SeattlePioneer

Hello dew, Your assessment makes sense as speculation. But a shouldn't make such assessments and burden a Scout with them. If the boy has an AS disgnosis, the parent should inform the Scoutmaster and any special requirements the boy may need. There was a diagnosed AS Scout in a troop I worked with a few years ago. He had qualities similar to the boy described, just as you say. As a Life Scout going on Eagle, he was repeatedly bitter that the Troop didn;t stay in hotels rather than camping, for example. He led me to conclude I was probably an AS kid myself --- though never diagnosed as such since I'm 61. At least for me, the key to getting through life has not been to indulge my preferences and inclinations, but to challenge them and develop habit that ran counter to those inclinations. I don't know what kind of therapy AS kids need, but I wonder to what extent such inclinations are to be indulged rather than challenged as I describe?

I remember doing Baloo several years ago. I and another volunteer or two got rather frustrated when the instructor was talking about the importance of pack sleeping arrangements and the difference between Pack oversnights and family camps. After drawing attention to their importance, it turns out he had a rather confused idea of his subject matter. In our efforts to understand these apparently critically important issues, we cross examined this poor volunteer until he was pretty helpless. A more senior trainer rescued him by giving a conse explanation of the issues. I really had no desire to put the guy on the spot, but that's where he wound up anyway. I don't think he had a very good day.

For forty years or so labor unions have been making monkeys out of the taxpayers by negotiating deals with politicans that created long term unfunded pension liabilities. Now that the chickens are coming home to roost with those liabilities, the unions are piously saying, "Well, you made the promise. Now pay up!" But ---- wait a minute. Unions are big advocates of collective bargaining, but now they don't want to bargain about paying those promised benefits? They seem to want to negotiate INCREASES in pensions but say that negotiating CUTS in pensions isn't allowed. How is that fair? Why shouldn't collective bargaining work both ways? Unions have negotiated the promise of those pensions, but they also need to be able to get political support to increase taxes or cut programs to fund those promises. If they aren't doing that, it's the unions that aren't doing collective bargaining.

Well, now I'm confused. Who does this ambiguity benefit?

To a new Boy Scout, Heaven is the idea of being a Patrol Leader and being able to boss other Scouts around. The bubble usually pops the first day a boy DOES become Patrol Leader and discovers that other boys often don't jump just because he gives an order. Dealing with that issue is a goodly part of what "LEADERSHIP" is all about. So I would ask, "What does the patrol leader want to do about it?" I'd draw the line at flogging or branding.

> Venividi restates my own position on this issue above. The good will and generosity of troop leaders was taken advantage of in this case. Perhaps it could have been nipped in the bud earlier, but waiting a bit to see if something is really a Problem is often a good strategy. > Most Troops do not have such detailed standards, and there is no agreement on forums like this about what standards should be. Most troops rely on the good faith "professional" judgement of Scouts and Scouters as to when requirements should be signed off. Usually that works fine until somone comes along who wants to exploit ambiguities for all they are worth. When that person does come along then those same standards start being enforced more rigidly, when may seem "unfair" to the Scout and parent who is now used to skating by. I suggest that the basic problem is a Scout and parent who don't understand or practice the Scout Oath and Law.

Hello Acco--- I guess that's why they call it a "blood circle." I had something similar happen when we were practicing fire drills with Tiger Cubs. The boys had to figure out how to escape from a "burning" room, and we had parents waving red flags at some exits to symbolize fires blocking them. So---- how to escape? One boy went over to a window a backhanded it, breaking the window and giving himself a pretty good cut. There WAS an unblocked exit, but he had his own solution figured out! Seattle Pioneer

I wouldn't be as hard on the adult leaders as some who have posted. Personally, I would tend to be slack with boys new to Scouting for a while. I would have sympathy for a boy who hadn't camped or hadn't camped much and wanted to sleep in a tent with his Dad. And having Dad parse the advancement requirements to figure out how Junior could complete them with a minimum of effort is common enough ---- whole troops are not infrequently devoted to that. So I think it would be easy enough to accomodate a boy like that for a while. But when the pattern doesn't change and gets worse, there's a time to decide enough is enough.

On the theory that one bad Scout can drive several good Scouts out of a Pack or Troop, I'd nip this in the bud before in goes farther. Very likely that would mean the boy transferring into another troop. I wouldn't accept that kind of spoiled behavior.

I've had success with certificates: http://www.dyetub.com/certificates/scouting/cub/ You can use one of these templates and customize it for the Raingutter Regatta. If you don't have a color printer, black and white on colored paper is good. I put the certificate in a plastic sheet protector and encourage boys to save it in their Cub Scout Scrapbook. The certificate uses the top half of a page. I encourage boys to set up who they want to race against and the winner of each race gets a star to add to their certificate for each win. You can recognize additional winners if you want based on the number of stars earned.

I've had success with certificates: http://www.dyetub.com/certificates/scouting/cub/ You can use one of these templates and customize it for the Raingutter Regatta. If you don't have a color printer, black and white on colored paper is good. I put the certificate in a plastic sheet protector and encourage boys to save it in their Cub Scout Scrapbook. The certificate uses the top half of a page. I encourage boys to set up who they want to race against and the winner of each race gets a star to add to their certificate for each win. You can recognize additional winners if you want based on the number of stars earned.

