmmmm.... I reckon it's hard to figure out what's goin' on with only the information from a parent who's gettin' a bit caught up in da drama of his lad's advancement. Like everyone else I can't figure out whether da committee set (and is just adherein' to) reasonable participation expectations, or whether it's the SM, or it's other parents gettin' annoyed with a family that is playin' a bit fast and loose with da expectations and this is their effort to reign that in a bit. Scout Spirit like all of da requirements can be signed off by whomever the SM designates. He can designa

Hiya SSF! Yah, lots of adult drama there, eh? I've got a question for yeh. What is it that you want for your son as a parent? Lots of times as parents we get a little too involved in da trees and drama of our teenagers, eh? Yeh can usually tell you've hit that point when yeh start talkin' about bein' able to write small novels about their current dust-up with their teacher/coach/scoutmaster. Take a step back and look at the forest and what your real goals for the lad are. Is your goal really an Eagle award? Or is your goal the life lessons that come from Scouting and work

Yah, hmmm... Sadly, I have seen a few Eagles in court. I don't reckon that's a reflection on da program, eh? Scoutin' is just one part of a lad's life. Family, school, community, employer, church... all of 'em have their influence. Hopefully we're all workin' together, but it ain't always so. In da grand scheme of things, Scoutin' only gets 'em for a small bit of time. I think we do very well with that, eh? Our positive impact is disproportionate, when done right. But it isn't da be-all and end-all. I worry a bit, though. I reckon I am seein' more lads for whom da Eagle rank

Yah, like all things yeh have to decide what yeh think da goal is, eh? If yeh think da goal is pink-book lawyerin' da requirements to da minimum possible interpretation, then that's what yeh do. I tend to think da requirements serve the program, not vice versa. So I think da way yeh read this is da same way yeh read the stuff about buildin' cooking fires. If yeh live in an area where drought conditions have put yeh under a burn ban for many months at a time, so that the lads can't really get experience with fires, then yeh use the wiggle the requirements give yeh so that the boys can kee

Yah, hmmm... All troops are a bit different, eh? I'm in da northern midwest and I'm not that acquainted with the LDS Scouting/Young Men's program in the mountain states. There's a very different structure and dynamic when yeh put all da 11-year-olds together with no older boys and relatively new leaders, eh? So yeh have to be careful about whether you're askin' for normal within all of Scoutin', or normal within da structure of LDS Scoutin' in your area. In terms of all of Scoutin', I'd say that most troops would have a bit more uniforming, and the presence of older lads either a

"use a figure 8 w/follow-through or a figure 8 on a byte" Yah, hmmm.... I reckon yeh can only use a figure 8 on a byte if the lad is doin' Computers MB and Climbing MB at da same time.

Yah, Waynepjh, as da recent news event in Goblin Valley demonstrate, our scouting units affiliated with da LDS run a somewhat different program than da rest of us in terms of structure and supervision. Historically they have about 5 times da accident rate as da rest of us, eh? Just a combination of less experienced leaders and youth, with mandatory participation. Bein' out on da Snake yeh are goin' to see a disproportionate number of LDS units. It's an issue a bit frustratin' to da rest of us in Scoutin' who run good programs. But there is a solution, eh? We need folks like