Rick_in_CA

That is a question that the BSA appears to be trying to avoid answering. Out unit's COR was at a meeting when the BSA was asking our council to be a STEM Scouts pilot council. He said that the question was asked, and they were told it was under Learning for Life and that it was fully inclusive so public schools could use the program (i.e. the DRP didn't apply). I wonder if that is still true? Does the DRP apply? And why isn't that in the STEM Scouts FAQ?

You have to understand the truly amazing levels of paranoia in parts of our society. Basically, many people assume that all men are potential threats to children unless proven otherwise. And it's worse with female children. Any man that chooses to work with children is suspect (especially if they don't have children of their own). Boy Scouts is one of the few places where that is still acceptable. Though I have heard stories of parents complaining about scouters that don't have children of their own, and in one case of a unmarried scouter being asked to leave a cub scout pack because of pa

Here is another article about the increase of depression in kids: The Decline of Play and Rise in Children's Mental Disorders Much of what is says applies to scouting. I think it reinforces the importance of real "boy lead" troops and the patrol method. Like this from the article (bold emphases mine): Plus maybe we should do away with all the "school work" merit badges? At least take them off the required lists?

I just had an interesting discussion with a good friend of mine over lunch about girls in boy scouts. He grew up in South Dakota (he is a Lakota Sioux and grew up on the Rosebud), and was a boy scout in the 60s and 70s. And his pack and troop were coed. It was a small town and there was only the one pack and troop. He said that it was driven by the lack of alternatives (there weren’t any girl scout units in the area), boy scouts was the only game in town. The girls wore boy scout uniforms, earned merit badges and ranks (I didn’t think to ask if any of them earned eagle). He doesn’t know

This is an interesting article about the effect of smart phones and social media on the current generations of teens. With all the discussion on this forum over the years about scouts and electronics, it adds an interesting perspective on the discussion. Of course it applies not just to scouting. More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis. Read More: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/?utm_source=eb

I just read an article about girls and Eagle rank. It says that the US Army will automatically promote an enlisted recruit by a grade once they complete boot camp if they are an Eagle Scout. But not if they are female and have the Gold Award. I have no idea if this is (currently) true. If it is, then that is a case for allowing girls to earn eagle, or to eliminate the benefits the US military offers eagle scouts (unless it's also offered to gold scouts?). Anyone know if any of this is true?

When it comes to the uniform, I think as long as the boys feel comfortable wearing it while camping, then I will be happy. This whole silliness of "wear it in the car then change once we get to the campsite" stuff shows what's wrong with the current uniform. When I was a scout we wore the uniform at all times, backpacking, at summer camp (OK, not while swimming), at troop meetings, parades, etc. If we were doing scout stuff, it was in uniform (it was the old green uniform shirt). That is what we should see today. As a scouter, I wear my uniform proudly no mater the activity (OK, not swimming).

I think I owe @@Col. Flagg an apology. There was quite a bit more snark in my last post then was called for. Just because I am having a bad day doesn't mean I should take it out on others. Col. Flagg, I apologize.

So much for your reading comprehension (hey, if you insult me, I insult you back - see how scout like and better this makes things?). Here is what I wrote: As you can see, I do believe that the policies of the BSA has an effect on the decline.

I think there are multiple issues driving this change. One is some pressure from parents to let their daughters be included (especially at the cub scout level). Another is membership numbers. There are probably additional reasons, perhaps related to fund raising or the desires of various COs (or potential COs), I don't really know. If and when the specifics of the changes are announced, hopefully we will get a better understanding of the thinking (but this is BSA national, so probably not). As for the reasons for the decline in BSA membership, I submit that those that say anything of the f

Over all I didn't think the article was that bad, though I agree with @@RememberSchiff about the whole hardware and software nonsense. And what is wrong with encouraging people to go family camping? The article didn't mention scout camping at all. I think if more families had experience camping, then we would have fewer scout parents freaking out about their "little angles" going into the woods and more potential leaders with camping experience.

