scoutldr

But then WHERE would we put all of our square knots????? This simply won't do.

Welcome, Matt. I'm sure your opinions will be treated with respect and we hope you will show us the same courtesy. Contrary to some on this forum, it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. However, in your blog, you state, "The Justice Department spends more than six to seven million dollars every four years in funding for the Scouts." I'm sure you meant to say "Defense Department".

Oooohhh...you mean there's an elephant in the living room? You've hit a hot button, madkins. Like my previous post on the Eagle Board...as long as the Scout is not an avowed atheist or homosexual, we don't care what his lifestyle is. I believe that in the San Diego case, the BSA admitted it is a religious organization. Now we're upset about the Jamboree ruling. Can't have it both ways. While I am saddened that the Army can no longer provide support, I understand it. What if every other organization demands equal access and wants the same support? Who would be left to fight the war? As a taxpayer, I am paying soldiers to defend our country and win wars...not to empty porta potties for a bunch of Boy Scouts. I don't have a problem with allowing BSA to use vacant land, but it should be at no cost to the government, and no soldier should be diverted from his/her duties to provide support, unless they volunteer to do so on their own time. As govt employee, that's what I have to do.

Back in the day, when I was a Cubmaster, one of my biggest headaches was trying to establish dens after a school night. The district guy would show up, give a wonderful pitch, collect the money and apps and then leave. Then my phone would start ringing..."we paid our money, when are the meetings going to start?" My reply, "they won't start until we find a den leader...what night would be good for them to meet at your house?" The one that got me was the lady who, in all seriousness, replied, "Oh, I couldn't possibly be a Scout leader...I WORK full time!" Then there was the lady who thought that being a Cubmaster was my full time job and demanded to speak to my supervisor. So I put my wife on the phone.

We went through this a couple of years ago. Our large, very successful district with a long history was dissolved and split into 3. THere was no discussion. It was "National Guidelines". To be honest, a district camporee with 1200 attendees was not much fun and a logistical nightmare. There were a few disgruntled units and most of the active Commissioners and District committee people ended up in one district and the other two had to start from scratch. Many district positions are still unfilled and we have no commissioner corps to speak of. It's hard and it takes years to build the infrastructure back up. As to OA, we also automatically had 3 new chapters to match the new districts.

"The National Jamboree offers the Army an opportunity to sharpen the skills of its Regular, Reserve, and National Guard troops in a major operation containing vast logistical challenges ranging from building roads to installing water, sewer, electrical, and telephone systems for a tent city of 35,000 inhabitants." Without choosing sides, I find this argument to be ludicrous. The last time the Army needed a tent city, it was built by Halliburton, Inc. and Brown & Root.

What a great idea! I'm stealing it!

You were right to call the Dad...only I think I would have done it sooner. I sympathize with parents who have mentally ill children, but for them to place them in a Scout troop without informing the leadership as to their disability is unfair both to the Scout and the leader. A Scoutmaster deserves a chance to decide if he wants to take on that responsibility...we are not trained psychologists! I thank God that I had two normal, healthy sons, whose only flaws were an occasional dose of too much self esteem and laziness when it came to making Eagle!

I agree, Lynda. Broken arms, scrapes, bug bites and poison ivy are one thing and are a part of a normal boy's growing up. Coming home with Scouts in body bags is quite another.

We are looking at it at this point as a freak accident. This young man was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." And I imagine the Sr DE arrived at this conclusion after doing a thorough root cause analysis? Bullfeathers!

Whilst the opening post spurious may be, it behooveth all to whom these words may come, to heed, lest we become repast for the annelidae.

In my profession we talk about risk vs. hazard. A hazard is an unsafe act or unsafe condition (there is no such thing as an "accident" or "act of God" -- everything is preventable). Risk is the probability that the hazard will cause an adverse affect, such as death or injury. For risk to increase, there has to be exposure to the hazard. Risk can be minimized through training, experience, discipline, and careful analysis of each activity to ensure that hazards are identified and mitigated prior to exposure. If a leader is not comfortable that every hazard can be minimized, then he should cancel the activity. For those youth and adults who create unsafe acts or conditions, the penalty should be severe and sure. There is no room for error when you have others' lives in your care. The Guide to Safe Scouting has done a fairly good job of identifying hazards associated with common Scouting activities. It should be required reading for every registered Scouter and youth leader.

Don't be too hard on yourself, LeV. I am in the same area and read the news report. While this was indeed a tragedy, it didn't need to happen. Several cardinal rules of water safety were violated. The beach was unsupervised (no lifeguards). It's unclear if they had adult supervision (lookout). The youth who drowned did not know how to swim and his buddies were weak swimmers. There have been daily warnings of rip currents and we had a strong nor-easter the day before, which could have altered the ocean bottom depth. This was the latest of many drownings at the same stretch of beach. If only they had been Scouts...

Most of this is explained in the Cub Scout Leader Handbook, and in the training sessions, which you should enroll in ASAP. Start with Cub Scout Leader Fast Start (online), then New Leader Essentials and Den Leader Specific Training. The monthly Cub Scout Leader Roundtable meetings are also a great source of information and ideas. Now that you are a Den Leader, you can set the terms by which your den will operate. If 10 boys is your comfort zone, then stand your ground and say you don't have any openings and the Pack Committee will have to form a new den. Ideal is 6-8, but if you have good parent support, 10 is doable. Good luck, John!