It's common for dens to get larger thanj they should because additional Den Leaders don't step up. I've thought it woulf be interesting to have a Den Leader who designed the program for the week and who then delegated the presentation of that program to two or more Assistant Den Leaders. It takes more skill to design the program than to execute it. You could even rotate the presentation to different parents until you find the right person to be Assistant Den Leader. And after a few weeks of being ADL you could promote the ADL to DL and they could design their own program. I've never done this though.... not yet.

Cub Scouts who attend day camp or resident camp may complete a number of requirements for their new badge. Pack summer outings or activities may do the same.

I think that WAS worth learning! I really got a good example of the emotional power of a good ceremony at the Scout Leader Outdoor Skills Training. They did an excellent ceremony at the end of the program which impressed me a lot and led me to use ceremonies more and have better ones.

Heh, heh! I'm afraid you're just a dead duck on that one, Old Grey Eagle!

http://melrosetroop68.org/uploaded_images/calvin1-757584.jpg Sounds like Kudu could be the Scoutmaster!

From Calvin and Hobbes: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2011/03/08/ What are the odds Dad was a Boy Scout? What are the odds Calvin will be a Boy Scout(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

So what was the take on the Friends of Scouting solicitation?

I a Tiger Cub Den in each of two different packs a couple of years ago. It was a great experience. The best part was having boys who could be terrifically interested in almost ANYTHING. For about five minutes. You needed a program with constant variety. This summer will be my thirds year of doing our district Tiger Twilight Camp as part of out daycamp, and I'll be leading Tiger Cub Den Leader training at our June Roundtable. What are your plans for next year?

You describe what I would like to do. But I tend to be too involved for the degree of detachment that would require. I just hacven't been able to manage it, so far anyway. We had discussions before on not chaining Den leaders into the job year after year. I have excellent Bear and Tiger Cub Den Leaders. If they are interested in doing something else in the pack, irt would be nice to have them look for another adult in their den to be den leader next time, expanding the number of leaders available and hopefully not burning out fine den leaders. Also, we will be forming a Webelos den in June, which is a different kind of program and needs to involve an active camping program. So we need to be looking for ways to transition into that as well. Any guidance on how to do that would be welcome as well.

> In my opinion, this is the most important issue to a boy led patrol and troop. The second, as ably described by Kudu, is going camping. Camping requires skills. If you don't have 'em you will need to learn 'em. If you didn't bring food or can't cook, you go hungry. That creates a Scouting agenda of Learning to Cook. If it rains and you got wet, that creates a Scouting agenda of choosing and using equipment. And so on. This is the Trail To First Class. Going camping each month creates a depth of experience and framework for troop meetings. There really isn't TIME for merit badge classes if you are always planning where to go camping, busy getting ready to go camping, or learning the lessons from the last camping trip. The last element really is competition between patrols. That natural rivalry can be around who has the best meals, the best camp setup and who has the best skills and such. There are lots of ways to add fun by having competition between patrols. I would recommend that you check to see if your district has a spring camporee coming up. Camporees ought to be a great exhibition of good patrol camping. And every troop camping trip should be a miniature camporee. Keeping adults from interfering with those patrol activities is also important. The troop that cooks together is greatly hampering patrol development. Camping at state parks that charge $20 per campsite encourages everyone camping together, and is bad for developing patrols. Camping at Boy Scout Camps may be good, because usually there is plenty of elbow room for patrols as Kudu describes, and usually they are pretty economical. Once you have developed good car camping skills, then more ambitious backpacking or other trips are a natural. Good luck with developing your patrol and troop program!

> Hello Clemlaw, You have a particularly puckish sense of humore this morning! When I find out Dads are eligible for the AOL or Eagle knots, I award them at a pack meeting. My hope is that it will encourage boys and families to complete the AOL and that it will encourage Dads to buy a uniform to put the knot on!

Maybe, maybe not. The person most directly responsible would be the designated Institutional Head of the organization that charters the pack. Do you know who that is? If so, I'd schedule a meeting with that person and ask them about it. If they wish, they can appoint someone else. Who do you know who would be good people to replace those people and willing to do the jobs?

As Cubmaster, I've recruited all the other pack and den leaders within the past year. Now I'm trying to encourage people to do their jobs and plan for the future. I have a couple of excellent den leaders, but I'd like to know if they plan on continuing as den leaders next year --- or perhaps they would like to do another job. My job as Cubmaster is open, and perhaps there are other parents in the den who would make good den leaders. I've e-mailed them congratulating them on den activities and invited them out for coffee to chat -- no takers. I have a new Committee Chair who I think would do good things, but I'd like to talk about where the pack should go and how to get there. In particular, she likes the "Journey to Excellence" and the idea of using it as a planning tool. But nothing concrete has been done to review our strong and weak points under that and plan where we want to improve. I'm a retiree so I have time to do these things, and no doubt these folks are busy. Still, a little face-to-face chat would be very helpful in my view. I can't do that during den and pack activities, and our monthly Committee meetings have enough people there that this kind of personal chat isn't appropriate either, in my view. Any ideas?

Hey Baden P, Great idea there! Or perhaps you could have a leather lanyyard awarded with a wooden woggle for each Boy Scout rank achieved as a boy...