ScoutLass

What were the boys' parents doing while all this was going on? We usually go over the rules once everyone has arrived--with both cubs, siblings and parents. We let the parents know that they need to help maintain the rules with their kids or the family may be asked to leave. We stress that this is for safety! Stick fights may get started a couple of times, but a parent or leader gets it stomped out quickly. Usually one parent has enough, puts their kid in a timeout, and the issue doesn't resurface because the rest of the boys are afraid of being shamed in front of their friends by getting in t

It is not helpful, courteous, or kind to exclude others based upon something that is really no one's business anyway. It is not reverent for those not have certain religious beliefs to exclude others based on sexuality. The 'clean' argument only applies to those who follow a religion that is morally against it, once again, not all scouts or scouters are of the same religion! I find minds that spend their time worrying about what others get up to in bed much less "clean" than that of the average homosexual man or woman. It is a religious and moral argument that does not mirror all the rel

They fixed it for the online version of the article http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/1011/d-cse.html

I don't have my leader book handy right now, but if I remember correctly you can accept unsolicited donations. I am pretty positive you can not ask for/solicit donations though.

Packsaddle, I'm going to guess your daughter spent time at Cat Tales and there weren't incontinent tigers wandering the street!

Well, let's push science out of the equation. Throughout history and throughout the world there has been many, many times and cultures where homosexuality was not a "sin" in the moral compass of the day. Of course, right or wrong, in the US we are expected to mold ourselves to the prevailing Christian moral compass or we "step on toes." Human beings are primates, and homosexual and bisexual behavior has been observed in various other primates. In some species it seems acceptable, in others it leads to ostracism or expulsion. Many animals seem to have a basic moral code, particularl

Wow, that's a shame. I look forward to our Pow-wow each year. Partially for the classes, exchange of ideas, and camaraderie, but also for the looks on new leaders faces. They show up in the morning nervous and a little weary, having just begun to hit their first stumbling blocks with the program. The go home at the end of the day laughing and excited about the program again. Ditching all that seems pretty short-sighted to me.

To expand on what Scoutnut says, what has worked well for us: We pass out a "welcome" packet at the parent meeting (we have one before our first pack meeting of the year after roundup). One of the papers the parents are expected to turn in at the end of the meeting asks about special skills they have, hobbies and interests, and any capacity they would like to volunteer in. (we change it up from year to year to mirror our specific needs). Copies go to the appropriate den(s) that the adult has boys in as well as to the CM. Once a week or two passes and we have a feel for the new parent

Actually, I see a bigger problem here and I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it. An adult saying they do not want to deal with a kid, gossiping about it, etc is a much bigger offense than the boy and his mom trying to find a solution. The WDL does not deserve to be a DL. The adult leadership is there for the boys, the boys come first. Petty disagreements with parents, being "irked" by the behavior of a child, etc, cannot come between the DL and being there for the boys. In our pack, she would be asked to step down. From what I've read, the boy isn't trying to shirk the work, the adul

Religious emblems are handed out and requirements set by the governing body of the religion the boy is working to get the emblem for. The contact info for each emblem is listed on this page: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Awards/ReligiousAwards/chart.aspx For our religion (Buddhist) it required a lot of commitment and work from my son when compared to the fairly easy requirements of Cub Scout awards. My family and son did find the deepened understanding of his faith worth it, though. I am assuming they are all that way.

When our current group of leaders took over the pack, much the same thing was going on. It will kill your pack within a year if you can't get a handle on it. We're back and thriving, but we dropped down to just a few boys before we were able to recover. No need to call anyone out, use program planning meetings and get the leaders a copy of the den resource guide for their rank. Also, try and hunt down some ADLs for each den, or at least a den chief. Schedule two mandatory planning meetings each year, at least. One right before the fall program year begins and one in Dec. or Jan. to plan f

Don't read too much into it! We don't touch the religious requirements for each rank in our pack. Those are to be worked on at home as the parents/guardians see fit. If the family handles religion at home, then that is where requirement 11d occurs. We're Buddhist, and where we currently live there isn't a temple for 200 miles in our particular sect. We had no trouble though having our son help tend the home shrine for a couple weeks to meet the requirement. It wouldn't effect Eagle. Depending on how it's handled in your neck of the woods, he may be advised to get a religious reference fr

Oh man, Stosh, I could ramble on generational differences all day. What have you done? I'm a Gen Xer. I've done a lot of reading on the generations, and one thing I agree with is something quite a few historians have said, and that is that Gen X shares a lot of behaviors with the Silent Generation (those who grew up in the post-WWII years). The Boomers and Gen Y have a lot in common in my opinion as well. Okay, broad generalizations follow, based purely on my own experiences and with the understanding that few people fit neatly into the boxes I am about to draw: Working with p

