scoutingagain

Let me add my deep appreciation for the Veterans out there. And thanks Dave for starting this thread. I'm at work today but the Troop I serve will be marching in our town's Veteran's Day Parade. The parade is one of the few activities the troop highly expects of the scouts. (It's not exactly a rule, but there is significant peer pressure among the scouts to attend.) They will stop at 11:11 at a local memorial park. They will stand at attention and listen to various local politicians speak their piece and say a prayer. I will stop what I'm doing and say a silent prayer to thank all of

I was sure healthy was in there somewhere. Change the first line of my last post to: "...to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake..." SA

A scout is Healthy! I'm a health and safety professional for a large engineering & construction co. I deal with the issue of rules vrs values all the time with adults. Rules only change behavior if there is a belief one will suffer consequences if one is caught. i.e. a ticket. I often ask folks I provide health and safety training to if they drive 55 mph. Most indicate no. I ask what do they do if a State Trooper pulls up behind them. They slow down. And if the Trooper exits? They speed up. Then I ask, how many unbuckle their seatbelts? None(and most use them). The

Hollings and Rangel I believe are both opponents of the current administration's actions in Iraq. The bill they filed was more of a reminder to members of congress and the nation of the kinds of sacrifices a nation must make when it goes to war. The point I think they were trying to make was that if more of the population had to make sacrifices, there would be less support for war in general, particularly the Iraq war. Right now the major burden of the war falls on those that have volunteered for military service or reserve duty. True they understood or should have understood what th

Cubs - AOL Scouts - Eagle Currently Troop Committee Member and Advancement Chair.

Can't beat a pure milk chocolate Hershey's candy bar. All the others just mess up the chocolate with nuts, caramel, Nuget(whatever that is) and other stuff. SA

I can't quite figure out how the title of this thread got around to discussion the pros and cons of when to have BORs. Our troop handles them very similar to the way NJ's does. There are other rules Troops impose that don't seem to have much to do with the Scout Oath and Law though. Most seem to be oriented towards maintaining some degree of order, discipline or someone's idea of what the scouting experience should be. i.e. many troops ban the use of CD players and Gameboys. I don't disagree with such a rule but don't see them covered in the Oath & Law. In fact on our last ca

While our troop has about a half dozen Eureka, two man tents, the scouts prefer to bring their own. We discourage the large family style tents and for the most part the scouts bring 2-4 person tents that are low profile(i.e. an adult would not have standing room). We do not allow the scouts to sleep alone, everyone has to buddy up or triple up. It's never been an issue as far as I know. It's kind of understood, if you bring a piece of equipment on a campout, it is used for the benefit of all unless it's clearly a personal use item. Our bigger challenge is getting the adults to leave s

On other threads the wisdom of some of the safety rules in the GSS have been debated and there is some disagreement among the members of the forum of wisdom or clarity of some of the rules. On this one I'd be suprised if there is any disagreement at all. Our troop takes youth protection very seriously. This situation would not be tolerated. I think SagerScout has a good suggestion. One thing that seems to be missing is the issue of potential false accusation. The youth protection guidelines protect the scouter as much as they do the scout. I sat on a jury once of a man accused o

Maybe we are making a mountain out of a molehill here. If Patrol Activities are the sandlot baseball of scouting there maybe more patrol activities going on than we give ourselves credit for. We live close enough to the beach (4 miles) that during the summer it is not uncommon for my older son(16), to make arrangements to meet his friends at the beach and he'll hop on his bike and go there. They hang out for the day, tease or look at girls, have ice cream and horse around in the water or on the beach. They get on their bikes and go home. (There is a life guard. Usually female and freq

I don't wish to rehash the obvious conflict in the BSA policies, but I would like to encourage at least some of our scouts to undertake a youth led activity without adult supervision. But before I do, I would like to hear some answers to the original question. Where do scouters allow patrols to camp without adult supervision and under what circumstances? Are there other activities done by patrols without adult supervision? Do you get permits for these activities? The local tour permit states, "Boy Scouts of America policy requires at least two adult leaders on all camping trips

Saltheart, I didn't want to hijack your thread. Many years ago I had the opportunity to witness the northern lights in Maine. They are spectacular and awe inspiring. I'll keep an eye out tonight. But you got me remembering and thinking. As scouts and scouter we spend a lot of time outdoors and probably have more opportunity to witness such moments more frequently than others. What was the most memorable or awe inspiring Natural event, or scene you have had a chance to see or experience? For me it was in Maine again. A friend and I were hiking in Camden Hills State Park

Great story Dave. Thanks. I know meeting the President must have been big, but I'm a big fan of Clive Cussler. That visit had to be unbelievable. I'm unscoutlike green with envy. After Dave's short novel I'm embarressed to add anything. In my life I can't say I'm gone out of my way looking for Eagle scouts or other scouts but I always seem to run into them. In my college dorm wing we had 12 guys. 6 were Eagle scouts and 2 were Life, one never got past 1st Class but was a scout for 4 years. We had the best wing on campus as far a I was concerned. We studied, but come we

