Beavah

Yah, I agree, @@TAHAWK. The advice we gave @@SSF resulted in nuthin' but grief, eh? Two, maybe three boys out of Scoutin'. Lots of burned bridges. Even if the lad "gets" Eagle under disputed circumstances, he doesn't want an EBOR. It was headin' that way anyways, but collectively I'm not sure we really helped. Yah, and next time tell Michael that you're not involved in da troop or da council, you're askin' a question to make trouble on an internet forum and intend to post his answer there, eh? It's only fair to the fellow since da BSA like every organization has rules for emplo

Yah, but even da BSA doesn't do that, eh? The lad could have had all his MBs for Eagle done two years ago and had that requirement signed off, but he still wouldn't have been grandfathered in on da new Cooking MB requirement. He'd have had to do the added merit badge. The BSA certainly doesn't see that as unjust/unfair/evil. The boy had plenty of notice and plenty of time to go do the badge, eh? Seems like it was the same here in terms of da troop's participation requirement. I'm just not seein' a big difference. If yeh want Eagle, just do the badge. If yeh want Eagle, just go

Yah, this seems to be goin' on in two different threads, eh? Estimates are that Facebook has over ten million kids under age 13 as users. Probably more. So this is a fairly common thing for parents to allow. Whether an adult should "friend" a youth via Facebook is an open question that each adult should answer for him/herself. I'm not sure why I or anyone else in da unit or da BSA should have a say. There are good reasons to do so, and good reasons not to. As I said in da other thread, either way yeh should be aware of the potential benefits and problems. If yeh make it a

And that's fine for your son(s), eh? But tryin' to make an issue of it for other families just ain't Courteous. Da OP seems to want to make an issue of it for other families, and that's a sure way to cause unnecessary ill will in her cub pack. Far better to go help organizing da popcorn sale for the fall than worry about Billy Otherkid havin' a Facebook account. Beavah

Yah, hmmmm... I'm not sure what you're askin' for here, @@TAHAWK. Are yeh really suggestin' that da BSA start an argument with da Catholic pastor (IH) over his confirmation and Scoutin' programs? How do yeh think that will be good for da BSA or for Scouting? That's not the way we work, eh? Da BSA has spoken. It's given them a charter, and da BSA will live up to its duty to support the church in its mission and goals. End of story, really. Besides, da parents who have chosen this school have chosen to enroll their kids in a Catholic program, and da school and unit have been up-

Yah, we're wanderin' pretty far afield, eh? Perhaps we should take a pause and see if @@SSF has any updates for us. The "we" here is us, eh? Folks who are not part of the unit, who are tryin' to be friends and resources to the unit. We're all actin' as informal online commissioners of a sort, so we should behave like good commissioners as da BSA envisions that role. We should support COs in their mission, we should encourage da growth in Scouting, we should try to pour water on fires rather than gasoline. Da BSA isn't interested in us bein' Precision Scouters. They're in

Nah, you're thinkin' about this in entirely the wrong way, eh? Da owners of the unit don't need "enabling language" to allow 'em to pursue their goals and mission. Heck, if they want to they can shut down the entire program during confirmation season, the way some troops and most packs shut down durin' the summer. Stop tryin' to lawyer a kids' program! And for goodness sake, stop tryin' to undermine chartered relationships. @@David CO's unit is a great example of what we want in partners, eh? A stable, youth-focused organization that wants to use Scoutin' as part of its mission f

Nah, it can't under the law, eh? Not without a means of gettin' verified parental consent. That's the issue. Zuckerberg would love to allow it formally. He just can't given da current legal environment. So parents exercise their rights and make their own decision, knowin' that da chairman and CEO of Facebook agrees with and supports them. All that's just background, eh? Da real answer is that you will not help Scouting by calling fellow parents dishonest, or tellin' 'em that their kids can't/shouldn't have social media accounts. So don't even go there! Accept that the kids h

Yah, sorry. Often my furry accent makes me hard to understand. Either that or my silly word choice. I didn't really mean "rules" the way yeh took it here. I was thinkin' more in terms of "rules for the game", like how yeh score. Perhaps a better way would be to say "set up the environment". Scoutin' is all about settin' up the environment for kids to play in, so that they learn from playin'. We're like video game designers, eh? We don't get involved in the play, but we try to tweak the game to make it addictive and make the lads learn something. Right now what you're

Yah, da problem for Facebook is how do yeh verify that the online "parent" is really the parent, eh? Across 190+ countries? The law was written back in da late 90s and passed in 2000 or so. Pre-social-media. It hasn't been updated since, which leaves Facebook with a liability conundrum. It's clearly OK under the law for parents to allow kids to have accounts, and it's clearly impossible for a service with a billion odd members to vet whether an online person is actually the custodial parent, eh? Smaller, US-only English-only sites try if they're education-related, but that's not da

Yah, yeh should sit and read 'em sometime. They don't include everything yeh think they do. Again, it's da BSA's role to decide who is and isn't a BSA unit, not yours. I reckon da youth should learn about rules, sure. Learnin' about rules also means learnin' about da scope of rules, and the limits of rulemakers, and an understandin' that if you are goin' to pretend to be a proper interpreter of da rules, your job is to be an agent for the rulemaker, eh? Not a grammarian. So when we're in councils providin' friendship and guidance to units, our job is to act as da BSA inten

Yah, hmmm.... Just so you're aware, the only reason Facebook and other organizations have this rule is because of a federal law that was poorly written, eh? The COPPA Act. Da regulations for the COPPA Act allow for parental permission for younger kids, so the parents are perfectly within their rights and the intent of the law. One could also argue that excessive regulation that interferes with a parents' right to protect or make educational choices for their kids is quite a bit of overreach, eh? Either way, they're doin' nothing wrong. The law explicitly allows younger kids w

