sctmom

I thought you could only be a Lone Scout if you traveled or did not life within a reasonable distance to a troop. That just not liking the neighborhood troop was not a good enough reason.

Could boys in other areas at least gather items to be sent to Red Cross in an area like that? I remember when Hurrican Andrew hit Florida some years ago that we gathered items at work. They needed things like cleaning supplies, diapers, bottled water, baby food, etc. Everyone brought stuff and then some of us sorted the items into boxes. Also, maybe collecting small toys for the children. It is a shame that the Scouts can't do more hands on. So many are eager to help like that and it is such a good lesson in community service.

Ed, I have considered if my son was just not mature enough. Yet, he enjoyed 2 weeks of summer camp without me and doesn't necessarily want me there. He knows not everything is going to be fun but none of it appeals to him that these troops are doing. The merit badges are not an incentive to him (which I'm kinda glad about). I'm seeing troops that as Bob White says "are doing other things wearing the Scout uniform but aren't doing Boy Scouting". Troop meetings are merit badge classes, everyone is pushed to Eagle as quick as possible, older boys drop out. I think based on your posts, you agree that Eagle is not the point of Scouting. The ranks and badges are not the point. The goals are character development, physical fitness and citizenship. Everything it should be offering my son --- independence, self-esteem, sense of belonging, challenges, chance to be a leader --- I've seen him get excited about even when it required work.

ASM7, oh my. According to my father and his friends, the IRS is completely illegal. Please don't get me started! I believe you want to read the 16th Amendment. Don't have the constitution handy but I think that is the right number. Now, some people will tell you that Amendment was never properly ratified. Do some searching on the web and you will see lots of interesting conversations about it.

My son does seem to still have an interest in scouting. He said he wants to go back and "just watch" at a troop meeting. That he wants to see if they are doing fun stuff or just talking. I know they are trying to change but I don't expect a huge turn around. I've looked at other troops within reasonable driving distance and just don't see any that are "delivering the promise of scouting". The "big" troops in our area have 30 scouts. Most don't have that many. Very few have monthly campouts. Some think every campout is earn a merit badge. One has boys that he has known for years and doesn't want to be around. They have all gone through elementary school together and they know every problem my son has ever had and will never really accept him. What do I do? I want my son in scouting. I truly believes he wants to be a Boy Scout. But we aren't finding what we hear Scouting should be. I am considering talking to Campfire USA about a group in our area but I just don't think they offer as much structure as BSA. I feel the structure is important and most kids thrive from the BSA troop structure. Suggestions?

Even though I have no experience with this, I would think a brief ceremony at the troop and the pack should be done.

According to the Cub Scout Leader book: "The Scoutmaster presents the den chief badge of office and the troop leader certificate." "The den chief is introduced and properly recognized at the next pack meeting through presentation of the den chief shoulder cord."

Eisely, I was thinking the same thing. Isn't some of what you do for all of BSA not just your local unit? Some people are involved in 2 units -- one may be chartered by a non-profit org and one by a profit org. So who is to say which unit the uniform is for?

Scoutparent, you have an old Leader's manual. The latest Cub Scout Leader manual says on page 11-5: "Scouting units are not tax-exempt units by virtue of their affiliation with the BSA. The tax-exempt status of an individual Scouting unit depends on the tax-exempt sattus of the chartered organization. Chartered organizations vary --- from schools, religious organizations, civic clubs, neighborhood groups, businesses, industry, and others --- and each has a different tax status. Some may be tax-exempt under IRS Code section 501©(3), and others may not be. Contact you local council service center for information on tax-exempt status as it applies in your state.

