Rick_in_CA

I think @@Stosh is right that this change (if it is real - it's still just a rumor for now), is mostly "safety theater".

Would I hold a weekly cub pack meeting in a parking lot? No. Would I hold one in a city park next to a parking lot? Probably yes. Look, I think you have a legitimate beef about the parking congestion, it's the automatic "strangers are dangerous" that I am pushing back on. Why do you have to be "more on alert every moment a stranger come by"? The idea that strangers are automatically threats is wrong (in fact there are studies that show that children that are willing to ask strangers for help (directions, etc.) are safer than kids that aren't). Your kids are in greater risk of harm from the

Oops. I misread your comment and thought you were advocating throwing water balloons at cars. So I apologize for saying you were suggesting vandalizing cars.

So your solution to this problem is to harass the bus riders and vandalize their cars??? How very scout like. Plus, I don't get the safety issue here (the traffic and parking issues, those I get). So there are people you don't know using the same park as your kids. Get over it. If you don't want that, don't use a public space. The whole stranger = danger thing is way over blown. We need to fight against the whole paranoia culture that sees danger for our children around every corner. It's hurting our kids! It's why scouts can't climb trees, use a little red wagon or go anywhere without

It was an ancient rabbi that supposedly said something like: "The Golden Rule is the whole of the Torah, the rest is just commentary". I always liked that one.

One of the down sides of all this hyper-competitive youth sports, is that kids are showing up with sports injuries that used to only show up in professional athletes. We have child athletes needing knee and elbow surgery. There is growing concern within the medical community about the detrimental health effects of overtraining and the rise of overuse injuries in youth sports. Basically, a lot of this stuff is unhealthy.

Welcome!

So if I understand you, if you attended a flag ceremony where it was folded into a rectangle, you would be offended? Even if it was done in earnest?

If you are burning a flag, I personally don't like seeing it cut up before hand. But @@SSScout's way is rather nice. For synthetic flags, cutting them up (and not burning) is actually the recommended BSA way for retiring those flags. The parts are then taken to a flag recycler. One reason to cut up a flag before burning however, is that some towns have outlawed flag burning (with no exceptions for retirement). Once a flag is cut up, it isn't a flag anymore so the parts can be burned.

This is exactly how a scout acts using the Scout Oath and Law. This is also why the suggestion that it is unscout-like to turn away people with certain behaviors and beliefs doesn't hold water. Scout-like actions are respecting others without having to respect their beliefs or actions. Barry Even though the scout law says the opposite of this? (Bold emphases is mine)

While BSA policies do have an impact on numbers, I believe the biggest factors driving the decline in BSA membership over the decades are all external too the BSA. In other words, it didn't matter what the BSA did, the numbers would still be lower than they were in the 70s. All the BSA could have done was slow the decline. Some of the external issues causing the decline: People have less leisure time. From working more hours (the average full time worker in the US now works a 47 hour week), to more demands from the family (driving the kids everywhere, coordinating two full time work sc

A well thought-out post. I agree with your friend. I have long believed that the BSA should either modify or loose the DRP. On of the big problems with the DRP that is missed by the post, is that new members are asked to subscribe too the DRP on the application, but are only shown an excerpt from it, not the whole thing. This bait and switch is unfair. From the application: Which is much more non-sectarian then the real DRP.

The pink flamingos fundraiser is an interesting idea. I'm not sure it would get council approval though (I guess you can argue it is selling a service). Do you know anyone that has done it?

Interesting. Those are decent. I've never seen them anywhere in my local area. Not as good as the South African one, but not too bad.

I agree, very well done. I also agree we probably wouldn't see anything like that here. Some marketing pinhead would probably argue that it's "too challenging" for "American audiences" (no background music? How are they supposed to know how too feel? People will be confused by the switch from child to adult. etc.).

What a great speech, I hadn't seen it before. Thanks for sharing it!

This is something that the BSA isn't being clear on (I'm just shocked!). My understanding is the STEM Scouts is under the Learning for Life umbrella, and is fully inclusive. Yet they open with the scout oath and law. So I agree this might be a (perhaps unintentional) back-door to dropping the remaining two G's. I don't agree that allowing atheists and agnostics would mean having to drop Duty to God and Reverent from the Scout Oath and Law. But that is a discussion for another thread.

I agree with you. Society is changing, and people don't look at the outdoors the same way. I grew up tent camping (and sometimes just under the stars when the weather was good), it's what my family did for vacation. But what I hear from a lot of parents today is fear about the outdoors. What about spiders and other bugs? Sleep without a tent? What about the critters??? One of the reasons for the growth in RV sales is they are little portable fortresses complete with locks on the doors and windows.

This is what Be Prepared is all about. A great story!

I like this rule. I always wear my neckerchief. As do most of the (male) adults in our units (though not all - and most of the women don't. Not sure why).

Welcome @@Pselb!

In our cub pack, we try not to use an actual script. In the past the cubs would read the script with no real understanding of the what the words meant (like giving the command "post the colors" after the colors were posted). So instead of giving them a script, we tell them which words they choose to use doesn't matter as long as everyone understands what you mean, and it's done with respect. That way they focus on the sequence of events instead of specific words (you want everyone to stand up, how do you do that? OK, what is supposed to happen next?). We want them to learn the actual sequence

Sounds like someone that is more interested in the letter of the rules, rather than the spirit of the rules.

The way I understand the issues with individual scout accounts, if how much a scout raises determines how much money goes into their account, then you have a problem (it's fraud). If other criteria is used, such that a scout that doesn't do any fundraising can "earn" just as much money in his account as the best fund raiser in the troop, then you might be OK (or might not). I seems to me that ISAs are basically a bad idea and should be dumped.

Unfortunately I'm not surprised. As others have noted, the culture on many university campuses is getting ridiculous. I ran across an interesting article the other day that calls this movement Vindictive Protectiveness instead of political correctness (as they have different motivations). I think I like that term. How Trigger Warnings Are Hurting Mental Health on Campus.