Good training hopefully helps yeh understand the Aims of the Scoutin' program, and how various tools that we provide help yeh get to those Aims, eh? It doesn't mean that yeh have to use all the tools, nor does it mean yeh can't use any other tools. Mrs. Beavah's school has professional development & curriculum training for teachers in part so that they know how to use and modify da curriculum to meet the needs of their kids, eh? Same with Scouters. Nah. I reckon da BSA gets to define what "a BSA unit" means, eh? A unit ceases to be a BSA unit when da CO chooses to dro

Yah, @@shaner, that's pretty typical, eh? One of da things that often happens in troops is that the volunteers who are selected are the parents who are more engaged and responsible, eh? Most new troop treasurers are a bit appalled by families that don't pay their bills on time, and most new folks in your position are similarly frustrated. Recognize that families who are under stress or just aren't payin' as much attention are at least a large minority in almost every program. Yah, hmmm.... I wonder... in Scoutin', do we think it's a good idea to punish boys for their p

Yah, hmmmm... @@Hedgehog, it seems like da troop is runnin' fine, eh? The boys have real patrols they identify with. Your retention numbers are very good (way better than @@Stosh's this year ). From what yeh say, the lads are learning things. I'm still wonderin' what da problem is? Let's face it, Advancement is often exactly what your lads describe, eh? An "adult agenda" item that they're not interested in, especially when it doesn't relate to their fun and adventure, or involves a lot of paperwork. Rather than create a bunch of adult-assigned PORs to try to get reluctant bo

Nah, not national BSA policy @@Petey091. It is the policy at some BSA summer camps, as a local rule. B

Yah, I think your approach is right on, @@UncleP. Uncles are special people, eh? Thank you for bein' there for your nephew. All the advice you're gettin' is very good, eh? Da one thing I'm goin' to suggest is that yeh let da Scoutmaster know about the lad's temperament when he gets overtired. Camps can be a bit of a sleep deprivation experiment, eh? Lots of folks around to late at night, early mornings with reveille, lots more physical activity than in a boy's typical day. Sometimes it helps for first year lads to get "strongly encouraged" to get more rest, and for da youth and a

Yah, sure. But do yeh really want to be the one callin' fellow Scoutin' volunteers whom you've never met "evil"? Da SM and the Committee Chair are standing on principle. The parent is standin' on principle. The boy is standin' on principle. The Committee is standin' on principle. You're standin' on principle. I'm standin'... Yeesh! Somewhere there's probably a poor old unit commissioner who'd just like 'em all to sit down around a campfire with a cup of coffee, and let the lads get on with playin' the game. Fortitude is a fine virtue, mate, so long as it is tempered by Pru

I can walk down to da church at the end of my block and see it happen every week. This isn't theory, mate, this is what lots of troops do in practice. The boys get it pretty easily, because it's natural. No special trainin' on job descriptions or organizational charts required. Nah, not mandate. What self-respecting lad ever cheerfully did what an adult mandated that he do? Just seed and encourage, eh? Boys are naturally competitive. There's an old story about a factory manager who was tryin' to get better performance out of his shifts. So he came onto da floor

Yah, @@shaner, I reckon we all feel your pain. Da BSA paperwork chase is somethin' we all hate. Remember, yeh volunteered for a service position, eh? Just keep sayin' that to yourself. Service isn't always easy and often requires patience. It means sometimes you're on da timetable of those you are tryin' to serve. I'd encourage yeh to think about the sort of things that go on in a family's life that can hold things up, and what yeh can do to be supportive. One of da things you'll find is that insurers will only pay for one medical exam a year, eh? Dependin' on the need for

Yah, hmmmm... I was more tryin' to inform yeh of the way da BSA looks at these things, @@Hedgehog, and how all da various levels of da BSA are goin' to react, eh? Nobody is goin' around enforcin' every jot and tiddle of da G2A or any of the other documents that are part of our instructional Methods. They're just instructional Methods. When there's conflict, we don't get all up in arms about "injustice", we just have mechanisms to proceed under Disputed Circumstances. Maybe at some point a good friend to da unit has coffee with da SM and says, "hey, have yeh thought about tryin' this?

Yah, yeh know yeh need to resolve this, right? Preferably by becomin' Scoutmaster.

Yah, @@Hedgehog, da key is in da title, eh? Troop Guide. Da position is part of the Troop Method, not the Patrol Method. Or put another way, TG==Den Chief, ASM-NSP==Den Leader, in da Boy Scout Webelos III approach. Since yeh have a functioning Patrol Method in your troop that the kids have bought into, yeh should work that instead. Make the Patrol Leaders and the rest of the new lads' patrols responsible for helpin' 'em with advancement. That's their role, eh? To take care of their guys and work to improve the patrol. One way yeh can do it is with patrol competitions, eh?

This is a good reason not to be a Scouting volunteer, eh? It's not a good reason not to use electronic media. Electronic media leaves an objective, permanent trail not dependent on your word, or your memory, or witnesses. (And witnesses are often useless, eh? Never ever think of a second adult as a Magical Talisman of Protection.) Da main reason not to be social media "friends" with scouts is that it exposes some aspects of your life and friendships outside of Scouting to the lads. Dependin' on who yeh are and where yeh are in your life, that might not be appropriate for the

Yah, nice job on da new troop startup so far, @Mr Ed T24! Sounds like yeh have good things going on. One of your roles as Scoutmaster is Keeper of the Flame, eh? The fellow who is in charge of having vision and movin' people toward action on that vision. Yeh have to speak it often, yeh have to do some minor corrections here and there to keep folks rowing together, and yeh have to find da right people to help and the right role for each person. Any of us long-timers will tell you that parents who are coming out of Cub Scouts need to be deprogrammed, eh? Personally, I don't think