"It seems that the primary role of the modern woman has become to complain. Maybe they should be worrying about raising the children instead of building a career. " Oh, oh, oh. I'm glad you live in a perfect world. Some of us don't. Maybe some men should focus on keeping a job and not laying around the house drinking beer. Maybe some men should focus on keeping their ....nevermind, some youngsters read this board. You seem to think that women and men having choices in their lives is a bad thing. Wanting equal opportunities and equal pay for equal work is NOT complaining. Men also get discriminated against, yet if they "complain" that's okay because they are men? :::walking away from this thread:::

We had a single dad in our pack the last few years. He had custody of his son. I don't know where the mother was or if the boy even saw her much. Never heard her mentioned but once. The father would quickly admit he was a trouble maker as a youth, but I can tell you he was raising one fine young man. They both were very polite and respectful. Scouting is what they did together. The boy was not involved in sports, so Scouting was their thing. I guess it still is at the troop level now. It is sad to watch the boys who crave dad's attention and approval not get that attention. They are only children for a short while.

Kittle, Yes the 2 meetinsg in one week can be too much for a lot of families. I like the way our pack meets the same night of the week. We all know where to be on Monday night. You know not to make other committments for that night. Some of the other packs around here do the same thing. After awhile it becomes such a habit that when you don't have a meeting, you feel like you just gained SO MUCH freedom! The program helps are the best thing for new den leaders. It lays it all out for you. For less than $4.00, it can't be beat. The only thing is I wish they would make it 3-hole-punched so I could put it in my notebook with everything else. I wear the cover off after a few months. I think I will drop them a letter about that. With the current layout, if I punch holes in it, I'm putting holes in the text.

Is the New Leader Essentials different than the old Basic Training? We did view a newer video but most of it still seemed like the one I took 2 years ago. Also, it took much longer than the 90 minutes stated on the BSA website. BSA website says 90 minutes for New Leader Essentials and up to 3 hours for Leader specific. I would say ours was the opposite. Three hours for everyone and then 90 minutes for leader specific.

The overview in Basic Leader Training/Leader Essentials is not the same as YP?

I think this is in the Cub Leader How To Book and/or The Cub Scout Fun book.

I didn't even read this thread until today because I am not from the Chicago Area Council and I have enough battles here on the homefront. Went to Cub Leader training that was not what it should be. I have been through the training a few years ago and can say this time was horrible. I've been around Cub Scouts for a few years now and walked out of this training confused. I feel very sorry for the new leaders. Trying to figure out why the Council and District do not offer the training that BSA says is required. No Baloo, no Webelos Outdoor Leader, no YP (except the 20 minutes in Basic Training), problems with the training that is offered. Trying to figure out why I can't find a troop near my home that follows the BSA program for Boy Scouts. I wanted my son in Boy Scouts, he wanted to be there also. Yet, what we find is NOT what we were told and what I read is Boy Scouting. The troop my son joined had 14 new scouts go to Summer Camp. I think 3 just got their Tenderfoot rank after being in the troop 6 months. Most of these boys have been active in other activities besides Tenderfoot. Sorry, but I have more here to worry about and deal with than I can handle already.

Most of what I am doing came from program helps. This month is "Jungle Fun". The craft they had was to glue pom-poms together to make a panda bear slide or pencil topper. This just didn't do much for me. I just keep imagining a mess of glue and pom-poms! I think these boys will enjoy making some simple bird feeders and they will get to use a hammer! Fits with the theme, is fun, and is an achievement. My den just met for the first time this past week. We are off to a late start. Also, we meet 3 times a month, not 4. BSA encourages you to use the Program helps but doesn't insist you do. As I said in another post, they are great, but sometimes you have to tweak them for your group.

You can still do Cub Scouting and meet the goals without using Program Helps. But why? Why reinvent the wheel? A few years ago when my husband was a Wolf leader no one told him about Program helps. I tried to help him plan den meetings. We were in the dark. Now that I know about program helps, wow things are easier. I know what a good den meeting looks like, the meetings have unity and a specific purpose (shhhh...don't tell the boys they are learning). Takes a lot of the pressure off and save a lot of time to follow the meetings they have. As I said, I do some tweaks here and there, but I don't have to. I know the activities written are age specific.