Just say no. There is a reason that the recommended size of a den is 6-8 boys. You can't deliver a quality program with many more than that. It is the Cubmaster's job with the help of the Pack Committee to ensure that there is enough adult leadership to keep dens a manageable size. It's better for the boys and helps prevent leader burn-out.

I use 4 pieces of 1x2 cut about 4 feet long. Duct tape them vertically to each corner of the cot. Been using the same pieces of wood for 30 years. If you forget the wood, some semi-straight sticks from the woods work just as well. Just make sure there are no gaps between the floor and net at the bottom...skeets will find any hole and make your night miserable. Be sure to remove all traces of duct tape when leaving...LNT!

If there are written rules that were ignored, then you should appeal the election in a Scout-like manner. If there are no rules that address what happened, then you need to accept what happened and move on, and perhaps suggest a rules or by-laws change to close the loophole. Good luck.

Mahalo, KS for not merely quoting the book answer. No, the decision was not unanimous, however the scout was "highly encouraged" to appeal the decision. It was an unpleasant scene that didn't need to happen...the scout was angry, discouraged, bewildered (DUHHH!), and resentful. The poor dear had his self-esteem injured. Mom was in tears, SM was livid. A lot of work in a project for nothing. The offense (disclosed to the board in a reference letter, which was not intended to be a negative comment), was an egregious violation of "morally straight", by most measures, except maybe the moral standards of most teenagers these days, whose attitude is "stuff happens". The SM knew about it (as do all of the other scouts in the troop), however, it was felt it was "not relevant" and not important enough to mention to the Board prior to the BOR. My point is, none of this needed to happen. If we are not willing to accept the "morally straight" interpretation of most high-schoolers today, then we need to do a better job of communicating that through lower BORs, and SM conferences, and adult leader training. Hitting them with the 2x4 at the Eagle BOR is not fair, after having been encouraged and pumped up by the SM. It's also not fair to expect each unit to interpret the requirements on their own...we don't allow that with any other advancements. News Flash: There's more to being an Eagle Scout than 21 merit badges,wearing a POR patch for 6 months, and bulding a park bench. Let's keep the bar high. The public expects no less.

Be sure to complete an Application for Unit Fundraising and have it approved by your SE...the general rule is that you must offer a product of value for the money received. In the case of showing a movie in exchange for money, I believe that is generally illegal, unless you are paying royalties to the copyright owners, but I'll let the attorneys in the group address that. It is generally NOT permissible for a unit to solicit donations from the public. Only Council can do that.

My boss also declined to join with his son for the same reason. His rationale...he is a senior military officer with a Top Secret clearance. That should be sufficient, without disclosing his SSN to a group of volunteers parents who are not legally accountable safeguard the information. As Bob said, the vast majority of identity theft is from visitors to your home...or the Cubmaster's home. A secretary in our office recently was selected for a promotion with the USCG...when they ran her credit history for a security clearance, she found out she was the victim of identity theft when she bought a new car last year. Someone at the car dealership was the perp. It cost her the job, with no recourse. The Department of Homeland Security takes this very seriously, and so should we. I would think that BSA, Inc. could come up with a solution. I would feel better if the information were in a lot fewer hands.

As I have stated in other posts, as a member of the District Committee, I am occasionally asked to sit on Eagle Boards of Review as the "District Representative". While most Eagle Boards are joyous, explorative discussions with exemplary young men, on two occasions, this has not been the case, and in my opinion, the SM and Troop Committee were remiss in their responsibilities by even scheduling the Board, and they were either equally morally bankrupt or wanted someone else to be the "bad guy". I have not decided if I should disclose the details, however, these events have left me questioning the value and reputation of the Eagle Scout medal, and hoping sincerely that this is not a nationwide trend. It would certainly explain why the percentage of Eagles has been rising in past years to somewhere around 5% now. We can have all the Eagles we want if we are willing to turn a blind eye to serious character flaws and un-Scoutlike behavior when not in uniform. Is it a coincidence, or did the percentage start going up when units were granted authority to conduct their own Eagle BOR? I would like to pose a question to the collective wisdom of the group: Is there anything in a young man's record, character or actions that should automatically disqualify him from being granted an Eagle Board? And who should make the decision? I'm not talking about the obvious advancement requirements or avowed homosexuality or atheism. We all know that you need to be straight, believe in a God, and have 21 MB. Should there be a list of "fatal flaws", that say, "if you are guilty of any of these, don't even bother filling out the application"??? Or, should we continue turning a blind eye and keep cranking them out? Perhaps I am just old fashioned and need to accept that "morally straight" just ain't what it used to be, and find another hobby that doesn't challenge my moral conscience. This last experience left me wanting to grab the SM by the throat and say, "which part of the Scout Oath and Law don't you understand????"

Read the FBI warning on your DVD very carefully ...

OGE - I merely stated what is...not that I agreed with it. Chill!

While Ed's response was blunt, it was to the point. Such devices are portable, but they are generally not allowed in your school classroom, either. There is a time and place for everything, and things get "banned" usually because someone did not have the common sense to be discrete, and was using the device when they should be doing something else. In the troop I serve, anything is permitted, as long as it is used in the privacy of one's own bunk (with headphones on low volume), or during designated "free time". If it interferes with the program, or I can hear it, then it gets locked in the car and returned when we get home.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

Eagle COH, same scenario. Troop looked like they had just come in from a weekend campout and threw on their scout shirts. Had not rehearsed the ceremony, and the SPL flubbed his lines. Not even the DE, CC, or SM were properly uniformed. I spent a couple of hours cleaning and pressing my uniform and getting everything pinned on properly. I was embarrassed to be a part of the same organization.