Rooster, I assume by your last post that at some point there should be a moral decision made as to who should be allowed to serve, even if they volunteer. I agree. The worst recent example I can think of is during the invasion of Iraq I watched video of young boys, no older than the those I serve in scouting, running in open territory collecting ammunition and rocket propelled grenades for Iraqi soldiers??? (I really don't intend to dignify these, whatever they are as soldiers, but I don't have another term). I have read where some of our soldiers and marines had to shoot the

My terminology may be wrong. But there are women that fly combat aircraft. i.e. Fly sorties, drop bombs, shoot rockets, bullets from aircraft. There are probably not many given the physical demands of the position, but I've seen several interviewed on various news programs. Those in the military are free to correct my terminology. SA

Rooster, Just had to smile at your last post. First, I'm glad you weren't offended by my question. Second, ironically this thread was started to discuss something other than the gay stuff. While the thread started as a question of whether women should register or not, I do have another thought related to the issue. Many women have volunteered for service and have proven themselves to be able contributors to the military. They serve as drivers, nurses, clerks, fighter pilots, naval officers and many other postions. In fact I'll bet the all volunteer force might n

Jeesh! I just finished a long winded reply and somehow lost it. I'm still figuring out some of the features of the site. The main point I wanted to make though was, Rooster, I appologize if you were offended by my question. Believe me no offense was intended. In re-reading it I realize It may have come off as more personal than intended. SA

Thank you for your prompt replies. Our troop has not had a list of troop merit badge counselors in the past. I don't know why, I've only been with the troop a couple of years and am just took over as Advancement Chair this year. I suspect it has to do with the fact that most scouts earn their merit badges through the merit badge universities and camps. We have a small group of counselors that do some of the more academic like merit badges such as the citizenship badges. We do have some ASMs and other parents with a variety of skills that I will try and register as merit badge cou

How do folks handle the completion of merit badges where only part of the requirements have been met? In an ideal world, the scout would go back to the original merit badge counselor and have the work approved and the appropriate documentation signed. However, in the current world where many of our scouts earn their merit badges at camp or at merit badge universities, tracking down the original counselor is difficult and sometimes impossible. In many cases there are one or two requirements that have not been met and usually that is because they could not be done within the time fram

Rooster, I share your sentiments about not wanting to send a child off to war. I am the father of two sons and would not want them taken from me either. In a free society I am hopeful we do not have to resort to a draft again and have the utmost repect for those that choose to serve and their families. After 9/11 my older son(15) expressed interest in the military. I was suprised because we had never really discussed it before. I told him if it was something he wanted to do, that would be his choice and I would be proud of him. (If I could, I'd go with him, but FOG makes good

From a philosophical stand point I can see the point of not supporting the idea of pointing "weapons" at other people and "killing" them as part of a game. However, of the types of games I've played like this, Paintball, Laser Tag and Water pistolsl/Squirtguns, only Paintball has the feature of "killing" your an opponent so he/she is out of the game. The laser tag games I've been associated with as a part of some of my son's friend's birthday parties, no one is "killed". You collect points for your team for every successful "hit" on target. The targets happen to be on opposing player

Mark, Go right ahead. I've learned so much from listening in to all of you I'm honored. The truth is I usually do ask the scout, "What ARE you getting out of scouting?" myself. In this particular case, since the scouts had not been with us that long the question came out as," What WOULD you like to get out of scouting?" I'll begin to ask it of the older scouts as well now. SA SA

I am an Eagle Scout, as is my younger brother, also a scouter. Honestly I can't remember my parents pushing either of us. I do remember support. My Dad frequently camped with us and the troop. Mom drove us to merit badge counselors. I don't know about my brother, but for me, I just sort of woke up one day and realized I only needed a few more merit badges and a service project to complete the Eagle requirments. It was then I set my sights on the badge. Other than that I advanced primarily by participating at summer camp, campouts and pursuing those merit badges I had an interest in.

Being a new member I have thought long and hard about entering the fray here in the Issues & Politics forum. Before I say anything let me say I have a great deal of respect for everyone here and that is one of the reasons I have chosen to participate. I am also glad that the Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts are a private organization and have the right to determine who they will allow as members and in what capacity. I believe participation in scouting is a priviledge and not necessarily a right granted by God or the Constitution or anyone else. Having said the above I would

Thanks for a great description Eamonn. Your write up on leading a Boy Led troop is one of the reasons why I've followed these forums and decided to participate. There is just so much wisom here. As a new scouter I struggle with this issue and constantly wonder if we, the adults associated with our troop, are doing too much or not enough. I'm glad to see I'm not alone and that there is every expectation that we'll succeed one way or another. SA