Bob White, Thanks for the clarifications. I thought the same thing about the Bobcat badge, just wear it until they earn the Webelos badge. Our council/district is still using the old Youth Protection Training, doesn't offer Webelos Outdoor Training or BALOO (has not offered it ever). What should I do? As in, who do I go to about this to find out why and encourage them to get up to speed? I think they expect Webelos Leaders to go to Scoutmaster outdoor training.

Is Youth Protection Training watching that video from 10 years ago with doctors talking about about signs of abuse? The one they try to make it look like a news broadcast.

Our council/district doesn't offer Webelos Leader Outdoor Training. Go figure. I now have the name of the Council training chairman. I am going to write him a letter about some problems and suggestions about the training. I will also include this. I live within a few miles of another council that does offer all the training courses. I am calling them to see can I attend their training. Their council is much more populated than ours and has more volunteers.

A suggestion they had for Webelos about the Bobcat was to award them the Webelos colors when they earn the Bobcat. For existing Cubs this would be when the become a Webelos, for new cubs as soon as the earn the Bobcat.

We have been very lucky while in Cubs. Even though the Cubmaster is married, he understands not everyone is. We have all sorts of families in our pack. Single moms with custody, single dads with custody, parents that share custody, grandparents raising the child, a single foster mom, married couples that both worked, married couples with a stay at home parent, parents that worked different shifts. You name it, I think we've seen it over the last 5 years. The 2 Cubmasters I have seen in our pack said everything was open to EVERY family member. We have some parents that one trip dad camps, another mom camps --- both married couples and some divorced couples. We treat those non-custodial parents just like part of the family on the campouts. Luckily they act like adults too. I've seen teenager siblings at the Halloween campout getting excited about the costume contest. Grandparents camp with us (including my own mother). Toddler siblings camp. The troop my son joined said "sure we except women". I am welcome to camp with them. It is also a young troop. Right now half the troop is 11 years old. The others are 13 or 14. Yet there is still a subtle hint of "you can camp but we will work with the boys". There are enough males to do the work and I don't step past them unless truly necessary. Yet, many have no training and do some things that are against the BSA way. For example they really believe that troop meetings are for earning merit badges, the whole troop at one time. My son still wants me to camp with them. As I said, he just needs that safety net behind him. I have told him that he must tell me if he doesn't want me on the campout. If it hurts my feelings, that is my problem. I refused to go to summer camp with them. Some parents were very amazed at that. They all thought for sure that I would go. No, that was one trip my son needed to do without me. He never really said he wanted me to go and I pretended I just could not take a week off from work. I know some moms and dads who would not let their child go unless one of the parents could go. I told them "that is great, but this is what my son needs, your son has different needs". Their sons are more mature than mine. Again, we were so lucky with the pack. That's one reason I hate to see it struggle. I know some parents just can't or won't be den leaders so I will do that for the boys. I think every boy and family deserves the chance to be in scouting at some time. When the timing is right I will also volunteer with Girl Scouts for the same reason-- every girl deserves a chance. Something I never had growing up. I know Boy Scouting is not family oriented like Cubs but if I have the time and skills to help, I should be able to. I hate that my son is dropping out. When we drove up to the meeting last week, one of the boys stopped in the parking lot, grinned, waved and said "Hello Miss L. How are you?" Warmed my heart. He's one of the boys without an involved dad and his mom has to take care of younger siblings.

Kittle, By the way, there are not a lot of Cub Scouters on this board. It is mainly Boy Scout leaders. So you will only get answers from a few of us that are in Cubs.

Our district and council have NEVER offered Baloo training. They said "oh, we had it planned for next spring, but we are holding off until after the changes". Sorry, I don't like this answer. Why is it other councils are offering it and insisting on it? Oh, I must be in the "special" council who doesn't have to do it. {smirk}