What "be prepared" is all about. Having the confidence and skills to handle unexpected and difficult situations. Well done!

Throughout this discussion, many people have cast the position on the other side as morally challenged. If you say "you know that this will hurt the boys but want to do it anyway", that is an implication that the person is morally questionable (whether you mean that or not - after all willingly hurting others is usually considered immoral). And I can fully believe that you had no intention of making such an implication. Text is an imperfect medium, and when posting on forums we can be rushed - so sometimes what we post here is not our best writing (something I am guilty of from time to time )

Mmmm... BBQ! Wait, why am I suddenly hungry?

Hey, no problem on the all caps. I admit I'm not really up on the latest research, though I did spend some time today seeing what I could find before posting the above. It looks like it's still all mixed. If you find some high quality recent studies, I would love to read them. Someone said there was a study that was being done in South Korea that should provide some good data. I don't think it's out yet though (I haven't checked). I personally have mixed feeling about coed scouting. The vast majority of the world makes it work, so I don't have a problem with it in the abstract. But we don

And I detest the constant implication by some people that those who advocate for coed scouting "don't care about the boys", or "hate the program" or are "pandering to some external pressure group" or are "out to destroy boy scouts" or "aren't real scouters", etc. All of which basically breaks down too "you are morally bankrupt for suggesting it". Can we discuss this without implying the other side is somehow not legitimate?

I can show you studies that say BOYS LEARN BETTER IN A COED ENVIRONMENT! (Does shouting make it true?) The whole single-sex education thing has become a mantra among some people, but the data doesn't actually back that up (at least not yet). The studies are all over the place. I can show you studies that say one thing, others that say the opposite and ones that say it doesn't matter. So you may believe it's true (and it might be), but it isn't a given and it isn't unreasonable for people to disagree with you on this.

This brings up a question, how much of the public (in and out of the scouting) thinks of the BSA primarily as a leadership program for youth? I bet most cub scouts parents don't. How much does the BSA talk about youth leadership in it's marketing material and web sites? Looking at scouting.org, it does get mentioned here and there, but it isn't a primary theme. Which probably explains the Google results.

I'm not sure I agree that it's automatically dishonest for an organization to solicit member feedback on a topic that is already decided (though there are dishonest ways of doing that). I can easily image a situation where an organization decides it needs to do action X, and solicits member feedback to learn how much, and what kind of pushback or support for action X there is. They are going to do action X anyway, but the feedback helps them gauge the response, and too address the concerns that the membership brings up. I don't see that as dishonest. Unless they are dishonest while soliciting

I have seen several comments like this that take it as a given that boys and girls do better in single-sex classrooms. The reality is that the evidence isn’t clear on that. While you can find studies that show children do better in single gender classrooms, you can also find studies that show the opposite (In college I read a study that claimed boys do better in coed settings, but girls do better in single-sex settings). Basically the studies are all over the place, and it’s difficult to do a good study. It appears to be more about the quality of the setting, and the advantages the stu

Wait, I'm not sure what you are trying too say here. It reads almost as if you are repeating the old: "if a girl can do it, it isn't worth doing" thing.

Actually, I wasn't disagreeing with your main point, I was just pointing out something that I thought was of interest. I always thought that the two Ys had merged. But recently found out that they hadn't.

Actually the YMCA USA and the YWCA USA are still separate organizations. The YWCA is just less visible because they don't run gyms and pools anymore (at least not around here), and are much more focused on issues specific to women.

When I was a child, my first babysitters were 12 and 13 year olds. Now 12 and 13 year olds need babysitters. Not a good trend.

Actually I don’t think things are that much different now then they were 30, 40 or 50 years ago. There have always been a segment of our society that believe that women shouldn’t <insert here>, and that they are entitled to harass women that <insert here> anyway. I think it may have been worse at jambo because of the anonymity of the whole thing, 40,000 people? And the scouts aren’t really with their troop mates, but with council contingents. It probably makes the bad apples feel freer to misbehave. And the way I have heard some male scouters talk about girls and wome