We've been shopping troops lately, as my oldest will be crossing over soon. We've seen a lot of middle school troops, and a couple filled out all the way to 18. One thing I've noticed, is that even if the boys say it isn't high adventure they want, then why do all the troops I see with excited, all-ages scouts offer real trips and activities? The "middle school" troops Ive seen all go camping at the same two or three places each month, do the same old service projects every year, and overall look like something that anyone, kid or adult, would get bored with in no time flat. Many of these troo

Do you have a den chief? Personally, with a den that size I'd split them into three "Webelos Patrols" of 5-ish boys each. You need at least another den leader or at the very least a good assistant leader and a good den chief. One adult or den chief per patrol with the den chief rotating out with other leaders as necessary. Two dens is with two leaders is better though, especially if ts two dens and each leader has a den chief with them. Approach local Scoutmasters and let them know you are searching for a good den chief. Asking for help doesn't mean you're incapable, it means you are try

We have the boys in the leader's den present the knots. The kids love it. It turns the tables so they are the ones handing out the awards, they always like being "on stage", and I think they feel a little proud of the adults for achieving something, just as much as we feel proud when they do.

This is what I am referring to: Onevoice said: "I said in my first post in this thread that the largest problem facing scouting is the breakdown of the family. My issue with gays is that their example is just more fuel on the fire of bad family role models, and that they do not fit within the boundaries of the Oath."

OneVoice--How are gay people causing the breakdown of the family? I just don't see the logic there. I know many committed gay couples--more committed than many of the hetero couples I know--raising children and for all purposes modeling a good family life. How is that modeling poor family behavior? Novicecubmaster said: "gay and morally straight are not incompatible in everybody's religion or system of beliefs." Thank you for saying this. BSA is not a Christian organization, by their own literature they are a religious organization that is completely non-denominational and prescribes

Ask the boys what they want. Take a few minutes to explain to the new scouts that it is possible to earn the awards, but much of it is up to them as it is no longer possible for them to do most of teh work in the den setting. Not every activity pin has to be earned with the den after all, they can work on them at home. Give them an outline of what pins they will be working on with the den that year and let them know what other ones they need if they want their Webelos rank and AOL. Make sure the parents are aware also. The boys that want the awards will work toward them and likely achieve them

You can purchase the precut, preholed immediate rec. fobs from Tandy leather. The discounted price for scout packs is $3 for three fobs. You then decorate them as you want. If you don't have a Tandy factory in your area, they take phone orders. The fob item # is 47100-11

Another good, free fundraiser is through a Borders book store if you have one in your area. They allow organizations to wrap gifts at Christmas time and you keep all the profits. They supply the table, scissors, wrapping paper, tape and ribbon. In our pack the parents do most of the wrapping with the boys pulling in the customers since cub age boys usually aren't great at wrapping presents. You set this up through the store manager. In our area they draw up the wrapping schedule in late October, and advise organizations to get on the list two to three months before the holiday season. On

That's just ridiculous excuse-making in my opinion. There could be a cultural reason, but it has nothing to do with camping. I have spent most of my life in Texas and New Mexico--two places with a very, very high Hispanic population. Camping and other outdoor pursuits are done just as regularly amongst Hispanics as in other American cultures. Long weekends (year around in those climates) were a time for going to the lake, the river or other favorite camping area amongst Hispanics. The only thing that comes to mind is Scouting itself may not be popular amongst Hispanics, especially at the

Any clue how the numbers are calculated for the BSA? I poked around but didn't find anything. I'm wondering about accuracy. For example, our pack's CO is a Methodist church, but there is only one Methodist in our group of boys. The pack is about half and half, with half Christian and the other half from non-Christian faiths. If numbers are figured based on the CO, the numbers are way off (though I'm sure Christian membership is still the highest percentage in the US) Not trying to split hairs, I'm just genuinely curious about this.

You're absolutely right Scoutnut, I didn't even notice that last night when I scanned the app. I wonder why we were to told to do it otherwise? Maybe because it does make no sense to get one on one parent and not the other, who knows.

Actually, if you look at a youth application (I have one right here because we did our roundup tonight), the adult partner can have a different address than the youth--it's right there on the youth app. It does not specify anywhere that they have to share the same address and the app provides a line for the adult to have a different address. If you look at an adult app, it specifically says that the adult app is not for Tiger Adult Partners or Scout Parents, they must fill out the bottom section of the Youth App instead. If dad is the Adult partner and not mom, then dad should have fille