sctmom

A few comments going back a few pages: "God is male". No, God has no gender, God has both feminine and masculine qualities. Christians commonly refer to God as He even though many ancient writings did not specifically refer to God this way. God is God, not male, not female. Merlyn, You mention Campfire USA. If one of the issues is that kids don't have an alternative to Boy Scouts, you just pointed out that they do -- Campfire USA. How does an atheist deal with the Campfire promise to worship God?

In Wolf they can do electives over and over. In Bear there are only certain electives that can be done more than once.

No it doesn't have to be done at the Blue & Gold. December is about about the earliest you can award the AOL, since one of the requirements is to be active for 6 months AFTER completing the 4th grade.

Bob, Somebody has to keep you in line around the Cubs.

The Webelos handbook says: If you can't help someone by reaching or throwing, GO WITH SUPPORT. The best support is a rowboat, canoe or surfboard. Then it shows a picture of a boy in PFD in a rowboat.

He "glossed over" the religious declaration on the Adult Membership form (which is pretty clear that you must believe in a higher power) yet at his Eagle Board of Review he made sure to bring up the question of his faith/non-faith. Okay, so he gets points for not lying when asked about his faith, did he read the membership before filling it out? What if during the Board of Review he had said "I am NOT trustworthy. Just last week I got kicked out of school for cheating. But hey, I'm honest about it"?

No, I think somewhere it points out that once an achievement is counted, it can not be counted again for an elective. But do encourage him to do things again and again, on his own! That's what Cub Scouting is about -- introducing the boys to new acitvities.

I think the scout needs to tie the knot but should not be expect to produce the knot at any given time and be tested on it.

Cubsrgr8, I agree with you. I hope to keep practicing the knots so the bears remember them. I feel pretty excited that my kids have remembered the square knot. I keep my ropes handy so they can play with them when we need a filler for time. Helps them becomes familiar with handling the rope and they learn on their own that a granny knot is hard to untie. They are also helping each other with the square knot.

Coweta is where? The reason I ask is there is a Coweta county in Georgia near me.

Acco40, my son's friend is left handed but he can tie the knots the same as a rightie. I forget the whole leftie/rightie issue because even though I am right handed, I can do most everything by write with my left hand. Right handers hate me too because I don't see what the problem is with their left hand. The son's friend, the leftie, was pointed out something very interesting about the square knot. I told him to do the first part of the knot, now take the "opposite" end and put it on top. He said "but it's the same rope, not the opposite". Try it, you will see what he is saying.

Last year we did "Santa's Boot Relay". Get some shoe boxes, paint them black. The boys line up for a relay race. Each boy must put his feet in the shoeboxes, one for each foot, race to the end and back. Next boy does the same. The kids loved it.

kwc, that's fine, I didn't think you were. I was very reliefed to see you knew why. Yep, I like the don't use the hair dryer in the bathtub or while sleeping tags. Also, some people don't know that the flashlight in the tent throws shadows and everyone else gets a silleohoute of you changing clothes. AND tents are NOT sound proof.

Kwc, you'd be surprised at the number of people who don't know what the dangers are of the lantern in the tent.

Also, no gas lanterns INSIDE the tents.

I understand the requirement for tour permits but will you be able to take the training on the internet?

The link given only shows one side of the card. The other side lists the numbered rules the boy agrees to follows -- nice reminders of knife safety. If you aren't near a scout store, call one, they would probably mail you some.

Mk, thanks. The problem is I can't just start a troop on my own. Other parents I know either have written BSA off for their sons or are very happy with the local troops. The church I attend already charters one of the troops. I doubt if the public school or it's PTA is interested in chartering one, but I may ask just to see what they say. I agree that Scouting offers a lot more for youth than sports or music, even when those are good programs.

The stories sound like a great idea. Could I get a copy via email? Sure would appreciate it. The practicing a lot is important. I let the boys my den each have a piece of the practice rope in case they wanted to practice at home. Also, the boys teaching each other works well -- the learn about teaching and about knots and about listening to each other.

Get them at the scout store or council office. They costs a few pennies each. They are little yellow cards with the rules printed on one side and a place for your signature and the boy's signature. Buy extras. Many people go by the rule of tearing off a corner if a boy is caught violating the rules of knife safety. When you lose the 4th corner, you lose the card and have to re-earn it.

For carving, you may want to try making blocks of plaster of paris. I think you mix vermiculite (like for potting plants) with it. Also, have heard of soaking the plaster pieces in water before carving so they are a little softer. A hint about knot tying that I recently learned and seems to work well. Buy cotton rope and some RIT dye in blue & red. Cut the cotton rope in pieces about 2 feet long. Dye one end red and one end blue one each piece of rope. Then when explaining the knots instead of saying "right hand" you say "the red end". The boys only have to remember right and left when the first pick up the rope; make sure everyone has the red end in the same hand. I've carry my rope pieces to every den meeting and campouts. We are slowly learning the knots. They seem to remember the square knot at this point. Now we are working on two half hitches.

Our latest council newsletter says that online Youth Protection training will be available by January 2003. Is this a national effort? Anyone else heard of this?

We are on campouts as ADULTS, not males or females. When you mix preteen or early teen boys and girls, the hormones go berserk and no one can do much at all. That is ONE reason I don't think co-ed scouting at that age is good for everyone. I recently meet a man who is a Girl Scout leader, which I think is great. Again, we are there as ADULTS not men or women. Exactly what is that a boy can't do if mom is over in her tent in the adult patrol area? Why is that a problem?

Our cub scout pack has a long standing tradition of insisting that parents stay for all meetings. The cubmaster has been in filling in as den leader for his son's den. He, another dad and I had a conversation the other night about how they were ready to tell some parents to leave. That they wondered why those boys had problems and could now see it was the person sitting behind them! Yes, it was moms. Unfortunately, the dads don't do anything with the boys even though they are in the same house or at least the same town.

I hope they have the right people so all of you in the D.C. area can rest easier. Our prayers are still with you.